Tegernsee Masters: A draw on top board

Round 4

The Tegernsee Masters in Bad Wiessee is currently flying the flag of the chess community. It is visible and real. The best German players and some strong international talents are participating in the single round-robin event. 

After the withdrawal of Vincent Keymer, who was sent into quarantine by the health authorities after contact with a Corona-infected classmate, Mathhias Bluebaum, Alexander Donchenko and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeau were left as the strongest contenders to win the tournament. Alexander Donchenko defeated Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu in round 3, while in round 4 he faced co-leader Matthias Bluebaum.

Matthias Bluebaum and Alexander Donchenko

Power Play 24: A repertoire for black against the Catalan

On this DVD Grandmaster Daniel King offers you a repertoire for Black against the Catalan, based around maintaining the rock of a pawn on d5. Keeping central control ultimately gives Black good chances to launch an attack against the enemy king.

Out of a Catalan, a rook endgame appeared on the board, with abundant and unequally distributed pawns for both sides. 

According to the engines the position is balanced, but that does not mean the game will necessarily end in a draw.

32... a5!? [Black wants to play actively in the endgame and gives a pawn. 32...g6!? 33.Rc7+ Kd6 34.Rxh7 a5 35.Rh6 axb4 36.axb4 (36.Rxg6+? Kc5 37.axb4+ Kxb4) 36...Rg8=]

33.Rc5 axb4 34.axb4 Kf6 35.Rxb5 Ra2 36.Kf1 Ra1+ 37.Kg2 Rb1 [37...Ra2 38.Kf3 Ra3+ 39.e3 d3 (39...dxe3 40.fxe3 Ra2 leads to the position of the game.) 40.Rd5 Rb3 41.b5 g6 should also result in a draw.]

38.Rb6+ Kf7 39.b5 Rb2 40.Kf3 Rb3+

41.e3 dxe3 42.fxe3 Rb2 43.Rb7+ Kf6 44.h3 h6 45.b6 g6 46.Kg3 Ke6 47.Rh7 Rxb6 48.Rxh6 Kf6 49.Rh7 Rb2 50.h4 Re2 51.Kf3 Rh2 52.Kg3 Re2 53.Kf3 ½–½

Czech GM Thai Dai Van Ngyuen beat Ashot Parvanyan in a duel between two up-and-coming young players.

Nguyen defeated Parvanyan

The game could have been decided in the middlegame, but Ngyuen apparently was looking for a way to show his endgame knowledge...

First Steps in Endgames

If you want to become a strong player you have to study the endgame. That's just the way it is. Andrew Martin's DVD 'First Steps in Endgames' offers a superb introduction for players rated below 1600.

Black was clearly worse in the middlegame and was lucky to reach this endgame, in which he is also behind.

35.Rd2 Rc1+ [Even tougher was 35...Rh8 36.Rxd4 Rc2 37.Rd2 Rxd2 38.Nxd2 Rh5 39.Ne4 Rxd5 40.Bxd6]

36.Kg2 Rec8 37.Bxd6 R8c2 38.Be5+ Kf7 39.Bxd4 Rxd2+ 40.Nxd2 Rc2 41.Bc3 b5 42.axb5 axb5

43.Kg3 [The rook is inferior to the two minor pieces. The white main trump is the passer on the d-file. The black g-pawn cannot be defended in the long run.]

43...b4 44.Bxb4 Rxb2 45.Bc3 Rb5 46.d6 Ke6 47.Ne4 Rb1 48.Kf4 Rg1 49.Bf6 Rg2 50.Be7 Rc2 51.Ng5+ Kd7 52.Ke5 Rc5+ 53.Kf6 Rf5+ 54.Kxg6 Rf4

55.Ne4! [After 55.Nf7 Ke6 there is no way to make progress: 56.Nd8+ Kd7]

55...Rxf3 56.Nc5+ Kc6 [56...Ke8 57.Bf6 Rg3+ 58.Bg5 And the pawn advances.]

57.d7 [The pawn is about to promote...]

57...Rd3 58.Nxd3 Kxd7

[Now White still has to show whether he has mastered the basics or not. But the young Czech GM demonstrates here exemplary technique with the two minor pieces.]

59.Kf7 Kc6 60.Ke6 Kb7 61.Kd5 Kc7 62.Bd6+ Kb7 63.Kc5 Ka6 64.Nb4+ Kb7 65.Kb5 Ka7 66.Kc6 Ka8

[White cannot mate in this corner. The king must be driven into the corner of the colour of the bishop.]

67.Bc5 Kb8 68.Na6+ Ka8 69.Nc7+ Kb8 70.Bb6 Kc8 71.Ba7 Kd8 72.Nd5 Ke8 73.Kd6 Kf7 74.Ne7 Kf6 75.Be3 Kf7 76.Bd4 Kf8 77.Ke6 Ke8 78.Bb6 Kf8 79.Nf5 Ke8 80.Ng7+ Kf8 81.Kf6 Kg8 82.Bc5 Kh7 83.Kf7 Kh6 84.Be3+ Kh7 85.Ne6 Kh8 86.Bg5 Kh7 87.Nf8+ 1–0

Pier Luigi Basso and Alexandr Fier signed draw, much like Leon Luke Mendonca and Daniel Dardha. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu had a bye in the fourth round.

Standings after Round 4

All games

Links

• Official site