Edmonton: Shankland wins with 8.0/9

by Johannes Fischer
6/27/2016 – In the ninth and final round of the Edmonton International tournament that was part of the 11th Edmonton Chess Festival, US Grandmaster Samuel Shankland needed only a draw against Canadian Richard Wang to win the tournament on tie-break. With seven wins and two draws Shankland finished with 8.0/9 as did Indian Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly.

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Ganguly started the tournament with an impressive run of seven wins en suite but then suffered his first and only defeat against Samuel Shankland in round eight. Shankland began the tournament with 6.5/7 and took the lead after winning against Ganguly.

In the last round Ganguly won a fine game against top-seed Alexei Shirov to finish the tournament with 8.0/9, but this impressive result was not enough for tournament victory because Shankland needed only a draw against Canadian Richard Wang to win the tournament on tie-break.

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 Bg5 12.Nc2 Rb8 13.a4 bxa4 14.Ncb4 Nxb4 15.cxb4 0-0 16.Rxa4 a5 17.h4 Bh6 18.b5 Bd7 19.Nc3 d5 20.exd5 e4!?N
A new move. Black is ready to sacrifice a pawn or two for the initiative. A previous top-level game continued 20...Kh8 21.Be2 f5 22.g3 Qb6 23.0-0 Rbd8 24.Kg2 Bc8 25.f4 Rfe8 26.fxe5 Rxe5 27.Qd4 Qf6 28.Rc4 Bd7 29.Rf3 Bxb5 30.Nxb5 Rxe2+ 31.Kh3 Rxb2 32.Rc6 Qxd4 33.Nxd4 Rd2 34.Ne6 Re8 35.Rxf5 g6 36.Rf6 Kg8 37.d6 Bg7 38.Nxg7 Kxg7 39.Rf4 Kg8 40.Rc7 Rxd6 41.Rff7 1/2-1/2 (41) Anand,V (2804)-Grischuk,A (2781) Stavanger 2015 21.Be2 After 21.Rxe4 f5 22.Rd4 Re8+ 23.Be2 Rxb5 24.0-0 Rxb2 Black has almost equalized. 21...f5 22.d6 Kh8 23.g3 f4?!
Black is a pawn down and wants to open lines, even if he has to sacrifice the pawn on e4. But objectively this concept might be too bold. A safer alternative was 23...Rf6 with sharp and complicated play. 24.Rxe4 Bf5 25.Re5 Qf6 26.Qd5 fxg3 27.fxg3 Qg6
28.g4! This counter destroys Black's attacking plans and refutes the black concept. Bc8 After 28...Bxg4 White wins with the simple pin 29.Rg1 29.Ne4 Bb7 30.h5 White is two pawns up and forces a trade of queens. Qxe4 31.Qxe4 Bxe4 32.Rxe4 Rfd8 33.Rd4 Bc1 34.d7 Bxb2 35.Rd5 Rb7
36.0-0! It is not every day that you castle on move 36. Now Black cannot take on d7 because his back rank is too weak. g6 37.h6 Ba3 38.Rf7 a4 39.Re5 Rbb8 40.Bc4 Bf8 41.Kg2 a3 42.Ba2 Bd6 43.Re6 Bf8 44.b6 Black resigned. The white pawns are too strong.
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ganguly,S2654Shirov,A26821–02016B3311th Edmonton Festival 20169

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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.a3 Nh6 7.b4 cxd4 8.Bxh6 gxh6 9.cxd4 Bd7 10.Ra2 Rg8 11.g3 Rg4 12.Rd2 Nxb4 13.axb4 Bxb4 14.Bd3 Bb5 15.0-0 Bxd2 16.Qxd2 Rc8 17.Na3 Bxd3 18.Qxd3 a6 19.Rb1 Qc7 20.Qxh7 b5 21.Kg2 Qc3 22.Rxb5 Qxa3 23.Rb7 Qf8 24.Qd3 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Shirov,A2682Wang,R23411–02016C0211th Edmonton GM 20161.1
Bitan,B2341Ganguly,S26540–12016D3511th Edmonton GM 20161.2
Sethuraman,S2653Haessel,D22341–02016A3411th Edmonton GM 20161.3
Findlay,I2257Sambuev,B25400–12016C0811th Edmonton GM 20161.4
Shankland,S2646Valencia,B22771–02016E9811th Edmonton GM 20161.5
Shankland,S2646Shirov,A2682½–½2016B3311th Edmonton GM 20162.1
Ganguly,S2654Sethuraman,S26531–02016B1211th Edmonton GM 20162.2
Valencia,B2277Sambuev,B25400–12016D1111th Edmonton GM 20162.3
Haessel,D2234Findlay,I22571–02016D3811th Edmonton GM 20162.4
Wang,R2341Bitan,B2341½–½2016E6011th Edmonton GM 20162.5
Shirov,A2682Valencia,B22771–02016E9111th Edmonton GM 20163.1
Findlay,I2257Ganguly,S26540–12016B9411th Edmonton GM 20163.2
Sethuraman,S2653Wang,R23411–02016D4511th Edmonton GM 20163.3
Bitan,B2341Shankland,S26460–12016B9211th Edmonton GM 20163.4
Sambuev,B2540Haessel,D2234½–½2016A4811th Edmonton GM 20163.5
Shirov,A2682Bitan,B2341½–½2016C0211th Edmonton GM 20164.1
Ganguly,S2654Sambuev,B25401–02016C1711th Edmonton GM 20164.2
Shankland,S2646Sethuraman,S26531–02016E8411th Edmonton GM 20164.3
Wang,R2341Findlay,I22570–12016D0511th Edmonton GM 20164.4
Valencia,B2277Haessel,D2234½–½2016A0511th Edmonton GM 20164.5
Sethuraman,S2653Shirov,A26821–02016D4711th Edmonton GM 20165.1
Haessel,D2234Ganguly,S26540–12016D4511th Edmonton GM 20165.2
Findlay,I2257Shankland,S26460–12016C9211th Edmonton GM 20165.3
Bitan,B2341Valencia,B2277½–½2016E7111th Edmonton GM 20165.4
Sambuev,B2540Wang,R23411–02016B7611th Edmonton GM 20165.5
Shirov,A2682Findlay,I22571–02016B7811th Edmonton GM 20166.1
Valencia,B2277Ganguly,S26540–12016E4611th Edmonton GM 20166.2
Bitan,B2341Sethuraman,S2653½–½2016A5011th Edmonton GM 20166.3
Shankland,S2646Sambuev,B25401–02016B0111th Edmonton GM 20166.4
Wang,R2341Haessel,D22341–02016A3611th Edmonton GM 20166.5
Sambuev,B2540Shirov,A26820–12016A0911th Edmonton GM 20167.1
Ganguly,S2654Wang,R23411–02016B7611th Edmonton GM 20167.2
Sethuraman,S2653Valencia,B22771–02016A4511th Edmonton GM 20167.3
Haessel,D2234Shankland,S26460–12016E1211th Edmonton GM 20167.4
Findlay,I2257Bitan,B23410–12016C0511th Edmonton GM 20167.5
Shirov,A2682Haessel,D22341–02016C6711th Edmonton GM 20168.1
Shankland,S2646Ganguly,S26541–02016D3511th Edmonton GM 20168.2
Sethuraman,S2653Findlay,I22571–02016A1311th Edmonton GM 20168.3
Bitan,B2341Sambuev,B2540½–½2016A4211th Edmonton GM 20168.4
Valencia,B2277Wang,R23410–12016A0411th Edmonton GM 20168.5
Ganguly,S2654Shirov,A26821–02016B3311th Edmonton Festival 20169
Wang,R2341Shankland,S2646½–½2016A4611th Edmonton Festival 20169
Findlay,I2257Valencia,B22770–12016B4611th Edmonton Festival 20169
Sambuev,B2540Sethuraman,S26531–02016B8211th Edmonton Festival 20169
Haessel,D2234Bitan,B23410–12016E7311th Edmonton Festival 20169

Final standings after 9 rounds

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Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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