Fire on board

by André Schulz
12/2/2015 – The 7th London Chess Classic started yesterday with the inaugurual British Knockout Championships. In the quarterfinal the favorites Luke McShane, Gawain Jones and David Howell all won their two-game mini-matches. But Nicholas Pert and Jonathan Hawkins had to play a tie-break. Pert won thanks to a win in the Armageddon-Blitz and in a wild and messy game.

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Part of the 7th  London Classic Chess Festival is the inaugural British Knockout Championship. Eight British players were invited to take part, six top players and two talents. One of the top players was Nigel Short but he fell ill and had to pass. On short notice Nicholas Pert took his place.

In the quarter- and semifinals two games with a classical time-control (90'+30'') are played, both on the same day. The first game of the matches begins at 10.30 local time, the second game in the afternoon, at 15.30 local time. If the mini-match ends in a 1-1 draw, a tie-break with rapid games (15'+5'') is played. If still undecided, an Armageddon game (6 mins vs 5 mins with 3 secs/move from move 61) follows to end the match. The final, however, is a six-game match with a time-control of 90'+30''.

The prize-fund of the Knockout Championship is attractive:

1st: £20,000; 2nd: £10,000; 3rd-4th: £5,000 5th-8th: £2,500.

In the quarterfinals Luke McShane scored a clear 2-0 win against young Daniel Fernandez. David Howell eliminated Yang-Fan Zhou, the second junior. After winning the first game with a lot of luck and considerable help of his opponent Howell only needed a draw in the second game to win the the match 1.5-0.5 and qualify for the semifinals. Gawain Jones eliminated Jonathan Rowson from Scotland with 1.5-0.5.

The match between Nicholas Pert and reigning British Champion Jonathan Hawkins was the only one decided in a tie-break.

Pert lost the first tie-break game but equalized by winning the
second game - a rather wild and messy affair. He then continued
to win the Armageddon game and the match.

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,162,86954%2421---
1.d4944,72655%2434---
1.Nf3280,65156%2441---
1.c4181,58656%2442---
1.g319,66356%2427---
1.b314,17554%2427---
1.f45,87148%2376---
1.Nc33,76751%2384---
1.b41,73748%2378---
1.a31,19354%2403---
1.e31,06448%2408---
1.d394550%2378---
1.g465846%2359---
1.h444453%2373---
1.c342251%2422---
1.h327856%2416---
1.a410860%2468---
1.Nh38866%2510---
1.f38745%2429---
1.Na34063%2477---
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 e5 5.0-0!? Provocative. 5.d3 5...e4 6.Ne1 h5 Black lost the first tie-break game and had to win this one. 7.Bxe4 Bh3 There's one predecessor: 7...h4 8.d3 Bh3 9.Ng2 Qd7 10.Bf4 Nf6 11.Bf3 Bd6 12.Qc1 0-0-0 13.Na3 hxg3 14.fxg3 Ng4 15.Bxd6 cxd6 16.Bxg4 Qxg4 17.Rf2 g5 18.c5 Rhe8 19.Nb5 dxc5 20.Qxc5 Kb8 21.Re1 Re5 22.Qc4 f5 23.e3 Bxg2 24.Rxg2 dxe3 25.Qxg4 fxg4 26.Na3 Nd4 27.Nc4 Nf3+ 28.Kf1 Nxe1 29.Nxe5 Nxg2 30.Kxg2 Rd5 31.Nxg4 Rxd3 32.Kf3 Rd2 33.h4 gxh4 34.gxh4 e2 35.Kf2 Rxb2 36.h5 Rb4 0-1 (36) Malakhov,V (2706)-Tomashevsky,E (2745) Jurmala 2015 8.Qb3 White strives to get quick counterplay on the queenside. 8.Ng2 h4 with an attack. 8...Qc8 8...Bxf1?! would be rather narrow-minded: 9.Qxb7 Ne5 10.Kxf1 Rb8 11.Qxa7± 9.Qb5 Nge7 10.Ng2 Qd7 10...f5!? 11.Bf3 g5 is another idea. 11.Qxb7 Rb8 12.Qa6 f5 13.Bf3 d3 Pawns do not matter here, they just restrain the pieces. Black clears the d4-square for his knight. 14.Re1 14.exd3 h4 15.Re1 Rb6 16.Qa4 Nd4 14...Nd4 15.Nf4 Bg4 A very messy position - and both players only had little time on the clock.
15...Nc2?! 16.Nxd3 Nxa1 Better is 16...c6 17.Ne5+- is bad. But why should Black care about a rook which does not take part in the game anyway? 16.Qxa7 Rd8 17.Bxg4? Opening the h-file for Black's rook. 17.Bd5!? 17...hxg4 18.Nxd3 Qd6 The black queen rushes over to the kingside. 18...Nc2 19.Ne5 with the idea Qd4 20.Qa4+ 19.Nc3 Qh6 Even engines have problems evaluating this position. But probably White is lost - Black's attack is too strong. 20.Qa4+ c6 21.h4 g5 After 21...gxh3? 22.Kh2 Black's attack is stopped. 22.Nb4?
22.Kg2 gxh4 23.Rh1 seems to be better but Black is still pushing: Qf6 22...gxh4 Breaking through on the h-file decides the game. 23.d3 Qh7 24.Ncd5 Kf7 25.Bf4 hxg3 26.fxg3 cxd5 27.Kf2 Qh2+ 28.Ke3 dxc4 29.Qa6 Rh6 30.Qxc4+ Re6+
White's position gets invaded right and center. 31.Kd2 Nf3+ 32.Kc2 Rc8 33.Bc7 Nxe1+ 34.Rxe1 Qg2 Time to take a short breather and count: White is lacking a whole rook. 35.Kb3 Bg7 36.d4 Bxd4 Or 36...Qb7 37.Rc1 Nc6-+ 37.Qxd4 Rxc7 38.Qf4 Rb7 39.a3 Qe4 40.Qf1 Qd5+ 41.Kc2 Rxb4 41...Rxb4 42.axb4 Rc6+ 43.Kb1 Qe4+ 44.Ka2 Qc4+ 45.Kb1 Qc2+ 46.Ka2 Ra6# 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Hawkins,J2563Pert,N25690–12015A09British ch-KO 20151.4

Games of the quarterfinal

 
New ...
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,162,86954%2421---
1.d4944,72655%2434---
1.Nf3280,65156%2441---
1.c4181,58656%2442---
1.g319,66356%2427---
1.b314,17554%2427---
1.f45,87148%2376---
1.Nc33,76751%2384---
1.b41,73748%2378---
1.a31,19354%2403---
1.e31,06448%2408---
1.d394550%2378---
1.g465846%2359---
1.h444453%2373---
1.c342251%2422---
1.h327856%2416---
1.a410860%2468---
1.Nh38866%2510---
1.f38745%2429---
1.Na34063%2477---
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Bc5 5.Bg2 d6 6.0-0 0-0 7.e3 Bb6 8.h3 Be6 9.b3 h6 10.d4 exd4 11.exd4 Ne7 12.Na4 d5 13.Ne5 c6 14.Nxb6 axb6 15.Bb2 Nd7 16.Qc2 Re8 17.g4 f6 18.Nxd7 Qxd7 19.Rfe1 Bf7 20.a4 h5 21.gxh5 Bxh5 22.Qd3 Ng6 23.cxd5 Nf4 24.Rxe8+ Rxe8 25.dxc6 bxc6 26.Qc4+ Bf7 27.Qxc6 Qf5 28.Ba3 Nxh3+ 29.Bxh3 Qxh3 30.Bd6 Qh5 31.Qh1 Qf5 32.Qc6 Rc8 33.Qg2 Bd5 34.Qg3 Qh5 35.Qh2 Qg5+ 36.Qg3 Rc1+ 37.Rxc1 Qxc1+ 38.Kh2 Qh1# 0–1
  • 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.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Fernandez,D2476McShane,L26870–12015A29British ch-KO 20151.1
Howell,D2693Zhou,Y24551–02015A47British ch-KO 20151.1
Jones,G2615Rowson,J2569½–½2015D10British ch-KO 20151.1
Pert,N2569Hawkins,J2563½–½2015D37British ch-KO 20151.1
McShane,L2687Fernandez,D24761–02015B11British ch-KO 20151.2
Zhou,Y2455Howell,D2693½–½2015C26British ch-KO 20151.2
Hawkins,J2563Pert,N2569½–½2015A09British ch-KO 20151.3
Pert,N2569Hawkins,J25630–12015D31British ch-KO 20151.3
Hawkins,J2563Pert,N25690–12015A09British ch-KO 20151.4
Rowson,J2569Jones,G26150–12015E92British ch-KO 20151.4
Hawkins,J2563Pert,N25690–12015E32British ch-KO 20151.5

 

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André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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