Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2017

[Mick Norris]

Draw for Mickey Adams on top board; not sure anyone is going to keep a 100% score

[IM Jack Rudd]

A nice sequence of deflection sacrifices at the end of this one:

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2017 "] [Site "Caleta Hotel, Gibraltar"] [Date "2017.01.27"] [Round "4.86"] [White "Sanchez Jerez, Emilio Miguel"] [Black "Lochte, Thomas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2257"] [BlackElo "2070"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2017.01.24"] 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6 4. d4 Qa5 5. dxe5 Nxe4 6. Qf3 Nxc3 7. Bxf7+ Kd8 8. bxc3 Qxe5+ 9. Ne2 Be7 10. Bf4 Qf6 11. Qg3 d6 12. Bb3 Nd7 13. O-O-O Kc7 14. Nd4 Nc5 15. Rhe1 Rd8 16. Rxe7+ Qxe7 17. Bg5 Qf8 18. Bxd8+ Kxd8 19. Qh4+ Qe7 20. Qxh7 Qg5+ 21. Kb2 Qxg2 22. Qg8+ Kc7 23. f4 Bg4 24. Qxg7+ Kb6 25. Ne6 Qe2 26. Qc7+ Ka6 27. Nxc5+ dxc5 28. Re1 Qf3 29. Re3 Qh1 30. Re7 Bc8 31. a4 Qf1 32. Re1 1-0

[IM Jack Rudd]

In which a player resigns with Houdini's evaluation at 0.00:

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2017 "] [Site "Caleta Hotel, Gibraltar"] [Date "2017.01.27"] [Round "4.102"] [White "Bopp, Thomas"] [Black "Wilson, Matthew R"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2157"] [BlackElo "1791"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2017.01.24"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 Nbd7 7. Nc3 b6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Ne5 Bb7 10. Qa4 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Nd7 12. Nxd5 Nc5 13. Nxe7+ Qxe7 14. Qd4 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Rad8 16. Qc3 Rfe8 17. f4 f6 18. b4 Nd7 19. Bb2 fxe5 20. e3 exf4 21. exf4 Qe4+ 22. Rf3 Nf6 23. Raf1 Rd7 24. Kg1 Red8 25. Re3 Qd5 26. Re5 Qb7 27. Rg5 Rd2 0-1

[Roger de Coverly]

[FEN "3r2k1/pqp3pp/1p3n2/6R1/1P3P2/2Q3P1/PB1r3P/5RK1 w - - 13 28"]

What did White miss? 28. Rf2 followed by Black taking the repetition with 28. .. Rd1 29. Rf1 R1d2 looks simple enough. Was he thinking about Rxg7+? That seems to "fail" to Kh8, but I think Rf2 can still be played even then.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Roger is right, but there is also the line 29...R8d2. There must be a tactic that works for White in that line. Probably involving Rg8+ and Qb3+.

[Mick Norris]

Presumably Wenjun Ju v Sutovsky tomorrow, as both on 4

14 players on 3.5 include Adams, Short, Howell, Gelfand, J'adoubeamura, MVL

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Roger is right, but there is also the line 29...R8d2. There must be a tactic that works for White in that line. Probably involving Rg8+ and Qb3+.

Oh, very nice. It is (obviously) a perpetual, but not an easy one to see or calculate! I saw the first two moves, but not the follow up. It is important to play Rxg7+ first, before interfering with Black's threat for just long enough to start the checking sequence, as otherwise the combination fails. The key move I missed prevents a Black sequence that otherwise ends in mate.

[Alex Holowczak]

In which a player resigns with Houdini's evaluation at 0.00:

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2017 "] [Site "Caleta Hotel, Gibraltar"] [Date "2017.01.27"] [Round "4.102"] [White "Bopp, Thomas"] [Black "Wilson, Matthew R"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2157"] [BlackElo "1791"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2017.01.24"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 Nbd7 7. Nc3 b6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Ne5 Bb7 10. Qa4 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Nd7 12. Nxd5 Nc5 13. Nxe7+ Qxe7 14. Qd4 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Rad8 16. Qc3 Rfe8 17. f4 f6 18. b4 Nd7 19. Bb2 fxe5 20. e3 exf4 21. exf4 Qe4+ 22. Rf3 Nf6 23. Raf1 Rd7 24. Kg1 Red8 25. Re3 Qd5 26. Re5 Qb7 27. Rg5 Rd2 0-1

Board 102, so could it be something like a mobile phone, or Bopp touching a piece that couldn't defend the mate?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Board 102, so could it be something like a mobile phone, or Bopp touching a piece that couldn't defend the mate?

Bopp is rated 2157, so I think it is quite possible he failed to see the drawing combination. This position is the sort that may well appear in books in the future and be used in training sessions. It is a good test of how willing people are to look that one step further in trying to correctly evaluate a position.

Would some of the stronger players here who haven't looked up the solution (or managed to solve it) say how hard they find this position, and whether they might have resigned?

(Bopp may also have analysed: 28.Rf3 Rxb2 29.Qxf6 Rd1+ 30.Rf1 Qg2# and resigned thinking mate could only be prevented by giving up his queen for a rook, with loss of the bishop to follow as well in the line: 28.Rf2 Rd1+ 29.Rf1 R8d2 30.Qxd2 Rxd2 31.Rf2 Rd1+ 31.Rf1 Qf3 32.Rxd1 Qxd1+ and 33...Qc2+ and 34...Qxb2.)

[Mick Norris]

pairings

Bo. No. Name FED Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name FED Rtg No.
1 38 GM Ju Wenjun CHN 2583 4 4 GM Sutovsky Emil ISR 2628 28
2 20 GM Howell David W L ENG 2655 3½ 3½ GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2796 2
3 3 GM Nakamura Hikaru USA 2785 3½ 3½ GM Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo VEN 2652 21
4 5 GM Adams Michael ENG 2751 3½ 3½ GM Hou Yifan CHN 2651 22
5 24 GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2650 3½ 3½ GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2721 10
6 15 GM Zvjaginsev Vadim RUS 2679 3½ 3½ GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2637 26
7 27 GM Akobian Varuzhan USA 2633 3½ 3½ GM Short Nigel D ENG 2675 16
8 34 GM Lagarde Maxime FRA 2594 3½ 3½ GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2660 18

[Roger de Coverly]

Would some of the stronger players here who haven't looked up the solution (or managed to solve it) say how hard they find this position, and whether they might have resigned?

Of my two original ideas, it appears the immediate Rxg7 is the correct one, with the follow up being Rf3 to prevent the mate. This line ends in a repetition, thus justifying the engine's 0.0 verdict.

In the other line, according to the engine after Rf2, Black checks on d1, White plays Rf1. Then simple chess. Black trades on f1, Qh1 check, followed by a King hunt.

[NickFaulks]

I can't imagine why you wouldn't play 28.Rxg7+ just to see what happens. He might panic and take it, or even resign, most likely you will have another look after 28...Kh8.

[IM Jack Rudd]

A nice little queen sacrifice to finish this one off:

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2017 "] [Site "Caleta Hotel, Gibraltar"] [Date "2017.01.28"] [Round "5.88"] [White "Hamer, Martyn"] [Black "Buchenau, Frank"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2039"] [BlackElo "2274"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2017.01.24"] 1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 Qc8 8. Bg5 h6 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. e4 d6 11. Nc3 Nd7 12. Rc1 c6 13. Qe2 Qc7 14. b4 a6 15. a4 Rfe8 16. Qb2 c5 17. bxc5 bxc5 18. d5 Ne5 19. Nxe5 Bxe5 20. Qc2 Bc8 21. Rb1 Bd7 22. Ne2 exd5 23. f4 Bf6 24. e5 dxe5 25. Bxd5 Rab8 26. f5 e4 27. Bxe4 Rxb1 28. Rxb1 Qe5 29. Bd3 Qe3+ 30. Kg2 Bc6+ 31. Kh3 Qf3 32. Nf4 Qxf4 33. gxf4 Re3+ 34. Kg4 h5+ 35. Kxh5 Bf3# 0-1

[NickFaulks]

Hou Yifan really stirring it up against Mickey, comp says unsound but love the style.

[Angus French]

Adams has found a fantastic win: 46 g3!

[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2017 "] [Site "Caleta Hotel, Gibraltar"] [Date "2017.01.28"] [White "Hou, Yifan"] [Black "Adams, Michael"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. a3 Bc5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. e4 O-O 9. Be2 b6 10. O-O Bb7 11. Be3 d6 12. f4 Rc8 13. Rc1 Nb8 14. Qd3 a6 15. Nd4 Nc6 16. b4 Nxd4 17. Bxd4 Nd7 18. Qg3 Bf6 19. Rfd1 Qc7 20. Bxf6 Nxf6 21. e5 dxe5 22. fxe5 Nd7 23. Rd6 f6 24. exf6 Rxf6 25. Bd3 Rcf8 26. Rd1 g6 27. Be2 Nc5 28. Qe3 Rf2 29. Qxf2 Rxf2 30. Kxf2 Kg7 31. bxc5 Qxc5+ 32. R1d4 Bd5 33. Rd7+ Kh6 34. Ke3 Bc6 35. Ne4 Qxa3+ 36. Kf2 Qf8+ 37. Bf3 Bxd7 38. Rxd7 Qc8 39. Ra7 Qxc4 40. h4 Qd4+ 41. Kg3 Qe5+ 42. Kh3 Qf5+ 43. Kg3 Qe5+ 44. Kh3 Qf5+ 45. Kh2 Qf4+ 46. g3 Qxf3 47. Rxh7+ Kxh7 48. Ng5+ Kg7 49. Nxf3 a5 50. g4 a4 51. Nd4 a3 52. Nxe6+ Kf6 53. Nd4 Ke5 54. Nc2 Kf4 55. Kh3 a2 56. g5 b5 57. Na1 b4 58. Nb3 Ke5 59. h5 gxh5 60. Kh4 Kd5 *