Gawain Jones wins 88th Hastings Masters

by ChessBase
1/6/2013 – After eight round three players were tied for first. In round nine English GM Gawain Jones, by pure dint of determination, ground out an endgame win against his main rival Daniel Alsina Leal, and then drew his final game to take sole victory with 7.5/10 points and a 2678 performance. Behind him eight players with half a point less. Final report with analysis by GM Karsten Müller.
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The 88th Hastings Masters took place from December 28, 2012 to January 6th, 2013. The participants of the Masters Tournament included 13 grandmasters and players from 22 countries, as far afield as New Zealand and Indonesia, Iceland and the USA. Local and regional players were also well represented. This Congress provided an entertaining feast of chess, but in addition Hastings also provides a wide variety of galleries, museums and quirky shops to interest non-chess playing accompanying family or friends. The Chess Congress is sponsored by Hastings Borough Council.


Hastings, in East Sussex on the south coast of England [View Larger Map]

Top seed Gawain Jones (above) finished the tournament in first place with 7.5/10 points and a 2678 performance. After eight rounds he was in the joint lead with Sarunas Sulskis, Rui Gao and Daniel Alsina Leal, each with 6.0/8. In the ninth round Jones faced Alsina Leal and ground him down in the endgame (see Karsten Müller's analysis below), while Sulskis and Gao drew their games. With 7.0/9 in the sole lead Gawain clinched sole victory in Hastings with a final round 17-move draw. Behind him eight players with half a point less.

Top final rankings (after ten rounds)

Rank
 Name
Score
Fed.
Rating
TPR
W-We
1
 GM Jones, Gawain C B
7.5
ENG
2644
2678
+0.46
2
 GM Sumets, Andrey
7.0
UKR
2638
2562
-0.65
3
 GM Kulaots, Kaido
7.0
EST
2581
2498
-0.79
4
 GM Vovk, Andrey
7.0
UKR
2567
2511
-0.31
5
 GM Sulskis, Sarunas
7.0
LTU
2550
2589
+0.68
6
 GM Vocaturo, Daniele
7.0
ITA
2521
2492
+0.00
7
 IM Gretarsson, Hjorvar Steinn
7.0
ISL
2516
2497
-0.02
8
 IM Hawkins, Jonathan
7.0
ENG
2507
2518
+0.38
9
 IM Gao, Rui
7.0
CHN
2450
2611
+2.25
10
 GM Alsina Leal, Daniel
6.5
ESP
2511
2530
+0.36
11
 IM Hamitevici, Vladimir
6.5
MDA
2440
2349
-0.92
12
 IM Zhou, Yang-Fan
6.5
ENG
2419
2373
-0.24
13
 FM Ashton, Adam G
6.5
ENG
2366
2361
+0.04
14
 IM Burns-Mannion, Stephen R
6.5
SCO
2351
2562
+2.46
15
 IM Knott, Simon J B
6.5
ENG
2325
2288
-0.29
16
 GM Flear, Glenn C
6.0
ENG
2481
2414
-0.70
17
 GM Arkell, Keith C
6.0
ENG
2470
2452
+0.01
18
 IM Kjartansson, Gudmundur
6.0
ISL
2404
2500
+1.39
19
 IM Farid, Firman Syah
6.0
INA
2338
2379
+0.57
20
 IM Prosviriakov, Vladimir
6.0
USA
2293
2322
+0.36
21
 WIM Sihite, Chelsie Monica
6.0
INA
2277
2377
+1.17
22
 WGM Gu, Xiaobing
6.0
CHN
2209
2454
+3.00
23
 Rayner, Francis
6.0
WLS
2166
2396
+2.86


GM Kaido Kulaots of Estonia, 2581, 7.0/10, performance 2498


GM Andrey Vovk, Ukraine, 2567, 7.0/10, performance 2511


GM Sarunas Sulskis of Lithunia, 2550, 7.0/10, performance 2589


GM Daniele Vocaturo of Italy, 2521, 7.0/10, performance 2492


IM Gao Rui of China, 2450, 7.0/10, performance 2611


WGM Gu Xiaobing, China, 2209, 6.0/10, performance 2454

The decisive game, analysed by GM Karsten Müller

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1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Nb6 6.d3 Bg7 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.Qd2 h6 10.Nf3 Bh3 11.Rg1 Rb8 12.Bf4 g5 13.Ne5 Bxe5 14.Bxe5 f6 15.g4 fxe5 16.Rg3 Qd4 17.Rxh3 Qxg4 18.Rg3 Qf4 19.Qc2 Nd7 20.Ne4 Rb6 21.a4 c5 22.a5 Rb5 23.Qc4 a6 24.Qd5 Rxa5 25.Rd1 Rb5 26.Qc6 Kd8 27.Qxa6 Rxb2 28.Qa8+ Rb8 29.Qd5 Kc8 30.Ra1 Rf8 31.Rf3 Qxh2 32.Nxc5 Rd8 33.Kd2 Nxc5 34.Qxc5 Qh4 35.Qxe5 Qb4+ 36.Kd1 Qd6 37.Qe4 Rb4 38.Ra8+ Rb8 39.Rxb8+ Kxb8 40.Rf5 Qb6 41.Qc4 e5 42.Rxe5 Qb1+ 43.Qc1 Qxc1+ 44.Kxc1 Kc8 45.Kd2 Kd7 46.e4 Rg8 47.Ra5 Rg6 48.Ra8 g4 49.Rh8 Kd6 50.d4 c6 51.Rh7 Ke6 52.Ke2 Kd6 53.Kd3 g3 54.fxg3 Rxg3+ 55.Kc4 Rg6 56.Rf7 Rg1 57.Rf6+ Kd7 58.Rxh6 Rc1+ 59.Kd3 Re1 60.Rh4 Ke6 61.Kd2 Ra1 62.Rh6+ Kd7 63.Ke3 Rf1 64.Rg6 Rf8 65.Rg1 Rh8 66.Rg7+ Ke6 67.Rg6+ Kd7 68.Kf4 Rh1 69.Rg7+ Ke6 70.Rg6+ Kd7 71.Kf5 The following victory in the rook ending helped Gawain Jones to win the tournament in Hastings: Rh4? Active defense is indeed called for, but this is the wrong way around as White can force the rook away. Passive defense with 71...Rh7? loses as well, e.g. 72.e5 Rh5+ 72...Rf7+ 73.Rf6 Rh7 74.Rd6+ Kc7 75.d5 Rh5+ 76.Kf4 cxd5 77.Rxd5+- 73.Kf6 Rh7 74.Kg5 74.Rg7+? Rxg7 75.Kxg7 Ke6 76.Kg6 c5 77.dxc5 Kxe5= 74...Kc7 75.Kf5 Rd7 76.Rg4 Rd8 77.Kf6+- Coming from behind with 71...Rd1 does draw: 72.Ke5 Re1 However, not 72...Rd2? 73.Rd6+ Kc7 74.Ke6 Rh2 75.Rd7+ Kc8 76.Rf7 Rh4 77.Ke5 Kd8 78.Kd6 Rxe4 79.Rf8+ Re8 80.Rxe8+ Kxe8 81.Kxc6+- 73.Rg7+ Kc8 74.Kd6 Rxe4 75.Kxc6 Rxd4 76.Rg8+ Rd8= The zwischenschach 71...Rf1+ 72.Ke5 followed by Re1= is playable as well. 71...Re1? 72.Rg7+ Kc8 73.e5+- 72.Rg7+ Kc8 72...Kd8 73.Rf7 Ke8 74.Rc7 Rh6 75.e5 Kd8 76.Kg5 Re6 77.Ra7 c5 78.Kf5+- 72...Kd6 73.e5+ Kd5 74.Rd7+ Kc4 75.e6 Rh5+ 76.Kg6+- 73.Rg4 Rh5+ 73...Rh1 74.e5 Kd7 75.Rg7+ Kd8 76.e6 Re1 77.Kf6 Rf1+ 78.Ke5 Rd1 79.Ra7 Ke8 80.d5 White creates an umbrella for his king. cxd5 80...Rxd5+ 81.Kf6+- 81.Kd6+- 74.Ke6 Rh6+ 75.Ke7 Kc7 76.e5 Rh7+ 77.Ke8 Rh8+ 77...Rh6 78.Rg7+ Kc8 79.Ke7 Kc7 80.e6+- 78.Kf7 Kd7 78...Rh7+ 79.Rg7+- 79.e6+ Kd6 80.Rg7 80.Re4 Rh7+ 81.Kg6 Re7 82.Kf6 wins as well. 80...Kd5 80...Rh4 does not help due to 81.e7 Rf4+ 82.Ke8 Rxd4 83.Kf8 Rf4+ 84.Rf7 Re4 85.e8Q Rxe8+ 86.Kxe8 c5 87.Rf5 Kc6 88.Ke7 Kb5 89.Kd6+- 81.e7 Kxd4 82.Rg8! Neccesary precision. The direct 82.e8Q? spoils it due to Rxe8 83.Kxe8 c5 84.Rd7+ Kc3 85.Ke7 c4 86.Kd6 Kd4! Bodycheck! 87.Kc6+ Ke3 88.Kc5 c3 89.Kb4 c2 90.Rc7 Kd2= 82...Rh7+ 83.Ke6 Rxe7+ 84.Kxe7 c5 85.Rd8+! The zwischenschach is the only move to win. Ke3 86.Rc8 Kd4 87.Kd6 c4 88.Kc6! The typical encirclement to avoid a bodycheck. Congratulations to Gawain Jones! 88.Kc6! c3 89.Kb5 Kd3 90.Kb4 c2 91.Kb3+- 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Jones,G2644Alsina Leal,D25111–02013A1688th Hastings Masters9.1

Pictures by John Upham

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