Snowdrops and Old Hands – Czech Coal Match 2012
 |
From December 7th to 16th the spa city of Poděbrady is hosting
a match between a rising generation of female chess players and chess
legends of the 20th century. The former is represented by IM Valentina
Gunina (Russia, rated 2517), IM Tania Sachdev (India, 2400), WGM Alina
Kashlinskaya (Russia, 2344) and WIM Kristýna Havlíková
(Czech Republic, 2310). They are trained by team captain GM Sergei Movsesian.
The "Old Hands" are GM Oleg Romanishin (Ukraine, 2530), GM
Fridrik Olafsson (Iceland, 2419), GM Vlastimil Hort (Czech Republic,
2455) and GM Wolfgang Uhlmann (Germany, 2319). The games are being played
at Hotel Zámeček in Poděbrady, the rate of play is 90 minutes
for 40 moves, 30 minutes for the rest, with an increament of 30 seconds
per move.
|
The guest of honour is Yuri Averbakh, at 90 the oldest living grandmaster
of the world
Snowdrops Alina Kašlinskaja, Valentina Gunina, Kristýna Havlíková
and Tania
Sachdev with their capitan Sergei Movsesian.
The start of round one in the Blue Salon of Hotel Zámeček in Poděbrady
The event started on Saturday with a real snowstorm outside, and some fiery
chess by the Snowdrops in the tournament hall: Tania Sachdev beat Wolfgang Uhlmann,
Valentina Gunina beat Fridrik Olafsson and Alina Kašlinskaja beat Vlastimil
Hort. Only Oleg Romanishin managed to draw Kristýna Havlíková
with the black pieces. With that the young female talents had taken the lead
with 3.5:0.5 points.
WIM Kristýna Havlíková of the Czech Republic, rated
2310
In the second round it looked as though the Old Hands would reduce the terrible
loss from the first round. But everything finished differently. Wolfgang Uhlmann
didn't manage to reinforce his adventageous position against Valentina Gunina
and the match finished in the calm waters of a draw. The first victory for the
Old Hands was achieved by Vlastimil Hort when he won a piece after a mistake
by Kristýna Havlíková in time trouble.
A second victory for Indian IM Tania Sachdev
But the veterans couldn't rejoice for long, as the remaining decisions came
in the fourth hour of play. Fridrik Olafsson sacrificed two pieces to open up
the enemy king, but his adversary Tania Sachdev managed to ward off the attack
and equalize the total score.
Alina Kashlinskaya with a win with a dramatic counter-attack against Oleg
Romanishin
Finally a dramatic game between Oleg Romanishin and Alina Kashlinskaya had
to decide who would win the second round. Romanishin, playing white, obtained
an advantage in time trouble, but just before the time control his Snowdrop
opponent launched an incredible counter-attack (starting with the move 39…Qa3!)
and left her opponent helpless.
GM Oleg Romanishin, beaten by Alina Kashlinskaya and the clock
[Event "Snowdrops and Old-hands"] [Site "Podebrady"] [Date "2012.12.09"] [Round
"2.3"] [White "Romanishin, Oleg"] [Black "Kashlinskaya, Alina"] [Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C95"] [WhiteElo "2530"] [BlackElo "2344"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2012.??.??"]
[EventRounds "8"] [EventCountry "CZE"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4
Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2
Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Bg5 h6 15. Bh4 g6 16. dxe5 dxe5 17. N3h2 Bg7
18. Qf3 c5 19. Rad1 Qb6 20. Ne3 c4 21. Nhg4 h5 22. Nxf6+ Nxf6 23. g4 hxg4 24.
hxg4 Qe6 25. Re2 Rad8 26. Red2 Rxd2 27. Rxd2 Bc8 28. Qd1 Bf8 29. f3 Bc5 30.
Bf2 Qb6 31. Qe2 Bb7 32. b4 cxb3 33. axb3 a5 34. c4 bxc4 35. Nxc4 Bxf2+ 36. Qxf2
Qb4 37. Rd6 Kg7 38. Rb6 Qe7 39. Nxa5 Qa3 $1 40. Nc4 Qc1+ 41. Qf1 Qxc2 42. g5
Nd7 43. Rxb7 Rh8 44. Qg2 Qc1+ 0-1
So the young ladies increased the total score to 6:2.
The Snowdrops kept pressing in round three. In the game Tania Sachdev vs Oleg
Romanishin Black obtained a slight advantage, but it wasn't enough to win, and
the adversaries divided the point.
East German chess legend Wolfgang Uhlmann
Kristýna Havlíková scored a full point for Snowdrops when
she won two pawns with a wonderful tactical stroke in the duel with Wolfgang
Uhlmann.
Vlastimil Hort (above) got a beautiful game and a great position againt Valentina
Gunina, but unfortunately he made a mistake before the decisive move and couldn't
refuse the offer of a draw made by Valentina.
In the last game, Fridrik Olafsson (above) showed to Alina Kašlinskaja
how Old Hands play rook endgames when he kept an inferior position in the safe
boundries of a draw. The score after the third round: 8.5:3.5 for the Snowdrops.
The Snowdrops celebrating with tea and soft drinks after the round
The Old Hands scored their first win in the fourth round, taking one point
off the Snowdrops' lead. While Oleg Romanishin drew against Valentina Gunina,
Vlastimil Hort against Tania Sachdev, and Wolfgang Uhlmann against Alina Kašlinskaja,
it was Fridrik Olafsson who scored the full point against Kristýna Havlíková,
when he kept her king from castling and forced capitulation in 24 moves. Standing
after four rounds: 10.0:6.0 for the Snowdrops.
Team results
|
I |
II |
III |
IV |
V |
VI |
VII |
VIII |
| Snowdrops |
3.5 |
2.5 |
2.5 |
1.5 |
|
|
|
|
| Oldhands |
0.5 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
2.5 |
|
|
|
|
| Total Snowdrops |
3.5 |
6 |
8.5 |
10 |
|
|
|
|
| Total Oldhands |
0.5 |
2 |
3.5 |
6 |
|
|
|
|
Individual results
| |
|
O1 |
O2 |
O3 |
O4 |
O1 |
O2 |
O3 |
O4 |
Total |
| S1 |
Valentina Gunina |
1 |
|
0.5 |
|
|
0.5 |
|
0.5 |
2.5 |
| S2 |
Tania Sachdev |
|
1 |
|
0.5 |
1 |
|
0.5 |
|
3 |
| S3 |
Alina Kashlinskaya |
0.5 |
|
1 |
|
|
0.5 |
|
1 |
3 |
| S4 |
Kristýna Havlíková |
|
1 |
|
0.5 |
0 |
|
0 |
|
1.5 |
| |
|
S1 |
S2 |
S3 |
S4 |
S1 |
S2 |
S3 |
OS4 |
|
| O1 |
Fridrik Olafsson |
|
0 |
|
1 |
0 |
|
0.5 |
|
1.5 |
| O2 |
Wolfgang Uhlmann |
0.5 |
|
0.5 |
|
|
0 |
|
0 |
1 |
| O3 |
Vlastimil Hort |
|
0.5 |
|
1 |
0.5 |
|
0 |
|
2 |
| O4 |
Oleg Romanishin |
0.5 |
|
0 |
|
|
0.5 |
|
0.5 |
1.5 |
The venue: Hotel Zámeček in Poděbrady, Czech Republic. The tournament
is being
held by the society Šach Mat ltd. and the civic association Prague Chess
Society.
Copyright
ChessBase