
Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2013
Monday 21 January - Thursday 31 January 2013
Report after rounds one and two
By John Saunders
This year’s Gibraltar Masters produced a couple of shocks in the first
round as the two highest rated competitors, former Gibraltar winner Vassily
Ivanchuk and world championship runner-up Gata Kamsky, were held to surprise
draws by amateur players in the first round, as the participants got down to
business at the Caleta Hotel.
In the second round there was a bigger shock as three times Gibraltar winner
Nigel Short (above in round one) succumbed to 40-year-old Spanish IM Ismael
Teran Alvarez, who is ranked only 72nd in the Masters line-up.

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar Masters"] [Site "Gibraltar"] [Date "2013.01.23"]
[Round "2.8"] [White "Teran Alvarez, Ismael"] [Black "Short, Nigel"] [Result
"1-0"] [ECO "C11"] [WhiteElo "2399"] [BlackElo "2690"] [Annotator "Saunders,John"]
[PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2013.01.22"] [EventRounds "10"] [EventCountry "ENG"]
[WhiteClock "0:42:15"] [BlackClock "0:49:15"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4.
e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Qb6 7. Be3 a6 ({Taking on b2 is not a great idea:} 7...
Qxb2 $2 8. Nb5 Na6 9. Bd2 {and the black queen's escape route has been cut off.})
8. a3 Qa7 (8... Qxb2 {would be even worse here:} 9. Na4 {traps the queen.})
9. Ne2 Nc6 10. c3 c4 {A committal decision. The blocked position that ensues
is not to every chess player's taste. Perhaps we should mark it "to be played
by GMs only".} 11. g4 b5 (11... h5 12. gxh5 Rxh5 13. Ng3 Rh8 {was played in
Kritz-Ulibin, Biel 2010, with White eventually winning.}) 12. Ng3 Nb6 13. Bg2
Na4 14. Qc2 Bd7 15. O-O h6 16. Rae1 O-O-O 17. f5 Kb8 18. Rf2 Bc8 19. Nh5 Qd7
20. Nh4 {[diag] Here some of us were hoping for 20...Na5, simply for aesthetic
reasons - four 'dim' knights on the rim could be a record. More seriously, Black's
position is starting to look creaky. White is calling all the shots on the kingside,
while Black's counterplay has so far failed to materialise.} Rg8 21. Ref1 Qe8
22. h3 exf5 ({ 'Pass' moves are no longer an option:} 22... Nb6 23. fxe6 Bxe6
24. Qh7 Be7 25. Nf5 {puts major pressure on Black's kingside.}) 23. Nxf5 f6
(23... Bxf5 {is probably better, but after} 24. Qxf5 g6 25. Qf4 $1 gxh5 26.
e6+ Bd6 27. exf7 Bxf4 28. Bxf4+ Kc8 29. fxe8=Q Rgxe8 30. Bxh6 {, Black is a
pawn down and liable to be mauled by the white bishop pair.}) 24. exf6 $1 Bxf5
({If} 24... g6 25. f7 $1 Qxf7 26. Nxh6 {is crushing. But the position is now
utterly lost anyway.}) 25. Bf4+ Bd6 26. Bxd6+ Rxd6 27. Qxf5 g6 28. Qf4 Qd8 29.
f7 Rf8 30. Ng7 g5 31. Qg3 Ka7 32. Re1 1-0

Giant killer: IM Ismael Teran Alvarez from Spain
Five of the other top seeds, Michael Adams (England), Radoslaw Wojtaszek (Poland),
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) and Le Quang Liem (Vietnam), are amongst the
45 players still on a 100% score.
Nigel Short holds the record for the most Gibraltar Masters titles (three)
and he had only previously lost two of the 53 games he has played in his six
visits to the tournament. So his defeat came as a big surprise. Nigel refused
to make any excuses and admitted he couldn’t explain his poor play in
this game.
Vassily Ivanchuk, 43, is through to the last eight of the World Chess Championship
qualifier to be held in London in March but in round one he couldn’t make
any impression on Hristos Zygouris, an untitled 38-year-old amateur player ranked
90th in Greece. Ivanchuk allowed an early exchange of queens but found he could
not make progress against solid play from his opponent, agreeing a draw on move
31. Chucky may have been fractionally worse when the point was split but the
Caleta Hotel bar was echoing with the opinion that a certain young man currently
playing in the Netherlands would not have agreed a draw before move 231.
Similarly, 38-year-old grandmaster and former world championship runner-up
Gata Kamsky from the USA was held to a draw by 23-year-old Andreas Aerni, who
is not even rated within the top 100 players in Switzerland. Aerni took a different
path to a draw against his distinguished opponent, mixing things up in the opening
and then sacrificing a piece to force a draw by perpetual check. The American
arrived at the board rather late (fortunately FIDE’s absurd ‘zero
tolerance’ rule is not enforced in Gibraltar) and seemed a little out
of sorts, but it took some enterprising play by the Swiss player to achieve
the draw.

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar Masters"] [Site "Gibraltar"] [Date "2013.01.22"]
[Round "1.2"] [White "Aerni, Andreas"] [Black "Kamsky, Gata"] [Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B22"] [WhiteElo "2206"] [BlackElo "2740"] [Annotator "Saunders,John"]
[PlyCount "48"] [EventDate "2013.01.22"] [EventRounds "10"] [EventCountry "ENG"]
1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. cxd4 d6 7. Bc4 Nb6 8.
Bb5 Bd7 9. e6 $5 {A plausible move in analogous positions to stymie Black's
centre but not often seen in this particular line.} Bxe6 10. Ng5 {Possibly a
bluff, but quite a good one.} Bd5 ({After} 10... Bd7 {, the move} 11. Qf3 $5
{is perhaps a little worrying for Black, though the computer is content to reply}
f6 12. Bd3 $5 g6 13. Nxh7 Rxh7 14. Bxg6+ Rf7 {and not worry about any tactical
complexities.}) 11. Nc3 e6 (11... Bxg2 12. Rg1 Bd5 {gains time for White in
return for a pawn, and now} 13. a4 {gives White compensation for the two pawns.
}) 12. O-O Be7 (12... h6 {looks like a decent alternative.}) 13. Qh5 Bxg5 14.
Bxg5 Qd7 15. a4 a6 16. a5 {White is determined not to let Black's king get too
comfortable on either side of the board.} axb5 ({There doesn't seem to be anything
Black can do to avert the draw now. If} 16... Nc4 17. Ba4 Nxb2 18. Nxd5 Nxa4
19. Rfe1 {and White is better.}) 17. axb6 O-O {[diag]} (17... Rxa1 18. Rxa1
O-O 19. Bf6 {is similar to the game.}) 18. Bf6 $1 {A surprising coup.} gxf6
19. Qg4+ Kh8 20. Nxd5 {Exploiting the pin along the diagonal.} f5 21. Qh4 exd5
22. Qf6+ Kg8 23. Qg5+ Kh8 24. Qf6+ Kg8 1/2-1/2
There were a few other surprise results in round one further down the field,
with Swedish grandmaster Pia Cramling losing to Portuguese player Paulo Pinho,
and grandmasters Zhao Xue of China and Sebastien Maze of France conceding draws
to Johannes Kvisla of Norway and David Jameson of Wales respectively. Apart
from the five games mentioned, the leading players took a heavy toll of the
amateur competitors.

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar Masters"] [Site "Gibraltar"] [Date "2013.01.22"]
[Round "1.35"] [White "Cramling, Pia"] [Black "Pinho, Paulo"] [Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A56"] [WhiteElo "2518"] [BlackElo "2128"] [Annotator "Saunders,John"]
[SetUp "1"] [FEN "2b1rrk1/1p3q1p/pR1p2p1/P1pPb1B1/2P1P2P/3Q1P2/4N1K1/5R2 w -
- 0 38"] [PlyCount "24"] [EventDate "2013.01.22"] [EventRounds "10"] [EventCountry
"ENG"] {[diag]} 38. f4 {Not a mistake but it necessitates the taking of a couple
of major decisions, just before the time control.} Bg7 39. h5 (39. Ng3 $5 h6
40. Rxd6 hxg5 41. hxg5 {looks like a handy way to sacrifice a piece.}) 39...
h6 40. Bh4 $2 (40. Rxd6 $5 hxg5 41. Rxg6 {still looks like a possibility but
this is that familiar phenomenon - an error on move 40.}) 40... g5 $1 {Now White
is on the back foot.} 41. Be1 Qxh5 42. Rxd6 (42. Rh1 Qg4+ 43. Kf1 {looks very
unpleasant and, sure enough, Black's attack comes crashing through:} Rxf4+ $1
{ , etc.}) 42... Bh3+ $1 43. Qxh3 Qxe2+ {White's king and exposed pawns leave
her no hope of survival.} 44. Kh1 Rxe4 45. f5 g4 46. Qg2 Qxe1 47. Rg6 Qh4+ 48.
Qh2 Qxh2+ 49. Kxh2 Rf6 0-1

Vietnamese grandmaster Le Quang Liem caused a sensation a few years ago when
he won the prestigious Moscow Aeroflot tournament and Moscow Open in the same
year. The following game from round two showcases his remarkable talent.

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar Masters"] [Site "Gibraltar"] [Date "2013.01.23"]
[Round "2.6"] [White "Le Quang, Liem"] [Black "Roser, Kevin"] [Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E04"] [Annotator "Saunders,John"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2013.01.22"]
[EventRounds "10"] [EventCountry "ENG"] [WhiteClock "1:33:15"] [BlackClock "0:01:17"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 a6 6. O-O Nc6 7. e3 Bd7 8. Qe2
b5 9. Nc3 Nd5 10. e4 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Bd6 12. Bg5 Be7 13. d5 $5 ({This seems to
be new.} 13. Bf4 O-O {and now} 14. d5 {was played in Smirnov-Belov, Plovdiv
2008, and Black won.}) 13... Na5 ({The knight is out of play here.} 13... Bxg5
14. dxc6 Bxc6 15. Ne5 $1 Bb7 16. Rad1 {looks too risky for Black}) ({maybe}
13... Nb8 {is a better choice.}) 14. dxe6 Bxe6 (14... fxe6 15. Ne5 Bxg5 16.
Qh5+ g6 17. Nxg6 hxg6 18. Qxh8+ Kf7 19. Qh7+ Ke8 20. Rad1) 15. Rad1 Qc8 16.
Bxe7 Kxe7 {By playing d5 a move earlier than previously, White has managed to
deprive Black of the ability to castle.} 17. Nd4 Rd8 (17... Bg4 {looks feasible
but} 18. Qe3 $1 {is a strong reply. Black cannot accept the exchange sacrifice
with} Bxd1 {because} 19. Nf5+ {gives White a winning attack.}) 18. Qh5 $1 {[diag]
Black is already lost as he cannot cope with threats of Qxh7 and Qc5+.} c5 19.
Nf5+ $1 Bxf5 20. exf5 Rxd1 21. Rxd1 f6 22. Re1+ Kf8 23. Qxh7 Qd8 24. Bxa8 1-0
Nigel Short tests my chess
Nigel Short came into the press room the other day and we happened to be chatting
about teaching chess, and endgames in particular. Nigel’s recommendation
was to give pupils interesting positions to solve. As an example he gave me
the position below and challenged me to solve it. Suddenly I realised I had
become, albeit temporarily, Nigel’s pupil. Here’s the position...
White to play
With something of a glint in his eye, Nigel got up to leave the room, saying
“I shall be back in five minutes” – with the clear implication
that I should have an answer ready for him when he got back. The realisation
that a super-GM is putting your chess to the test is a little unnerving. I did
my best to avoid the various pitfalls, prepared what I thought was the answer
and awaited the teacher’s return. Sure enough, he was back in a few minutes
and, with a quizzical expression on his face, wordlessly enquired after the
solution. I gave what I thought was the answer. Nigel was visibly delighted
– I had, of course, fallen into onto one of the traps in the position.
He gave a one-move refutation of my plan, and then went off, and I again inferred
that he expected an answer on our next meeting. At the beginning of the second
round, whilst taking photos, I bumped into Nigel in the playing hall. Again,
the wordless question – had I figured it out? This time my illustrious
teacher was satisfied with the answer I gave. Phew...
Now it’s the reader’s turn. White to play – what should happen?
I’ll publish the answer in the next report.
Between a rock and a snowy place
One of the joys of coming to Gibraltar is to escape the arctic winter being
experienced further north in Europe and elsewhere in the world. I’ve had
fun taunting my UK Facebook friends with pictures of people eating outside,
beautiful sunrises and the like. But the downside of the severe weather in Europe
was that it cost us some competitors because of the flight cancellations in
the UK and France. One of casualties was French grandmaster Marie Sebag who
had been hoping to play here for the first time but was unable to travel from
France.
Another top woman player who we feared might not be able to come was reigning
European Women’s Champion Valentina Gunina (above), who had just had an
operation to extract her wisdom teeth and was told she shouldn’t travel.
But Valentina was determined to come and both her chess and her health are doing
fine here. She’s on 2/2 and is going to have her stitches removed tomorrow.

Highest rated female player (2582) GM Anna Muzychuk at 2.5/3

Indian GM Harika Dronavalli, 2514, also with 2.5/3 points
Round three of the Masters took place at the Caleta Hotel at 3.00pm on Thursday
afternoon. Here are the
results of the third round, and here the top standings:
Video report of round two (over one hour). There are hours and hours of
video here.
Links
The most important games are being broadcast live on the official web
site and on the chess server Playchess.com.
If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there
and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase
12 or any of our Fritz
compatible chess programs. |
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Saunders/ChessBase