Gibraltar 03: Top matches ready!

by Alejandro Ramirez
1/31/2014 – With most of the top players in the tournament already facing above average grandmasters the event has weeded out most players with draws and only a select few remain with a perfect 3.0/3. The top board in round four will feature Movsesian vs. Vachier-Lagrave, but first round three where GM Fier was very close to winning (and to losing!) against top seed Michael Adams.
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The traditional Gibraltar Chess Congress has begun! The 12th edition of this event is under way, but the main attraction - the Masters Section, will begin tomorrow. The Masters section entries are closed and the pairings are ready for the tournament to begin.

A beautiful view of the playing site!

We can't publish too many reports on Gibraltar without a photo of the local monkeys

Round Three

The top boards of round three saw the top grandmasteres face off against 'mid-level' grandmasters, who are far from easy to beat! Only a few of the top grandmasters maintained their perfect score, although to be fair there were less upsets than one might expect considering the tough pairings they faced.

Vachier, Harikrishna, Navara, Rodshtein, Li Chao and Movsesian are the top seeds that have won all their games, but as you can see from the following results too many of these 2700 grandmasters have already dropped at least half a point.

Bo.   Name Rtg
Pts.
Result
Pts.
   Name Rtg
1 GM Fier Alexandr 2572
2
½ - ½
2
 GM Adams Michael 2754
2 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2745
2
1 - 0
2
 GM Salem A.R. Saleh 2564
3 GM Vitiugov Nikita 2737
2
½ - ½
2
 GM Gopal G.N. 2550
4 GM Lenderman Aleksandr 2562
2
½ - ½
2
 GM Kamsky Gata 2709
5 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2707
2
½ - ½
2
 GM Spraggett Kevin 2544
6 GM Anton Guijarro David 2557
2
0 - 1
2
 GM Harikrishna P. 2706
7 GM Navara David 2702
2
1 - 0
2
 GM Libiszewski Fabien 2533
8 GM Oparin Grigoriy 2517
2
0 - 1
2
 GM Rodshtein Maxim 2682
9 GM Li Chao B 2680
2
1 - 0
2
 IM Muzychuk Mariya 2503
10 GM Gordon Stephen J 2516
2
0 - 1
2
 GM Movsesian Sergei 2677
11 GM Xu Jun 2510
2
½ - ½
2
 GM Cheparinov Ivan 2672
12 GM Edouard Romain 2658
2
1 - 0
2
 GM Popilski Gil 2492
13 GM Agdestein Simen 2627
2
½ - ½
2
 WGM Tan Zhongyi 2483
14 GM Wei Yi 2607
2
0 - 1
2
 IM Henrichs Thomas 2477
15 GM Debashis Das 2494
2
½ - ½
2
 GM Van Kampen Robin 2602

The game on board one was absolutely crazy:

Brazilian GM Alexandr Fier (full name: Alexandr Hilario Takeda Sakai dos Santos Fier...) and English GM Michael Adams (full name: Michael Adams) played the following back and forth game:

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 Fighting chess. Although theory has shunned the Saemisch type of structures in the Nimzo-Indian as inferior, lately there have been more and more games in which White is trying to obtain an advantage by forsaking their development. c5 5.d5 b5 The most popular continuation, though d6 and 0-0 are amost as played. 6.e4 0-0 7.e5 Ne8 8.f4 d6 8...exd5 9.Qxd5 Nc7 10.Qd6?! Bb7 Spoelman-Adams, 2012 9.Nf3 exd5 10.cxd5 Nc7 11.Bd3 f5 novelty, and a strange one. 11...c4 12.Be4 f5 13.exf6 Qxf6 with a complicated position, is the more common continuation. 12.0-0 c4 13.Bc2 Now the bishop isn't on e4 and f5 doesn't force White to capture en-passant. The question becomes: can he hold his pawn center? Bb7 14.Kh1 Nba6 15.a4! Counterattacking on the queenside forces Black to take action, giving White activity and the pair of bishops. Bxc3 16.bxc3 16.axb5 was very interesting. With the following idea: Nxb5 17.bxc3 Nxc3 18.Qd4 and White recovers his pawn on c4 with a very pleasant position. 16...b4! Crashing through and creating space for the knights. Notice how every move Black has played revolves around the weakness of d5. 17.Nd4 g6 18.cxb4 dxe5 18...Nxb4 19.Rb1 a5 20.Nc6!? Will eventually lose the pawn but it might give White some compensation. It is strange that Adams didn't directly take on b4. 19.Nxf5! Perhaps he underestimated this move! 19.fxe5 Qxd5 is just losing for White who will soon drop the b4 pawn and has no compensation for itt, actually Black is slightly more active and has the better structure. 19...gxf5 20.d6 Ne6 21.fxe5 White has two pawns for the piece, but more importantly his bishops have gained scope and Black's king is not feeling safe at all. Qh4! The queen hurries to the kingside to hold everything together, including some key squares that he doesn't want the enemy queen occupying. 21...Nxb4? 22.Bxf5 Rxf5 23.Qg4+ is already dreadful for Black. 22.Bxf5 Rxf5 23.Rxf5 Kh8? 23...Nxb4! Is a greedy and computer move, but it begs White to prove what he has for initiative. 24.d7 Rd8 25.Kg1? Returning the favor. 25.Qf1 Rxd7 25...Rg8 26.Ra2 Nxb4 27.Rb2 And Black's position is falling apart. He doesn't have time for a5. a5 28.Rg5‼ and the rook is taboo while Black's king is dying. 26.Bg5!+- 25...Nb8 26.Qd6? Qg4? 26...Nxd7! would have turned the tables drastically 27.Qxe6? Qd4+ gives Black a winning advantage since the back rank threats are too strong. 27.Rg5 Qe4 28.Bd2 28.h3‼ with the idea of Rg4 is apparently winning for White. Although as a human I cannot really see why! 28...Rxd7 29.Qxe6 Qd4+ 30.Kf1 Qd3+ Finally a perpetual is forced to finish this crazy game. 30...Qxa1+?? 31.Be1 gets Black mated promptly. 31.Kg1 Qd4+ 32.Kf1 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Fier,A2572Adams,M2754½–½2014E20Tradewise 2014 - Masters3

Abdumalik Zhansaya, 13 years old and 2343 rated, had a tough loss against
Spragget in round two but will try to bounce back against El Debs on round four

Tan Zhongyi drew Agdestein in round three and faces Dubov in round 4

Norwegian Aryan Tari, following Carlsen's footsteps, is 2406 and 14 years old.
Today he beat GM Sandipan Chanda from India.

Vojinovic (left) and Zhukova (right) enjoying the team blitz side event

Paehtz and Short held one of the Master Classes - a lecture given by the players to the audience after the games

The room is certainly packed for these classes

Left to right - James Humphreys from Tradewise, organiser Brian Callaghan, Governor Sir James Dutton, tournament director Stuart Conuquest, Lady Dutton, Denis Llafferty from Saccone & Speed and Coca Cola and Tamara Stewart-Wilson.

The Governor of Gibraltar and Lady Dutton this afternoon visited the 2014 Tradwise Chess Festival at the Caleta Hotel. Sir Jim Dutton, who arrived in Gibraltar December last year, was visiting the festival for the very first time. On arrival at the Caleta Hotel the Governor and Lady Dutton were met by tournament organiser Brian Callaghan, Tamara Stewart-Wilson and tournament director Stuart Conquest. Also there to greet him were sponsors James Humphreys from Tradewise and Denis Llafferty from Saccone & Speed and Coca Cola.

Round 4

Bo.   Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts.   Name Rtg
1 GM Movsesian Sergei 2677 3   3 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2745
2 GM Harikrishna P. 2706 3   3 GM Edouard Romain 2658
3 GM Mareco Sandro 2582 3   3 GM Navara David 2702
4 GM Rodshtein Maxim 2682 3   3 IM Dvirnyy Danyyil 2574
5 IM Henrichs Thomas 2477 3   3 GM Li Chao B 2680
6 GM Adams Michael 2754 2½   2½ GM Lenderman Aleksandr 2562
7 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2739 2½   2½ GM Fier Alexandr 2572
8 GM Vocaturo Daniele 2582 2½   2½ GM Vitiugov Nikita 2737
9 GM Eljanov Pavel 2733 2½   2½ GM Maze Sebastien 2536
10 GM Hansen Eric 2559 2½   2½ GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2715
11 GM Kamsky Gata 2709 2½   2½ GM Xu Jun 2510
12 GM Gopal G.N. 2550 2½   2½ GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2707
13 GM Rapport Richard 2691 2½   2½ GM Gallagher Joseph G. 2495
14 GM Spraggett Kevin 2544 2½   2½ GM Short Nigel D 2683
15 GM Cmilyte Viktorija 2515 2½   2½ GM Dreev Aleksey 2673

The top boards feature bloodbaths for sure. Movsesian is trying to return to the 2700 club and will have the White pieces against Vachier-Lagrave. Harikrishna will try to continue the excellent form he has been showing against another Frenchman, Edouard. The Argentinean grandmaster Mareco will face the ever creative Navara while Rodsthein and Li Chao will face International Masters - however Henrichs just beat Wei Yi with Black!

The top board of Gibraltar will definitely be interesting today

All Photos by John Saunders

Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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