Three birthdays!

by André Schulz
1/12/2017 – January 12 seems to be a special day for chess: today, three well-known chessplayers celebrate thieir birthdays! The oldest of the jubilarians is Vlastimil Hort who turns 73 today. Much younger is Sergey Karjakin, World Championship Challenger and reigning World Blitz Champion. But the youngest of the three is Harika Dronavalli. Happy Birthday!
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A living chess legend: Vlastimil Hort

Photo: André Schulz

Vlastimil Hort was born on January 12, 1944, in the Czech town of Kladno and after World War II he quickly became of the strongest Czech players and in 1960 he was already part of the national team and took part in the Chess Olympiad in Leipzig. In the course of his long career he played against most of the great players of his time but as a junior he also met some older chess legends, for instance Oldrich Duras or Karel Opocensky. If you want to know something about the great players of the past, you should ask Vlastimil Hort.

At a time Hort himself belonged to the best players of the world and at the end of the 70s he played in the Candidate Matches for the World Championship. According to chess statistician Jeff Sonas, Vlastimil Hort is one of the 100 best players in the history of chess.

Hort played many fantastic and entertaining games. In the following funny miniature he forced the queen of his opponent, Eric Lobron, to h1.

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.d4 d6 8.c3 Bg4 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 exd4 11.Rd1?! 11.Qg3 0-0 12.Bh6 Ne8 13.Bd5 Qd7 14.Qg4! 11...Ne5 12.Qg3 Nh5 13.Qh2 d3 14.f4 Bh4! 15.fxe5 Bg3 16.Qh1 Qh4! 16...c5 17.Bd5 c4 18.Be3∞ 17.Rxd3 17.Be3 Qxe4 18.Bd4 dxe5 19.Nd2 Qc6 17...Qxe4! 17...Bf2+ 18.Kf1 Ng3+ 19.Rxg3 Qxg3 20.Ke2∞ 18.Rd1 18.Re3 Qf4 19.exd6+ Kd8 20.dxc7+ Kc8 21.Rxg3 21.Re8+ Rxe8 22.Bxf4 Re1# 21...Qxc1+ 22.Kh2 Qxh1+ 23.Kxh1 Nxg3+ 24.Kh2 Nf1+ 25.Kg1 Ne3-+ 18...Nf4 19.Bxf7+ 19.h4 Qe2! 20.Rf1 Qe3+ 21.Bxe3 Ne2# 19.Na3 Qe2! 19...Kxf7 20.Bxf4 Bxf4 21.g3 Qe3+! 22.Kf1 Bxe5 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Lobron,E2440Hort,V25900–11982C84Dortmund5

 

Ladies first, ... second: Harika Dronavalli

Photo: Alina l'Ami

Harika Dronavalli was born January 12, 1991, in Gorantla, near Bangalore. When she was eight her father showed her how to play chess. Later, Harika Dronavalli won the U14-, U16- and U20 World Championships for girls. In 2012 she reached the semifinals of the knock-out World Championship. Currently, she is number seven on the Women's World Ranking List.

At the Gibraltar Open 2016 she won a fine game against Nigel Short:

 
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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7 The Morozevich Variation. 4.e5 Other moves are 4.Ngf3 or 4.Bd3 4...c5 5.Qg4 Kf8
6.dxc5 h5!? The main line begins with 6...Nc6 7.Qg3 Nh6 8.Bd3 Bh4 9.Qf4 Bg5 10.Qg3 Bh4 11.Qf4 Bg5 12.Qg3 1/2-1/2 (12) Adams,M (2735)-Short,N (2655) Liverpool 2008 7.Qe2 7.Qg3 Nh6 8.Bd3 h4 9.Qe3 Nd7= 7...Bxc5 8.Nb3 b6!? 8...Bb6 9.Nh3 9.Nxc5 bxc5 only strengthens Black's center. 9.Qd1!? 9...Qc7 10.Bf4 Ne7 11.0-0-0 Ng6 12.Kb1 Nc6
13.Re1 White has to try hard to keep the pawn e5. a5 13...Kg8!? 14.Nxc5 bxc5 15.Qe3 c4 16.Qc5+ Kg8 17.Bc1 17.Bd2!? a4 18.f4 Nge7 19.Bb4 17...a4 18.f4 Nge7 19.Ng5 While White tried to get a "normal" position Black seized the initiative. Nf5 20.Rd1 Ra5 21.Qf2 Rb5 22.c3
22...Qa5 The first serious threats appear... 23.Qc2 Rb8 23...a3!? 24.b4 cxb3 25.axb3 Rc5 24.Ka1 Ba6 25.Nf3 Qb5 25...a3!? 26.b3 cxb3 27.axb3 Bxf1 28.Rhxf1 Qc5 with the idea 29.-- Na5 26.g3 a3 27.bxa3 Qa5 28.Bh3 Bb5
29.Rxd5 Ba4! Hoping for 29...exd5 30.Bxf5 to stir up the waters. 30.Qd2 30.Rxa5 Bxc2 31.Bb2 Nxa5-+ 30...Qxd5 31.Qxd5 Bc2 A last finesse. Black threatens mate and defends the Nf5. 31...exd5? 32.Bxf5 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Short,N2684Harika,D25110–12016C03Tradewise 2016 Masters3

 

Last, but not least: Sergey Karjakin

Photo: Amruta Mokal

Sergey Karjakin is one year older than Harika Dronavalli. He was born January 12, 1990, in Simferopol on the Crimean peninsula. At the age of 12 years and 7 months he became the youngest grandmaster of all time - a record that still holds. In 2016 Karjakin achieved his biggest success so far when he won the Candidates Tournament in Moscow. In November 2016 he played against Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship and only lost in the tie-break.

In the last round of the Candidates Tournament Karjakin scored a fine win against Fabiano Caruana and with this game he won the tournament and became World Championship Challenger. Karjakin annotated the game for the ChessBase Magazine.

 
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In the final encounter I quite simply wanted to concentrate on my game and to play well. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 Fabiano puts his trust in the complicated Rauzer Variation, which is not particularly popular nowadays. 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f4 Black has several options here. Hier verfügt Schwarz über mehrere Möglichkeiten. h6 As I learned later, one great fan of this move order is the Chinese grandmaster Li Chao. 10.Bh4 b5 10...Nxe4 would on account of 11.Qe1 Nf6 12.Nf5! have been too challenging for such an important game. 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.f5 The idea of weakening the light squares of the opponent's king's residence seemed very tempting to me. All the more so that in comparison with the variation with the pawn on h7, Black no longer has available to him the manoeuvre Bf8-h6-f4. Qb6 13.fxe6 A more accurate move would be 13.Nxc6 Qxc6 14.Bd3 , which would offer White additional options compared to the game. 13...fxe6 14.Nxc6 Qxc6! Black continues to leave the e6-pawn protected. In the event of 14...Bxc6 15.Bd3 the plan h6-h5, b5-b4, Qb6-c5, Bf8-h6, a6-a5 looks less convincing than it does in the game: h5 16.Kb1 b4 17.Ne2 Qc5 18.Rhf1 Bh6 19.Qe1 a5 20.b3 , and Black must take defensive measures which will cost him time. 15.Bd3 h5 16.Kb1 b4 16...Bh6 would be inaccurate - after 17.Qf2 White would obtain a better piece setup than will be the case in the game. 17.Ne2 Qc5 18.Rhf1 The typical central breakthrough 18.e5! would be stronger, and after the rather forced variation fxe5 19.Qg5 Be7 20.Qg7 Rf8 21.Rhf1 Rxf1 22.Rxf1 Bc6 23.Rf7 d5 24.Bg6 Kd8 25.Qxe5 Be8 26.Rg7 Qf2 27.a3! though 27.Qxh5 is not so clear: . Bxg6 28.Rxg6 Kd7 27...Qf6 28.Qd4!? Qxd4 29.Nxd4 Kd7 30.axb4 Bxg6 31.Rxg6 e5 32.Nf3 e4 33.Ne5+ Kc7 34.c3 White obtains an advantageous endgame. But that would be another story. 18...Bh6 19.Qe1 a5 20.b3! I like this move, which obtains a better square for the bishop. Rg8 Opening the file with 20...a4 21.Bc4 axb3 does not pay dividends for Black; after 22.Bxb3 the white king feels safe enough. 21.g3 Ke7 22.Bc4 Be3 as one might say in hockey, "cleverly sending the puck into the opponent's zone". After 22...Rg4 23.Nd4 a4 24.Rf3 White keeps everything under control and Black is short of ideas. 23.Rf3 It was also worth considering 23.Nf4 , which would lead to more concrete play. 23...Rg4 24.Qf1 Rf8 25.Nf4 Bxf4 The attempt to retain the bishop by means of 25...Bd4 would on account of 26.Rfd3 Be5 27.Nxh5 have been too risky. 26.Rxf4 a4 After the game Caruana thought it would have been better to play 26...Bc6 to maintain the tension. die Spannung aufechtzuerhalten. After 27.Qd3 Black plays Rf7 , and White cannot become active quickly. I agree with him. 27.bxa4 Bxa4 28.Qd3 Now the idea of the pawn sacrifice e4-e5 is in the air. But 28.Bb3 would be premature - after Bxb3 29.axb3 Rgg8 Black has the initiative. 28...Bc6 29.Bb3 Rg5 30.e5! Even if I did not see how Black could seriously defend his position I preferred to bring some clarity to the situation. Rxe5 31.Rc4 It was also worth considering 31.Qh7+ Rf7 32.Qh8 with dynamic equality. 31...Rd5 32.Qe2 Qb6 33.Rh4 Re5 There was the interesting 33...Rxd1+ 34.Qxd1 Qe3 (Nepomniachtchi), which, after 35.Rxb4 Be4 36.a3 , would lead to a complicated position. 34.Qd3 Bg2 After 34...d5 35.Qh7+ Rf7 36.Qh8 Black has problems with the coordination of his pieces. 35.Rd4! A useful centralisation. d5 36.Qd2 Re4? I was expecting the variation 36...Be4 37.Rxb4 Qc6 38.Kb2 with approximate equality. 37.Rxd5! I spotted this decisive nove relatively quickly. But there was too much depending on the game to play it quickly without first checking the variations. exd5 38.Qxd5 The black pieces are unharmoniously distributed and cannot protect their king. Qc7 More resistance could have been offered with 38...Rd4 39.Qxd4 Qxd4 40.Rxd4 Rb8 , but it is hard to believe that it would save him in the end. 39.Qf5! Rf7 Fabiano offered me a draw here. Let us put that down to the nervous tension and the high stakes... 40.Bxf7 Qe5 41.Rd7+ Kf8 42.Rd8+ 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Karjakin,S2760Caruana,F27941–02016B67FIDE Candidates14
André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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