Deporte Balear

Monday 24 January – Thursday 3 February 2011

PRESS RELEASE 30 JANUARY 2011

ROUND 5: GIBRALTAR MASTERS

Por John Saunders:

Nigel Short, con 5 puntos en 5 partidas,  lidera en solitario el Gibraltar Masters cuando llegamos al ecuador del torneo.  Ayer derrotó a su segunda Kosintseva, Nadezhda,  después de ganar contra la hermana pequeña, Tatiana, en la tercera ronda. El GM inglés se coloca a medio punto más del número uno del ranking, Vassily Ivanchuk, y de Daniel Fridman.

Una curiosida es que la hermanas Kosintseva tienen más o menos el mismo repertorio de apertura lo que obligo a Nigel a enfrentar dos veces el sistema Ragozin del Gambito de Dama. Nigel está empezando a cogerle el gusto a 1.d4 -«una mejor jugada ya que el peón está protegido». Para esta ocasión cambió de variante. Desde que juega peón dama el estilo de Short parece ser más posicional y el cambio parece estar funcionándole.

El viernes tuvimos una partida de Victor contra Victor (Bologan-Korchnoi) y ayer se han enfrentado Vasilios y Vassily, es decir: Kotronias-Ivanchuk. En principio Vassily era el favorito, pero las cosas distaron de estar tan claras puesto que el GM griego jugó muy bien y llegó incluso a tener la partida ganada. Pero Vasilios erró el camino en un medio juego muy complejo para acabar cometiendo un error fatal. Vassily (cuyo verdadero nombre en ucraniano es Vasyl) comentó, sin escatimar elogios al juego de su rival después de la partida ofreciendo, una vez más, un inolvidable momento al público asistente. Una partida que bien podría ganar el premio a la mejor del torneo.

Ronda 5

Kotronias,Vasilios (2599) – Ivanchuk,Vassily (2764)

Siciliana Dragón

1.e4 c5 2.Cf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Cxd4 Cf6 5.Cc3 d6 6.Ae3 Ag7 7.f3 Cc6 8.Dd2 0–0 9.Ac4 Ad7 10.0–0–0 Tb8 En su anterior dragón, es bien sabido que Ivanchuk lo juega todo, Vassily prefirío 10…Ce5 11.Ab3 Ca5 12.Ah6 Axh6 13.Dxh6 b5 El llamado dragón chino 14.g4 b4 15.Cd5 Cxb3+ 16.Cxb3! 16.axb3 Cxd5 17.exd5 e5 16…e5!? es más frecuente 16…Cxd5 17.Ce3! elogiado por Ivanchuk 17.h4 Cxd5 18.Txd5 Tb6 19.Thd1 se había jugado en una partida del año 2006 17…Ae6 18.h4 Rh8 un pequeño chiste, ahora tanto 19.h5 como 20.g5 la dama. 19.Dg5 Tb6 20.Ca5!? Rg7 21.Cf5+ Axf5 22.gxf5 Dc7 22…Ch5 23.Dxd8 Txd8 24.Cc4 gana un peón. 23.fxg6 23.h5 se encuentra con 23…h6 . 23…fxg6 24.h5 Tc8 25.Td2 Ta6 26.hxg6 h5 única. 27.Cb3 Txa2

28.Rb1? 28.f4! fue propuesta por Simon Williams, Vassily añadio que tal vez sea ganadora para el blanco. 28…Ta6 29.Df5 No funciona 29.f4 por 29…Cxe4 y la captura de la torre sería con jaque. 29…Dc4 30.Te1 Tc5!? 31.Tf2?! 31.f4! era crítica según Vassily. El problema es que 31…Tca5 (31…exf4 32.e5? (32.Dxf4) 32…Txe5! 33.Txe5 Df1+ 34.Cc1 Dxc1+! 35.Rxc1 Ta1# acaba en un bonito mate.) 32.Cxa5 Txa5 33.Txd6 es ganador para el blanco. 31…Tca5! 32.Te3?? 32.Cxa5 Txa5 33.f4 Da2+ 34.Rc1 Da1+ 35.Rd2 Dxb2; 32.f4 Ta1+ 33.Cxa1 Da2+ transpone 32…Dd4! de repente, las blancas están perdidas. 33.Cxa5 Dd1+ 34.Ra2 Txa5+ 35.Rb3 Da1 36.c3 Da4+ 37.Rc4 bxc3+ 0–1

Como Ivanchuk, Nigel Short y Victoria Cmylite comentaron sus respectivas partidas. Los videos están disponibles en la web del torneo.

El tiempo mejoró ayer y permitió qaue se llevara acabo la ya tradicional excursión a lo alto del  penon. El grupo de GM visitó la  Cueva de San Miguel, los túneles ‘Great Siege’  y, por supuesto, se detuvo a ver a los monos. Las fotos de los grandes maestros y  los monos en acción, pueden encontrase en la web. Mi favorita es la foto de Salome Melia con un mono pequeño como si fuera un sombrero a la moda de París. En general no estoy de acuerdo con el uso de pieles por los humanos, pero no puede haber ninguna objeción, cuando la piel está todavía en un animal vivo y con consentimiento mutuo.

Si recuerdan la cuestión de la jugada ilegal planteada ayer, la respuesta que no es oblgatorio mover la torre puesto que el enroque es una jugada de rey.

Aunque no lo crean ayer hubo otra jugada ilegal,esta vez en el Masters

Round 5

Fier,Alexandr (2571) – Getz,Nicolai (2334) [C10]

Defensa Francesa

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Cd2 dxe4 4.Cxe4 Ad7 5.Cf3 Ac6 6.Ceg5 Cd7 7.Cxf7!? Rxf7 8.Cg5+ Re8 9.Ac4 De7?! Parece que las negras no tienen su día, pero lo bueno aún está por llegar. 10.0–0

En este momento el Mf noruego intentó 0-0-0 sin recordar sus dos jugadas de rey. Esta vez y ante un GM la cosa no properó y Nicolai fue obligado a mover el rey…

10…Rd8 11.Te1 Cb6 12.Axe6 Ch6 13.Ah3 1–0

Round 6 (of 10) starts at 3pm (GMT+1) on Sunday 30 January.

John Saunders, Webmaster gibchesspress@gmail.com

Alice Mascarenhas, Chess Press Officer

chesspressoffice@caletahotel.gi or gibchesspress@gmail.com

TRADEWISE GIBRALTAR CHESS FESTIVAL Official website: www.gibraltarchesscongress.com

John Saunders reports: And then there was one. Nigel Short is the sole leader of the Gibraltar Masters tournament at the halfway stage with 5/5. Yesterday he defeated the second Kosintseva sister, Nadezhda, after beating her younger sister in round three. This puts the English grandmaster half a point ahead of top-rated Vassily Ivanchuk and Daniel Fridman going into round six.

One curiosity is that the Kosintseva sisters share more or less the same opening repertoire, so Nigel found himself again facing the Queen’s Gambit, Ragozin variation. Nigel is gradually coming round to the virtues of 1 d4 – «this becoming a habit … 1 d4 is a better move because your pawn is protected». He refined his opening line (having decided that his play against Tatiana was slightly sub-optimal). Nigel’s switch to d-pawn openings seems to have changed his playing style and made him more positional. Whether that is true or not, the change seems to be working for him.

Friday we had Viktor against Viktor but yesterday the game of the day was Vasilios against Vassily, i.e. Kotronias versus Ivanchuk. Vassily was the clear rating favourite but it was far from one-way traffic as the Greek grandmaster played positively from the start and was arguably winning at one stage. But it was very complex and later in the middlegame Vasilios went astray and blundered. Vassily (often known by his true Ukrainian name Vasyl) joined the audience in the commentary room immediately after his game and treated them to another entertaining session. He was very complimentary about Vasilios’s play. This could be a strong candidate for the best game prize.

Round 5

Kotronias,Vasilios (2599) – Ivanchuk,Vassily (2764)

Sicilian Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0–0 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0–0–0 Rb8 On his previous visit to this variation (it is well-known that Ivanchuk plays everything), Vassily played 10…Ne5 11.Bb3 Na5 12.Bh6 Bxh6 13.Qxh6 b5 The signature move of the so-called ‘Chinese Dragon’. 14.g4 b4 15.Nd5 Nxb3+ 16.Nxb3! 16.axb3 Nxd5 17.exd5 e5 16…e5!? This has been played once before. 16…Nxd5 has been seen more frequently. 17.Ne3! Praised by Ivanchuk. 17.h4 Nxd5 18.Rxd5 Rb6 19.Rhd1 has been played before in a game in 2006. 17…Be6 18.h4 Kh8 A little joke from Vasyl. Both 19.h5 and 20.g5 lose the queen. 19.Qg5 Rb6 20.Na5!? Kg7 21.Nf5+ Bxf5 22.gxf5 Qc7 22…Nh5 23.Qxd8 Rxd8 24.Nc4 wins a pawn for White. 23.fxg6 23.h5 runs into 23…h6 . 23…fxg6 24.h5 Rc8 25.Rd2 Ra6 26.hxg6 h5 Forced. 27.Nb3 Rxa2

28.Kb1? 28.f4! was proposed by Simon Williams in the commentary room and Vassily agreed that this was excellent and maybe winning for White. 28…Ra6 29.Qf5 Now 29.f4 doesn’t work because of 29…Nxe4 and the rook drops with check. 29…Qc4 30.Re1 Rc5!? 31.Rf2?! 31.f4! was still critical, according to Vassily. The problem is that 31…Rca5 (31…exf4 32.e5? (32.Qxf4) 32…Rxe5! 33.Rxe5 Qf1+ 34.Nc1 Qxc1+! 35.Kxc1 Ra1# is a beautiful mate.) 32.Nxa5 Rxa5 33.Rxd6 is winning for White. 31…Rca5! 32.Re3?? 32.Nxa5 Rxa5 33.f4 Qa2+ 34.Kc1 Qa1+ 35.Kd2 Qxb2; 32.f4 Ra1+ 33.Nxa1 Qa2+ transposes 32…Qd4! Suddenly White is lost. 33.Nxa5 Qd1+ 34.Ka2 Rxa5+ 35.Kb3 Qa1 36.c3 Qa4+ 37.Kc4 bxc3+ 0–1

As well as Ivanchuk, the audience later saw Nigel Short’s commentary on his second Kosintseva victory, and then Victoria Cmilyte going through her game. These videos are still available at the website.

The weather cleared yesterday and allowed the now traditional trip to the top of the rock. The party of GMs saw St Michael’s Cave, the siege tunnels and, of course, stopped off to monkey about with the apes. Please visit our website to see some photos of super-grandmasters interacting with super apes. My personal favourite was the photo of Salome Melia apparently wearing a small live monkey as if it were a hat from the latest Paris fashion show. In general I disapprove of the wearing of fur by humans but there can surely be no objection when the fur is still attached to a live and consenting animal.

You may recall that we featured an amusing illegal move in one of the games from the Challengers yesterday and set a little quiz question concerning illegal castling when the king has no legal move is: does the rook have to be moved? The answer is no: this is because castling is deemed to be a move of the king.

Would you believe it, yesterday we had a second illegal move, this time in the Masters. Here is the game.

Round 5

Fier,Alexandr (2571) – Getz,Nicolai (2334) [C10]

French Defence

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7 5.Nf3 Bc6 6.Neg5 Nd7 7.Nxf7!? Kxf7 8.Ng5+ Ke8 9.Bc4 Qe7?! The first sign that Black is having an off day but this is nothing compared to what is to come. 10.0–0

At this point the young Norwegian FM attempted to play 10…0–0–0, apparently forgetting that two of his previous three moves had been with the king. As oversights go, this was a pretty big one. Unlike the game in the Masters, his GM opponent noticed the illegality and Nicolai found himself obliged to move his king… 10…Kd8 11.Re1 Nb6 12.Bxe6 Nh6 13.Bh3 1–0

On Friday we said farewell to the competitors of the first week tournaments. Of course, many of them are still here with us, playing in second week events or the Masters. But it seems an opportune moment to catch up on the results and prizes. Mr Joe Hernandez of the Gibraltar Leisure Centre was present to give out the prizes to the winners. First in the Amateur A tournament was Vegard Stene from Norway, who receives the £1,000 first prize. Second equal were Geoffrey Bishop, Alvaro Candano Gonzalez, Armin Gholami who received £400 each. The Gibraltar Prize was shared between Mario Garcia and Stephen Whatley who won £50 each.

In Challengers A, first was shared by Ivan Elishev and Johan Henriksson who received £1500 each. Third equal were Ali R Jaunooby, Hristos Zygouris, Nikita Meskovs, each of whom received £167. Rating 1950-2049: Halvor Haga, Simon Marder (£250 each). Rating below 1950: Mikael Helin, Samuel Flanagan, Emilia Georgieva (£167 each). Unrated: Sandu Ungureanu (£500). Gibraltar Prize: Alan D Gravett  (£150).

There was a slight mix-up during the prizegiving at first and Norwegian player Armin Gholami was surprised not to hear his name read out as a prizewinner. He stood up and calmly explained to the organisers in perfect English that his name had not been read out and that he should have received a share of the second prize for the Challengers. He was quite right and the error swiftly rectified. An unremarkable incident, perhaps, but for the fact that Armin is just 11 years old. His calmness, logic and assertiveness were impressive for one so young and a sign of great character. I suspect we may hear more of him.

Round 6 (of 10) starts at 3pm (GMT+1) on Sunday 30 January.

John Saunders, Webmaster gibchesspress@gmail.com

Alice Mascarenhas, Chess Press Officer

chesspressoffice@caletahotel.gi or gibchesspress@gmail.com

TRADEWISE GIBRALTAR CHESS FESTIVAL Official website: www.gibraltarchesscongress.com

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