NC World Masters: Adams strikes first

by Patrick Zelbel
7/19/2022 – After Vladimir Kramnik had to pull out at short notice due to health reasons, the official opening move of the No-Castling World Masters of the 49th International Dortmund Chess Days took place on the board of Michael Adams and Daniel Fridman. Adams beat Fridman to grab the early lead. | Photos: Michelle Lassak

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Adams beats Fridman

After Vladimir Kramnik had to pull out at short notice due to health reasons, the official opening move of the NC World Masters of the 49th International Dortmund Chess Days took place on the board of Michael Adams and Daniel Fridman.

The Mayor of the City of Dortmund, Barbara Brunsing, and the managing director of Sparkasse Dortmund, Peter Orth, made the symbolic first move for the world-class English player.

Adams played what is known in classical chess as the Spanish opening. After a few moves, a typical middlegame position emerged, and perhaps there would not have been much action if both sides had been allowed to castle. But Fridman was the first to move his king to f8, and Adams landed it on f1 shortly afterwards.

White gave up an exchange a short time later, but in return had brought his king to safety, while the black rook on h8 could not intervene in the game. With 24...Kg8? Fridman ended up on the losing side, as Adams explained in the subsequent interview with press spokesman Patrick Zelbel.

 
Adams vs. Fridman

This allowed Adams to collect his first point, while Viswanathan Anand’s opening match was moved to Thursday due to the last-minute switch to Dmitrij Kollars. This means chess fans can now look forward to No Castling Chess and superstar Anand every day at 3pm without any days off for the remainder of the event.


Commentary by Michael Adams


 
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1.c4 3 c5 12 2.Nf3 18       e6 13 3.Nc3 22 Nf6 21 4.e4 28 Nc6 11 5.d4 20 cxd4 24 6.Nxd4 10 Bb4 5 7.f3 34 d5 5:39 8.cxd5 45 exd5 12 B44: Sicilian: Taimanov: 5 Nb5. 9.Bb5 12 dxe4 1:02 ...Qb6 is the strong threat. 10.Nxc6 4:43
10...Bxc3+ 13 11.bxc3 6:47 Qxd1+ 15 12.Kxd1 3 a6 13
13.Ba4N 56 And now Nd4+ would win. Predecessor: 13.Nd4+ axb5 14.Nxb5 0-0 15.Bg5 Ra6 16.Kd2 exf3 17.gxf3 h6 18.Be3 Nd5 19.Bd4 0-1 (44) Farago,S (2249)-Erdelyi,Z (2362) Budapest 2009 13...Bd7 11      
Pin 14.Re1 5:55 Bxc6 1:07 15.Bxc6+ 2:49 bxc6 11 16.Bg5 19 Kd7 4:46 16...0-0-0+ feels stronger. 17.Kc2 exf3 17.Bxf6 11:19 gxf6 11 18.Rxe4 8 Rhe8 20 19.Rxe8 9:39 Rxe8= 9       Endgame KR-KR 20.Rb1 6 Re5 1:57 21.Rb4 2:36 Rh5 1:07 22.h3 1:26 Rg5 1:07 23.g4 54 f5 8:19 24.h4 6:54 Rg6 1:43 25.g5 4:01 f6 1:11 26.gxf6 2:40 Rxf6 9 26...Kc7 with more complications. 27.Ra4 Kb6 28.f7 Rf6 27.Ke2 2:26 Kd6 2:30 28.Ke3 2:17 Ke5 1:28 29.Ra4 2:51 f4+ 3:55 30.Kd3 43 aiming for Ra5+. Rh6 1:02 31.Rxa6 1:35 Rxh4 22 32.Ra5+ 7 Kd6 7 33.Ke4 37 Rh2 11 The position is equal. 34.Kxf4 3:55 Rc2 1:24 35.Ra7 2:16 Rxc3 15 36.Rxh7 12 Ra3 6 37.Rh2 34 c5 44 38.Ke4 50 Ke6 58 39.Rh6+ 55 Kf7 7 40.Rh2 33 Ke6 6 41.Rh6+ 30:11 Kf7 30:06 42.Rh2 8 Weighted Error Value: White=0.06 (flawless) /Black=0.05 (flawless)
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kollars,D2648Anand,V2756½–½2022B44NC World Masters 20221.1
Adams,M2696Fridman,D25991–02022C65NC World Masters 20221.2
Adams,M2696Anand,V2756½–½2022A33NC World Masters 20222.1
Fridman,D2599Kollars,D26481–02022A47NC World Masters 20222.2
Anand,V2756Fridman,D25991–02022C65NC World Masters 20223.1
Kollars,D2648Adams,M26961–02022C47NC World Masters 20223.2
Anand,V2756Kollars,D2648½–½2022D32NC World Masters 20224.1
Fridman,D2599Adams,M2696½–½2022B20NC World Masters 20224.2
Fridman,D2599Anand,V2756½–½2022B13NC World Masters 20225.1
Adams,M2696Kollars,D2648½–½2022B59NC World Masters 20225.2
Anand,V2756Adams,M2696½–½2022D35NC World Masters 20226.1
Kollars,D2648Fridman,D25991–02022C28NC World Masters 20226.2

Eljanov and McShane on 2 out of 2

The Deutschland Grand Prix seems to become Pavel Eljanov’s (photo) favourite competition. He won last year, opened with a win against Rasmus Svane, and scored a second-round win against Erwin L’Ami! L’Ami accepted the vacated place in the grandmaster tournament, for which event director Carsten Hensel expressly thanked him:

We regret the situation very much. However, we thank all those involved for their flexibility in order to be able to continue the exciting event with all its competitions.

The game tilted in the Ukrainian’s favour in the middlegame after L’Ami had to give up his bishop pair and the black bishops became too strong.

Luke McShane also had a perfect start to the tournament after a Black win today against David Navara. Navara didn’t really get into the game and McShane flawlessly exploited his extra pawn and was very happy with his tournament start. In round 3, Eljanov will have a free game and join commentators Artur Jusupov and Fiona Steil-Antoni to discuss the games.

Pavel Eljanov


Standings after round 2

Rk.NameRtg.Nt.Pts.n
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
TBPerf.
1
2681
2.0
2
1.00
3442
2
2649
2.0
2
1.00
3481
3
2692
1.5
2
1.00
2862
4
2649
0.5
2
1.00
2494
5
2688
0.0
2
1.00
1871
6
2673
0.0
1
1.00
1849
7
2634
0.0
1
0.00
1881
TBs: Games with black, Wins

All games

 
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1.e4 6 e5 8 2.Nf3 5 Nc6 6 3.Bc4 51 Nf6 14 4.d3 8 Bc5 5 5.Nc3 45 h6 2:47 6.0-0 2:10 d6 4:29 7.Na4 2:53 Bb6 2:09 8.a3 3:59 0-0 1:36 9.h3 5:49 Qe7 13:44 10.b4 15:21 Be6 9:09 11.Bxe6 11 Qxe6 1:18 12.c4 6:38 a6 15:04 13.Nxb6 21 cxb6 5 14.Bb2 2:33 Rfc8 4:43 15.Nh4 8:19 b5 2:41 16.cxb5 7 axb5 6 17.f4 1:33 Nd7 11:48 18.Kh1 5:47 Nb6 7:27 19.Rc1 8:59 Ne7 8:40 20.f5 5:33 Qf6 3:01 21.Nf3 38 Rxc1 1:06 22.Bxc1 5:38 d5 1:01 23.Nh2 1:01 Nd7 2:02 24.Ng4 7 Qh4 1:29 25.Kh2 8:14 Nf6 18 26.Nxe5 48 dxe4 33 27.Rf4 6:28 Qh5 1:32 28.g4 16 Qh4 37 29.dxe4 25 Nc6 2:59 30.Nxc6 3:44 bxc6 2 31.e5 2:23 Nd5 19 32.Rf3 6 Re8 1:25 33.Qe2 2:00 Qe7 1:25 34.Bb2 14 Nb6 7 35.e6 1:12 Nc4 56 36.Kg2 2:26 Nxb2 1:31 37.Qxb2 5 fxe6 1:09 38.f6 1 Qf7 37 39.Qc3 1:21 e5 50 40.Qxc6 39 e4 36 41.Re3 18:03 Re5 13:46 42.Rxe4 6:14 Qa2+ 4:54 43.Kg3 18 Qb3+ 9:57 44.Kf4 1:03 gxf6 7 45.Rxe5 2:37 fxe5+ 1 46.Kf5 1:44 Qd3+ 1:49 47.Qe4 1:12 Qxa3 1:06 48.Qd5+ 8 Kf8 2:06 49.Qd8+ 54 Kf7 10 50.Qf6+ 55 Ke8 21 51.Qxe5+ 12 Kd8 1:02 52.Ke6 22 Kc8 40 53.Qc5+ 12 Kb7 13 54.Qxb5+ 6 Kc8 5 55.Qc5+ 2:45 Kb7 8 56.h4 16 Qg3 1:31 57.Qd5+ 9 Ka7 11 58.Qd4+ 22 Kb7 20 59.Qe4+ 1:14 Ka7 23 60.h5 14 Qf2 44 61.Ke7 1:20 Qd2 48 62.Kf7 13 Kb6 26 63.Kg7 30 Kb5 21 64.Kh7 8 Ka4 44 65.Qc6+ 1:06 Kxb4 5 66.Qxh6 26 Qe2 59 67.Qf4+ 41 Kb3 9 68.Qf7+ 5 Kb2 25 69.g5 10 Kc1 1:01 70.h6 12 Qd3+ 21 71.g6 6 Kb1 23 72.Qf6 37 Qe4 46 73.Kg7 22 Qb7+ 19 74.Qf7 13 Qe4 42 75.h7 1:12 Qd4+ 18 76.Kf8 24 Qc5+ 33 77.Qe7 10 Qc8+ 12 78.Kf7 16 Qc4+ 16 79.Qe6 1:27 Qf4+ 31 80.Ke7 13 Qh4+ 27 81.Ke8 39 Qa4+ 21 82.Qd7 33 Qe4+ 35 83.Kd8 1:11 Qa8+ 30 84.Ke7 5 Qe4+ 17 85.Kf6 15 Qh4+ 1:32 86.Kg7 6 Qe4 29 87.h8Q 40 Qe5+ 13 88.Kf7 1:08 Qxh8 7 89.Qf5+ 5 Ka1 7 90.g7 5 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Eljanov,P2681Svane,R26491–02022C50Deutschland Grand Prix 20221.2
Deac,B2692Navara,D26881–02022D85Deutschland Grand Prix 20221.3
McShane,L2649Bluebaum,M26731–02022C42Deutschland Grand Prix 20221.4
Navara,D2688McShane,L26490–12022E16Deutschland Grand Prix 20222.1
Svane,R2649Deac,B2692½–½2022E06Deutschland Grand Prix 20222.2
L'Ami,E2634Eljanov,P26810–12022E11Deutschland Grand Prix 20222.3
Deac,B2692L'Ami,E2634½–½2022B51Deutschland Grand Prix 20223.1
McShane,L2649Svane,R2649½–½2022C85Deutschland Grand Prix 20223.2
Bluebaum,M2673Navara,D2688½–½2022D11Deutschland Grand Prix 20223.3
Svane,R2649Bluebaum,M2673½–½2022C42Deutschland Grand Prix 20224.1
L'Ami,E2634McShane,L2649½–½2022E11Deutschland Grand Prix 20224.2
Eljanov,P2681Deac,B2692½–½2022A14Deutschland Grand Prix 20224.3
McShane,L2649Eljanov,P2681½–½2022C67Deutschland Grand Prix 20225.1
Bluebaum,M2673L'Ami,E2634½–½2022D33Deutschland Grand Prix 20225.2
Navara,D2688Svane,R2649½–½2022C54Deutschland Grand Prix 20225.3
L'Ami,E2634Navara,D2688½–½2022A34Deutschland Grand Prix 20226.1
Eljanov,P2681Bluebaum,M26731–02022A07Deutschland Grand Prix 20226.2
Deac,B2692McShane,L26491–02022E53Deutschland Grand Prix 20226.3
Bluebaum,M2673Deac,B2692½–½2022D11Deutschland Grand Prix 20227.1
Navara,D2688Eljanov,P2681½–½2022D35Deutschland Grand Prix 20227.2
Svane,R2649L'Ami,E2634½–½2022A37Deutschland Grand Prix 20227.3

More action going forward

In the two closed tournaments, IM Zoya Schleining and FM Christoph Dahl maintained their respective leads with draws on Monday.

In the Sparkassen Open A, top games are slowly emerging on the first boards. Only 8 players are left with the perfect 3 out of 3 going into the fourth round on Tuesday. Among them, GM Max Warmerdam (photo) from the Netherlands.

Max Warmerdam

On Tuesday, superstar Viswanthan Anand will enter the NC World Masters. He will play with Black against the winner of the day, Michael Adams!

Spectators in Dortmund in the air-conditioned Goldsaal are welcome. Follow the games live online via the festival’s YouTube channel.

Links


Patrick Zelbel is the press officer at the Sparkassen Chess Trophy yearly event in Dortmund.

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