
A look back at the Keres Memorial – ACP Open 2016 (part two)
The Keres Memorial – ACP Open, held from the 7th-10th of January 2016, was won by Igor Kovalenko. We reported this on our newspage. However there were many interesting games and moments which led us to write this final report and also pay a tribute to the great Paul Keres, who would have completed 100 years on 7th January 2016, were he alive. Estonia has a banknote and coin to honour their famous son.

Paul Keres the strongest player to have never played for the World Championship title
The Keres Memorial – ACP Open 2016 was held from the 7th to 10th of January 2016 in the conference hall of the Park Inn by Radisson Merton Conference and Spa Hotel, Talinn. The tournament was mainly organized by ESA Kalev, a sportsclub which Paul Keres always represented, in collaboration with Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) as part of the ACP Tour 2016. It was an eleven round Swiss tournament with a time control of 15 minutes for the entire game, with an increment of ten seconds per move. There were in all prizes worth €15,000, which included special prizes of €5,000 only for ACP Premium members. The tournament attracted a total of 178 players from 21 countries, and 36 of them were grandmasters. Some big names like Peter Svidler and Boris Gelfand were seen in action at the event.
Read part one of our retrospective report on the Keres Memorial

Boris Gelfand finished third with 8.5/11, scoring fine wins over Romanov,
Vitiugov and Miton. Here is the position from his game against Kamil Miton:
Gelfand-Miton, Round 9

Black has just played his pawn to g6, attacking the knight on f5. There is a nice check on e7
and a juicy pawn to pick on d6. Quick: would you go for one of them or play something different?
Click for the solution
Boris just played his pawn to h4 and Black discovered that the lady on g5 was trapped!
But Gelfand won’t really remember this tournament for his wins. It was his loss against FM Juri Krupenski in the second round that made the headlines on day one:
Krupenski-Gelfand, Round two

Boris has just moved his knight to h5. Why isn’t it such a good idea?
What will you play as White?
Click for the solution
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Nge2 d5 6.a3 Bd6 7.Ng3 c6 8.Be2 Nbd7 9.0-0 dxc4 10.Bxc4 e5 11.Ba2 Nb6 12.dxe5 Bxe5 13.e4 Qe7 14.Nf5 Bxf5 15.exf5 Rad8 16.Qf3 Qc7 17.h3 Rd7 18.Bg5 h6 19.Bh4 Rd4 20.g4 Rfd8 21.Rfe1 Rd3 22.Qg2 R8d4 23.Re2 Nh5? 24.gxh5! Rxh4 25.f6! Bxf6 25...g6 26.hxg6+- 26.Re8+ Kh7 27.Qg6+‼ fxg6 28.Bg8+ Kh8 29.Bf7+ 1–0
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Krupenski,J | - | Gelfand,B | - | 1–0 |
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The man who orchestrated this beautiful combination: Juri Krupenski [picture by Vladimir Barsky]

Surya Shekhar Ganguly from India finished fourth with 8.5/11
Of all the games that Ganguly played the most impressive one was surely his win over Pavel Tregubov. The game was filled with mind boggling complications and the fact that Surya could navigate them to perfection shows how strong he really is.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 dxc3 12.h4!? b6!? 13.h5 Bb7 14.h6 Rg6! 14...0-0-0 15.Qxf7 15.a4 Nf5 16.g4! 16.Qh8+ Kd7 17.Qxa8 Rxh6! 16...Rxg4 17.Bh3 17.Qh8+ Kd7 18.Qxa8 Bxa8 19.h7 Nb4 20.h8Q Nxc2+ 21.Kd1 Qc4-+ 17...Rg6 18.Bxf5 exf5 19.Qh8+ Kd7 20.Qxa8 Rxh6 21.e6+! Rxe6 21...fxe6 22.Rxh6 Bxa8 23.Rh7++- 21...Kxe6? 22.Rxh6++- 21...Ke7 22.Ba3+!+- 22.Qf8 22.Qh8 Ba6-+ 22...Nd4 22...Ba6 23.Qxf7+ Ne7 24.Qxe6+ Kxe6 25.Nd4++- 23.Rh7! Kc6 23...Rxe2+ 24.Kd1! Qd8! 25.Rxf7+ 25.Qxf7+ Qe7 26.Qxe7+ Rxe7 27.Rxe7+ Kxe7 25...Re7 26.Rxe7+ Qxe7 27.Qxe7+ Kxe7 24.Rh6! Qd7 25.Be3! Nxc2+ 26.Kf2 d4 26...Nxe3 27.Rxe6+ Qxe6 28.Nd4++- 27.Nxd4+ Nxd4 28.Rc1 Rxh6 29.Rxc3+ Kd5 30.Qxh6 Qxa4 31.Rd3 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
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Ganguly,S | - | Tregubov,P | - | 1–0 | 2016 | C18 | 25th Keres Memorial - ACP Open | 9.5 |
Please, wait...

Polish youngster Jan-Krzysztof Duda ended with 8.0/11, and won fifth place

Bulgarian grandmaster Kiril Georgiev finished sixth [picture by Vladimir Petrov]
Particularly inspiring was Kiril’s facebook post after the end of the tournament:

Eager to learn even at the age of fifty! Now that’s a true chess lover! Here’s the position with Berkes which Kiril was talking about. Test yourself whether you find the win:
Georgiev-Berkes, Round 8

The experienced grandmaster was unable to win this endgame with white.
Can you do better? It is White to move.
Click for the solution
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
75.e6!? Qxe6? 75...Qh1+! 76.Kg5 Qc1+! 77.f4 Qc5+ 78.f5 Qe3+ 79.Kh4 Qf2+= 75...fxe6? 76.Qxg6+ Kf8 77.Qh6+ Ke8 78.Qh5++- 76.Qxe6 fxe6 77.Kg5! Kf7 77...Kg7 78.Kf4! 78.f4? Kf7! 79.Kh6 Kf6 80.g5+ Kf5 81.Kg7 Kxf4 82.Kxg6 e5 78...Kf6 79.g5+ Kf7 80.Ke5 Ke7 81.f4 Kf7 82.Kd6+- 78.Kf4 78.Kh6 Kf6 78...e5 79.g5 e4 80.Kh7+- 79.f4! Kf7 79...e5 80.g5+ Kf5 81.fxe5+- 80.g5+- 78...Ke7 78...Kf6 79.g5+ Kf7 80.Ke5+- 79.Ke5? 79.f3! Kf6 79...Kd6? 80.Kg5+- 80.g5+ Kf7 81.Ke5 Ke7 82.f4+- 79...g5! 80.Kd4 Kd6 81.Ke4 Kd7 81...Ke7 82.Ke5+- 82.Kd3 Kd6 83.Kd4 Kd7 84.Kc5 Kc7 85.Kc4 Kd6 86.Kd4 Kd7 87.Ke3 Kd6 88.Ke4 Kd7 89.Ke5 Ke7 90.Kd4 Kd6 91.Ke4 Kd7 92.Ke5 Ke7 93.f3 Kf7 94.Kd6 Kf6 95.Kd7 Kf7 96.Kd8 Kf8 97.Kd7 Kf7 98.Kd6 Kf6 99.Kd7 Kf7 ½–½
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The top three women’s prizes were won by Alexandra Kosteniuk, Pia Cramling and Padmini Rout. A special mention must be made of Kosteniuk, who scored 8.0/11 and finished tenth in such a strong field.

22-year-old Padmini Rout had a superb result when she beat
Pavel Eljanov in the eighth round [picture by Vladimir Barsky]
The India number three has sent us her game, which cannot be found anywhere else as it has not been published, and which we now present to you:
1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 Nf6 6.d3 e6 7.Bd2 Bb4 8.0-0-0 d4 9.Nb1 Bxd2+ 10.Nxd2 0-0 11.g4 c5 12.g5 Nfd7 13.h4 Nc6 14.Qg3 a5 15.a4!? 15.h5! a4 16.a3 b5 17.Bh3 b4 18.Rdg1 bxa3 19.bxa3 Qb6 20.g6+- 15...Qe7 16.f4 Nb6 17.b3 Nb4 18.Nc4 Na2+ 19.Kd2?! 19.Kb2 Nc3 20.Re1 Nxc4+ 21.dxc4 19...Nxc4+ 20.dxc4 b5!? 20...Nc3 21.Re1 Qd6 21.cxb5 21.axb5 a4 22.bxa4 Nc3 21...c4?! 21...Nc3 22.Bxc4 Qb4+ 23.Ke2! Nc3+ 24.Kf3 Nxd1 25.Rxd1 Rac8 25...Qc3+ 26.Bd3± 26.Qf2 e5 26...Rxc4 27.bxc4 Qxa4 28.Rxd4+- 27.fxe5 Qe7 28.Rxd4 Qxe5 29.Rd5 Qb2 30.Kg2 Kh8 31.Rf5 f6 32.e5 Rfe8 33.exf6 gxf6 34.Rxf6 Rcd8 35.Rf7 Qc3 36.Bd3 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
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Padmini,R | - | Eljanov,P | - | 1–0 | 2016 | B11 | 25th Keres Memorial -ACP Open | |
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Top final standings (after 11 rounds)
Interview with ACP President Emil Sutovsky
After the tournament ended we contacted ACP President Emil Sutovsky and asked him a few questions about the role of ACP in this tournament and also in the future events of 2016.

Making a difference in the world of chess: Emil Sutovsky
Sagar Shah: How did the idea of ACP getting associated with the Keres Memorial come into being?
Emil Sutovsky: Of course, I knew that 2016 is the Keres jubilee year. Hence I had talks with the Estonian Chess Federation with regards to their plans, suggesting that the ACP help. Several formats were discussed, but finally we decided to have a big open event that would allow everyone to compete with the very best.
SS: What was the role that you and ACP played in this tournament?
ES: We contributed financially (donating €5,000 for ACP Premium Members taking part in the event), and also promoted the tournament – getting very strong players from many countries. About 25 ACP members had their accommodation covered, and that also helped to gather such a strong field. Of course, we also took care of the promotion in mass-media.
SS: What are the future plans of ACP for 2016? Is it going collaborate with many more tournaments in this year?
ES: As you probably know, the ACP General Assembly took place recently and the new ACP Board was elected. I think we have a very good team, and we have a lot of plans for this year. We intend to stage at least three more ACP events in 2016, and we will continue our wild card program, which includes cooperation with Wijk Aan Zee, Gibraltar, Poikovsky, Biel, and Qatar. Also, in co-operation with the ECU we are going to introduce a special prize fund for ACP Premium Members participating in the European Individual Championship 2016 (we had it already in the 2015 Championships). We have also modified the system of the ACP Tour, which will include more tournaments in 2016. We have about 150 ACP Premium Members today, and hopefully this number will increase, as we really try hard to make the professional chess world a better place! Finally, the latest good news about our veteran program in co-operation with FIDE: six distinguished chess veterans will get an award of US $5,000 each, like we did in 2014 and 2015.
Official website – pictures, unless otherwise noted, by Marek Kolk