2/2/2011 – Seven wins, two draws – Vassily Ivanchuk is marching through. After nine rounds the Ukrainian Super-GM is half a point ahead of his only serious rival, Nigel Short (performance 2849). IM Melia Salome of Georgia missed a clear win in round eight, but is with a 2612 performance still on course for a GM norm. The weather is splendid and we have pictures of topless GMs frolicking in the sea.
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The 2011 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival is taking place from Monday, 24
January to Thursday, 3 February 2011 at the Caleta Hotel in Gibraltar. The event,
which is open to all, is the ninth in the series held on the Rock, but the first
one to be sponsored by Tradewise Insurance.
The rate of play: 40 moves in 100 minutes plus 20 moves in 50 minutes plus 15
minutes for all remaining moves with 30 seconds per move added from the start.
There is a special women's award for the hightest performance by a female player,
with a prize of £10,000. In addition there are a number of subsiduary
tournaments.
Round eight wrap-up
By Stewart Reuben
Yesterday the sun shone beamishly. There was a wealth of competitive chess
for the commentary room to consider: GM Simon Williams had the help there of
GM Stuart Conquest, GM Nigel Short, GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Jon Speelman, IM
Alex Wohl, IM Jack Rudd and others in the room from time to time. People online
who made valuable contributions included GM Peter Wells, IMs Richard Bates,
Lawrence Cooper and Thomas Rendle. Peter Purland went off as usual to teach
chess to local schoolchildren. The special evening event was team pairs, that
is alternate moves by the two members of the team and no consultation. This
event was visibly and audibly enjoyed by all who participated. In other words,
it was another day in chess paradise at the Caleta Hotel.
Ivanchuk (6) v Roiz (5½) was the top board game. 19...Nxf4 seemed to
favour Black, in the view of Simon Williams. But White recovered, Black got
sloppy and eventually lost. Many thought his resignation was premature.
Gopal (5½) v Short (5½) was a well-crafted game by the Englishman.
Even so, he admitted he did not see 24…Qb4+ 25 Bd2 exd4! I must admit
to a certain feeling of relish that even great grandmasters overlook things.
Gopal,G (2597) - Short,N (2658) [B16]
Gibraltar Masters Caleta ENG (8), 01.02.2011 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6 6.c3 Bf5 7.Nf3 Nd7
8.g3 Qa5 9.Bg2 Qb5 10.Nh4 Bg6. 10...Bd3!? 11.b3?! e5 12.c4 Qb4+ 13.Bd2
exd4! at this point Nigel exclaimed "I didn't see that at all" –
otherwise he would have played this very sweet combination. In fairness, White
has other options here, such as 11.Qb3. 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Qb3 a6 13.d5
Nc5 14.Qxb5 cxb5 15.Ke2 Na4 16.h4 Bh6 17.f4 f5 18.Rb1 Bg7 19.Be3 0-0-0 20.Rhd1
Kb8 21.Rd3 Rd7 22.Kd2 Rc8 23.Bd4 Bxd4 24.Rxd4 Nb6.
25.b3. 25.Ke2 may have been better hereabouts, planning to
defend the d-pawn with a further rook. 25...Rcd8 26.c4 e6 27.Bf1 bxc4
28.bxc4 Ka7 29.Bg2 exd5 30.cxd5 Nxd5. Inexorably, White's position
has worsened and a pawn has been lost. 31.Bxd5 Rxd5 32.Rxd5 Rxd5+ 33.Ke3
Ra5 34.Kd4. A desperate attempt to carry the fight back to Black but
it falls well short. 34...Rxa2 35.Ke5 Ra3 36.g4 fxg4 37.Kf6 g3 38.Rg1.
38.Kxf7 g2 39.Rg1 Rg3 is hopeless. 38...Rf3 39.Kg5 a5 40.Kg4 Rc3 41.f5
a4 42.fxg6 fxg6 43.Kg5 Rc6 44.Rxg3 b5 0-1.
The one that got away – we think. Salome Melia missed a win near the
end of her game with strong GM Daniel Fridman. Nonetheless she is still on course
for a GM norm.
33...Qxe3? Allowing perpetual check. Black can win with 33...c5!
when, for example, 34.Kf3 Qh1+ 35.Ng2 Ng5+ 36.Kf2 Nh3+ 37.Kf3 Qf1+ wins. 34.Qf5+
Kg8 35.Qc8+ ½-½.
The beautiful sunny weather tempted chess players to the beach
GM Alexander Onischuk, USA, rated 2689
FM Andrie Zaremba, USA, 2339
They actually went for a swim in winter in the Mediterranean! As Ali G would
say: Respek!
Photos by Zeljka Malobabic and John Saunders
GM Nigel Davies: Beating younger players
Although Victor Korchnoi probably hasn’t seen my DVD on beating younger
players he does a good job of it in this recent game from Gibralter. In an earlier
game between the two Korchnoi had played 5…b5 but lost the game. This
time round he omits …b5 and then hits White’s bishop with the manoeuvre
8…Nd7 and 9…Nb6, which simultaneously prepares …f7-f5. When
Caruana plays rather passively in reply Black manages to build a powerful king
side attack.
Korchnoi is the most amazing example of chess longevity and I loved his remark
to me after our game in the Staunton Memorial in London in 2009: “I played
the same way against Leonid Stein in 1962 and he was lucky to escape with a
draw!” He’s one of the main reasons I intend to play chess my whole
life, it seems to be quite good for ones marbles! – Nigel Davies at The
Chess Improver.
Going strong at 79: the indomitable Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi
A selection of games are being broadcast live on the official
web site and on the Playchess.com
server. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase
Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program
to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!
FIDE World Cup 2025 with analyses by Adams, Bluebaum, Donchenko, Shankland, Wei Yi and many more. Opening videos by Blohberger, King and Marin. 11 exciting opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
GM Blohberger presents a complete two-part repertoire for Black: practical, clear, and flexible – instead of endless theory, you’ll get straightforward concepts and strategies that are easy to learn and apply.
Opening videos: Sipke Ernst brings the Ulvestad Variation up to date + Part II of ‘Mikhalchishin's Miniatures’. Special: Jan Werle shows highlights from the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 in the video. ‘Lucky bag’ with 40 analyses by Ganguly, Illingworth et al.
In this video course, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov explores the fascinating world of King’s Indian and Pirc structures with colours reversed, often arising from the French or Sicilian.
€39.90
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