Chessable

Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2011 (8)

Ivanchuk, Short and Mikhalevski win again

Geetha Narayanan Gopal lost to Nigel Short. Photo ©

Geetha Narayanan Gopal lost to Nigel Short. Photo © | http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/

Vassily Ivanchuk won again this time against Michael Roiz. The position Roiz resigned in may not even be lost although optically it looks awful. Nigel Short continued his winning ways beating Geetha Narayanan Gopal and he meets Victor Mikhalevski who beat Alexander Onischuk. Ivanchuk plays Caruana. Report by Stewart Reuben.

Stewart Reuben reports Yesterday the sun shone beamishly. There was a wealth of competitive chess for the commentary room to consider: GM Simon Williams had the help there of GM Stuart Conquest, GM Nigel Short, GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Jon Speelman, IM Alex Wohl, IM Jack Rudd and others in the room from time to time. People online who made valuable contributions included GM Peter Wells, IMs Richard Bates, Lawrence Cooper and Thomas Rendle. Peter Purland went off as usual to teach chess to local schoolchildren. The special evening event was team pairs, that is alternate moves by the two members of the team and no consultation. This event was visibly and audibly enjoyed by all who participated. In other words, it was another day in chess paradise at the Caleta Hotel.

Vassily Ivanchuk against Michael Roiz. Photo © Gibraltar Website. 2011 http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/gib2011/index.html.

Ivanchuk (6) v Roiz (5½) was the top board game. 19...Nxf4 seemed to favour Black, in the view of Simon Williams. But White recovered, Black got sloppy and eventually lost. Many thought his resignation was premature.

Round 8, Ivanchuk - Roiz, Black to play

Michael Roiz

________
____k__p
_N__p_p_
___b_p__
P__P_P_P
_____PK_
________
________

Vassily Ivanchuk

Final position after 41.Nxb6

"No doubt your opponent would not resign here and, alas, nor would mine" (said Leonard Barden of a similar premature resignation). It is quite probable that White would win but most of us would require White to do some more work before lowering our colours.

Geetha Narayanan Gopal against Nigel Short. Photo © Gibraltar Website. 2011 http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/gib2011/index.html.

Gopal (5½) v Short (5½) was a well-crafted game by the Englishman. Even so, he admitted he did not see 24…Qb4+ 25 Bd2 exd4! I must admit to a certain feeling of relish that even great grandmasters overlook things.

Round 8

Gopal, GN - Short, Nigel

Caro Kann Defence

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6 6.c3 Bf5 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.g3 Qa5 9.Bg2 Qb5 10.Nh4 Bg6

10...Bd3!? 11.b3?! e5 12.c4 Qb4+ 13.Bd2 exd4! at this point Nigel exclaimed "I didn't see that at all" - otherwise he would have played this very sweet combination. In fairness, White has other options here, such as 11.Qb3.

11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Qb3 a6 13.d5 Nc5 14.Qxb5 cxb5 15.Ke2 Na4 16.h4 Bh6 17.f4 f5 18.Rb1 Bg7 19.Be3 0–0–0 20.Rhd1 Kb8 21.Rd3 Rd7 22.Kd2 Rc8 23.Bd4 Bxd4 24.Rxd4 Nb6

Nigel Short

_kr_____
_p_rpp__
pn____p_
_p_P_p__
___R_P_P
__P___P_
PP_K__B_
_R______

Geetha Narayanan Gopal

Position after 24...Nb6

25.b3

25.Ke2 may have been better hereabouts, planning to defend the d-pawn with a further rook.

25...Rcd8 26.c4 e6 27.Bf1 bxc4 28.bxc4 Ka7 29.Bg2 exd5 30.cxd5 Nxd5

Inexorably, White's position has worsened and a pawn has been lost.

31.Bxd5 Rxd5 32.Rxd5 Rxd5+ 33.Ke3 Ra5 34.Kd4

A desperate attempt to carry the fight back to Black but it falls well short.

34...Rxa2 35.Ke5 Ra3 36.g4 fxg4 37.Kf6 g3 38.Rg1

38.Kxf7 g2 39.Rg1 Rg3 is hopeless.

38...Rf3 39.Kg5 a5 40.Kg4 Rc3 41.f5 a4 42.fxg6 fxg6 43.Kg5 Rc6 44.Rxg3 b5 0–1

The young Italian-American Fabiano Caruana (5) gave a very cogent explanation of his game with Richard Rapport (5) where Black got squeezed off the board in a most delicate style. Many might think this is not the stuff of games which will be anthologised, but we disagree.

Daniel Fridman against Salome Melia. Photo © Gibraltar Website. 2011 http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/gib2011/index.html.

The one that got away - we think. Salome Melia missed a win near the end of her game with strong GM Daniel Fridman. Nonetheless she is still on course for a GM norm.

Melia Salome

________
_p___ppk
__p____p
Q_______
____n___
____N_P_
PP__P_KP
__q_____

Daniel Fridman

Position after 33.Kg2

33...Qxe3?

Allowing perpetual check. Black can win with 33...c5! when, for example, 34.Kf3 Qh1+ 35.Ng2 Ng5+ 36.Kf2 Nh3+ 37.Kf3 Qf1+ wins.

34.Qf5+ Kg8 35.Qc8+ ½–½

While we were discussing what to put in the bulletin, a suggested amendment was rejected in some exasperation by Stewart with the words “life is too short and so am I”.

Gibraltar Masters Caleta ENG Mon 24th Jan 2011 - Thu 3rd Feb 2011
Leading Round 8 (of 10) Standings:
RkNameTiFEDRtgPtsTB1
1Ivanchuk VassilyGMUKR27647.02917
2Short Nigel DGMENG26586.52826
3Mikhalevski VictorGMISR25796.52694
4Fridman DanielGMGER26556.02743
5Caruana FabianoGMITA27216.02693
6Harikrishna PentalaGMIND26676.02685
7Bologan ViktorGMMDA26936.02677
8Melia SalomeIMGEO24496.02601
9Erdos ViktorGMHUN25936.02596
10Sengupta DeepGMIND25305.52736
11Kulaots KaidoGMEST25775.52706
12Adams MichaelGMENG27235.52697
13Roiz MichaelGMISR26495.52687
14Sasikiran KrishnanGMIND26905.52663
15Gopal Geetha NarayananGMIND25975.52647
Kosintseva NadezhdaIMRUS25525.52647
17Lafuente PabloGMARG25615.52630
18Georgiev KirilGMBUL26695.52620
19Nisipeanu Liviu-DieterGMROU26785.52605
20Speelman Jon SGMENG25245.52579
21Kacheishvili GiorgiGMGEO25855.52578
22Ikonnikov VyacheslavGMRUS25805.52576
23Fernandez Romero ErnestoIMESP24535.52568
24Edouard RomainGMFRA26345.52552
25Nezad Husein AzizIMQAT24205.52546
26Harika DronavalliIMIND25205.52524
27Iordachescu ViorelGMMDA26345.52495
Kanep MeelisGMEST25315.52495
29Lemos DamianGMARG25535.52487
30Robson RayGMUSA25325.52472
31Le Roux Jean-PierreGMFRA25515.52419
32Rapport RichardGMHUN25315.02680
33Korchnoi ViktorGMSUI25445.02657
34Dzagnidze NanaGMGEO25505.02611
35Zhu ChenGMQAT24955.02603
36Buhmann RainerGMGER25725.02596
37Vallejo Pons FranciscoGMESP26985.02594
38Sandipan ChandaGMIND26415.02575
39Akobian VaruzhanGMUSA26185.02573
40Onischuk AlexanderGMUSA26895.02566
41Felgaer RubenGMARG25855.02546
42Cmilyte ViktorijaGMLTU25265.02534
43Bellaiche AnthonyIMFRA24585.02524
44Berg EmanuelGMSWE26275.02516
45Valgmae ToomasEST21905.02510
46Zatonskih AnnaIMUSA24935.02504
47Soffer RamGMISR24895.02487
48Kosintseva TatianaGMRUS25705.02484
49Fier AlexandrGMBRA25715.02473
50Szuper PaulUSA21745.02431
51Wohl Aleksandar HIMAUS24095.02423
52Vernay ClovisIMFRA24465.02418
53Das ArghyadipIMIND24795.02409
54Zhukova NataliaGMUKR24415.02406
55Cabrera AlexisGMESP25185.02399
Boskovic DraskoIMSRB24125.02399
57Jones Gawain C BGMENG25935.02395
58Stefanova AntoanetaGMBUL25465.02356
59Tate AlanSCO22925.02353
60Monroy CharlesIMFRA24215.02347
61Slavin AlexeiIMRUS24175.02341
62Krush IrinaIMUSA24834.52516
63Weber TomFMLUX23104.52502
64Forsaa EspenFMNOR23064.52477
65Calzetta Ruiz MonicaWGMESP22844.52459
66Thomassen JoachimIMNOR24044.52421
67Gallagher Joseph GGMSUI25014.52412
68Mullon Jean-BaptisteIMFRA24204.52410
69Battaglini GabrielIMFRA24374.52395
70Andersen MadsFMDEN24104.52392
71Al-Sayed MohammedGMQAT24904.52387
72Karim IsmaelIMMAR23754.52385
73Vaibhav SuriIMIND24214.52382
74Nuri KambezSUI23004.52378
75Hoffmann MichaelGMGER25064.52376
76Stokke KjetilFMNOR24134.52341
77Dougherty MichaelFMCAN21834.52320
78Garcia Jimenez Francisco JavieFMESP22744.52315
79Kolbus DietmarIMGER23324.52308
80Navarrete Espi SamuelESP20954.52303
81Sipila VilkaFIN22694.52301
82Zygouris HristosGRE22154.52299
83Pogonina NatalijaWGMRUS24724.52289
84Dittmar PeterFMGER23284.52283
85Daurelle HerveFRA22434.52277
86Itkis HanaWFMUSA20844.52267
87Bergstrom RolfFMSWE23074.52257
88Wheldon PhilipENG21064.52245
89Jaunooby Ali RENG22074.52232
90Lochte ThomasGER21734.52197
91Henriksson JohanSWE22434.52178
92Chapman Terry P DENG22504.52119
93Steil-Antoni FionaWIMLUX21184.52103
94Sarkar JustinIMUSA24184.02452
95El Debs Felipe De CresceGMBRA24994.02424
96Zaremba AndrieFMUSA23394.02397
97Karavade EeshaIMIND23534.02393
98Peek MarcelIMNED23424.02388
99Tscharotschkin MichaelGER21814.02377
100Cummings David HIMCAN23664.02362
101Jones Richard SFMWLS23614.02344
102Bellin RobertIMENG23674.02343
103Getz NicolaiFMNOR23344.02338
104Illner Achim DrFMGER23454.02328
105Estrada Nieto JulianIMMEX23094.02323
106Oberhofer AndreGER22704.02321
107Gaponenko InnaIMUKR24664.02287
Urbina Perez Juan AntonioCMESP21894.02287
109Avalos Parra JoaoFMCHI22524.02261
110Vogel JaapFMNED22074.02258
111Kantans TomsFMLAT23424.02257
112Cramling PiaGMSWE25164.02237
113Malmdin Nils-AkeSWE22724.02235
114Meskovs NikitaLAT22434.02231
115Seyfried ClausGER21734.02220
116Tozer Philip A AENG21404.02215
117Daoudi KamalMAR21554.02205
118Spence David JENG22314.02194
119Montero Melendez RafaelESP22654.02191
120Sreeves ClementSCO20934.02190
121Kandic MilanSRB21434.02181
122Wahlbom MagnusSWE23054.02167
123Lipecki AlexanderSUI21264.02161
124Arnott Jonathan WENG21764.02146
125Osuna Vega EnriqueCMESP21404.02143
126Groffen HansNED21694.02126
127Collier David OENG21084.02103
128Spanton Tim RENG20074.02083
129Dasaolu AdeoyeENG21074.02079
130Winkler StefanGER18674.02038
131Becker ThomasGER21574.01941
132Kotronias VasiliosGMGRE25993.52632
133Bellon Lopez Juan ManuelGMESP24043.52338
134Vaarala EricSWE21523.52332
135Aerni AndiSUI21823.52309
136Andreasen PerFMDEN22393.52277
137Piasetski LeonIMCAN23033.52273
138Nikolaidis KonstantinosFMGRE22843.52240
139Sanchez LouisFMFRA22623.52230
140Lacrosse MarcFMBEL21813.52222
141Mckenna Jason PENG20623.52177
142Tabatt HendrikGER23423.52165
143Carlsten PeterSWE21103.52161
144Scholzen WolfgangGER20573.52160
145Hauge Lars OskarNOR19423.52141
146Montabord ManuelFRA20633.52135
147Daumen MichaelGER21303.52114
148Hvenekilde JorgenFMDEN21213.52089
149Memarian MiladIRI20283.52078
150Sommerhalder EricSUI20003.52071
151Suez-Panama GillesFRA20963.52067
152Tari AryanNOR20973.52061
153Brown DavidENG19233.52044
154Freuler RomanSUI20923.52038
155Valhondo Morales RubenESP19483.52037
156Vinas Guerrero Carlos AESP21213.52032
157Eman LennartSWE03.52030
158Salomon JohanNOR18363.52024
159Fomani MehdiESP20133.52023
160Schweizer ManfredGER20753.52013
161Lee Kai Jie EdwardSIN18333.52003
162Bous FlorianGER20883.51999
163Obiamiwe PaulNGR20153.51989
164Kuenitz KlausGER16953.51979
165Sigamoney Cyril SUSA19783.51954
166Zanetti BrunoSUI20173.51950
167Garcia de Lomas Guerrero CarloESP19403.51945
168Wilson AlexandraWFMSUI20373.51931
169Jorgensen Line JinNOR18923.51869
170Stebbings Anthony JENG22853.02093
171Lasinskas PovilasFMLTU21643.02080
172Compton AlistairNZL20463.02069
173Knudsen Jes WestDEN20003.02060
174Costello Colin AENG19753.02025
175Fairbairn StephenCAN20583.02024
Becking Franz JosefGER20293.02024
177Messam-Sparks LateefahENG19043.02007
178Jameson DavidWLS20543.02003
179Perez Reisler JosePUR18933.01993
180Henderikse BertNED20583.01957
181Cebada Benitez FernandoESP19973.01951
182Shepherd MichaelSCO19993.01939
Ungureanu SanduROU20003.01939
184Georgieva EmiliaBUL19073.01938
185Marder SimonSWE19903.01932
186Phillips Owen SENG19923.01912
187Henrichsen JensDEN19253.01911
188Helin MikaelSWE19143.01909
189Moreno Cervera Jose LuisESP19033.01864
190Leimeister WinfriedGER19063.01844
191Khachatourian YerazikNOR19963.01808
192Forsa EliseNOR17263.01806
193Bihi MehdiFRA19363.01739
194Connor Stephen JENG20422.52106
195Hamer MartynENG20412.52035
196Hegvik Leif TrygveNOR18142.51967
197Gillespie GarySCO18482.51932
198Gholami ArminNOR17792.51923
199Boesch HeinzGER18992.51901
200Martinez Gonzalez Francisco IiESP18702.51897
201Flores Chico JorgeESP19992.51892
202Zaky TamirFRA18612.51875
203Fogg MartinENG18902.51855
204Haga HalvorNOR20242.51853
205De Lillo MicheleITA19642.51838
206Havik VictorNOR21072.51823
207Kuehnast VolkerGER18992.51814
208Lundback KarlSWE19692.51807
209Bishop PeterLUX17842.51787
210Lochte SzilviaHUN20152.51785
211Wright JonathanENG18952.51693
212Whatley StephenGIB15702.51670
213Vea Odin BlikraNOR22142.02162
214Byron Alan MENG21922.02037
215Kelly PaulWLS19462.01874
216Neumanova MonikaCZE17122.01845
217Berggren KlasSWE14632.01799
218Kympergr VojtechCZE16312.01778
219Reid VanessWFMAUS18412.01766
220Grainger BenjaminENG18022.01733
221Birkestrand OddNOR18942.01711
222Gonzalez Amaya MillanESP18172.01652
223Stene VegardNOR16081.51946
224Matto ManuelGIB18381.51652
225Siddiqui NidaPAK17391.51637
226Rough Robert ESCO17421.51620
227Bauder HerbertGER20051.51592
228Christiansen Johan-SebastianNOR19551.01684
229Andersson UlfGMSWE25791.00
Rudd JackIMENG22971.00
231Veiga Rodriguez PabloESP15280.01070
232Jaime Montalvan Luis FelipeFMESP21860.00
232 players

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