Lake Sevan 2011 - Jobava wins volcanic event

by ChessBase
8/2/2011 – Held in the upper recesses of Armenia, the GM tournament of Lake Sevan took place in the Armenian Volcanic Highlands, offering breathtaking views to the participants, alongside top-notch chess. The tournament was won by Baadur Jobava on tie-break over Hrant Melkumyan. Completing his profile on the tournament, here is the pictorial with commented games by IM Ashot Nadanian.
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Lake Sevan 2011 - Conclusion

Report by IM Ashot Nadanian

On the sunny shores of Lake Sevan, in the rustic town of Martuni, Armenia, the already-traditional Category 16 "Lake Sevan 2011" tournament has begun. This year's edition boasts ten strong grandmasters: Baadur Jobava (2713, Georgia), Sergei Zhigalko (2689, Belarus), Ildar Khairullin (2649, Russia), Zhou Jianchao (2636, China), as well as the Armenian GMs Tigran L. Petrosian (2636), Arman Pashikian (2616), Zaven Andriasian (2616), Avetik Grigoryan (2608), Hrant Melkumyan (2600) and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (2558).


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Final standings

Annotated games

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 a6 10.Ng5 A rare continuation of Russian GM Vadim Zvjaginsev. 10.Rd1 and 10.a4 are more usual moves. h6 If Black accepts the sacrificed pawn 10...Bxh2+ 11.Kxh2 Ng4+ 12.Kg1 Qxg5 then after 13.f3 Ngf6 14.e4 White has more than enough compensation (strong pawn center, two bishops, development advantage). 11.Nge4 Nxe4?! After the correct 11...Be7 12.Rd1 Nd5 Black would stand more active than in the game. 12.Nxe4 Be7 13.Rd1 b5?! This standard Slav Defence move does not work here, because Black will not be able to play c6-c5, which means that White will fix the c6 pawn and Black's c8 bishop is going to be very passive. Black should have tried 13...b6 14.Bd2 a5 14.Be2 Qb6 15.Bd2 f5? This is tactical miscalculation and probably decisive mistake. Correct was 15...a5 16.a3 f5 17.Nc5 Nxc5 18.dxc5 Qxc5 19.Qxc5 Bxc5 20.Rac1 Be7 21.Rxc6 b4 22.axb4 axb4 23.Be1 where White is slightly better. 16.Nc5! Nxc5 17.Bb4‼ An excellent move, which is possible due to Black's 15...f5? From now on White will have a huge positional advantage. Bd7 18.Bxc5 Qd8 19.Rac1 Black has a strategically lost position. There are holes on e5 and c5, the d7 Bishop is paralyzed defending two backward pawns on e6 and c6. White has a clear plan to increase his advantage: 1) exchange the dark-squared bishops 2) occupy or control the central dark squares (c5, d6, e5); 3) pressure c6; 4) when all Black's pieces are tied down to the defense of the c6 weakness, White should exchange the queens, then open the kingside to create a second weakness and activate the king. a5 20.Bf3 Rc8 21.Qd2 a4 Or 21...b4 22.a3 bxa3 23.bxa3 22.g3! Rf7 23.Qb4 Kh7 24.Bxe7 Rxe7 25.Qd6 Re8 26.Rc5 Qc7 27.Qxc7 Rxc7 28.Rdc1 Rec8 29.Kg2 Kg6 30.g4! Melkumyan shows great technique and young players should pay close attention to all his moves in this game starting from 17.Bb4!! fxg4 31.Bxg4 Kf6 32.Be2 Rb7 33.f4! Ke7 34.Bf3 Kd6 35.Kf2 Rbc7 36.h4! Be8 37.e4 Ke7 38.Ke3 Bd7 39.R1c2 Be8 40.Be2 Kd8 41.Bg4 Re7 42.d5! exd5 43.Rxd5+ 43.Bxc8 Rxe4+ 44.Kf3 Kxc8 45.Rxd5 also wins, but I prefer Hrant's more methodical way. 43...Bd7 44.Rxd7+ Rxd7 45.Bxd7 Kxd7 46.Rg2 g5 46...Rg8 47.f5 Ke7 48.Rg6 is also hopeless. 47.hxg5 hxg5 48.Rxg5 Rh8 49.e5 Rh2 50.f5 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Melkumyan,H2600Ter-Sahakyan,S25581–02011D46Lake Sevan4.5

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 0-0 9.0-0 b5 10.Bd3 Bb7 11.a3 Qe7 12.e4 e5 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bh4 Rad8 15.Rad1 g5!? A very interesting novelty, which demonstrates Black's aggressive intentions. After 15...Rfe8 16.Be2 Bb8! The game Wojtaszek-Czarnota 2011 went 16...a6 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Nd4 Bb8 19.Nf5 and now White would get a very promising position after Qe6 20.f4 Ng6 21.Bxf6! Qxf6 22.e5 Qe6 23.Ne4! 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Nd4 Ng6 19.Nf5 Qe6 20.Bg3 Nf4 21.Bf3 Be5 22.Qc1 Nd3 23.Qc2 Nf4 and the players repeated moves in Kobalia-Petrosian, T.L. Moscow 2011. 16.Bg3 Nh5 17.Ne2 Nf4 This is the point of 15...g5. Black now has a strong knight on f4. But the price for this is a weakening of the kingside. True, right now White is unable to bring his knight to f5 hole or play against Black's king by any other direct way, but potentially it is always possible. 18.h3 This move shows White's intentions. He plans to exchange the f4 knight with Ne2-f4, then retreat the bishop to h2 and then open up the kingside with g2-g3. In the game this plan perfectly worked, but this only happened due to Black's mistake. Objectively both opponents have about equal chances. Bb8 19.b4 a6 20.Rfe1 Rfe8 21.Nxf4 exf4 22.Bh2 Nf8! The knight goes to the much more active position on e6, where he controls a lot of important squares (d4 and f4 in particular). 23.e5 White can hardly improve without this advance. Now the b8 bishop is blocked, enabling the g2-g3 breakthru and ofcource opening the b1-h7 diagonal for the queen and bishop. Ne6 24.Qe2 Qf8 Black decides to put the queen on g7 to control h7 and other squares on the kingside. 25.Bb1 Ba7 26.g3 fxg3 27.Bxg3 Qg7 28.Qe3 Re7 29.Rd2 Red7 29...Nf4!? 30.Red1 A very interesting and complex position where both sides have their own advantages. However, Black's next move is too optimistic. h5?! This further weakens the kingside. Black should have played on the opposite side of the board: 30...Bb6 31.Be4 a5 creating a new weakness in White's camp aside from the d4 pawn. 31.Bf5 g4 After 31...h4 32.Bh2 Re7 33.Kf1! Indirectly attacks the g5 pawn. But not the immediate 33.Bxe6?! Rxe6 34.Nxg5 Rg6 35.f4 f6 36.exf6 Qxf6 33...Bc8 34.Rc1 Bd7 35.Ke2! and after the upcoming Rg1, Black will have trouble with the g5 pawn. 32.hxg4 hxg4 33.Nh2 Nxd4 34.Nxg4 Nf3+? This is a decisive mistake. Black should have played 34...Nxf5 35.Nf6+ Qxf6 36.exf6 Bxe3 37.Rxd7 Rxd7 38.Rxd7 Bc1 39.Rxb7 Bxa3 with defensible endgame. 35.Qxf3 Rxd2 36.Rxd2 Rxd2 37.e6 f6 38.Be4 Bd4 38...Kf8 does not help. 39.Kf1 39.Nxf6 Rxf2 39...Ke7 40.Bh4 Bd4 41.Qf4+- 39.Kh2 Bc8 40.Bf5 Qh8+ 41.Kg2 Qg7 42.Qf4 Rd1 43.Nh6+ Kf8 44.Qb8 Qxh6 45.Bd6+ Kg7 46.Qc7+ Kg8 47.Qxc8+ 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
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  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Pashikian,A2616Andriasian,Z26161–02011D46Lake Sevan7.5

Picture gallery


Ildar Khairullin and Samvel Ter Sahakyan


Sergei Zhigalko and Hrant Melkumyan


At the top of the extinct volcano, Armaghan (2844m altitude): WGM Maria Kursova,
her husband GM Arman Pashikian, GM Zaven Andriasian, GM Baadur Jobava and
Levon Vardapetyan.


Simultaneous display by  Ashot Nadanian for local chess players


The Chief Arbiter Ashot Vardapetyan staying in shape for time trouble


Participants with the "Great Tigran" hotel staff

Photos by Gevorg Asatryan


Your reporter, IM Ashot Nadanian

IM Ashot Nadanian is a professional chess player and coach, currently rated 2436. His best single event was the Moscow Aeroflot Open 2002, where his performance against 2628-rated opposition was 2636. Ashot was born on September 19, 1972 in Baku, his parents, Sergei and Irina, are both hairdressers. He has played chess since the age of seven and twice won the Azerbaijan Youth Championship (1986 and 1987). In 1988, when the Nagorno-Karabakh War began, his family moved to Armenia. There he became an International Master (1997) and fulfilled two grandmaster norms (2002 and 2004). He was the Kuwait National Team coach from 1999-2001 and Singapore National Team coach between 2005-2010. In January 2011 he became the second of Levon Aronian and moved back to Armenia. Ashot is best known for his contribution to opening theory, with two variations named after him: the Nadanian Variation in the Grünfeld Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Na4) and the Nadanian Attack in the Queen's Pawn Opening (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 h6 3.c4 g5).

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