Maghsoodloo masters Leon 2019

by Macauley Peterson
7/11/2019 – Three young players plus Vassily Ivanchuk gathered in Leon for this year's "Masters" rapid and blitz fest over three days. Ivanchuk deftly dealt with the Indian prodigy Nihal Sarin to reach the Final, but there he met his match in World Junior Champion Parham Maghsoodloo. The Iranian dispatched Jaime Santos in his semifinal, and dominated the final, winning two of the four games. | Photo: José Luque / Luque Fotografía León

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Magistral Ciudad de León

From July 5th to 7th the "Magistral Ciudad de León" took place in the Spanish city of León, a chess festival with a long tradition. The centerpiece of the festival was a rapid and (if necessary) blitz mini-knockout tournament featuring Leon veteran Vassily Ivanchuk and three young talents, Nihal Sarin, Parham Maghsoodloo and the Spaniard Jaime Santos. Maghsoodloo secured the tournament after a 2½-1½ semi-final victory over Santos and a 3-1 final victory over Ivanchuk.

The World Junior Champion eschewed his usual vest and khakis for a bright pink velour blazer. Ivanchuk's old reliable Real Madrid jacket let him down the final.

For these rapid games, the players received 20 minutes plus a 10-second bonus per move fore the entire game. In case of a tie, blitz games would decide the match but in the end 12 rapid games were played, four in each of the semifinals and the final.

Ivanchuk vs Sarin

Ivanchuk won the oldest vs youngest battle in the semis | Photo: José Luque / Luque Fotografía León

Semifinal: V. Ivanchuk 2½:1½ N. Sarin

In the first semi-final, 50-year-old Ivanchuk narrowly prevailed over his 14-year-old opponent Nihal Sarin. In the crucial game, Ivanchuk showed why queen and knight often makes a better combo than queen and bishop, as Ivanchuk outplayed his young opponent from a dead equal position at move 30.

 
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1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.Qa4+ c6 6.Qxc4 b5 7.Qb3 Nbd7 8.g3 Bb7 D43: Semi-Slav: 5 Bg5 h6 9.Bg2 a6 10.Ne5 Qc8 With the idea ...c5.The position is equal. 11.0-0 c5 12.Nxd7N Predecessor: 12.Bxb7 Qxb7 13.Nxd7 Nxd7 14.d5 c4 15.Qc2 Be7 16.Rd1 0-1 (36) Sargissian,G (2643) -Gelfand,B (2723) Yerevan 2008 12...Qxd7 13.Bxb7 Qxb7 14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.Bg5 0-0 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Rad1 Rfd8 18.Rxd8+ Rxd8 19.Rd1 Qb6 19...Rc8 with more complications. 20.Rd2 Be7 21.Qd1 b4 22.Rd7 Rc7 20.e3 f5 21.Ne2 Be7 22.Rxd8+ Qxd8 23.Qc2 Bf6 24.b3 Be5 25.Nc1 Qd5 26.Nd3 Bd6 27.h4 h5 28.Kf1 Kg7 29.Ke2 e5 30.Qc3 Kh7 31.Ne1 f4
31...Bc5= remains equal. 32.Qc2+!± Kg7
33.Qf5! fxe3 34.fxe3 Bb4 White must now prevent ...Qd2+. 35.Nf3 f6 35...Qe6± 36.Qxh5 f6 36.g4+- Stronger than 36.Qxh5 Qe4= 36...Qf7 37.gxh5 Be7 37...Bc3 38.Nh2 e4 38.Nh2 Kh8 39.Ng4 aiming for Nxe5! Qd5 40.h6 Less strong is 40.Nxf6 Qf7± 40...Qg2+ 41.Nf2 Qd5? 41...Qg8 42.e4 Bd8 42.h5 Qc6
43.Qg6! White mates. Bf8 44.h7 Qe6 45.Ng4 Accuracy: White = 93%, Black = 49%.
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ivanchuk,V2684Nihal Sarin26101–02019XXXII Magistral Ciudad Leon 20191.3

All match games

 
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1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.e3 b6 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.cxd5 exd5 7.0-0 E14: Queen's Indian: Classical Variation (4 e3) Nbd7 7...Bd6 8.b3 Qe7 9.Nc3 a6 10.Bb2 Nbd7 11.Ne2 Ne4 12.Ng3 g6 13.Rc1 0-0 14.Qc2 a5 15.Rfd1 Nxg3 16.hxg3 1/2-1/2 (36) Vidit,S (2689) -Karjakin,S (2785) Doha 2016 8.b3 a6 9.Ba3N Predecessor: 9.Bb2 Bd6 10.Nc3 0-0 11.Rc1 Ne4 12.Ne2 Qf6 13.Ng3 Rfe8 14.Rc2 Re7 15.Qc1 Rae8 16.Ba3 Bxa3 17.Qxa3 Nxg3 18.hxg3 c5 1/2-1/2 (33) Moskalenko,A (2514)-Dgebuadze, A (2523) Lambsheim 2017 9...Bxa3 10.Nxa3 0-0 11.Rc1 Re8 12.Nb1 c5 13.Nbd2 Qe7 14.Qc2 Rac8
Hoping for ...cxd4. 15.Qb2 g6 16.Rc2 Nf8 17.Rfc1 Ne6 18.Bf1 Rc7 19.g3 Rec8 20.Bh3 h5 21.a3 Ng4 22.Bg2 cxd4 23.Rxc7 Rxc7 24.Rxc7 Qxc7 25.exd4 a5 26.Bf1 Nf6 27.Bh3 Qd6 28.Nf1 Ne4 29.Ne3 N6g5 30.Nxg5 Nxg5 31.Bg2 Nh7 32.Bf1 Ng5 33.Bg2 Nh7 34.b4 axb4 35.Qxb4 Qxb4 35...Qc7 with more complications. 36.h4 Nf6 37.Bf3 Kg7 38.Kg2 Kg8 36.axb4= Endgame KBN-KBN Nf6 37.f3 Kf8 The position is equal. 38.Bf1 Ke7 39.Kf2 Kd6 40.Ke1 Bc8 41.Kd2 Bd7 42.Nd1 Ne8 43.Nc3 Ng7 44.Bd3 Bf5 45.Ba6 Bd7 46.Bb7 Be6 47.Ba6 Bd7 48.Bf1 Nf5 49.Kd3 Ne7 50.Be2 Nc6 51.Nb5+ Ke7 52.Kc3 Nd8 53.Na3 Kd6 54.Nc2 Ne6 55.Ne3 Nc7 56.Kd2 Ne6 57.Kc3 Nc7 58.Bd3 Bb5 59.h4 Bxd3 60.Kxd3 Ne6 61.Nd1 f6 62.Ne3 b5 63.Kc3 Kc6 64.Kd3 Kd6 Accuracy: White = 58%, Black = 71%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ivanchuk,V2684Nihal Sarin2610½–½2019XXXII Magistral Ciudad Leon 20191.1
Nihal Sarin2610Ivanchuk,V2684½–½2019XXXII Magistral Ciudad Leon 20191.2
Ivanchuk,V2684Nihal Sarin26101–02019XXXII Magistral Ciudad Leon 20191.3
Nihal Sarin2610Ivanchuk,V2684½–½2019XXXII Magistral Ciudad Leon 20191.4

Semifinal: P. Maghsoodloo 2½:1½ J. Santos

Maghsoodloo had an easier time on paper — his match with Santos was already decided after three games. But Santos missed a huge opportunity to take the opening game in a rook ending.

 
Maghsoodloo vs Santos, Game 1
Position after 45.c5

Santos played 45...e5? which allowed his king to be cut off along the d-file by 46.d7! and to free it 46...e6 47.d6+ e7 49.xg6 and Black no longer has any advantage.

Needed was 45...♚e6 immediately when 47.♖c7 allows the black king access to d5 containing the white pawns, while his own d- and h-pawns are free to run.

Maghsoodloo went on to win games two and three to gain an unassailable lead with 2½:½. Santos gained a pyrrhic victory in the fourth game.

 
Santos vs Maghsoodloo, Game 3
Position after 30.c3

Both players' minor pieces are looking quite sad, but Maghsoodloo's needed a pawn sacrifice on f5 to break it out of its prison. Santos sat on his pawn advantage until a countersac gave him winning piece activity.

 
Position after 42...Rg7

The c4 pawn can wait! Santos goes for the jugular with 43.bb6 and the Iranian's position collapsed 43...g1 44.xd6 c8 45.xf6+. He went on to collect c4 and e5 before Maghsoodloo finally resigned.

All match games

 
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1.c4 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.a3 d6 6.d3 e6 7.e4 Nge7 8.Nge2 0-0 9.0-0 Nd4 10.Rb1 b6 A36: Symmetrical English vs ...g6: 4 Bg2 Bg7 11.e5N Predecessor: 11.Nxd4 cxd4 12.Ne2 Bb7 13.b4 Qd7 14.h4 e5 15.Kh2 f5 16.Bh3 Qc7 17.f3 b5 18.Bg5 bxc4 19.Bxe7 Qxe7 20.exf5 gxf5 21.dxc4 Kh8 22.Qe1 Rae8 23.Qf2 d3 24.Nc1 e4 25.Nxd3 exd3 26.Rbe1 Qe2 0-1 (26) Toh,J (2144)-Dai,C (2438) Bangkok 2017 11...Nxe2+ 12.Qxe2 Rb8! 13.exd6 Nf5! 14.Be3 Nxe3 15.fxe3 Qxd6 16.Ne4 Qe7 17.b4 Bb7 18.b5 Rbd8 19.a4 f5 20.Nf2 h5 21.Rb3 Be5 22.Nh3 Bxg2 23.Qxg2 Rd6 24.Kf2 24.Ra3 24...Kg7 25.Ke2 Rfd8 26.Rc1 Qd7 27.Rd1 Qe7 27...Kh6 28.Rd2 28.Rc1!= remains equal. 28...Bf6 29.Nf4! Bg5 30.Ra3 Bxf4 31.gxf4 e5 Black has some pressure. 32.fxe5? 32.Qg5! Qxg5 33.fxg5 32...Qxe5 32...Re6!-+ is more deadly. 33.Qf2 Rxe5 33.Qg3 Qe7 34.a5 bxa5 34...g5 35.Qf3 Re6 36.axb6 axb6 35.Rxa5= R8d7 36.h4? 36.Ra3= 36...Rd4!-+ 37.Qg5?
Much worse is 37.Ra6 Rg4 37.Kd1 is a better defense. Rxh4 38.Kc2 37...Rxh4? 37...Qe5!-+ has better winning chances. 38.Qg1 Rxh4 38.Qxe7+ Rxe7-+ Endgame KRR-KRR 39.Rda2 Rh2+ 40.Kf1 Rxa2 41.Rxa2
41...Rxe3 41...Rc7! 42.Rxa7+ KR-KR Kf6 43.d4? 43.b6= and White is okay. Re8 44.Rd7 43...cxd4-+ 44.b6 Threatens to win with b7. Rb3 45.c5 Ke5? Better is 45...Rb1+-+ 46.Ke2 Ke6 46.Rd7!= Strongly threatening b7.The position is equal. Ke6 47.Rd6+ Ke7 48.Rxg6 Kd8 49.Rg8+ Kd7 50.Ke2 h4 51.Kd2 h3 Hoping for ...h2. 52.Kc2 Rb5 White must now prevent ...Kc6. 53.Kd3 h2 54.Rh8 Rxc5 55.b7 Rb5 56.Rxh2 Rxb7 Accuracy: White = 51%, Black = 54%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Maghsoodloo,P2656Santos Latasa,J2594½–½2019XXXII Magistral Ciudad Leon 20191.1
Santos Latasa,J2594Maghsoodloo,P26560–12019XXXII Magistral Ciudad Leon 20191.2
Maghsoodloo,P2656Santos Latasa,J25941–02019XXXII Magistral Ciudad Leon 20191.3
Santos Latasa,J2594Maghsoodloo,P26561–02019XXXII Magistral Ciudad Leon 20191.4

Reflections from a commentator turned organiser

by Michael Rahal

For me it’s already a tradition to travel in July to the León Festival. After going there for several years as one of the commentators, this year I was part of the organization in the capacity of interpreter and liaison with the players.

The atmosphere in this tournament is very special: over the years all the best players in the world have passed through this city in northern Spain, where chess fans from all over Spain follow the games both live and online, appreciating the fight to the death in each of the encounters. The main room where the games were disputed was packed every day as well as the commentating area where the well-known Spanish GM Pepe Cuenca led the team of analysts.

Cuenca, Ivanchuk, Sarin, Rahal

GMs Jose (Pepe) Cuenca, Vassily Ivanchuk, Nihal Sarin and IM Michael Rahal | Photo: José Luque / Luque Fotografía León

I had already met Vassily Ivanchuk and Jaime Santos Latasa on previous occasions (“Chuky” has played many times before in León and Santos Latasa is the local hero),  but during these days I have had the pleasure of dealing with the young Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo and the very young Indian Nihan Sarin and his coach Srinath Narayanan.

Maghsoodloo is a very kind kid, somewhat shy, very humble, and tremendously respectful. He was very happy to have won the tournament, indicating that he was coming from a bad streak, and in his closing ceremony speech mentioned that only the fact of being able to play a match against Ivanchuk had already been worth it.

I thought that Nihal, despite his young age, is very mature boy, with a good sense of humour, and he was also interested in the history of the city of León, the cathedral and the “House of Botines”. Although soon it became clear to me that he is very passionate about chess and what he likes to do most is play blitz!

Maghsoodloo has already been invited to return next year to defend his title and the local GM Jaime Santos will probably repeat. Tournament Director IM Marcelino Sion is already on the lookout for top-level players to complete the foursome but over coffee he explained to me the difficulties for scheduling these players due to the many international tournaments that are held these days, specifically the FIDE Grand Prix and the Grand Chess Tour.

In addition to the main tournament, the Leon festival features many side events throughout the six days of competition. Galician Grandmasters Ivan Salgado López (2596) and Aleksa Strikovic (2482) took down the IV International Rapid Open and the I Blitz Open respectively.

Two simultaneous sessions were held by visiting Cuban GM Silvino Garcia and main event participant GM Nihal Sarin, in the main hall of the University of Philosophy and Literature. As if all of this were not enough, there were Social Chess lectures, blitz tournaments for young talents and several master classes.


Final: P. Maghsoodloo 3:1 V. Ivanchuk

In the final, Maghsoodloo defeated Ivanchuk 3:1, but it was a great battle. The first match game win was clearly an important one.

 
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1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.0-0 0-0 6.b3 d6 7.d4 e5 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Ba3 Don't go for 9.Nxe5? Nfd7-+ 9...Qxd1 E60: King's Indian: Unusual lines and Fianchetto Variation without Nc3 10.Rxd1 Re8 11.Nc3 Na6 White has an edge. 12.Ng5N Predecessor: 12.Rac1 Bh6 13.e3 Bf8 14.Bxf8 Kxf8 15.Rd6 Ke7 16.Rd2 1/2-1/2 (28) Esipenko,A (2584)-Kovalev,V (2687) Wijk aan Zee 2019 12...Bf5 13.e4 Bg4 14.f3 Bd7 15.Bh3 Rad8 16.Kg2 Bh6 17.Bxd7 Nxd7 18.h4 Ndc5 18...f6!? 19.Nh3 Ndc5= 19.Rxd8 Rxd8 20.Rd1 Rxd1 21.Nxd1 f6 22.Nh3 Kf7 Black should try 22...Nd3 23.Kf1 Ne6 24.Ndf2 Be3 25.Nd3 h5 26.Nhf2 Nac5 26...Nd4 is interesting. 27.Nd1 Bh6 28.Kf2 Nc2 29.Bc1 Bxc1 30.Nxc1 Nc5 27.Nxc5 Bxc5 28.Bxc5 Nxc5= Endgame KN-KN 29.Ke2 Ke7 30.Ke3 a5 31.g4 Ne6 32.Nd3 Kd6 33.gxh5 gxh5 34.f4 b6 35.f5 Nd4 36.c5+ Kc7! 37.Nb2 37.Nf2! 37...b5! 38.Nd3 Nc2+ 39.Kd2 Nd4 40.Nf2 Kd7 41.Nh1 Ke7 42.Ng3 b4?
Better is 42...Ke8! 43.Nxh5+- White is clearly winning. Nb5 44.Ng3 Nc3 45.a4 Kf7 46.Ke3 Kg7 47.Nf1 Nb1 48.Kd3 Kh6 49.Ne3 Na3 50.Ng4+ Accuracy: White = 63%, Black = 45%.
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Maghsoodloo,P2656Ivanchuk,V26841–02019XXXII Magistral Ciudad Leon 20192.1

Maghsoodloo vs Ivanchuk

The final | Photo: José Luque / Luque Fotografía León

A pair of draws followed, but the first of the two was a wild one. Ivanchuk had a monster knight outpost on d5 plus a pawn and was attacking Maghsoodloo's king, but the World Junior champ kept his cool and held on.

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 Qb6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.0-0 g6 9.Qe1 B57: Classical Sicilian: Sozin with 6...Qb6 9.Qe2 Ng4 10.b3 Bg7 11.Bb2 Qa5 12.Qe1 g5 13.Na4 Qxe1 14.Raxe1 Bxb2 15.Nxb2 Ne5 16.Be2 a5 17.f3 Rf8 18.Nd3 Nxd3 19.Bxd3 e5 20.Kf2 Ke7 1/2-1/2 (20) Salgado Lopez,I (2624)-Demchenko,A (2679) Germany 2018 9...Qc7 10.Bf4 Nh5N Predecessor: 10...Nd7 11.Qe3 Bg7 12.Bh6 0-0 13.Bxg7 Kxg7 14.b3 a5 15.Rad1 Ba6 16.Bxa6 Rxa6 1/2-1/2 (64) Antal,G (2562)-Schlosser,P (2571) Austria 2016 11.Bg5 White is slightly better. Bg7 12.Rd1 0-0 13.b3 e6 14.Be2 Nf6 15.Bf4 e5 16.Bg5 White fights for an advantage. Be6 17.Bf3 h6 18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.Qd2 Rad8 20.Qxh6 Bg7 21.Qg5 Qa5 22.Qd2 Qc7 23.Rfe1 f5 24.Qg5 Kh7 25.Qc1 25.exf5 gxf5 26.Qh5+ Kg8 27.Qg5 25...Qa5= 26.Rd3 d5 27.exd5 cxd5 28.b4 Qxb4 29.Bxd5 Bxd5 30.Nxd5 Qc5 30...Qc4 31.Red1 e4 31.c4+- Threatens to win with Qg5. f4 31...Rd6± is a better defense. 32.Qg5 Re6 32.Re4 Rb8 33.h4 Better is 33.Qc2+- 33...Rf7 34.Qc2 Kh6 35.Rb3 35.g4 Qc8 36.f3 35...Rfb7 35...Rbf8± 36.Rb5 Qc8 36.Qd1 36.Re1 Rxb3 37.axb3 a5 38.Ra1 36...Qc8 37.Kh2 a5 38.g4 a4 39.Rh3? 39.Rxb7± Rxb7 40.Kh3 39...Rb2= 40.Qf3 Strongly threatening g5+. Qc5 41.Kg2 g5+ is the strong threat. Rxa2 42.g5+ Kh7 43.h5 Rbb2! 44.hxg6+ Kg8 45.Rxf4! Ne7+! would kill now. exf4 46.Nf6+ Bxf6! 47.Qa8+ Qf8 48.Qd5+ Kg7 49.Rh7+ Kxg6 50.Qe4+ Kxg5 51.Qd5+
51...Be5! 52.Qxe5+
52...Kg6! 53.Qh5+ Kf6 54.Rh6+
54...Qxh6! 55.Qxh6+ Endgame KQ-KRR Ke5 56.Qg5+
56...Kd4! 57.Qxf4+ Kc5 58.Qe5+ Kb4 59.Qb5+
59...Kc3! 60.Qe5+ Kb3 61.Qb5+ Kc2 61...Ka3!? 62.Qc5+ Kb3 63.Qb6+ Kxc4 64.Qe6+ Kd4= 62.Qf5+ Kd1 63.c5 a3 64.c6 And now Qd3+ would win. Rxf2+ Accuracy: White = 73%, Black = 61%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ivanchuk,V2684Maghsoodloo,P2656½–½2019B57XXXII Magistral Ciudad Leon 20192.2

Ivanchuk was trailing 2-1 at this point so his only chance was to go all in to tie the match and try his luck with the tiebreaks. IM Michael Rahal takes is through the game:

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nge2 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 0-1 (54) Karthik,V (2519)-Maghsoodloo,P (2649) Manavgat 2018 2...Nc6 2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 0-1 (41) Kuipers,S (2470)-Maghsoodloo,P (2679) Wijk aan Zee 2019 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 The Richter-Rauzer attack against the Classical Sicilian. Although GM Kozul is the main man in the variation with Black, Maghsoodloo has played several games recently. However, I was slightly surprised to see that Ivanchuk had no recent games with White in this line. e6 7.Qd2 7.Bb5 Bd7 8.Qd3 h6 9.Bh4 Be7 10.0-0-0 0-0 11.Bxc6 Bxc6 12.f4 Rc8 13.Rhe1 a6 14.Nxc6 Rxc6 15.e5 Ne8 16.Bxe7 Qxe7 17.Kb1 b5 18.Ne4 d5 19.Ng3 b4 20.Ne2 Nc7 21.Nd4 Rc4 22.f5 Nb5 23.Qg3 Qg5 24.Qxg5 hxg5 25.Nf3 g4 26.Ng5 exf5 27.Rxd5 Re8 28.Red1 Rc7 29.Rd8 Rce7 30.a4 bxa3 31.c4 Nc7 32.R1d7 Rxd7 33.Rxd7 Ne6 34.Nxe6 Rxe6 35.c5 axb2 36.Kxb2 Rxe5 37.c6 Rc5 38.c7 Kh7 39.Rxf7 Kg6 40.Rd7 Kf6 41.g3 g5 42.Kb3 a5 43.Ka4 f4 44.gxf4 gxf4 45.Rd6+ Ke5 46.Rd7 f3 47.Rg7 Kf4 48.Rf7+ Ke3 49.Re7+ Kf2 50.Rg7 Ke2 0-1 (50) Sandipan,C (2534)-Maghsoodloo,P (2673) Sharjah 2019 7...a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f3 The main line is 9.f4 b5 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Kb1 Qb6 12.Nxc6 Bxc6 13.Qe1 0-0-0 14.Bd3 Qc5 15.Qh4 Be7 16.f5 h5 17.Qh3 Bd7 18.Ne2 exf5 19.Qf3 fxe4 20.Bxe4 Bg4 21.Qf1 d5 22.Bf5+ Kb7 23.Bxg4 hxg4 24.Rd4 Qc8 25.h3 gxh3 26.gxh3 Rh5 27.Qf3 Rf5 28.Rf4 Rxf4 29.Nxf4 Qf5 30.Rf1 Qe4 31.Qh5 d4 32.Nd3 Qd5 33.Qe2 Qe6 34.Qf3+ Qd5 35.Qf2 Rh8 36.h4 f5 37.Qxf5 Qxf5 38.Rxf5 Rxh4 39.a4 f6 40.axb5 axb5 41.Rxb5+ Kc6 42.Ra5 Rh8 1/2-1/2 (42) Vokhidov,S (2494)-Maghsoodloo,P (2673) Sharjah 2019 9...Be7 10.Kb1 Both 10.h4 and 10.Be3 are decent and more played alternatives. The game has more or less transposed to the famous English Attack against the Najdorf/Scheveningen, in which both players castle on opposite sides of the board: an ideal situation for a must-win game. 10.h4 h6 11.Be3 h5 12.Kb1 b5 13.Nxc6 Bxc6 14.Ne2 Qc7 15.Nd4 Bd7 16.Bg5 Rb8 17.Nb3 e5 18.g3 Be6 19.Bh3 Rd8 20.Bxe6 fxe6 21.Rhe1 0-0 22.Qe2 Rc8 23.Rd3 a5 24.Rc3 Qb6 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Nc1 b4 27.f4 exf4 28.gxf4 Qc7 29.Nd3 Ng4 30.Rc1 Bxg5 31.hxg5 Qf7 32.Rf1 g6 33.b3 Rf8 34.Rd1 Qe7 35.Rf1 e5 36.fxe5 Rxf1+ 37.Qxf1 dxe5 38.Qc1 Kg7 39.Qd2 Qd8 40.Qc1 h4 41.Qg1 Qxg5 42.Nc5 Kf7 43.Qf1+ Qf6 44.Qe2 Nh6 45.Qd2 Kg7 46.Qd7+ Nf7 47.Ne6+ Kh6 48.Nf8 Ng5 49.Qe8 Qf7 0-1 (49) Hossain,E (2473)-Maghsoodloo,P (2636) Hamedan 2018 10...0-0 11.Be3 11.h4 b5 12.Nxc6 Bxc6 13.Ne2 with the idea Nd4-g4 with an attack is more to the point. 11...b5 12.g4 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Bc6 14.g5 Nd7 15.h4 b4 16.Ne2 d5!? Protecting the b4 pawn with the bishop and either opening up the center for the light-square bishop or, as in the game, shutting down the activity of both bishops (c6 but also d4). After the game Maghsoodloo mentioned that his team-mate iranian GM Tabatabei had analysed this position and found it playable. 17.e5 a5 18.f4 The computer claims an advantage for White with 18.Nf4!? followed by the pawn sacrifice 19.g6 and then 20. h5 opening lines for the heavy pieces. 18...Nc5! The black knight heads towards the e4 (or a4) squares. A previous game between Hracek,Z (2633) and Samsonkin,A (2409) in Khanty-Mansiysk 2010 had continued 18...a4 19.h5 b3 20.g6! Nc5 and now 21.h6!? is equal according to the computer but in my opinion anything but a draw can happen here! 19.Qe3 Ne4 20.Bh3!? Threatening ideas with maybe 21.f5 or even 21.g6!? followed by 22.h5. 20.Ng3 was probably a more solid option 20...Bd7! Defending against f5 while at the same time opening the c-file for an attack on c2. 21.Bg2! Ivanchuk wants to exchange the strong knight on e4 but he does lose a tempi. The computer however agrees with his decision! Qc7! 22.Bxe4 dxe4 23.Ng3 It seems that White is doing well by attacking the e4 pawn and f5-h5 are on the line. However, Black also can attack with a4-b3 and also the light-squared bishop could now become very strong in some situations. At this point there was a lot of excitement in the playing hall as anything could happen. 23.Qxe4? Bc6-+ 23...Rfc8 Attacking c2. 24.Rh2 a4 25.Nxe4 b3 White has won a pawn but Black strikes first... 26.cxb3? The classical defensive approach in these types of position (cxb3 followed by a3 closing the queenside) will not work here. The key move was 26.Bc3! and now bxa2+ 26...bxc2+ 27.Rxc2± 26...a3 27.cxb3 axb2 28.Bxb2± 27.Ka1! Using the black pawn as a shield a3 28.b3 and White is fully protected and can now counterattack on the kingside 26...axb3 27.a3 Bc6! 28.Rhd2 Black increases the pressure on files and diagonals. Although the computer says that White is fine, in practice it's easy to overstep. The idea behind 27...Bc6 can be seen in the line 28.h5 Bxe4+! 29.Qxe4 Ra4! Threatening all sorts of tactics based on White's back-rank weakness and the pawn on b3. The main threat is 30...Rxd4 winning. 28...Ra4 29.Nc3 Returning the pawn with 29.Nd6 Bxd6 30.exd6 Qxd6 31.h5 would still be very unclear. However, 31.Bxg7? loses to Be4+! 32.Qxe4 32.Ka1 Rxa3+ 33.bxa3 Qxa3+ 34.Ra2 Qxa2# 32...Qxd2! 33.Rxd2 Rxe4-+ 29...Rc4 30.f5? Ivanchuk, who up to now had played a very decent game, loses his cool and opens up the position at a bad moment. 30.h5 Qb7 31.Rd3 and Black has obvious compensation for the pawn but there's no clear way to break open White's castled king. 30...exf5 31.e6 Be4+! But not 31...fxe6? 32.Qxe6+ Kh8 33.Bxg7+! Kxg7 34.Rd7! Bxd7 35.Qxe7+ Kg8 36.Rxd7 winning, was one of the lines that I suspect Ivanchuk had calculated when he played 30.f5 but as I always say to my students "Long line, wrong line". It's not surprising that Black has the nice "zwischenzug" 31...Be4+ that leaves White on the ropes. 32.Ka1 And White is busted. Ivanchuk played his last card. 32.Nxe4 Rc1+ 33.Rxc1 Qxc1# 32...fxe6 33.Bxg7 Qa5! 33...Kxg7 34.Rd7 Rxc3! 35.bxc3 b2+ 36.Kxb2 Rb8+ 37.Ka1 Rb1+! 38.Rxb1 Qxd7 is also winning but as Sarin said in the commentary "there is no need to capture the bishop and Parham won't". He was right! 34.Bf6 Bxa3! 35.Rd8+ 35.bxa3 Qxa3+ 36.Na2 Qxa2+ 35...Bf8+ Blacking a check and delivering mate at the same time is a very nice way to end the tournament! 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ivanchuk,V2684Maghsoodloo,P26560–12019B6732nd Leon GM 20192.4

Interesting players, interesting games and in an interesting place — what more can a chess fan ask for?

Johannes Fischer contributed reporting

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Macauley served as the Editor in Chief of ChessBase News from July 2017 to March 2020. He is the producer of The Full English Breakfast chess podcast, and was an Associate Producer of the 2016 feature documentary, Magnus.

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