Sunway Sitges: Esipenko escapes with a draw

No longer perfect

Five players from the top-20 in Group A of the Sunway Chess Festival only scored half points in Tuesday’s second round. Andrey Esipenko, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Gawain Jones, Manuel Petrosyan and Eltaj Safarli all drew in round 2.

Out of the five, only Esipenko was in real trouble of actually losing his game, though, as French FM Phileas Mathieu had an advantageous position in a queen and rook endgame but could not find the killer blow on move 54.

In this position, the most critical continuation is also the strongest, as 54...h2+ wins for Black. Mathieu went for 54...Re8 instead, protecting his e-pawn at once. 

Giving the check from h2 first would be followed by 55.Kh1 and only then Black should go for 55...Re8, with the extra tempo gained the crucial factor in the ensuing lines — e.g. 56.Qxb7 e3 57.Qf3 (what else?) Qxf3 58.gxf3 e2 59.Re1 Kf5, and the black king joins the fun just in time.

Once the monarch gets to e3, it is game over. None of this appeared on the board, though, as Mathieu’s continuation led to a draw by perpetual check. It was a close shave for Esipenko, who will face Tukrish FM Umu Ata Akbas in round 3 — i.e. the player who held Gawain Jones to a draw, with the black pieces, on Tuesday.

Top pairings - Round 3

...161 boards

The Ruy Lopez Breyer Variation

Pavel Eljanov explains in depth what Gyula Breyer already saw in 1911 and what became an opening choice of the likes of Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand or Carlsen. The Breyer Variation, which is characterised by the knight retreat to b8.

In one of the many side events put forth by the organizers in Sitges, Anton Korobov grabbed a gold medal in the first blitz tournament of the festival. Daniel Dardha and André Ventura completed the podium.

Standings after round 2

...326 players

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• Abdusattorov clinches first place in thrilling playoff (2021)
• Ivan Cheparinov prevails in Sitges (2020)