2/2/2017 – The Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2017 is set for an exciting finale. David Anton Guijarro is the surprise leader of the tournament with 7.5/9. He beat Topalov in the penultimate round and now faces Adams on Thursday. Eight players follow him on 7.0/9. What makes this particularly interesting is the fact that there will blitz play-offs to determine the winner. Apart from Anton David, Ju Wenjun has impressed everyone with her results. We have an illustrated report with pictures, videos and grandmaster analysis!
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It was the penultimate round at the Gibraltar Masters 2017 and at the end of nearly seven hours of play, we have a sole leader. And it's not one of the 12 super 2700+ GMs that are playing at the event. It's the 21-year-old Spanish talent David Anton Guijarro. The Spaniard is having a phenomenal run at this event and is already gaining 25.5 Elo points with a rating performance of 2878!
David Anton's scorecard
David's latest scalp was the Bulgarian number one Veselin Topalov
When a player like Topalov plays 1.e4 and the game goes into the Ruy Lopez territory, you are sure to learn something. After all players of Veselin's calibre have such great knowledge in the Spanish system. They have played hundreds of games, prepared the lines deeply and studied thousands of other grandmaster battles. But then comes a youngster who plays the black side of the Chigorin variation with such ease that you think that the colours have been reversed! David Anton Guijarro played a nearly flawless game with black and simply outplayed Topalov. It seemed as if Anatoly Karpov was handling the black pieces. It's difficult to say where Topalov went wrong, but exchanging the dark squared bishop and giving Black complete control of the dark squares seems to be the reason for his downfall.
Veselin Topalov vs David Anton Guijarro (analysis by GM Krikor Sevag Mekhitarian)
[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar Masters"] [Site "ChessBase"] [Date "2017.02.01"] [Round "9.2"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Anton Guijarro, David"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C96"] [WhiteElo "2739"] [BlackElo "2650"] [Annotator "Mekhitarian, Krikor Sevag"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Bulgaria"] [BlackTeam "Spain"] [WhiteTeamCountry "BUL"] [BlackTeamCountry "ESP"] [WhiteClock "0:44:44"] [BlackClock "0:52:15"] {Playing on the 2nd board in the 9th round and co-leading the tournament, 21-year old David Anton Guijarro from Spain has been the sensation of this year's Gibraltar Masters. With ambitious and strong play, he has already beaten the likes of Gelfand and Sutovsky, not to mention draws with Nakamura and MVL. Now he faces the always dangerous ex-world champion Veselin Topalov} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 {Topalov goes for the most principled line, instead of the currently fashionable 6.d3!?, which leads to quieter positions.} b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 {This position has been played almost 37.000 times according to my database! Black has a wide variety of choices in this main Ruy Lopez variation.} Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Nd7 $5 {an interesting line, that has been played by David Anton himself three rounds ago against Sutovsky. White now has two choices: a closed position with 12.d5 or a very double-edged fight after 12.Nbd2. Naturally, both Sutovsky and Topalov went for the second option, always leading to interesting play} 12. Nbd2 (12. d5 $5 {is more positional, and was played in the very first time in a classic Fischer - Keres game, from the amazing Candidates Tournament in Curacao,1962!} Nb6 13. Nbd2 {is the main move} (13. g4 $6 {The brilliant ex-world champion went for a dubious plan here, white normally has to be better prepared to build this kind of idea on the K-side (normally with Nbd2-Nf1-Ng3). It is also clear that Fischer wanted to stop f5 hitting his strong central pawn on e4, but on the other hand he allows h5!} h5 $1 14. Nh2 hxg4 15. hxg4 Bg5 {suddenly black has easy play exploiting the weak squares, and still keeps good prospects on the Q-side} 16. Nd2 g6 17. Ndf3 Bxc1 18. Qxc1 Kg7 19. Qg5 {the endgame is no relief for white, but black was considering Rh8 and then start some work on the K-side himself.} Nb7 20. Qxd8 Rxd8 21. a4 bxa4 22. Bxa4 Nxa4 23. Rxa4 Bd7 24. Ra2 c4 25. Nd2 Bb5 26. Nhf1 Rh8 27. Ne3 Rh4 $17 {And the superb Paul Keres went on to win a nice game. 0-1 (73) Fischer, R-Keres,P Curacao 1962}) 13... g6 14. b4 (14. Nf1 $5 {also looks interesting} f5 15. Bh6 Rf7 16. b3 {with complex play}) 14... Nb7 15. a4 $6 {I don't think white is ready tor this kind of action on the Q-side} (15. Nf1 {was again possible: 1-0 (78) Nakamura,H (2774)-Nisipeanu,L (2659) Medias 2011}) 15... bxa4 16. Bxa4 Nxa4 17. Qxa4 Bd7 18. Qb3 Qc7 19. Bb2 Rfc8 $15 {and black achieved a better position: 0-1 (41) Vedmediuc,S (2456)-Zhigalko,S (2669) Calimanesti Caciulata 2016}) 12... exd4 $1 13. cxd4 Nc6 {this is black's idea, nearly forcing white to enter a double-edged position with 14.d5. In case of 14.Nf1, black can simplify on d4 and enjoy a good initiative in exchange for the worse pawn structure.} 14. d5 (14. Nf1 $6 cxd4 15. Nxd4 Nxd4 16. Qxd4 Ne5 { justifying the 11...Nd7 move} 17. Qd1 Bf6 18. Ne3 Be6 $11 {this is a typical position where the piece activity easily compensates the weak pawn on d6. Black has easy play, with moves like Rc8, Nc4, and Qb6. Meanwhile, white has a hard time developing his Q-side, and moves like f4 will create weaknesses.} 19. Bd2 (19. f4 Nc4 $132) 19... Nc4 20. Nxc4 Bxc4 21. Bc3 Bxc3 22. bxc3 Qf6 23. Qd4 Qxd4 24. cxd4 Rfc8 $15 {0-1 (58) Melia,S (2420)-Petrosyan,M (2480) Tbilisi 2016 and black's endgame is slightly preferrable, due to his good chances on the Q-side}) 14... Nce5 15. a4 (15. Nxe5 Nxe5 16. f4 Ng6 17. Nf3 Bh4 $1 (17... Bb7 $2 {now there is no reason to play like in the game, because white gets 18. f5! in time.} 18. f5 Ne5 19. Nxe5 dxe5 20. b3 $5 $16 {followed by Be3, Rc1, Bd3, and real pressure against the Q-side}) 18. Nxh4 Qxh4 19. f5 (19. Rf1 { allows} Bxh3 $1 20. gxh3 Qg3+ {forcing a draw}) 19... Ne5 {used to be the main line, with a complex position, but black should be fine.}) 15... Bb7 {looks safer than Rb8} (15... Rb8 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. axb5 axb5 18. f4 Ng6 19. Nf3 Bh4 ( 19... f5 $5 {stops white attack, but may run into an inferior position:} 20. exf5 Bxf5 21. Bxf5 Rxf5 22. g4 Rf8 $5 23. f5 Ne5 24. Bf4 Nf7 25. Re6 $16) 20. Rf1 Bg3 21. f5 Ne5 22. Ng5 h6 $1 {is the only line surviving so far, but it also looks dodgy} (22... Bh4 $2 {Svidler goes into a refuted line} 23. f6 $1 $18 {and white is winning!} h6 (23... g6 24. Qd2 {threatenig Nxh7} h6 25. Nh7 $1 $18 {1-0 (29) Kilpatrick,C (2052)-Wallis,I Southend 2006}) 24. Qh5 gxf6 25. Nh7 Kxh7 26. Qxh4 {1-0 (26) Inarkiev,E (2732)-Svidler,P (2745) Germany 2016}) ( 22... Nd7 23. Nxh7 $5 Kxh7 24. f6 g6 {and now both 25.e5!? or 25.Qg4 look promising, and only the super computers will tell if white's attack is enough for a win} 25. Qg4 $5 $40 (25. e5 $5 $40)) 23. f6 $1 gxf6 $5 (23... g6 24. Nf3 Qxf6 25. Bxh6 $36) 24. Nf3 Kg7 $13 {and somehow, black's position is not collapsing}) 16. Qe2 (16. Nxe5 $5 Nxe5 17. f4 Ng6 18. Nf3 Bf6 {was seen in David's game against Sutovsky} (18... Bh4 $2 {now this wouldn't make too much sense with the B on b7} 19. Nxh4 Qxh4 20. Rf1 $5 {[%csl Rb7]} (20. Ra3 $5 { making use of the a4 move} Nxf4 $2 21. g3 $1 Nxh3+ 22. Kh2 $18 {and white wins} )) (18... Re8 $5) 19. g3 (19. e5 $5 Be7 20. Be4 f5 21. exf6 Bxf6 $13 {with another unclear position}) 19... Qd7 20. Kg2 Rfe8 21. Ra3 {generally speaking, this looks promising for black, since white's pawn majority is not advancing for now and black has good prospects on the Q-side} Bd8 $5 (21... b4 $5 22. Rae3 c4 $13 {was very complex}) 22. h4 Nf8 23. h5 h6 24. f5 $2 {weakening too many squares} Bf6 25. Nh2 Nh7 $1 26. Ng4 Bd4 27. axb5 axb5 28. Rxa8 Rxa8 29. b4 Ra2 30. bxc5 dxc5 31. Be3 Bxe3 32. Nxe3 Nf6 $17 {now white is clearly in trouble, with the worse king and difficulty in advance his pawns, while black can organize an attack and also think about advancing his own Q-side, 0-1 (56) Sutovsky,E (2628)-Anton Guijarro,D (2650) Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2017}) 16... Rb8 17. Nxe5 Nxe5 18. axb5 (18. Nf1 {was played in december} Bf6 19. Ne3 c4 $6 {probably a slight innacuracy to start pushing the pawns without Re8 or Bc8} 20. axb5 axb5 21. Bd2 $14 {looks slightly better for white now, with the c3 and d4 square available for the pieces: 0-1 (41) Hansen,M (2452)-Wagner,D (2548) Vandoeuvre 2016}) 18... axb5 19. Nf1 Re8 20. Ne3 Bf6 21. Bd2 Bc8 $1 { bringing the bishop back into play, black achieves a fully consistent position, and keeps great prospects on the Q-side, which is basically one of the key ideas in this variation - control white's central and K-side expansion and start advancing the 'b' and 'c' pawns at some point. Don't get me wrong, I don't think black is better here, but nowadays it is not easy to achieve such a promising and interesting position as black without running into real dangers.} 22. Ba5 (22. f4 $6 Ng6 $17 {looks always good for black, since all his pieces are well prepared to meet this advance.}) 22... Qe7 23. Bc3 $6 (23. Qf1 $5 {trying to prepare something like f4 followed by Nf5} b4 {locks the bishop on a5, but hands over the initiative for white} (23... Ng6 24. Nf5 Qd7 25. Ra2 $13 {with a weird position}) 24. f4 Ng6 25. e5 $5 dxe5 26. f5 Nf4 27. g3 $13) 23... Ng6 $1 {making a very good piece exchange, black doesn't need to worry about f4 anymore} 24. Qf3 (24. Bxf6 Qxf6 $15 {would be equally good for black, threatening b2 and moves like Nf4}) 24... Bxc3 25. bxc3 Qg5 26. Kh2 h5 $1 27. Ra7 Re7 28. Rxe7 Nxe7 29. Ra1 (29. Nf5 $5 {is a very counterintuitive move pointed out by the computer. Normally it could be a positional mistake, but here if black plays Bxf5, then the knight on e7 has a hard time to find a good square} Bxf5 30. exf5 $13) 29... Ng6 30. Qg3 Qf6 $1 {black aims to explore the c3 weakness, and exchange queens only after white makes further concessions} 31. Nf5 $2 {a mistake, as pointed out by David in the post-mortem, and also by Topalov himself, according to him. Not only because it may be the decisive mistake, but black has very easy play from now on.} (31. Nd1 {would be a very sad move to make} h4 32. Qe3 Bd7 $17 {black has a very confortable advantage, but for now white keeps control of the only open file, and there is play}) 31... Bxf5 32. exf5 Ne5 33. Rb1 h4 34. Qf4 g5 $1 35. Qe3 Nc4 36. Qc1 Kg7 37. Bd3 (37. Kh1 $5 {could have been better maybe, but the position is already difficult}) 37... Ne5 38. Be4 g4 $1 39. hxg4 Nxg4+ 40. Kg1 Qh6 $1 {forcing a horrible endgame for white, because if the queen moves, then Qf4! is deadly} 41. Qxh6+ (41. Qe1 Qf4 42. g3 hxg3 43. fxg3 Qg5 $19 {and the white king is in trouble with all the black pieces joining the attack}) 41... Kxh6 42. Kf1 Kg5 { slightly surprising resignation from Topalov, but the position is already hopeless, black will simply play Nf6, probably grab two pawns and start marching with his Q-side at some point. A superb win from David Anton, the man of the hour, going into the last round as the sole leader of the 2017 Gibraltar Masters! In the last round, he faces the experienced super-GM Michael Adams.} 0-1
"I can't say that it was an easy win, because it would be too much. But my play was very easy!"
David Anton is now the sole leader, and with just one round to go has excellent chances of winning the first prize of £23,000
The top board clash between MVL and Yu Yangyi was a dull draw in the Petroff
Caruana equalised with all the accurate moves in the Queen's Gambit Accepted against Hikaru Nakamura
The final position of the game was quite picturesque. There should always be a balance between rights and responsibilities in life!
[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"] [Site "Caleta ENG"] [Date "2017.02.01"] [Round "9.3"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D27"] [WhiteElo "2785"] [BlackElo "2827"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2017.01.24"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nbd2 Ke7 10. b3 b6 11. Be2 a5 12. Ne5 Ba6 13. Ndc4 Nfd7 14. Nxd7 Nxd7 15. Bb2 f6 16. Rfd1 Rhd8 17. a3 Rac8 18. Rdc1 Bb7 19. Bc3 Bd5 20. b4 axb4 21. axb4 Bxc4 22. Bxc4 Bd6 23. Be1 {It seems as if White is slightly better with his bishpo pair. However, Black forces are excellently co-ordinated.} f5 24. h3 Nf6 25. Kf1 Rc7 26. Bb3 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Ra8 28. Rc6 Nd7 29. Rc1 Ra3 30. Bc4 Nf6 31. Ke2 g5 {Caruana's play is quite easy. Black rook is active. And if you try and exchange it, you move closer to a draw.} 32. Rc2 h5 33. f3 b5 34. Ra2 (34. Bxb5 Nd5 $11) 34... Rxa2+ 35. Bxa2 Nd5 36. Bxd5 exd5 37. g4 hxg4 38. hxg4 fxg4 39. fxg4 Ke6 40. Kd3 Be7 41. e4 dxe4+ 42. Kxe4 Bd6 43. Bd2 Be7 44. Be1 Bd6 45. Bd2 Be7 {A nice final position. Both the bishops attack one opponent's pawn and defend one of their own pawn. Just like life, in chess too there should be a balance between rights and duties!} 1/2-1/2
Long story short: Tania Sachdev in conversation with Fabiano Caruana
Michael Adams had a blackout for a moment against Sethuraman S.P, but the Indian player was not alert enough to take advantage of the mistake. In the end the English GM scored a nice win!
In the above position Adams could have kept a clear edge with Nxe6 fxe6 Rxd7 followed by picking up the e5 bishop. However he went for...
....direct Rxd7. This turned out to be a grave error. Can you find how Black wins?
[Event "Gibraltar Masters 2017"] [Site "Caleta ENG"] [Date "2017.02.01"] [Round "9.4"] [White "Adams, Michael"] [Black "Sethuraman, S.P."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A20"] [WhiteElo "2751"] [BlackElo "2637"] [Annotator "Sagar,Shah"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2017.01.24"] 1. c4 e5 2. g3 c6 3. d4 e4 4. Nc3 d5 5. Bg2 Nf6 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Bg5 {Results wise this line is considered to be not so great for Black. It is some sort of the reversed French where the extra tempo for White can make the defence of the d5 pawn quite difficult, but at the same time the bishop on g2 is misplaced. The computer likes this system with black and thinks that it is around equal.} Nbd7 8. Qb3 (8. Nxd5 Qa5+ $19) 8... Bd6 9. Nh3 (9. Nxd5 Qa5+ $19 ) 9... h6 10. Bf4 Nb6 11. Be5 Ng4 $6 (11... g5 $5 12. f4 $5 g4 13. Nf2 O-O 14. O-O $14) (11... Qe7 $5) 12. Bxg7 (12. Bxd6 Qxd6 13. Nf4 Nf6 14. Nb5 Qe7 15. Rc1 O-O 16. Nc7 Rb8 17. Nfxd5 Nbxd5 18. Nxd5 Nxd5 19. Qxd5 Qb4+ 20. Rc3 Qxb2 21. Qb3 $14 {And White is surely slightly better.}) 12... Rg8 13. Be5 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Bxe5 15. Rd1 Be6 16. Nxe4 Qc8 17. Nf4 $5 dxe4 (17... Bxf4 18. Nf6+ Ke7 19. Nxg8+ Qxg8 20. O-O $14) 18. Qb5+ Nd7 19. Rxd7 $2 {A pretty bad blunder by Adams.} (19. Nxe6 fxe6 20. Rxd7 Qxd7 21. Qxe5 Qd5 22. Qc3 $44 {was the correct way to play and White would have excellent compensation.}) 19... Qxd7 $2 (19... Bxf4 $3 {It's never easy to allow a deadly discovered check for your opponent. But truth be told, there is nothing special that White can do.} 20. Rxb7+ (20. Rd1+ Bd7 21. Qb4 Bc6 $17 {With an extra piece, Black is on track towards victory.}) 20... Bd7 $1 21. Qxd7+ Qxd7 22. Rxd7 Kxd7 23. Bxe4 Bc1 24. Bxa8 Rxa8 $17 {is better for Black.}) 20. Qxe5 O-O-O 21. O-O Qc7 22. Qxe4 Kb8 23. Nxe6 fxe6 24. Qxe6 {White has three pawns for an exchange and a very safe king. The rest was mopped up easily by Michael.} h5 25. Qf6 Rdf8 26. Qh4 Rf5 27. Bf3 Rd8 28. Kg2 Rc5 29. b4 Rc4 30. Qxh5 Rxb4 31. Qg5 Qd6 32. Rc1 a6 33. h4 Rb5 34. Qg7 Rd7 35. Qh8+ Rd8 36. Qc3 a5 37. h5 a4 38. h6 Qxh6 39. Qc7+ Ka7 40. Rc4 Rd6 41. Rxa4+ Ra6 42. Rh4 Qf8 43. a4 Rb4 44. Rf4 1-0
Three legends captured in one frame! Boris Gelfand has the best chance of a strong finish as he is on 7.0/9. Topalov is on 6.5 and Svidler on 6. Peter has not lost a single game. Six draws!
Romain Edouard was clearly thrilled at having won against the in form Nigel Short...
...while Nigel was clearly unhappy that his excellent run which had included wins over Grigoriants, Caruana and draws against Adams and Svidler, had come to an end.
Ju Wenjun has showcased some high class chess in this tournament. With a win over Sebastien Maze, she is now on 7.0/9.
This is a performance that Ju Wenjun would be proud of!
And she is now on 2606! Closing in on Hou Yifan, and forty points clear of World number three!
David leads the tournament with 7.5/9, but a pack of eight players are right on his toes. They include Mickey Adams Boris Gelfand, MVL, Hikaru Nakamura, Yu Yangyi, Ivan Cheparinov, Ju Wenjun and Romain Edouard.
That's the top board pairing in the final round. If David Anton wins, he is the champion. A draw would mean that he could be joined by many others. Currently Yu Yangyi seems to have the best chances as he has the white pieces against Ju Wenjun. Nakamura has a clear edge against Romain as far as rating is concerned. The game between Gelfand and Vachier-Lagrave will be a really exciting one!
Tie-break rules
In the event of a tie for first place, there shall be a speed play-off. If there are two or four players tied for first place, there will be a speed knock-out play-off for the first prize of £23,000. If three players tie for first place, the player with the highest performance rating will be seeded directly into the Final of the Play-Off; the other two players will contest the Semi-Final. If more than four players tie for first place, the four players with the highest performance ratings shall qualify for the play-off to decide the first prize.
Women's Awards: If there is a tie for the top women’s prize, the tie is resolved in favour of the woman with the highest performance rating, who will receive the prize of £15,000. All other prizes will not be subject to a tie-break and prize money other than the first prize will be divided equally amongst the players.
Who do you think will win? Write your answers in the comments section below.
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Sagar ShahSagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.
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