TWIC is 31. First issue 17th September 1994.
3rd London Chess Classic 2011 (Open)
Abhijeet Gupta wins London Classic Open
IM Malcolm Pein - Thursday 15th December 2011
Abhijeet Gupta winner of the open. Photo © Ray Morris-Hill. | http://www.rmhphoto.eu
Malcolm Pein reports on the Indian domination of the London Chess Classic Open. Jovanka Houska was in the running for her first GM norm until very close to the end of her final game.
The Indian squad got the better of the English GMs in the Open tournament held alongside the 3rd London Chess Classic at Olympia. The winner, on 8/9 was Abhijeet Gupta who defeated Gawain Jones in round 8 and Keith Arkell in round 9 and claimed the £2500 first prize.
Final scores: 1 Gupta (India) 8/9 2 Grover (India) 7.5; 3-7Jones, Hillarp Persson (Sweden), Das (India), Summerscale, D`Costa (England) 7;
IM Jovanka Houska had a fine tournament and would have achieved a GM result had she drawn her final game. Here she outplays the young Indian Sahaj Grover who took second place. Black's hanging pawns on c5 and d5 are a target and after 24.Ne1! the knight is headed for f4. Grover's response leaves him with weaknesses on c5 and f5. Jovanka finishes with a nice combination which is today's puzzle.
J Houska - S Grover
London Classic FIDE Open
Queen's Indian
1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Bg2 Bb4+ 8.Bd2 Be7 9.Nc3 Bb7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Rc1 Na6 12.Ne5 c5 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.Bg5 h6 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Nc4 Bd4 17.Nb5 Rb8 18.Ncd6 Ba8 19.Nxd4 Qxd6 20.Nc2 Rbd8 21.Qd2 f5 22.e3 Qb6 23.Rfd1 Rd7 24.Ne1!
Sahaj Grover
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Jovanka Houska
Position after 24.Ne1
24...d4 25.Bxa8 Rxa8 26.exd4 Rxd4 27.Qe2 Re4 28.Qf3 Rf8 29.Nd3 Qb5 30.Nf4 Nb4 31.Ng6 Rf6 32.Rd8+ Kf7
Sahaj Grover
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Jovanka Houska
Position after 32...Kf7; White to play and win.
33.Qh5! Re8
(33...Rxg6 34.Qxf5+ Rf6 35.Qxe4)
34.Ne5+ Ke7
(34...Kf8 35.Nd7+ Ke7 36.Qxe8+)
35.Rd7+ Kf8 36.Rf7+ Kg8 37.Rxf6 Rxe5 38.Rxf5 1-0
England international Nick Pert was unbeaten but drew five straight games and never challenged for the top prize. He won quickly here.
N Pert - B Thorfinnsson
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qb3 Qc7 7.Bd2 Nc6 8.Bb5 e6 9.0-0 Bd6 10.Bb4 0-0 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Nbd2 Rfc8 13.Rfc1 Nd7 14.Qa3 Bxb4 15.Qxb4 c5 16.dxc5 Nxc5 17.Rc3 Qb6 18.Qa3 f6?? 19.Rac1 1-0
