8/28/2015 – Going into the rest day after six rounds we have five players in the lead at the Abu Dhabi Masters 2015 – Grandelius, Rapport, Areshchenko, Gupta and Kravtsiv. A horde of nine players are just half a point behind the leaders. With three rounds to go this promises to be a very exciting finish. We have an illustrated report with lots of pictures, videos and analysis right from the venue.
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Five leaders in the Abu Dhabi Masters
Report from the tournament venue by IM Sagar Shah
The Abu Dhabi Masters is being held from the 23rd to 31st of August 2015 in the capital city of UAE. 120 players from as many as 35 countries, with 44 grandmasters, are participating in this event. 22 players have a rating of more than 2600. The winner takes home US $12000. It’s a nine round Swiss tournament with the rate of play being one hour 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.
Things started off pretty well for the top ranked players in the first round. Almost everyone won their initial games. But then the slugfest began. The second round paired grandmasters against each other, and it was the top seeded Zoltan Almasi who fell victim to the 22-year-old Russian GM Vladimir Belous.
Beating a 2700 opponent is not a walk in the park! Vladimir Belous, rated 2566, from Russia.
The position, which resembles a Czech Benoni, is roughly equal. Belous begins his play on the queenside.22.b4!?Nb722...Bxa423.Qxa4cxb424.Qxb4±is a clear edge for White.22...b5!?23.cxb5axb524.Nxc5dxc525.bxa5Rxa5=Would leave the position around roughly equal.23.Rb1b5?! Almasi plays on the wing where White is the boss.23...Nf6keeping the position closed was better.24.bxc5Bxa425.Qxa4Nxc526.Qc6Qxc627.dxc6Nfxe428.Rxb6Rfb829.Reb1Rc8with a roughly equal position.24.bxc5!bxa425.c6Bxc626.dxc6Nd826...Qxc627.Qd5!Qxd528.cxd5± Black's a-pawns as well the one on d6 are weak. White is better.27.Qxa4Nf627...Nxc628.Bb6Qd729.Red1±28.c5!d529.Nxe5!A very strong move!Qxe530.Bd430.Bf4would have been stronger.Qe631.c7Nxe432.Rb8+-White is very close to winning.30...Qxd431.Qxd4Ng4+32.hxg4Bxd433.exd5Bxc534.Rec1Bd635.c7Rc836.cxd8QRcxd837.Bxa6+- After all the complications White has emerged with two extra pawns, and he went on to confidently convert the position.Rfe838.Kg2Re439.Rc4Re240.a4Ra241.Bb5Rb842.Re1Kf843.Rc6Rd844.Re2Ra145.Rcc2Rb846.Ra2Rd147.Bc6Rbb148.a5Rg1+49.Kf3Bc550.Re8+Kg751.a6Rb3+52.Ke2Rg253.Kf1Rh254.Kg1Rxf255.Rxf2Rb256.d6Rxf257.d7Ra2+58.Kf1Bb659.Bb51–0
Zoltan Almasi has been having a pretty horrid event. After his loss to Belous, he lost another game
in round four against Nevednichy and then a draw against Vakhidov. Currently he is on 3.5/6.
After his win against Almasi, Belous continued his good form with a victory over Abijit Gupta and draws against Tigran Petrosian and Gawain Jones. Currently he has a rating performance of 2689. The only person to have beaten him is the man-in-form …
… the Swedish GM Nils Grandelius
Double rounds are always difficult. But Nils showed loads of stamina to beat Sandipan Chanda (2585) and Vladimir Belous (2566) to emerge as the sole leader with 4.0/4. In the sixth round Nils faced Kravstiv and the two played a very interesting game. First a quick test of your tactical skills – the answers are in the game commentary below.
In the first diagram the threat is simple Rxf6 followed by a mate on h7. While h6 would be a normal continuation, Kravtsiv played a killer move. Can you find it?
The second position, taken from our analysis, might seem like a draw, but Black has a nice winning formation at his disposal. Can you see it? (Please check the addendum below the game analysis which shows that the position is not a win. So your task can be to find the best plan of playing for a win for Black and then still making a draw with White.)
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1.c4e62.Nc3d53.d4Be74.Bf4Nf65.e30-06.Nf3Nbd77.Be2dxc48.0-0a69.a4c510.d5exd511.Nxd5Nxd512.Qxd5Nf613.Qe5Re814.Bxc4Bf815.Qc3Be616.Rfd1Qe717.Bxe6Qxe618.Ng5Qc619.Qc4Re720.Rd6Qe8 After getting a solid opening advantage, Nils did not play in the most incisive manner. The position is round about equal here, but now White blunders.21.Qc2?
The threat is simple Rxf6 followed by a mate on h7. While h6 would be a normal continuation, Kravtsiv played a killer move. Can you find it?21...Rxe3!Of course! The geometry of this variation is simply wonderful. First of all there is a mate on e1. If the rook is taken with fxe3 then after Bxd6 Bxd6, the black queen snaps the e3 pawn with a check and picks up the g5 knight!22.Rdd122.fxe3Bxd623.Nxh7!?was relatively the best.23.Bxd6Qxe3+24.Kh1Qxg523...Nxh724.Bxd6Qxe3+22...Re723.Qxc5Rd824.Qc2Rxd1+25.Qxd1Re226.Rb1h627.Kf1hxg528.Qxe2gxf429.Qxe8Nxe8We have reached an endgame which seems to be extremely unpleasant for White. With a rook against two minor pieces and no pawns it seems like Black should have an easy road to victory. But Nils puts up a brave fight.30.Ke2Bd631.b4Nc732.Rd1Bxb433.Rd8+Bf834.Rd7Ne635.Rxb7a5Everything seems to be well guarded now. The bishop on b4 will protect the a-pawn and the black king will be slowly activated. White wouldn't be able to withstand the combined activity of all the three black pieces. But Nils has seen a tricky way to hold on.36.Rb8Kh737.Kd3Bb438.Kc4Be1Of course Kravtsiv doesn't want to calculate the consequences of a capture on b4. He would like to win in quite technical fashion. But as he soon realises a clean victory is not something that is possible in this position.39.Rb5g540.Re5Bb440...Bxf2!?41.Rxa5It just seems wrong to give White an outside rook passer. With accurate play this should end in a draw.41.Rb5Kg642.Rxb4 Of course this was the last trick that White had up his sleeve. Now the position becomes very interesting.axb443.Kxb4White has only a pawn for the knight but as we all know the rook pawns are a knight's greatest enemy.Kf544.a5Ke545.Kb5?!45.Kc4!Kd646.a6Nc747.a7=would have been more accurate as the king is better placed on c4 than on b5.45...Kd545...Kd646.Kb646.a6Nc7+47.Kb6Nxa648.Kxa6Kd5-+46...Nc547.Kb5Nd348.Kb6Ne549.a6Nd7+50.Kb5Kc7is similar to the game.46.Kb6Nc547.Kb547.Kc7!?This is an additional option which would not have been available had Black played Kd6.47...Kd648.Kb6Nd7+49.Kb5Kc750.Kc4Ne5+51.Kd4f3!?This is also a very nice idea to mangle up White's kingside pawns but Kravtsiv doesn't follow it up well.Let's see what happens after the most natural move.51...Ng4!?52.h452.Ke4Nxf2+53.Kf5f654.Kxf6g455.Kf5g356.hxg3fxg357.Kf4Nh1Diagram
The knight cannot be dislodged easily. The black king will pick up the a-pawn and escort the g-pawn to the queening square. By the way the win is quite instructive. Have a look.58.Ke3Kb759.Ke2Ka660.Kf1Kxa561.Kg1Nf262.Kf1Kb463.Ke2Kc364.Kf3Nh165.Ke2Kd466.Kf1Ke367.Kg1Nf268.Kf1Nd369.Kg1Ke270.Kh1And how do we winning now? The right idea is to bring the knight to f3 or h3 when the white king is on h1 and force White to take it and then after Kf2 it's all over.Nf471.Kg1Ke172.Kh1Nh3!73.gxh3Kf2-+52...f3!an important shot trying to create a h-passer.53.g353.gxf3gxh4-+53...gxh454.gxh4Nxf255.Ke3Ng4+56.Kxf3
It might seem like this is a draw, but Black has a nice winning formation at his disposal. Can you see it?56...Nf6!57.Kf4Kb758.Kf5Nh7 And there we have it. The knight and the pawn create an impregnable barrier and Black just wins. So theoretically Kravtsiv had a study like win at his disposal with 51...Ng4 instead of f3.52.gxf3Nxf3+?52...Nc6+!53.Ke4Nxa554.Kf5Kd755.Kf6Ke856.Kxg5Ke7And this one should be winning for Black. Let's look at a sample line.57.Kf5Nc458.h4Kf859.h5Nd6+60.Kf6Ne8+61.Kf5Kg762.Kg5Kh763.f4Kg764.f5Kh765.f4Kg766.f6+Kh767.f5Nc7-+Moves run out and all the white pawns will fall.53.Ke4g453...Nxh254.Kf5=54.Kf4Nxh255.Kg3Nf356.Kxg4Nd457.Kg5Kd758.Kf6Ke859.a6Nc660.Kg7Ke761.f4=The problem here is that Black has absolutely no way to make progress.Ke662.f5+Ke763.Kg8Na764.Kg7Nb565.Kg8Na766.Kg7Nc667.Kg8Na7A thoroughly entertaining endgame where Nils showed great fighting spirit.½–½
Addendum:A few hours after the report was published Amirezza Pouramzanali wrote to us saying that the second diagram position of W-Kf3, h4, a5 and B-Kc7, Ng4 f7 is actually a draw. After the moves 56...Nf6 57.Kf4 Kb7 58.Kf5 Nh7 is not an impregnable fortress. White can make a draw with 59. Ke5 Ka6 60. Kd6 Kxa5 61. h5 Kb5 62. h6 Kc4 63. Ke7! f5 64. Kf7 f4 65. Kg7 f3 66. Kxh7 f2 67. Kg7 f1=Q 68. h7 and it is of course a theoretical draw. We thank Amirezza for the correction.
Martyn Kravtsiv (2599) was unlucky to not have beaten his third 2600+ opponent in a row!
With wins over Gawain Jones and Yuriy Kuzubov, he has an astronomical performance of 2791.
In the past few months Gawain Jones has been busy writing a two-part book on the Dragon for Quality Chess which is due to be released on the 9th of September. It is always interesting when the author of a particular opening decides to try out his recommendation in a tournament game. But when you have worked for hours and hours on the opening it is extremely difficult to remember all the analysis, more so when it is a sharp and complicated variation as the Dragon.
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1.e4c52.Nf3d63.d4cxd44.Nxd4Nf65.Nc3g66.Be3Bg77.f3Nc68.Qd20-09.Bc4Bd710.0-0-0Rc811.Bb3Nxd4The Topalov Variation.12.Bxd4b513.Nd5Nxd514.Bxg7Kxg715.exd5a516.a3We are 16 moves into the game and still deep in theory. This position has been seen in 212 games!Kg817.Rhe1Rc518.Re3While Jones was blitzing out his moves, Kravtsiv was playing after quite a bit of thought.b419.axb419.a4Qe8!19...axb420.Qxb4Qa821.Bc4!NThe first new move of the game and a powerful novelty by Karvtsiv. He clears the third rank for his rook to come to a3. It would be interesting to see if Gawain has included this move in his book.21.Kd2has been the move that has been played in eight games before.21...Bf521...Rb822.Ra3!±22.Ra3Qc823.b3Qc724.Qd2Rb825.Qd4White moves are quite logical. With every move he is increasing the pressure on Black and asking him to show his compensation for the pawn.Qb625...e6!? Might have been the best move in the position.26.dxe6Bxe627.Qxd6Bxc428.Qxc7Rxc729.bxc4Rxc4White is a pawn up and can try but most probably the game would end in a draw.26.Ra2Qb427.g4Bc828.Ra7Rb729.Ra4Qb630.b4?!30.Kb2±keeps complete control.30...Rcc7?After this it's just plain sailing for White.30...Qxb4!31.Rxb4Rxb432.Qe4Rbxc4Black has decent fighting chances.31.Ba6Rb832.Qxb6Rxb633.Bxc8Rxc834.Kb2With an extra pawn and an active king we could say that White has a winning advantage.e635.c3Rc436.Ra8+Kg737.dxe6fxe638.Ra7+Kf638...Kh639.h4+-39.Rxh7d540.h4Rbc641.Rd3d442.cxd4g543.hxg5+Kxg544.Kb3Kf445.Rh5A nice theoretical battle in the Dragon. We might just see more games with this novelty 21.Bc4!1–0
We all know what a creative genius Baadur Jobava is. His eccentric moves and opening ideas have been dismissed by many experts as plain bad. Yet due to his excellent calculating abilities he is able to beat the best of the players in the world. But when you have only a minute left on the clock and the more than twenty pieces are still on the board even the best tend to go wrong. This is exactly what happened in the game Jobava-Swiercz. Both players were down to just one minute and the position was tremendously complicated. A nightmare for the players, but a treat for the audience!
Baadur Jobava vs Dariusz Swiercz: So many pieces, so little time!
We join the action on the 49th move. Jobava is a piece down but has a pawn for it. The emotionless engine says it's just winning for Black, but on the board with less time things looked much more interesting.49.h4 The threat is to play h5 and with just a few seconds left Swiercz has to find the best defence – something that he failed to achieve.Bxf3!?49...Qd3!-+would have sealed the game in Black's favour. There is just nothing left! But in time pressure such simple moves often elude you.50.Qxf350.h5Bxh5-+50.gxf3Rexe6with the threat of Qxh4 looks pretty scary.50...Rexe651.Rxe6Qxh4+52.Kg1Rxe653.Qf5+Rg654.Ne454.b7might have been the best move but it gives Black a clear path to draw. By this time Baadur had become quite ambitious.Qd4+55.Kh2Qh4+56.Kg1Qd4+57.Kf1?!57.Kh2=57...Qf6!58.Qxf6Rxf6+59.Ke2Rb654...c355.b7c2 Both pawns move forward to the queening squares. Look at the richness of the position. The white king is exposed which gives him constant headaches. But the black king is safe behind his pawns and yet stands unsafe due to this irritating pin!56.Rf156.Rc1=was better but let's not go into too many details!56...Nc6Black is once again winning.57.Rc1Qd8?!57...Nd4was game over!58.Ng5+Qxg559.Qxg5hxg5!60.b8QNe2+61.Kf1Nxc162.Qc7Rf6+-+58.Rxc2!Swiercz missed that Qd1+ followed by Qxc2 will be met with Nf6+ discovered attack!Qb6+59.Nc5Nd460.Qe4!An extremely difficult move to make under time pressure. Nothing special just keeping control.Nxc261.Qxc2The b-pawn is under control and the a-pawn is ready to run down the board. Should be winning for Black right? Baadur shows the way to a draw!a462.Kh1!Qb462...a363.Nd7!With the threat of queen and Nf8 forces Black to give a perpetual with Qb4-h4-e1.Qb4!=63.Nd7Qe1+64.Kh2Qh4+65.Kg1Qe1+A completely crazy battle. The quality of play that they were able to achieve with just 30 seconds on their clock for every move showed their amazing will power and concentration.½–½
After the game I asked Jobava how he manages to keep his cool in such tense situations?
He replied:“I looked cool only on the outside. Inside I was very nervous, completely crazy!”
The local boy, UAE’s only grandmaster and the reigning Asian Champion Salem Saleh, lost to Alexander Areshchenko in a complex Najdorf (game worth seeing) in the sixth round. But it was not before he had already inflicted a defeat on Yuriy Kryvoruchko in the third round.
After six rounds Richard Rapport is in the lead with 5.0/6. In these six games we haven’t seen any insane opening choices from him. The closest he got to unusual was when he was White against Sandipan Chanda and he went 1.Nf3 e6 2.e4 d5 3.e5!? But the game soon transposed into a French Advance. In Abu Dhabi, the Hungarian is favouring the Benoni and has beaten two opponents with it. In the last three rounds he will be the man to watch out for.
Gabor Papp (left) and Peter Prohaszka from Hungary are great friends. Thanks to their similar ratings they are usually playing on the adjoining tables. You get to see completely contrasting styles when you visit their boards. Gabor, who is a vigorous attacker, is usually trying to hunt down his opponent’s king, while Peter, who is positional player, is will be nursing his extra pawn with great care and technique. The fact that both are 2600 Elo shows that there no perfect or correct style in chess. It’s all a matter of taste!
The talented Russian youngster Sanan Sjugirov is on 3.5/6
and having a tough event, losing 12 Elo points
Haridas Pascua of Philippines has been having a great event, beating Tigran Petrosian and Vladimir Onischuk, with draws against Richard Rapport and Dariusz Swiercz. Currently he is performing at an Elo of 2662. Here is one very pretty combination from one of his games.
Vladimir Onischuk – Haridas Pascua, Round five
White has just played his bishop from e3 to d4, which turned out to be a huge mistake. Haridas ended the game in just two moves now. Can you spot the winning combination?
47...Bh6!A very nice deflection. The reason why I loved this theme is because if the g6 bishop is left on the board then it contributes to the mating attack and if it is taken with check then the back rank is weakened!48.Rxg6+Or48.Qxh6Rc2+49.Kd1Qf3+50.Ke1Qe2#48...hxg6The bishop is no longer present on g6 so Rc2+ is not possible but Qh1 threat has come into the picture which is not possible to parry!0–1
This is what happens when your game lasts for five and a half hours! Aleksandr Rakhmanov
against Irina Bulmaga in a marathon struggle. The game was won by Rakhmanov at 11.45 p.m.!
And the award for the cutest face in the tournament goes to … Javokhir Sindarov from Uzbekistan. But let not his looks deceive you. This ten-year-old kid is already rated 2198 and is gaining 46 Elo by beating Blasius Nuber (2339) and achieving draws against Rakesh Kulkarni (2368), Padmini Rout (2444) and Aziz Nezad Husein (2404). In one of the games where he was sitting next to me I was completely stunned by the speed and ease with which he was making his moves. Magnus Carlsen in the making?!
Four-time French Youth Champion Cecile Haussernot
is having a good event and has already gained 26 Elo
WGM Vita Kryvoruchko from Ukraine is on 2.5/6
Rakesh Kulkarni just pointed to his t-shirt when his opponent offered a draw!
Jacek Stopa is not having such a great event: he is on 2.5/6. But the Abu Dhabi Masters is his twelfth consecutive tournament. He recently became a grandmaster and wrote a beautiful article for uschess.org on his journey to the GM title entitled “Studying in Extremes”.
The highest rated woman player in the event, Harika Dronavalli
from India, is playing well with 4.0/6, and gaining some Elo points
Red is the favourite colour of so many participants! Clockwise from top left:
Abhijeet Gupta, G.N. Gopal, Salem Saleh, Samuel Shankland, Maria Severina, Richard Rapport.
Live games are displayed in the playing hall on giant screens
Stylish ambience in hotel Sofitel….
…coupled with sumptuous meals
Videos by Vijay Kumar
The former Chief Producer News and Sports of Doordarshan, which is India's largest broadcasting organization, continues his great work with every round video presentations. Here are his impressions of rounds three to six – now in HD! These reports contain some interesting mini-interviews.
Abu Dhabi Chess Festival Round 3
Abu Dhabi Chess Festival Round 4 – Nedvednichy upsets Almasi
Abu Dhabi Chess Festival Round 5 – Nils and Martyn in joint lead
Abu Dhabi Chess Festival 2015 Round 6
Do not miss GM Dmitry Komarov’s enlightening commentary from the event – here's a sample:
Before signing off, here’s a small trivia: Who is the player in the above picture? Hint: He is a strong grandmaster. Write down your answers in the comments section below. You can also tweet your answers @adchessfestival using the hashtag #unknownsweaterman.
ChessBase is providing detailed coverage of the Abu Dhabi Masters 2015. The games are being be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
Sagar ShahSagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.
Throughout the video course, Sasikran shows various examples from his career to explain sacrifices for initiative, an attack, a better pawn structure and much more.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
The Trompowsky is especially suited for faster time controls as you don‘t have to memorise endless lines of theory, and you push your opponent out of their comfort zone after your second move.
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