9th Edmonton brings Ivanchuk and So

by Albert Silver
6/28/2014 – The 9th Edmonton chess festival, held in Edmonton, Canada, is one of the most important events in the Canuck chess calendar, allowing players to fight for norms often against elite opposition. Although hardly homogeneous in its lineup, the eclectic selection of players does mean chess fans will see the widest possible variety of games, while Ivanchuk and So give master classes.
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At the very top are both Vassily Ivanchuk, and Wesley So, who are the lopsided favorites, but such favoritism has a price: an upset can be costly indeed. Shortly after are Anton Kovalyov, 22 years old and 2636 Elo, who changed his federation from Ukraine to Canada last year after residing in Montreal since 2009. Following are Sam Shankland (2632) from the US and Irina Krush, the first US woman to become a full-fledged grandmaster.

Vassily Ivanchuk and Wesley So are the stars of the Edmonton International tournament

Next are a number of Canadian masters such as IM Raja Panjwani (2440), who is on his way to becoming one of Canada's next grandmasters, and already has a GM norm, 15-year-old IM Richard Wang (2365), FM Vladimir Pechenkin (2311), FM Alex Yam, who qualified via the Edmonton International Qualifier, and FM Dale Haessel (2168), who has played in all nine editions of the tournament.

Kovalyov is the highest rated Canadian player. Facing him is Alex Yam who won the qualifier.

After six rounds, the leaders are unsurprisingly Wesley So and Vassily Ivanchuk, with the 20-year-old Philippine player in the lead with 5.5/6 and a huge 2934 performance. Bear in mind he defeated both the 2600 players in the event, so his score was not achieved by collecting 'easy' points. Ivanchuk is right behind him with 5.0/6, having been held to a draw by both So and Irina Krush.

Ivanchuk was unable to break Krush

Pechenkin is known as a hard player to defeat, but received a master class by Ivanchuk

Here is a fine win by Ivanchuk in round five:

 
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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7 7.f4 a6 8.Nf3 Nb6 9.Qd2 Bd7 10.Bd3 c5 11.Qe3 cxd4 12.Qxd4 Qd8 12...Nc8 13.0-0-0 Nc6 14.Qe3 Qb4 15.Ne2 N8e7 16.Kb1 b6 17.c3 Qc5 18.Ned4 Na5 19.g4 Nc4 20.Qe1 Qc8 21.f5 exf5 22.e6 fxe6 23.gxf5 0-0 24.fxe6 Be8 25.Bxh7+ Kxh7 26.Qh4+ Kg8 27.Qxe7 Bg6+ 28.Ka1 Rf6 29.Rhg1 Qc5 30.Qxf6 gxf6 31.Rxg6+ Kh7 32.Rdg1 Ra7 33.Nf5 Kh8 34.e7 1-0 (34) Artemiev,V (2570)-Andersen,M (2496) Yerevan 2014 13.a3!? Ivanchuk knows he cannot prevent Nc6 which gains a tempo against his queen, so plays the text to prevent a further Nb4, harassing his bishop. Nc6 14.Qf2 h6 15.0-0 0-0 16.Rae1 Nc8 17.Na4! You have to love this move because of its sneakiness. On the surface it looks like a fairly normal maneuver to c5 for the knight, but it also lays a nasty trap. The problem is that there may not be a way to decline it. Nxe5 At first glance this might seem to 'win' a pawn, but against a player of Ivanchuk's stature, a first glance is rarely if ever enough. The only logical way to prevent Nc5 without playing the text, is 17...b6 However this opens a whole other can of worms since now White can launch a full-scale assault with 18.g4! followed by ...f5 and Black is in trouble. 18.Nxe5 Bxa4 19.f5! White could not be happier. Not only has he decoyed one of Black's pieces from the center to the queenside, but he has a heavy piece advantage on the kingside. Qb6 This was always the idea behind Nc8, but White is not terribly interested in exchanging off the queens. 20.Re3! exf5 21.Qxf5! Qxe3+ Black will hold this extra material for exactly one move since.. 22.Kh1 he has no way to prevent mate other than by giving up the queen. Forced, since other moves lead to a quick demise. Qxd3 Ex: 22...g6 23.Nxg6 f6 23...fxg6 24.Qxf8+ Kh7 25.Rf7# 23...Qg5 24.Ne7+ Nxe7 25.Qh7# 23.cxd3 Ne7 24.Qg4 Bc6 White has some work to do to convert the point, but Ivanchuk has never been accused of lacking technique. 25.h4 Ng6 Black is inviting White to take on g6 and win a pawn, but in fact taking would be a serious mistake. 26.Nxc6 After 26.Nxg6?! fxg6 27.Rxf8+ Rxf8 28.Qxg6 Black threatens not only a fortress, but also threats against White's king. It might still win but the road is not trivial. 26...bxc6 27.Re1 Ra7 Trying to not only prevent a queen penetration on d7, but secure a square on e7 for the knight in case of h5 28.Re3 Ne7 29.Rg3 Forcing Black to create some weaknesses g6 30.h5 Kh7 31.Qd4 Attacking the rook on a7 and gaining a tempo to bring the queen to f6 with deadly effect. Rb7 32.Qf6 g5 33.b4 Rc7 34.Re3 Black resigned because he will soon be in zugzwang. After 34.Re3 Nc8 34...Ng8 35.Qf5+ Kg7 36.Qe5+ Nf6 37.Qxc7 35.Kg1 Nb6 36.Qd6 Rfc8 37.Re7 Rxe7 38.Qxe7 Kg7 39.Qb7 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ivanchuk,V-Pechenkin,V-1–02014C14Edmonton International 2014

 

Standings after six rounds

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Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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