Kirill Shevchenko wins Lindores Abbey Blitz Tournament

Shevchenko clinches sole first place

Young players are pushing forward. At the Grand Swiss, the youngsters already showed what they are made of. And they continued to do so in the subsequent blitz tournament, played in honour of Mikhail Tal (1936-1992), who would celebrate his 85th birthday today.

Master Class Vol.2: Mihail Tal

On this DVD Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Karsten Müller present the 8. World Chess Champion in video lessons: his openings, his understanding of chess strategy, his artful endgame play, and finally his immortal combinations.

The fight for tournament victory developed between some established top players like Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave or Levon Aronian and some young stars. In the end, Kirill Shevchenko, aged 19, won the tournament.

The blitz tournament was played over nine double-rounds according to the Swiss system. The main sponsor was the Scottish whiskey distillery Lindores Abbey. The idea for the memorial tournament came from the well-known referee Alexander Bakh, who was good friends with Mikhail Tal.

A total of 120 players took part in the tournament, including many well-known names. 

Indian young star Arjun Erigaisi (18) had the strongest start, as he honoured Tal’s memory by playing exciting, sacrificial chess from the get go. He started with 9½ points from the first five double-rounds, beating players as strong as Levon Aronian, David Howell and Rauf Mamedov by a 2-0 score.

In the eighth double-round, however, Erigaisi lost outright to Kirill Shevchenko 0-2, and relinquished the lead to the Ukrainian.

Master Class Vol. 12: Viswanathan Anand

This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors how to successfully organise your games strategically, and how to keep your opponent permanently under pressure.

31...Rxg3+ 32.hxg3 Qxg3+ 33.Kf1 [33.Kh1 Bd5+ 34.Nxd5 Rd1+ 35.Qf1 Rxf1#]

33...Bh3+ 34.Ke2 [34.Rxh3 Qxh3+ 35.Ke1 Rf3–+] 34...Qe3#

0–1

Before the final round, Caruana and Shevchenko were tied atop the standings. Caruana drew his game against Aronian. Shevchenko beat Hail Martirosyan to become the tournament winner. The Ukrainian took home the first prize of USD 10,000.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was able to fend off the attack of youth in the final round — with a lot of luck:

13...Ncxe5?! Courageous, but the sacrifice does not work. 14.dxe5 d4 15.Qe4 b5 [15...dxc3 16.Qxb4–+]

16.Bc2? To prevent the next move. [16.Bb3+–]

16...f5 17.exf6!? [17.Qe2?! dxc3 and Black is proved right.]

17...Re8 18.Bb3+ Kh8 19.Kf1? [The right way forward was 19.fxg7+ Kxg7 20.Be6 Qd6 21.Kf1 Qxe6 (21...Rxe6 22.Qxa8 dxc3 23.bxc3 Bxc3 24.Rb1=) 22.Qxd4++–]

19...Rxe4 20.fxg7+ Kxg7 21.Nxe4 White has a rook and a minor piece for the queen, but Black is clearly more active.

21...Qf8 22.Rh3 Qf5 23.Rg3 Bd6?! [23...Be7!]

24.Nxd6 cxd6 25.Kg2 Kh8 26.Bg5 h6 27.h5 [27.Bxh6 Nxh4+ –+]

27...hxg5 28.hxg6 Kg7 29.Re1 Rf8 [29...d5–+]

30.Re4 [30.Re7+ Kxg6 31.Re6+ Rf6 32.Re8=]

Improve your Tactics

The aim of this course is to help you understand how to make tactical opportunities arise as well as to sharpen your tactical vision - these selected lectures will help to foster your overall tactical understanding.

30...d3? [30...Qc5!? preparing ...Rf4.]

31.Rd4 [31.Re7+ Kxg6 32.Re6+ Rf6 33.Re8 Rf8=]

31...Rf6 32.Bd5 Qe5 33.Rxd3 Rxg6 34.Be4 Rf6 [34...Rh6!? preparing Kf8 and Qh8.]

35.Rd5 Qxb2 36.Rdxg5+ Kf8 37.Bd5 After a few missed chances, Black now has to be careful.

37...Qd4?? [37...Ke8=]

38.Rg8+ Black is mated.  1–0

The Frenchman, seeded first in the large field, finished in thirteenth place.

Batkhuyag Munguntuul from Mongolia won the women’s first prize of 3,000 USD, after scoring 9/18 points. Dinara Saduakassova (Kazakhstan) took second place, while Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia) came third.

David Navara won the unofficial special prize for the best chess outfit.

In his address, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich recalled how he had met Tal as a child at a tournament in Estonia. Dvorkovich’s father Vladimir was also a chess arbiter, and while Tal and Dvorkovich Senior sat at dinner, Arkady Dvorkovich played chess with Tal’s daughter.

Final standings

...120 players

All games

Links

• Official site
• Full technical information at Chess-Results