Elsewhere this weekend…
Elsewhere this weekend…
Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Netherlandish, 1522–1562)
Galleon at anchor
A lot happening this weekend! That is, besides the Carlsen-Karjakin WC match in NYC. The German Bundesliga continues, as well the 4NCL in England. In India the National Championship is worth watching, and in Romania the SuperLiga! If that is not enough, the Women’s Gran Prix just got started in Khanty Mansiysk. And before I forget, the World Senior Championship has also gotten underway in Marianske Lazne. Below is a selection of games and/or tactical exercises from these events. Enjoy!
The first games are from the German Bundesliga
gm Inarkiev,E-gm Svidler,P
A surprisingly bad game for Svidler, no doubt completely wasted after commentating the Carlsen-Karjakin match. Svidler simply loses in the opening! Did he not know that the plan Bh4-g3 loses? After 22.Ng5 and 23.f6 he can resign…which he did a couple of moves later. It is indeed a rare sight to see one of the world’s top grandmasters and top theoreticians goe down in flames.
gm Rodshtein,M-gm Adams,M
Black to play and force mate!
Mickey Adams just celebrated his 45th birthday a couple of days earlier (on the 17th) and this example shows that age has not had any effect on his chess! As it shouldn’t…these days 45 is still a young man.
gm Bacrot,E-gm Le Roux,JP
Nice game by Bacrot! A fashionable treatment against the solid Caro-Kann, a neat little King walk over to the Kingside and then some fancy play with his pawns. Both players agree to block things on the Queenside, and then Bacrot finds a way to come crashing in along the h-file. Capablanca stuff!
im Raykhman, A– gm Shirov, A
A typical Shirov game! An ambitious sacrifice to try to drum up winning chances. His middlegame looks promising with his passed pawn on the a-file, but White gets play and keeps the game alive. On his 31st move he misses Nd5 with a good game, and goes down in flames at the end, probably time trouble playing a role.
gm Eljanov, P– gm Neiksans, A
This line with and early Qd3 is something that has really taken off since 2014. In fact, Qd3 against any type of Sicilian seems to be fashionable! But I don’t like how Eljanov continued with e5; better seems f3 and keep the King pawn solid, as in some Carlsen game a few years back (by transposition). In this game White gets crushed horribly.
im Kantans,T – gm Almasi, Z
It is not often that Almasi gets crushed, and all the more credit to his youthful (b.1994) opponent from Latvia! I have written an e-book on this particular line (it will be published sometime next year) and I can tell you that Black must play something differently in the opening. White’s Rfc1 and a4 is a hard plan to neutralize!
im Shytaj, L – gm Bartel, M
The Italian IM really takes the Polish superstar apart in this game! Black’s opening seems reasonable, but then he allows himself to get frisky on the Kingside, advancing g5. The rest of the game revolves around Black trying to defend his Kingside. To no avail…
gm Buhmann– gm Ivanchuk
The German gm has a good game from the opening and seems to be pressing at one point, but then gets lured into advancing his f-pawn (which is a mistake). After Ivanchuk’s h5, ironically, Black is better! A nice win by the Ukraine superstar!
gmIvanchuk– imKrassowizkij
Another beautiful strategic win by the Ukranian! Today’s effort. A calm enough opening, Black gets completely outplayed in the early middlegame, allowing Ivanchuk to get a nasty initative on the Kingside. The resignation is a bit premature, but Black is lost in anycase.
