6/24/2019 – The three tournaments of the "Summer Chess Classic" at the Saint Louis Chess Club will start in their second half today with five of the ten rounds in the books. Sunday was the tournaments' sole rest day. In the A tournament there was a draw between co-leaders Jeffery Xiong and David Howell, allowing Sam Shankland to move closer to the top with his win against Dariusz Swiercz. The encounter between Gawain Jones and Le Quang Liem ended in a draw. | Photo: Xiong vs Howell (webcast)
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No changes at the top
England's David Howell, and American top Junior Jeffrey Xiong continue to lead the A tournament, now standing on 3/5, with one win apiece. In the the B tournament, Surya Ganguly's pace slowed, allowing Grigoriy Oparin to catch up with both scoring 3½ points, while in the C tournament, the Latvian Arturs Neiksans also remains in the lead with 3½.
In Friday's fourth round only two of the nine games were decided. The A tournament saw a draw between the English GMs David Howell and Gawain Jones but it was by no means a boring one:
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Elo
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1.e4
1,177,402
54%
2421
---
1.d4
954,689
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
284,543
56%
2441
---
1.c4
183,757
56%
2442
---
1.g3
19,823
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,517
54%
2428
---
1.f4
5,931
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,873
50%
2384
---
1.b4
1,777
48%
2379
---
1.a3
1,245
54%
2406
---
1.e3
1,076
49%
2409
---
1.d3
964
50%
2378
---
1.g4
670
46%
2361
---
1.h4
465
54%
2381
---
1.c3
436
51%
2426
---
1.h3
289
56%
2420
---
1.a4
117
59%
2462
---
1.f3
100
47%
2427
---
1.Nh3
92
67%
2511
---
1.Na3
47
62%
2476
---
Please, wait...
1.d4Nf62.c4g63.Nc3d54.cxd5Nxd55.Nf3Bg76.g3Nxc37.bxc3c58.Bg2Nc69.0-0cxd410.cxd40-011.Rb1Nxd412.Nxd4Qxd413.Qxd4Bxd414.Bh6Rd815.Bxb7This position
has been reached several times before.Bxb7But so far only15...Rb8
has been tried, which should be easier because the white rook does not reach
the seventh rank.16.Rxb7Bc517.Rc1Rac818.Bf4Re819.a4
Objectively speaking, White has almost no advantage, but in practice, Black is
in a defensive posture which few top grandmasters would enjoy.19...a5And Jones
promptly makes a dubious move: He places his pawn on a square where the white
bishop can attack it. It's not long before this pawn is no more.The first
promising alternative was19...a6!On closer inspection, one quickly
realizes that none of White's pieces can attack the undefended a6-pawn.20.Bd2f621.Rcb1Red822.Bxa5Rd423.Bb4Kf724.a5Bxb425.R1xb4Rxb426.Rxb4Rc1+27.Kg2Ra1
In the position reached, Black lacks sufficient
compensation for the pawn. Nevertheless, there are, of course, countless
drawing resources in rook endgames, even with a measly extra pawn. But Black
may have hours of work ahead.28.Rb5Ra229.Kf3g530.Ke3Kg631.f4gxf4+32.gxf4Ra433.h4h5
After the last move, the computer signals that
Black is lost. And indeed he has placed his isolated pawn in range of White's
rook.Black could draw with33...e6first. Then the burden would be on
White to show any way to make progress.34.Kf3Ra3+Another mistake allows
the white king to cross the fourth rank.35.Ke4Ra4+
36.Kf3White,
understandably, backtracks. Marching the king to b6 could cost him pawns on
the kingside. How quick might Black's own pawns be? It's hard to judge, and
Howell believed he could prevail without taking the risk.After36.Kd5!control of the 5th rank will ensure that Black's pawns won't get rolling.Rxf437.Kc6Rxh438.a6Ra439.Kb6h440.a7Rxa741.Kxa7with a simple
win for White.36...Ra3+37.e3Ra4
38.f5+Only now does White
finally relinquish the advantage. Black's king is released from guarding the
h5 square and can move to the centre. From there's it's much easier to curtail
the a5 pawn.Kf739.e4Ra3+40.Ke2Ke841.Rd5Rh342.Rd4Ra343.Rd5Rh344.e5fxe545.Rxe5Kf746.a6Ra347.Re6Ra548.Kd3Rxf549.Rb6Ra550.Kc4e551.Kb4Ra152.Kc5e453.Kd4Ra4+54.Ke3Kg755.Rc6Kh756.Rd6Kg757.Rb6Kh758.Re6Kg759.Rd6Kh760.Kf4e3+61.Kxe3Rxh462.Rd4Rh3+63.Kf4Ra364.Rd6Ra565.Rd7+Kg666.Rd6+Kg767.Rd7+Kg668.Ra7Ra4+69.Kf3Ra3+70.Kg2h471.Ra8Kg772.Kh2Kh773.Kg2Kg774.a7h3+75.Kh2Kh776.Kg1Ra1+77.Kh2Ra378.Re8Rxa779.Kxh3½–½
Rook endings are amongst the most frequently encountered endgames there are, and so your training effort will be quickly repaid in the form of half and full points. Knowing even a few rules of thumb and key methods makes life a great deal easier and provides a guiding light even in complex positions. This DVD focuses on the important themes which are to be found in common rook endings.
Converting a position with a healthy extra pawn makes every chess player rejoice but the realization of small advantages like this often turns out to be extremely difficult or even fails completely. Sam Shankland had to work hard for 72 moves in the fifth round, before finally being able to score the full point in his pawn up endgame.
In this position, the move Ra1-a7 looks
unpleasant.23...Bc6and there's nothing speaking against Ra8! =23...Ra8!=24.b4White tries to get rid of the doubled pawns.Ne4A mistake. Not
only does the knight achieve nothing on this new square, he also weakens the
important d7-square.24...c4was probably best here. That does not look
good, becaus the bishop on c6 is literally walled in, but on the other hand
there would have been no weaknesses in the black position that White would be
likely to exploit.25.Ra7cxb426.Bxb4Ndf6This exposes the f7 square
with little justification.In order to strengthen the d7 point,26...Nef6!is the lesser evil.27.Ne5Bb528.Nxf7
Thus White has already
gained a winning position, although it takes exactly 100 moves to score the
full point, with penty of opportunity to go wrong. In a practical game,
however, White can torment his opponent endlessly without any risk.28...Ng529.Nxg5hxg530.Bf5g431.Rc7Ra832.Rc8+Rxc833.Be6+Kh734.Bxc8Be235.Bd6Ne436.Bf4g537.Be3Kg638.Be6Nf639.Bd2Bd340.Bc8Be241.Bb7Kf542.Bc8+Kg643.Bb4Kf744.Bd6Ne445.Bc7b546.Ba5Nd647.Bd7Ke748.Bc6Ke649.Bb4Ne450.Bb7Nf651.Bc8+Kf752.Kg2Ne453.Ba6Ke654.Bb7Nf655.Bc8+Kf756.Be1Ke757.Bf5Kf758.Bd2Ne459.Be3Bf3+60.Kf1Ke761.Ke1Kd662.Bd2Kc663.Bb4Kc764.Be6Kc665.Be7b466.b3Nd667.Bxg5Nb568.Bf6Nc369.Be7Ne270.h3gxh371.Bxh3Nxd472.Kd2Nxb3+73.Ke3Bh574.Bxb4d4+75.Kf4
75...Kb575...Kd5!was Black's last chance to offer
tough resistance.76.Be1Nc577.Bf1+Kc678.Bb4Bg679.g4Nd3+80.Bxd3Bxd381.Ke5Kd782.f4Ke883.f5Kf784.Kxd4Be285.g5Bb586.Ke5Be887.Bc3Bb588.Kf4Kg889.g6Bd390.Kg5Bc491.f6Kf892.Bb4+Kg893.Kf4Bb394.Ke5Bc495.Be7Bb396.Kd6Bc497.Kc7Bb398.Kd8Bc499.Ba3Bb3100.Ke71–0
The aim of these Dvd's is to build a repertoire after 1.c4 and 2.g3 for White. The first DVD includes the systems 1...e5, the Dutch and Indian setups. The second DVD includes the systems with 1...c5, 1...c6 and 1...e6.
Gawain Jones was looking forward to seeing the city on Sunday's rest day, after his first five games were all "somehow" drawn:
Three more fighting games but somehow all draws for me at the halfway point at the #SummerClassic@STLChessClub Day off tomorrow to explore St Louis. Let's hope for no more thunderstorms.
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B Tournament
Round four's lone winner was the young Russian Grigoriy Oparin, who knocked off Igor Kovalenko, with the black pieces, to move into shared first place. But Oparin first dodged a bullet in the middlegame after 28...♞h5?
Kovalenko vs Oparin
Position after 28...Nh5
This was the moment for White to strike with 28.♕e5+ ♚g8 29.♔f1 when White's king is safe and his piece activity will force the queens off into an easily winning endgame. Instead, 28.♕d2 gave Oparin the compensation for the pawn he needed: 29...♞f4 30.♖g3 d3 and Black's initiative led Kovalenko to jettison an exchange a few moves later giving Oparin a technically winning game.
All games of the 5th round ended in draws, so nothing changed.
Klaus BesenthalKlaus Besenthal is computer scientist, has followed and still follows the chess scene avidly since 1972 and since then has also regularly played in tournaments.
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