1/29/2020 – The same four players that stood atop the standings table after seven rounds remain as co-leaders after only two decisive results were seen on the top sixteen boards at the eighth round of the Gibraltar Masters. The chasing pack has grown, however, with Ivan Cheparinov, Mustafa Yilmaz and Praggnanandhaa joining Daniil Yuffa and Mikhail Kobalia in the group a half point behind the leaders. The strongest among the women so far are Zhansaya Abdumalik and Tan Zhongyi. | Photo: Niki Riga
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Mamedyarov withdraws
The first result of the day was a win for young Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who was awarded a point after finding out his opponent, top seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, could not show up for medical reasons. Since the Azerbaijani was not included in the pairings for round nine, it is very unlikely for him to return on the last day of action. We hope the ever-cheerful 'Shakh' recovers soon.
The only player other than 'Pragg' to get a full point on the top ten boards was Ivan Cheparinov, who took down Swiss grandmaster Noël Studer with the black pieces; to find the next decisive result we have to go all the way down to board 17, where Mustafa Yilmaz got the better of Bela Khotenashvili. Yilmaz was on 5 out of 7 before this round — like Cheparinov and 'Pragg' — which means he joined the chasing group a half point behind the four co-leaders.
The abundance of draws does not mean there was no fighting at the top boards, save for some exceptions — notably the quick draws on boards one and two. Parham Maghsoodloo and Wang Hao repeated a drawing line seen twice during last year's second semester, while compatriots Andrey Esipenko and David Paravyan kept the pawn structures symmetrical before calling it a day after 30 moves.
Gregory Kaidanov trying to explain something to Veselin Topalov | Photo: Niki Riga
On his way to Tuesday's victory, Cheparinov ventured into a variation that might have got him in trouble, when he knew all too well that going for a repetition was objectively the best way to continue:
Bologan: "If you study this DVD carefully and solve the interactive exercises you will also enrich your chess vocabulary, your King's Indian vocabulary, build up confidence in the King's Indian and your chess and win more games."
As he explained afterwards to Tania Sachdev (see video below), at this point the best move for Black is 20...♛h4, allowing a repetition after 21.♗f2 ♛h6. However, the former sole leader wanted to take his chances in this game, so after calculating for over twenty minutes Cheparinov went for 20...♞cxe4, entering complications.
Studer simplified into a position in which he could have tortured his opponent with a dangerous passer on the e-file, but instead blundered the game away on move 31:
White's best (and only) move here is 31.g4, when after 31...♛f6 the computer suggests 32.♗g5 (Cheparinov's idea of 32.♗f2 is also good) and White is in the driver's seat. Instead, Studer opted for 31.♕c6, allowing 31...♜xe6 32.♕xc7 ♝d4, and the best White can get is a losing endgame with rook and bishop against queen. The Swiss grandmaster tried to defend his worse position for a while, but his opponent showed good technique and secured the victory seven moves later.
Post-game interview with Ivan Cheparinov
Meanwhile, in the race to get the first prize among the women, Zhansaya Abdumalik remains ahead after securing a comfortable draw with White against Narayanan. The 20-year-old from Kazakhstan has collected 5½ points and has a better tiebreak score than Tan Zhongyi, who reached the same score after outplaying 2616-rated Maksim Chigaev from the white side of a King's Indian Defence. Chigaev faltered on move 49, allowing his opponent to infiltrate decisively:
With this DVD on the King‘s Indian Defence, Alexei Shirov continues the successful and highly praised series about his best games. As in the preceding DVDs the Latvian super grandmaster succeeds in spoiling his public with analysis of a high quality and with exciting insights into his games, and he does so in his own reserved, pleasant and modest style.
A double-edged struggle had taken place throughout the whole game, but now White is completely winning after 53.♖xg6+ — there is no way to stop the attack. Tan finished off her opponent in style: 53...♚xg6 54.♕xf5+ ♚h6 55.♕f6+ ♚h7 56.♕e7+ ♚h7 57.♖f1, etcetera. The rook joined the onslaught and Black resigned three moves later.
Tan was not the only female player to win an attacking game on Tuesday, however, as Anna Muzychuk is now on 5 out of 8 after getting a clean 27-move victory over Paolo Ladron de Guevara. The Ukrainian showed her win to Tania Sachdev afterwards.
Click or tap an entry in the list to switch games
Zhansaya Abdumalik will face Khartikeyan in round nine | Photo: John Saunders
As it tends to happen in these huge opens, some strong players have a bad time against lower-rated opposition. Vassily Ivanchuk, for example, lost his second game of the event, this time against German IM Valentin Buckels. His defeat, however, probably was not as painful as the one suffered by 2271-rated WGM Iozefina Werle. Werle came from having a great performance, drawing strong IMs and beating Olga Girya in the previous round. Furthermore, she had GM Denis Kadric (2585) up against the ropes, until she failed to find the killer blow:
This DVD emphasizes the importance of training your calculation skills. Dutch IM Robert Ris made a selection of training material which he uses in lessons with students ranging from 1400 to 2400.
White had missed some chances to finish off her opponent earlier, but here she got another great opportunity to put the game away. Werle could have all but forced Kadric's resignation with 36.♖1e6+ ♚g5 37.h4+ ♚xh4 38.♖e4+, winning the knight. Instead, she went for an immediate 36.h4, when Black can release the tension with 36...♜d1+ 37.♖xd1 ♚xe7. Sadly for Werle, things went for bad to worse, as she ended up losing the knight endgame that eventually ensued.
Such is competitive chess: you win some, you lose some. The action at the Caleta Hotel continues Wednesday, with Wang Hao v Paravyan and Maghsoodloo v Esipenko on top boards. Will we get a sole leader before the final round?
Tal Baron going over a game with Jovanka Houska | Photo: John Saunders
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
Opening videos: Sipke Ernst brings the Ulvestad Variation up to date + Part II of ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’. Special: Jan Werle shows highlights from the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 in the video. ‘Lucky bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
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