Artemiev atop Gibraltar Masters

by Macauley Peterson
2/1/2019 – Vladislav Artemiev left no doubt by winning with Black against Yu Yangyi to take clear first and avoid a possible playoff. It's the first time the Gibraltar Masters has had a single player in first place after ten rounds since 2015. Karthikeyan Murali capped a fantastic tournament by beating Maxim Vachier-Lagrave and thereby finishing in sole second place. Tan Zhongyi from China took the top women's prize | Photo: John Saunders

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Artemiev arrives

In a week that saw the retirement from professional chess of "Big Vlad", a more moderately sized "Vlad" makes his move into the elite ranks. Vladislav (not Vladimir) Artemiev charged up the Gibraltar standings with a take-no-prisoners performance of 8½ / 10, to become the first sole winner after ten classical rounds since Hikaru Nakamura did it in 2015. Not even a tremendous upset on board two could derail the Artemiev Express. Although he surely would have a huge edge in a rapid and blitz playoff against Karthikeyan Murali, who briefly was in the lead after beating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in a must-win game, no such tiebreak was needed.

Artemiev takes home the GBP £25,000 (about USD $32,600) first prize, and has made a rating-breakthrough —he is now number 20 in the world after this gain of 27 Elo points. Along the way, he beat top GMs like David Navara, Yu Yangyi, and Hikaru Nakamura!

Name Pts. Result Pts. Name
Yu Yangyi 7 0 - 1 Artemiev Vladislav
Karthikeyan Murali 7 1 - 0 7 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime

No playoff needed

A happy Vladislav Artemiev is clearly on the ascent in Russia

 
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1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Nd7 6.0-0 Bg6 7.c3 Nh6 8.a4 a5 8...Rc8 was played in the game Adams-Conquest, British Championship 2010, but didn't work out too well for our much-loved tournament director. 9.Na3 Exiting the book, but maybe this is a theory-lite system anyway. Be7 10.Nc2 0-0 11.Nce1 c5 12.Bxh6 gxh6 13.Bb5 cxd4 14.cxd4 Nb8!? The equivalent of football's Cruyff turn, where the player on the ball turns back suddenly and tries to go round the defender a different way? 15.Qd2 Kg7 16.Nd3 Around here engines much prefer White, unless you leave them to search a bit long when they calculate that Black's positional weakness on the kingside is less serious than it looks. Na6 17.Nf4 Qb6 18.h4 Rfc8 19.Rfc1 Rxc1+ 20.Rxc1 Nb4 21.g3 Na2! Overlooked by engines, this move is simply designed to evict the white rook from the c-file to allow his own rook to occupy it. 22.Rd1 Rc8 23.Nh2 Qc7! Better than the tempting 23...Rc2?! when 24.Qe3 sets up the threat of Nxg6, Ng4 and an invasion on h6. 24.Bd3 h5 A necessary precaution to prevent the h2 knight coming to g4. Black probably realised he was losing a kingside pawn but was banking on his queenside pressure being sufficient compensation. 25.g4 Nb4 26.Bxg6 If 26.Bb1 hxg4 27.Nxg4 Bxb1 28.Nh5+ Kh8 29.Rxb1 29.Qh6 fails to Rg8 30.Nhf6 Qc2 29...Qc2 and the position greatly favours Black. 26...hxg6 27.gxh5 White has his extra pawn but Black now starts his queenside counter. Qc2 28.hxg6 Qf5 29.Qe3 Maybe White should take his chances with 29.gxf7!? Bxh4 which gets messy, with kingside threats for Black in the air, but shouldn't be worse for White with best play. 29...fxg6 30.Qg3 Rf8 31.Ng2 Qc2 32.Ne3 Qe4
33.Neg4? After the shadow boxing of the last few moves, White miscalculates. Instead 33.Ng2 is fine. Perhaps White thought his extra pawn was worth trying to exploit. 33...Nc6! Black switches focus onto the d4-pawn. 34.Qe3 Rf4! 35.Nf6 35.Qxe4 Rxe4 is even worse with the d4-pawn lost and the h4-pawn also in danger. White is obliged to cash in his extra pawn to try and right his ship. 35...Bxf6 36.exf6+ Kxf6 37.Qxe4 Rxe4 38.Nf3 Ne7! This wonderful knight is on the move again, this time to menace the d4 and h4 pawns simultaneously from f5. 39.Kg2 Nf5 40.Rd3 Nxh4+ Its job well done, the knight leaves the board with its master very close to being £25,000 richer. 41.Nxh4 Rxh4 42.Kg3 g5 43.Kg2 After 43.Rf3+ Kg6 44.Re3 Kf5 White is no better off. 43...Re4 44.Kg3 Kf5 45.Kg2 g4 46.Kf1 b6 47.Kg2 Re1 48.b3 Ke4 49.Rd2 Rb1 50.Kg3 White can chase the king back with 50.Re2+ Kf5 51.Re5+ Kf6 but it makes no difference as his pawns drop like ripe apples. 50...Kf5 51.Rd3 Rh1 52.Kg2 Rh3 52...Rh3 53.Rxh3 gxh3+ 54.Kxh3 Ke4 is an easily won king and pawn endgame.
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Yu,Y2764Artemiev,V27090–12019B12Gibraltar Masters10.1

Marvellous Murali

There was a large Indian contingent at the Gibraltar Masters — 26 players — led, in rating terms, by B. Adhiban. Karthikeyan started slowly with two draws. That got him somewhat easier pairings than he otherwise might have as he made his climb. But he still faced a tough challenge against Rauf Mamedov (2703) in round eight.

In round nine, he ground out an endgame win against the strong Russian GM Maxim Matlakov (2700). With White in the last round, he was not content with a draw, which would have given him a top ten finish, even against a player of the calibre of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

Karthikeyan explained his attitude after the game:

"I agree that I was playing against MVL, but according to the tournament situation I had to win the game to finish on the top. I just wanted to make the best moves. And he also has to make the best moves. If he doesn't then I win the game!"

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 6...e5 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7 10.Be2 h5 This move was not prepared by Karthikeyan before the game. It came as a surprise to him, but he managed to hold himself together. 11.h4 Nc6 12.Nf3 gxh4 13.Bxh4 Qa5 14.Qd2 Be6 15.Rd1 Rc8 16.0-0 Rg8 17.Nd5 Qxd2 18.Rxd2 Bh6 18...Bxb2 19.Rb1 19.Rdd1 f6 20.c3 Bg5? This was the key mistake of the game according to Karthikeyan. 20...Bf7!? 21.Bg3! Bh6 It is a good question to ask as to why MVL played Bg5 in the first place and then Bh6 back? He was not thinking clearly. 22.Nh4! The knight jumps to h4 and plans to make its way to f5. Kf7 23.Nf5 Bxf5 24.exf5 Rg5 25.Bc4 Na5 26.Bd3 Rcg8 27.Bf4 R5g7 28.Rfe1 Nc6 29.Be4 h4 30.f3 Bxf4 31.Nxf4 Nge5 32.Bd5+ White wins an exchange and Karthikeyan converts the game without too much trouble. Ke8 33.Bxg8 Nxf3+ 34.Kf2 Nxe1 35.Bd5 Rg5 36.Kxe1 Rxf5 37.Ng6 Rh5 38.Rd3 Rh6 39.Nf4 e5 40.Ne6 Ne7 41.Bxb7 Kd7 42.Nf8+ Kc7 43.Bxa6 d5 44.c4 f5 45.Bb5 f4 46.Ra3 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Karthikeyan,M2570Vachier-Lagrave,M27801–02019B90Gibraltar Masters 201910.2

Karthikeyan earned £20,000 (about USD $26,100) for solo second prize.

"I wanted to win today...he's also human."

Other upsets

Two other smaller upsets in the last round are worth a mention. Levon Aronian made a speculative sacrifice that backfired against David Howell.

 
Aronian vs Howell, Round 10
Position after 11.c4

Aronian provokes 11...e4 12.♗xe4 dxe4 13.♘bc3 but wasn't able to prove nearly enough compensation for the material deficit.

Hikaru Nakamura, on the adjacent board certainly didn't seem impressed by Aronian's gamble:

 
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1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Qc7 6.h3 g6 7.Qc2 B13: Caro-Kann: Exchange Variation and Panov-Botvinnik Attack White should try 7.Ne2 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.0-0 Nh6 9.Re1 0-0 10.Na3 a6 11.Nc2 Bf5 12.Ne3 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Rad8 14.a4 Qd7 1-0 (89) Jumabayev,R (2602)-Dreev,A (2670) St Petersburg 2018 7...f6N Predecessor: 7...Bf5 8.Bxf5 gxf5 9.Qxf5 Nxd4 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.Qxd5 Nf6 12.Qc4 Rg8 13.Bf4 Qd7 14.Na3 e5 1-0 (27) Feygin,M (2538)-Burg,T (2485) Belgium 2012 8.Ne2 e5 9.0-0 The position is equal. Nge7 10.dxe5 fxe5 11.c4 11.Qa4= keeps the balance. 11...e4 12.Bxe4 12.Qc3 exd3 13.Qxh8 dxe2 14.Re1 12...dxe4 13.Nbc3 Bg7 14.Nd5 Qd6 15.Bf4 Be5 16.Rad1
16...Bxf4! 17.Ndxf4 Qe5 18.b4 18.Qc3 keeps fighting. 18...Nxb4-+ 19.Qb3 Nbc6 20.c5 Qxc5 21.Nc3 Qb4 22.Qc2 0-0 23.Ncd5 Nxd5 24.Nxd5 Qa3 25.Rfe1 Bf5 26.Re3 Qa5 27.Qc4 Rf7 28.Nf6+ Kg7 29.Rd5 29.Nxe4 Bxe4 30.Rxe4 29...Be6 Accuracy: White = 40%, Black = 100%.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2767Howell,D26850–12019Gibraltar Masters 201910

Howell scored 5½ out of his last six games to finish tied for 3rd-5th place with Nikita Vitiugov and David Anton.

"I've played Lev a few times and he's bluffed me a couple of times...I was confident in my calculations."

Spanish number three David Anton Guijarro got a minor upset win of his own with black against Arkadij Naiditsch which was heralded by IM Tania Sachdev as "an attacking masterpiece".

 
Naiditsch vs Anton Guijarro
Position after 24...d4

Anton's opening of the centre was the knockout blow, ignoring the attack on his e8-rook as 25.exd4 ♞xd4 with a knight hopping into d3 is devastating for the white king.

"I think we were both very tired, we both missed things..."

Tan tops Women

The top women’s prize of £15,000 was won by former Women's World Champion Tan Zhongyi from China. Tan won her last round game over GM Aleksandr Indjic to finish in 20th place overall with 7/10.

Indjic made a misguided attempt at activating his rook in an equal endgame, which cost him a pawn:

 
Indjic vs Tan, Round 10
Position after 28...Ra8

29.h4 was unwise. 29...gxh4 30.♖h1 ♞f3 31.♖h3 ♞g5 32.♖xh4 ♞xe4+ and the knight returns to g5 leaving Black a pawn up.

Festival founder Brian Callaghan called Gibraltar "the home of women's chess" at the closing ceremony: "We have had more women entrants than ever before...We will further encourage female players to Gibraltar", he told the packed crowd at the Caleta Hotel on Thursday evening.


Look for more Gibraltar reporting in a story by GM Jan Werle next week!


Results of Round 10 (top 20)

Name Pts. Result Pts. Name
Yu Yangyi 7 0 - 1 Artemiev Vladislav
Karthikeyan Murali 7 1 - 0 7 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime
Aronian Levon 0 - 1 Howell David W L
Nakamura Hikaru ½ - ½ Grandelius Nils
Navara David ½ - ½ Melkumyan Hrant
Vitiugov Nikita 1 - 0 Vaibhav Suri
Alekseenko Kirill ½ - ½ Adams Michael
Lalith Babu M R ½ - ½ Saric Ivan
Naiditsch Arkadij 6 0 - 1 Anton Guijarro David
So Wesley 6 1 - 0 6 Deac Bogdan-Daniel
Le Quang Liem 6 1 - 0 6 Santos Latasa Jaime
Mamedov Rauf 6 1 - 0 6 Muzychuk Anna
Matlakov Maxim 6 1 - 0 6 Puranik Abhimanyu
Lagarde Maxime 6 ½ - ½ 6 Cheparinov Ivan
Gukesh D 6 ½ - ½ 6 Adhiban B.
Eljanov Pavel 6 1 - 0 6 Moroni Luca Jr
Edouard Romain 6 1 - 0 6 Gallego Alcaraz Andres Felipe
Indjic Aleksandar 6 0 - 1 6 Tan Zhongyi
Tari Aryan 6 ½ - ½ 6 Chandra Akshat
Antipov Mikhail Al. 6 ½ - ½ 6 Moussard Jules

Standings after Round 10 (top 20)

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Artemiev Vladislav 8,5 2941
2 Karthikeyan Murali 8,0 2747
3 Vitiugov Nikita 7,5 2779
4 Howell David W L 7,5 2705
5 Anton Guijarro David 7,5 2696
6 Navara David 7,0 2790
7 Grandelius Nils 7,0 2771
8 Lalith Babu M R 7,0 2767
9 Le Quang Liem 7,0 2741
10 Saric Ivan 7,0 2736
11 So Wesley 7,0 2734
12 Yu Yangyi 7,0 2715
13 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 7,0 2708
14 Adams Michael 7,0 2706
  Alekseenko Kirill 7,0 2706
16 Nakamura Hikaru 7,0 2703
17 Edouard Romain 7,0 2692
18 Mamedov Rauf 7,0 2681
19 Eljanov Pavel 7,0 2673
20 Melkumyan Hrant 7,0 2659

...250 Players

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John Saunders in Gibraltar and IM Sagar Shah of ChessBase India contributed reporting.

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Macauley served as the Editor in Chief of ChessBase News from July 2017 to March 2020. He is the producer of The Full English Breakfast chess podcast, and was an Associate Producer of the 2016 feature documentary, Magnus.

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ulyssesganesh ulyssesganesh 2/1/2019 04:44
great win for artemiev.... a fantastic finish for karthikeyan murali..... what a win against a sicilian expert ......
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