Riga Tech University Open: Armenians on top

by Conrad Schormann
8/18/2018 – The Riga Tech University Open from August 6th to 12th was won by a pair of Armenian grandmasters: Robert Hovhannisyan and Manuel Petrosyan, each scoring 7½ / 9. Hovhannisyan was undefeated with six wins; Petrosyan scored a whopping seven wins, one loss and a draw. Among the trailing pack on 7 / 9 were the young and talented Russian GM Andrey Esipenko, and the German GM Rasmus Svane. | Photos: Tournament page
The Petroff (or Russian) Defence which is characterised by the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 has been popular at the highest levels for many years and enjoys the reputation of being an extremely solid defence.

German talents ditch national championship 

An impressive phalanx of young, strong grandmasters faced off at the RTU-Open in Latvia, among them the cream of the German crop: Bluebaum, Donchenko, Svane, Schroeder, Kollars — a series of (roughly) 2600s, which testifies that at the top of the German chess the "young savages" are gaining ground. In Riga they could expect both stronger opposition and a threefold higher prize fund (€15,000 euros) than in the German Championship.

Of this group, Svane performed the best with five wins and four draws to reach a tie for 3rd-9th places. The biggest piece of the prize cake was sliced off by two Armenians: Robert Hovhannisyan and Manuel Petrosyan landed in shared first with 7½ / 9, followed by local hero Igor Kovalenko and upcoming Russian star Andrey Esipenko among two of the seven players with 7/9.

playing hall

The RTU-Open

The 16-year-old Esipenko is going to be one to watch in the coming years. He has been steadily moving up the ranks of the Top Juniors list — currently at number 18.

In the seventh round, he dismantled IM Cruz Lledo's dubious novelty 9...f5 in the Queen's Gambit Accepted.

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
1.Nf3281,60256%2441---
1.c4182,10256%2442---
1.g319,70256%2427---
1.b314,26554%2427---
1.f45,89748%2377---
1.Nc33,80151%2384---
1.b41,75648%2380---
1.a31,20654%2404---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d395450%2378---
1.g466446%2360---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c343351%2426---
1.h328056%2418---
1.a411060%2466---
1.f39246%2436---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bxc4 Nb6 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Ne2 Nb4 D20: Queen's Gambit Accepted: 3 e3 and 3 e4 8.Be4 N4d5 9.Nbc3 LiveBook: 3 Games f5N White is slightly better. Predecessor: 9...e6 10.Nf4 Bb4 11.Qd3 Bd7 12.a3 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 Bc6 14.Qg3 Qd7 15.Nxd5 Bxd5 1-0 (40) Wojtaszek,R (2713)-Jakubowski,K (2527) Warsaw 2014 10.Bf3 Be6 11.Nxd5 Nxd5 12.Qb3 b6 13.Qc2 Qd7 14.Nf4 Black is under strong pressure. c6 15.Bd2 Rc8 16.Nxe6 Qxe6 17.Rc1 g6 17...Qd7± keeps fighting. 18.Qc4+- Kd8 19.0-0 Rc2 is the strong threat. Qd7 20.Rc2
aiming for e6! 20...e6 21.Rfc1 Be7 21...h6 22.Qa4 c5 22.Qa4 c5
23.Qa6! Threatens to win with dxc5. Ke8 24.Bxd5 exd5 25.e6 Qc6 26.dxc5 bxc5 27.Qxa7 White wants to mate with Rxc5! Qxe6 Don't blunder 27...Ra8? 28.Rxc5 Rxa7 29.Rxc6+- 28.Re1 Qd7 29.Rxc5! Rxc5 29...Qxa7± was worth a try. 30.Rxc8+ Kf7 31.Rxh8 Kg7 30.Qxc5 White threatens Bg5 and mate. Kf7 31.Qc2 Rc8 32.Qd3 Bf6 33.b3 d4 34.h3 h6 35.a4 Not 35.Bxh6 Rc3± 35...Bg5 36.Rd1 Bxd2 37.Qxd2 Endgame KQR-KQR Rb8? 37...d3 38.Qxd3 Qxd3 39.Rxd3 Ke6 38.Qxh6 White is clearly winning. Qe6 38...Qd8 39.Qh7+ Kf6 39.Qh7+ Kf6 40.Qh4+ Kf7 41.Qxd4 And now Qa7+ would win. Rxb3 42.Ra1 42.Qa7+ Kf6 43.Qc7 42...Rb6 42...Qf6 43.Qc4+ Qe6 43.a5 Ra6 44.Rb1 Qe4 45.Qxe4 45.Qd7+ Kf6 46.Rb7 Qe1+ 47.Kh2 Qe5+ 48.g3 45...fxe4 46.Ra1 Ke6 47.Kf1 Kd5 48.Ke2 Precision: White = 82%, Black = 37%. 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Esipenko,A2589Cruz Lledo,P24321–020188th RTU Open 20187

Also in the seventh round, Hovhannisyan took down his main rival GM Igor Kovalenko with a killer blow: 

 
Hovhannisyan vs Kovalenko
Position after 39...Nd4

40.Re7! Nf5  (40...Qxe7 41.Ng6+) 41.Nxf5 Qg6 42.Rxh7+ 1-0

Petrosyan won his last three games to pull into a tie for first place including a fine effort in the last round against local Latvian GM Nikita Meshkovs.

 
Petrosyan vs Meshkovs
Position after 34.Rf5

White has been dutifully "playing for two results" and has managed to get his opponent into a position where he has no constructive moves. But 34...h6 proved to be quite destructive after the nice manoeuvre, 35.Nc3 Re5 36.Rxe5 Qxe5 37.Rd5! Qf6 38.Rf5, targeting the f7 pawn. Black is helpless.

For the German delegation, the tournament went pretty well. After two thirds she was closed on the upper ranks to find — with one exception: Matthias Bluebaum started poorly (2/4) and even had to look up to his father Karl-Ernst (Elo 2253) playing on a higher board. 

Karl-Ernst Bluebaum (back right) was ahead of his 400-Elo stronger son Matthias

Alexander Donchenko missed with 5/6 in a superior position the jump to 6/7. He lost first the thread, then the game (see below) and ended finally with 6/9 in the "pocket money" prize group.

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.g3 0 d5 8:39 2.Nf3 0 c6 0 3.Bg2 1 Nf6 22 4.0-0 39 Bg4 4 5.h3 18 Bh5 1:22 6.c4 42 e6 39 7.d4 25 Be7 6:02 8.Ne5 35 0-0 2:07 9.Nc3 2:10 Nfd7 2:35 10.g4 5:25 A new idea in this position, and a good one. White realises that Black's light-squared bishop will soon run out of squares on the h7-b1 diagonal. Nxe5 1:15 11.dxe5 29 Bg6 3 12.cxd5 35 cxd5 6:13 13.f4 59 Now he threatens 14.f5, and it's not so easy to defend against. The desirable 13...f6 or 13...f5 fails tactically due to pressure against d5 (or on the long diagonal should the d-pawn move). h6 38 13...f6 14.f5 13...f5 14.exf6 Bxf6 15.f5 Bf7 16.fxe6 14.f5 19:16 Bh7 3:28 15.f6 3:47 and already the black king position is weakened. gxf6 3:35 16.Bxh6 1:10 Re8 8:29 17.exf6 18:50 Bxf6 5 18.Qd2 3:22 Nd7 8:43 19.Kh1 8:41 Prophylaxis to defuse any Qd8-b6+ ideas to grab b2, though probably not necessary. 19.e4 was needed according to the engine, with a big edge to White. 19...Ne5 5:29 20.Qf4 2:47 Bh8 0 21.Bg5 3:54 Qb6 45 22.Bf6 1:56 Ng6 18:00 With more than half an hour on the clock, Donchenko misses the critical moment to look again deeper and find the right follow up. 23.Qg5? 31 Played after 31 seconds, he aims to recapture on f6 with the queen but the rook needs to recapture to bring the last piece into the game with Raf1. 23.Qd2 Bxf6 24.Rxf6 after Raf1, then h3-h4-h5, would give White a decisive attack. 23.Qh6 Bxf6 23...Qxb2 24.Ne4! 24.Rxf6 and Black has no useful moves. Qxb2? 25.Rb1 Qxc3 26.Rxf7 Kxf7 27.Qxh7+ and wins. 23...Bxf6 54 23...Qxb2 24.Bxh8 Kxh8 25.Qf6+ and so on. 24.Qxf6 16 24.Rxf6 was now bad. Qxb2 and White cannot make progress. 24...Rf8 9 And even now White doesn't get much further, as the a1-rook is not playing. Over the last half hour Donchenko missed chances to extend his advantage. 25.Rad1 5:21 Qe3 2:23 26.Rd4 13:06 The rook is heading for the kingside a bit late, but not too late. Rac8 2:57 27.g5 3:53 Rc6 11:07 White would like to play h3-h4-h5 but doesn't manage due to the threat of ...e5. 28.Qf2 3:09 Finally loses the thread. 28.Rg4 would be a good and consistent follow up, keeping the position unclear. e5 doesn't work because after the simple 29.Qf2 Qxf2 30.Rxf2 the black centre crumbles. 28...Qxg5 51 29.e4 43 e5 18 30.Rxd5 28 Nf4 0 31.h4 48 Panicing because now Rh6 was also in the air... 31.Rd7 and White stands worse but is still in the game. 31...Rh6 28 ...and this unfortunately comes anyway, with a winning position for Black. 32.Qxf4 1:02 Rxh4+ 19 33.Qxh4 1 Qxh4+ 6 34.Kg1 3 Qg3 2:04 35.Rf3 33 Qe1+ 6 36.Kh2 8 Bg6 21 37.Rxe5 1:01 Kg7 0 38.Rh3 23 Qf2 27 39.Rb5 22 b6 45 40.b3 1:32 Rc8 23 41.Rd5 0 Qf4+ 45 42.Kg1 45 b5 30 43.Rd1 22 b4 24 44.Ne2 11 Qg4 0 45.Rd2 3 Qg5 32 46.Rd5 11 Qe7 29 47.Nf4 1:50 Rc1+ 33 48.Kh2 3 Qc7 31 49.e5 12 Qb6 0 50.Rg3 31 Qg1+ 1:46 51.Kh3 2 Rc3 1:41 52.Nxg6 50 Qf2 1:05 53.Rxc3 1:11 bxc3 6 54.e6 37 fxe6 0 55.Rg5 26 Qe3+ 28 56.Rg3 5 Qxg3+ 57 57.Kxg3 1 c2 4 58.Nf4 5 c1Q 5 59.Nxe6+ 5 Kf6 0 60.Nf4 11 Qd2 1:29 61.Bf1 1:20 Qxa2 12 62.Bc4 8 Ke5 1:02 63.Kf3 4 a5 1:06 64.Ke3 2:21 a4 38 65.Nd3+ 2 Kd6 4 66.Nb4 59 Qb1 51 67.Kd2 38 a3 24 White gave up. 0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Donchenko,A2612Maiorov,N25040–12018A078th RTU Open 20187

Dimitrij Kollars should be even less satisfied, as he scored 5/8 but lost the last round without a fight. He was in good company, however, with the prodigious new GM Praggnanandhaa among those in the 5/9 score group after he "castled" to finish the tournament — an indication of just how strong the RTU Open has become.

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.e4 7:42 Nf6 0 2.e5 28 Nd5 0 3.Nc3 1:15 Nxc3 7:15 4.dxc3 0 Nc6 1:44 5.Nf3 23 d6 1:34 6.Bf4 2:06 Bg4 12:32 7.Bb5 18 Qd7 0 8.h3 4:18 Bxf3 59 9.Qxf3 7 a6 19 10.Ba4 4:36 e6 10:00 11.0-0-0 2:47 White can only play this way if he's already understands that Black does not block the light-squared bishop by 11... b5 and 12... d5. b5 41 12.Bb3 2:33 Rd8 9:05 12...d5 13.Bxd5‼ exd5 14.Rxd5 with a winning position for White no matter where the queen moves. 13.c4 10:51 Na5 2:05 14.exd6 7:51 cxd6 1:34 15.cxb5 11:31 axb5 4:18 16.Bd5 7:14 Brave, but unfortunately not good. Possibly the idea to play 19.Bh6 was so appealing Kollars could not resist. exd5 6:37 17.Qc3 1:34 Qf5 3:24 18.Rhe1+ 6:43 Be7 0 19.Bh6 1:03 ...only Black has several ways to gain an edge here. Kreisl chooses the clearest, transitioning to a favourable endgame. Rc8 8:41 20.g4 5:04 20.Rxd5 Rxc3 21.Rxf5 Rc5 22.Rxc5 dxc5 23.Bxg7 Rg8 24.Bf6 Nc6 with two pawns for the piece was a depressing alternative. 20...Rxc3 22 21.gxf5 2 gxh6 19 22.bxc3 31 Kd7 8 If the white rooks could find room and targets, the ending wouldn't be so bad as both sides have crippled pawn structures. But Kreisl doesn't allow any counterplay and converts the game smoothly. 23.f6 33 Bxf6 23 24.Rxd5 11 Bxc3 5:32 25.Re3 1:50 Kc6 27 26.Rf5 4 Be5 0 27.f4 1:59 Nc4 42 28.Re4 2:49 Bb2+ 2:01 29.Kd1 3 d5 1:57 30.Re7 0 Nd6 1:51 31.Rh5 13 Bg7 49 32.Re3 1:55 b4 7:51 33.Rg3 4:02 Bc3 0 34.Ke2 12 Re8+ 1:43 35.Kf3 28 Kc5 1:35 36.Rg2 1:29 Bd4 23 37.f5 4:04 Re3+ 1:53 38.Kg4 7 Re4+ 0 39.Kf3 14 Re3+ 1:22 40.Kg4 4 Re4+ 34 41.Kf3 6 Be3 43 42.h4 2:35 f6 49 43.Rg8 53 Kd4 0 44.Rf8 23 Rf4+ 7 45.Kg2 20 Rf2+ 13 46.Kh3 13 Ne4 13 White gave up. 0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Kollars,D2549Kreisl,R24040–12018B028th RTU Open 20184

Kreisl, from Austria, scored his second GM-norm after pragmatically taking a short draw with white in the ninth round to finish with a performance of 2629.

Final standings (top 20)

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Hovhannisyan Robert 7,5 42,5
2 Petrosyan Manuel 7,5 41,5
3 Predke Alexandr 7,0 42,0
4 Kovalenko Igor 7,0 42,0
5 Svane Rasmus 7,0 39,0
6 Esipenko Andrey 7,0 38,0
7 Laurusas Tomas 7,0 38,0
8 Annaberdiev Meilis 7,0 36,5
9 Lobanov Sergei 7,0 36,5
10 Meshkovs Nikita 6,5 41,5
11 Kreisl Robert 6,5 41,0
12 Pultinevicius Paulius 6,5 40,5
13 Schroeder Jan-Christian 6,5 40,5
14 Smirin Ilia 6,5 37,5
15 Maiorov Nikita 6,5 37,0
16 Korchmar Vasiliy 6,5 35,0
17 Gokerkan Cem Kaan 6,5 35,0
18 Garriga Cazorla Pere 6,5 34,0
19 Kjartansson Gudmundur 6,5 34,0
20 Gorodetzky David 6,5 33,0

All games and commentary

 
Loading...
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.

Daily live commentary was provided by European ChessTV

Translation from German and additional reporting: Macauley Peterson

Links

Conrad Schormann, skilled newspaper editor, runs an agency for editing and communication in Überlingen, at Lake Constance. But he lacks time to play chess which is partly due to the fact that he very much likes to write about it, for Chessbase, in the Reddit chess forum, or for his chess teaching blog Perlen vom Bodensee...

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.