1/29/2017 – Emil Sutovsky and Ju Wenjun were leading the tournament with 4.0/4. Behind them were a pack of super elite grandmasters on 3.5/4. The top board clash between Sutovsky and Wenjun ended in a tame draw. However, that was the only peaceful result of the round. All the top players including Caruana, Nakamura, Adams were able to win their games. Gelfand, however, lost to David Anton Guijarro. We have an illustrated report withpictures, videos and analysis.
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Gibraltar 05: Halfway down the line
The biggest chess open in the world currently, the Gibraltar Masters, has reached the halfway mark. After four rounds of play, GM Ju Wenjun and ACP President, GM Emil Sutovsky were leading the tournament with a perfect score of 4.0/4. As round five of the ten-round event began, Ju Wenjun was heading closer to reaching the 2600 rating mark and becoming the sixth woman in the history of the game to have reached that feat. With only three points to gain, she sat down to play against Sutovsky. Behind these two who had a perfect score, a strong league of Grandmasters including the likes of Mickey Adams, Hikaru Nakamura and MVL was roughing it out to catch them in the lead. There was blood anticipated over the chessboard.
To the disappointment of the crowd, Ju Wenjun agreed to a draw against Emil Sutovsky in just 15 moves of a Grunfeld Defence
Knowing that the spectators would be disappointed with the result, Emil Sutovsky went into the commentary room and explained to the commentators Simon Williams and Jovanka Houska that he felt bad about having taken a draw so early. He further explained that he might have ended in a worse position if he hadn’t taken the repetition at that point. Not to mention the fact that he was taken by surprise by Wenjun’s opening choice.
“The tournament situation sometimes dictates what you do” – Emil Sutovsky
What Wenjun had to say...
Although the top board game was a quick and disappointing draw, it sent a wave of motivation for the players trying to catch Wenjun and Sutovsky in the lead and there were quite a few decisive results on the top boards.
Hikaru Nakamura crushed the Venezuelan GM Eduardo Itturizaga Bonelli in just 28 moves of a Queen’s Indian Defence on board 3.
[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"] [Site "Caleta ENG"] [Date "2017.01.28"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Iturrizaga Bonelli, Eduardo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E18"] [WhiteElo "2785"] [BlackElo "2652"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2017.01.24"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Bd2 Bf6 9. Rc1 d6 10. d5 Nxd2 11. Nxd2 e5 12. b4 a5 13. a3 axb4 14. axb4 Na6 15. Qb3 Bg5 16. e3 f5 17. f4 Bf6 18. fxe5 Bxe5 19. Nf3 Kh8 (19... Bf6 {Keeping the bishop could have been better.}) 20. Nxe5 dxe5 21. Nb5 Qd7 22. Qc3 Rae8 23. Rcd1 Rf6 24. e4 fxe4 25. Bxe4 c6 $2 {Black's position was worse, but this just hastens the end.} (25... Qf7 $16) 26. dxc6 $1 Rxf1+ 27. Rxf1 Bxc6 28. Qf3 $1 $18 {The move that Iturrizaga had missed. There's a mate on f8 and the c6 bishop is hanging.} 1-0
The board 4 encounter between Michael Adams and the Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan was a long tumultuous battle that ended in a victory for the English Grandmaster.
The Spaniard, David Anton Guijarro got the better of the former World Championship Challenger, GM Boris Gelfand after the Israeli Grandmaster made an inaccuracy one move before reaching the time control in an English Opening.
Fabiano Caruana had to fight a long arduous battle against Mikhail Antipov to secure victory in an Accelerated Dragon.
Sethuraman drew a complicated game against…
…the ultra-artistic Vadim Zvjaginsev
[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"] [Site "Caleta ENG"] [Date "2017.01.28"] [Round "5.6"] [White "Zvjaginsev, Vadim"] [Black "Sethuraman, S.P."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C24"] [WhiteElo "2679"] [BlackElo "2637"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2017.01.24"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Nf3 d5 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. Bd2 Bxc3 8. bxc3 Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. O-O O-O 11. g4 (11. Re1 f6 12. Bb3 Kh8 {The position should be around even.}) 11... Bg6 12. Re1 Re8 13. a4 h6 14. a5 e4 15. dxe4 Bxe4 16. a6 $1 {I like this move. It softens up the c6 knight and makes the next idea possibele.} bxa6 17. Bg5 $5 {A very original move that launches a discovered attack on the knight on d5. The threat now is to take on e4.} (17. Bxh6 {doesn't work because of} Nb6 $1 $15 (17... gxh6 $2 18. Rxe4 $16)) 17... Nf6 $1 {Sethuraman sidesteps the danger.} (17... hxg5 $2 18. Rxe4 $1 Rxe4 19. Bxd5 $16 {White will recover the material with interest.}) 18. Qxd8 Raxd8 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20. Nd4 Nxd4 21. cxd4 Rxd4 22. Bxa6 {The position is just equal.} Re5 23. c3 Rd8 24. f4 Re6 25. Bf1 Ra8 26. Bc4 Ree8 27. Ra6 Kg7 28. Rea1 f5 29. Rxa7 fxg4 30. hxg4 Rxa7 31. Rxa7 1/2-1/2
GM Lalith Babu is standing strong against the storm of elite GMs the Gibraltar Masters is throwing at him. This time he drew against Vassily Ivanchuk…
…who was caught musing around after the game.
Game of the day
There were quite a few grueling encounters in round five. But the one that stood out from the rest was Veselin Topalov’s game against Deac Bogdan-Daniel.
With the hope of reaching a solid position, Topalov chose to play the Catalan. But him being him; and him being awesome, the position turned wild in no time. In just 25 moves, Deac was on his knees!
[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"] [Site "Caleta ENG"] [Date "2017.01.28"] [Round "5.12"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Deac, Bogdan-Daniel"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2739"] [BlackElo "2572"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2017.01.24"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Bd7 6. Ne5 Bc6 7. Nxc6 Nxc6 8. e3 Qd7 9. O-O Rd8 10. Qe2 e5 11. Nc3 Be7 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Bxb7 Bb4 (13... O-O {And Black has a fine position out of the opening.}) 14. Rd1 Nd3 15. e4 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Qb5 $1 {Deac is playing quite accurately.} 17. e5 Nd5 $6 (17... O-O $1 18. exf6 Qxb7 19. Qg4 g6 $17 {And Black is better. This should haveen preferred by Deac.}) 18. Rb1 $1 Nxc3 $2 {The most natural move actually turns out to be a blunder.} (18... Qc5 $1 $11) (18... Qxb1 19. Bc6+ Rd7 20. Bxd7+ Kxd7 21. Qg4+ $18) 19. Qf3 Qxe5 (19... Nxb1 20. Bc6+ $18) (19... Qxb1 20. Bc6+ Ke7 (20... Rd7 21. Bxd7+ Kxd7 22. Qg4+ $1 (22. Qxf7+ $2 Kc8 $19) 22... Ke7 ( 22... Kc6 23. Qxc4+ $18) 23. Bg5+ f6 24. exf6+ gxf6 25. Rxb1 $18) 21. Bg5+ $18) 20. Qc6+ Kf8 21. Bb2 $1 Ne2+ 22. Kg2 c3 23. Ba3+ Kg8 24. Qe4 c2 25. Rxd3 { A brilliant game by Veselin Topalov.} 1-0
Beh, I’m a bit too old for such positions he says.
Tania Sachdev and Stuart Conquest dancing before the battle of Sexes!
About the author
Aditya Pai is an ardent chess fan, avid reader, and a film lover. He has been an advertising copywriter and is currently pursuing a Master's in English Literature at the University of Mumbai. He loves all things German and is learning the language. He has also written scripts for experimental films.
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