Salamanca: Shirov and Topalov in the lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
2/5/2021 – Veterans Alexei Shirov and Veselin Topalov are sharing the lead at the Salamanca Masters, taking place this week as an over-the-board rapid tournament. David Antón and Eduardo Iturrizaga are trailing the leaders a half point behind and are yet to face the Bulgarian. Only round 5 will be played on Friday, while the tournament will come to an end on Saturday. | Photos: Official site

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Salimova still the strongest among the women

While the first day of action saw 7 out of 8 games finishing decisively, on Thursday we got to see 5 draws and 3 decisive encounters. Exciting chess was the rule nonetheless, with Alexei Shirov and Veselin Topalov showing their well-honed skills to go into the last two days of action sharing the lead on 3/4.

Nurgyul Salimova, who had kicked off the event with two consecutive wins, was defeated by Shirov and Eduardo Iturrizaga on Thursday. The 17-year-old Bulgarian, however, still has the best score among the women.

In Friday’s fifth round, which kicks off at 16.00 CET, Shirov will have white against Almira Skripchenko while Topalov will have the tough task of facing defending champion Iturrizaga with the black pieces. David Antón will have white against Salimova and Sabrina Vega will try to continue her good run (she won one and drew one on Thursday) while playing white against Elisabeth Paehtz.

Veselin Topalov, Alexei Shirov

Co-leaders Veselin Topalov and Alexei Shirov

The one decisive result of round 3 saw Shirov beating Salimova after the latter bravely decided to go for a sharp line against the legendary tactician. Shirov calculated precisely to keep his opponent’s initiative at bay:

 
Shirov vs. Salimova
Position after 18.fxe5

After 18...Qxe5, Shirov calmly developed his two minor pieces still on the first rank while gaining two tempi — 19.Nf3 Qd6 20.Bg5. White has a large edge and Black has burned too many bridges. Salimova resigned six moves later.

Meanwhile, Vega became the first player to hold Topalov to a draw in the event and Antón managed to find a strong counterattack from a slightly inferior position against Iturrizaga.

Round 3 games

 
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1.e4 Sadorra,J e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qd2 0-0 9.Be2 C11: French: Classical System: 4 e5 and 4 Bg5 dxe4. b6 10.h4 f6 Black should try 10...cxd4 11.Bxd4 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 a6 11.dxc5=
White has an edge. 11...fxe5N
Threatens to win with ...d4. Predecessor: 11...Nxc5 12.Bb5 Bb7 13.exf6 Bxf6 14.Bxc6 Bxc6 15.Bd4 Ne4 16.Qe3 Ng3 17.Rh3 Nf5 18.Qxe6+ 1-0 (50) Predke,A (2579)-Shirov,A (2677) Novi Sad 2016 CBM 176 [Sadorra,J] 12.Nxd5 Nxc5 13.Nxe7+ Qxe7 14.Bxc5 Of course not 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.fxe5 Ne4 14...Qxc5 15.fxe5 Nxe5 16.Nxe5 Qxe5 17.0-0-0 Bb7 18.Bc4 Qe4 19.Qd4 Qxd4 20.Bxe6+ Kh8 21.Rxd4 Bxg2 22.Rg1 Bc6 23.b3 g6 24.a4 24.Rc4!? Bf3 25.Rc7 24...Rae8 The position is equal. 25.Bc4 Re7 26.Kb2 Kg7 27.h5 Rf6 28.Bd3 Bf3 29.hxg6 hxg6 30.Rg3 Be2 Weighted Error Value: White=0.07/Black=0.09
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Skripchenko,A2418Paehtz,E2467½–½2021III Salamanca Festival Masters 20213.1
Vega Gutierrez,S2392Topalov,V2735½–½2021III Salamanca Festival Masters 20213.2
Shirov,A2662Salimova,N23971–02021III Salamanca Festival Masters 20213.3
Iturrizaga Bonelli,E2607Anton Guijarro,D2679½–½2021III Salamanca Festival Masters 20213.4

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Alexei Shirov

Alexei Shirov during the third round

The round-4 direct confrontation between Topalov and Shirov — surely two opponents that know each other well — finished drawn. Topalov, playing white, was in the driver’s seat from the middlegame, but could not break through Shirov’s stern defensive efforts.

Salimova suffered her second defeat of the day against Iturrizaga, who found an elegant knight manoeuvre on move 21:

 
Salimova vs. Iturrizaga
Position after 21.Bd2

Black went for 21...Nbd3, as White would be strategically lost after 22.exd3 Nxf3+. Salimova continued with 22.Bg5, only to see her opponent increase his advantage with a series of forcing moves — 22...f6 23.Be3 Nxb2:

 
Position after 23...Nxb2

The same knight continues to wreak havoc on White’s camp. Salimova took the bait with 24.Qxb2, and Iturrizaga showed his idea — 24...f5 25.Nc3 b4:

 
Position after 25...b4

The black bishop on the long diagonal is deadly. Iturrizaga swiftly converted his advantage into a 34-move win.

In the remaining two games, Paehtz held Antón to a draw and Vega got the better of Skripchenko with the black pieces.

Round 4 games

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nbd7 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bh4 e5 5...g5!? 6.Bg3 Nb6= 6.e3 A46: 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6: Torre, London and Colle Systems. Be7 7.Be2 0-0 8.0-0 Ne4 9.Bxe7 Qxe7
10.Na3N Predecessor: 10.Nbd2 Ndf6 11.Nxe4 Nxe4 12.Nd2 Nxd2 13.Qxd2 f5 14.f4 c6 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Rad1 1/2-1/2 (34) Paehtz,E (2470)-Harika,D (2492) Hengshui 2019 10...Re8 11.Qc2 Nef6 12.Rfe1 Nf8 13.Nd2 Ng6 14.dxe5 dxe5 15.Ne4 Nxe4 16.Qxe4 f5 17.Qd5+ Kh7 18.Red1 Be6 19.Qxb7 Rab8 20.Qc6 Rxb2 21.Bh5 Rb6 Black has good play. 22.Qa4 Qf7 23.c4 f4 24.Nb5 Rf8 25.exf4 Qf5 26.Bxg6+ Qxg6 27.Qa3 Wrong is 27.fxe5? Bh3-+ 27...Rxf4 28.Nxc7 Bxc4 Hoping for ...Qf7. 29.Nd5 Bxd5 30.Rxd5
30...Rb1+ 30...Rxf2! 31.Kxf2 Qf7+ 32.Kg1 32.Qf3? Rf6 32...Qxd5 31.Rd1=
The position is equal. 31...Rxf2! Decoy 32.Kxf2 Qc2+ Double Attack 33.Kg3! Rxd1 34.Rxd1 Qxd1 35.Qxa7 Endgame KQ-KQ Qd3+ 36.Kf2 Qd2+ 37.Kf3
37...e4+! Decoy 38.Kxe4 Qxg2+ 39.Kd3 Qxh2 40.Qf7 Qg3+ 41.Ke2 Qe5+ 42.Kf3 h5 43.a4 Qc3+ 44.Kg2 Qc2+ 45.Kh3 Qd3+ 46.Kh4 Qe4+ 47.Kxh5 Qxa4 48.Qf5+ Kg8 49.Qe6+ Kf8 50.Qf5+ Ke7 51.Qe5+ Kf7 52.Qf5+ Ke7 53.Qe5+ Kf7 Accuracy: White = 91%, Black = 93%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Paehtz,E2467Anton Guijarro,D2679½–½2021III Salamanca Festival Masters 20214.1
Salimova,N2397Iturrizaga Bonelli,E26070–12021III Salamanca Festival Masters 20214.2
Topalov,V2735Shirov,A2662½–½2021III Salamanca Festival Masters 20214.3
Skripchenko,A2418Vega Gutierrez,S23920–12021III Salamanca Festival Masters 20214.4

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Nurgyul Salimov, Eduardo Iturrizaga

Nurgyul Salimova facing Eduardo Iturrizaga


Standings after Round 4

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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