CHESS Magazine 2016 February - zwiastun, wg DATY DODANIA
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//-->ChessSubscription Rates:United Kingdom1 year (12 issues)2 year (24 issues)3 year (36 issues)ContentsEditorial.................................................................................................................4Malcom Pein on the latest developments60 Seconds with..............................................................................................7England International, WFM Kanwal BhatiaA Dramatic Knockout......................................................................................8An ice-calm David Howell triumphed in the British KnockoutLuke on Fire......................................................................................................14Luke McShane racked up no less than9�½/10 in the Super RapidDefeat, Despair, Dejection........................................................................16Danny Gormally reports on a tough Hastings for the home playersFind the Winning Moves.............................................................................21Can you do as well as the GMs at the Classic and Qatar Masters?Christmas Quiz Solutions...........................................................................24It was fiendishly tough, but how did you fare?Classic Carlsen................................................................................................26Magnus left it right until the last minute to win the ClassicThe Hidden Classic........................................................................................30Jonathan Bryant explains what really happens each day at OlympiaBehind the Scenes.........................................................................................32Shamir Allibhai on directing two films about chessDouglas Morton Horne................................................................................34Matthew Lunn pays tribute to the late England InternationalHow Good is Your Chess?..........................................................................36Daniel King looks at a smooth play-off win from the ClassicOpening Trends...............................................................................................39The Reti Opening dominated 2015, but didn’t shine in QatarPenrose’s Rivals: Part V..............................................................................40John Saunders concludes his series with a look at 1968 and 1969Never Mind the Grandmasters................................................................44Carl Portman vents his frustration at the Exchange FrenchOverseas News...............................................................................................46David Howell did well in Estonia and Gawain Jones in New ZealandHome News.......................................................................................................50All the latest results, including Hastings and the London JuniorSolutions............................................................................................................53New Books and Software...........................................................................54A bumper crop of reviews, including aRepertoire for Blitz and RapidForthcoming Events.....................................................................................57Saunders on Chess........................................................................................58John reflects on the unfortunate, early death of Ivan BukavshinPhoto credits:Stephen Connor (p.4), David Llada (p.48), Ray Morris-Hill (pp.5-12, 14-15, 27-31, 37), Brendan O’Gorman (pp.16, 19-20), www.chessfilm.co (pp.32-33).Founding Editor: B.H. Wood, OBE. M.Sc †Executive Editor: Malcolm PeinEditors: Richard Palliser, Matt ReadAssociate Editor: John SaundersSubscriptions Manager: Paul HarringtonTwitter: @CHESS_MagazineTwitter: @TelegraphChess - Malcolm PeinWebsite: www.chess.co.uk£49.95£89.95£125£60£112.50£165$90$170$250£72£130£180Europe1 year (12 issues)2 year (24 issues)3 year (36 issues)USA & Canada1 year (12 issues)2 year (24 issues)3 year (36 issues)Rest of World (Airmail)1 year (12 issues)2 year (24 issues)3 year (36 issues)Distributed by:Post Scriptum (UK only),Unit G, OYO Business Park, Hindmans Way,Dagenham, RM9 6LN - Tel: 020 8526 7779LMPI (North America)8155 Larrey Street, Montreal (Quebec),H1J 2L5, Canada - Tel: 514 355-5610Views expressed in this publication are notnecessarily those of the Editors. Contributions tothe magazine will be published at the Editors’discretion and may be shortened if space is limited.No parts of this publication may be reproducedwithout the prior express permission of the publishers.All rights reserved. © 2016Chess Magazine (ISSN 0964-6221) is published by:Chess & Bridge Ltd, 44 Baker St, London, W1U 7RTTel: 020 7288 1305 Fax: 020 7486 7015Email: info@chess.co.uk, Website: www.chess.co.ukFRONT COVER:Cover Design: Matt ReadCover Photography: Carl PortmanUS & Canadian Readers – You can contact us via ourAmerican branch – Chess4Less based in West PalmBeach, FL. Call toll-free on 1-877 89CHESS (24377).You can even order Subscriber Special Offers onlinevia www.chess4less.comPrinted in the UK by The Magazine PrintingCompany using only paper from FSC/PEFCsuppliers www.magprint.co.ukwww.chess.co.uk3DEFEAT,DESPAIR,DEJECTIONhad figured out what was going on.As we are living in these times of increasingalertness about terrorist threats, and as I havean over active imagination at the best of times,I glanced out the window. Suddenly in thedarkened road outside, I could see the lights ofseveral cars appear. This was it, I decided; wewere being set up. The driver had beenincapacitated, and those cars clearly heldbloodthirsty jihadists, brandishing sub-machineguns. ‘We’re sitting ducks here!’ I thought.Of course, nothing happened. The journeyended uneventfully, and I found my way tomy hotel in Hastings. A miserable day endedon another dreary note when I discovered myroom backed on to a nightclub. The very nextday I asked to change rooms, as the noisewould have been otherwise unbearable. (I’mvery sensitive to these sort of things.)My first real test came in round four,where I found myself facing a PolishGrandmaster, Alexander Mista, who not solong ago was comfortably over 2600.With the notable exception of Peter Batchelor, the Britsdidn’t shine at Hastings, as Danny Gormally explains...D.Gormally-A.MistaRound 4Our reporter, Danny Gormally, in acton in Hastings. At least in this encounter Danny got toenjoy a lively Sicilian. Sitting next to him is another Najdorf connoiseur, IM Richard Bates.It’s funny how the mind works. In life Ibelieve we skip along a narrow thread ofsanity, only protected from the ghastlyterrors of the universe by being fed tinyslivers of reality at a time, lest a greaterknowledge of the world around us shouldoverwhelm that fragile sense of self, and leadus to worlds and horrors unknown. What onearth is he blabbering about, I hear youwonder? You thought this was supposed tobe an article about Hastings.Well it is, but at times during this year’stournament I wondered if I was losing my mind.16The sheer tedium of playing this admittedlyworld famous tournament, year after year,seeing the same old faces again and again, wasbeginning to wear on my sanity.The early portents weren’t good. Gettingthe train down to London, I nearly had a panicattack when we stopped just outside London,in Potters Bar. After not moving for a fewminutes, a voice came on the tannoy, where alady explained how she had been unable toget in touch with the driver, but it seemed asif someone had pulled the emergency cord, sothe train was to remain stationary until they51Ìxd4+51Íxd4exd4 52Ìxd4+ Êe553Êc3seemed drawish, but that also seemed thecase about the move I played in the game. Intruth I approached this encounter with limitedambition and my draw offer just before thetime control was firmly rebuffed by myopponent. It certainly felt like I was facingsomeone of 2600 calibre – the sense thatthey are applying the pressure move aftermove, until your resources are worn downand you eventually crack. After 53...Ìh4 54Êd3I recall my opponent saying somethingafter the game about sacrificing on f3 aroundabout here, but this is hard to believe.51...exd4 52Êc2g4! 53 fxg4 hxg454 hxg4Ìe3+55Êd3 Ìxg456Íxd4I had seen this position earlier in mycalculations and assumed it was acomfortable draw, which is probably indeedthe case, but 2600-level players are verygood at constantly posing little problems totheir opponents. Just when you think thegame is at an end and all the problems havebeen solved, there arrives another one. HereBlack has at least the comfortable side of thedraw as the white king is restricted andFebruary 2016cannot approach the black f-pawn.56...f3 57Ía7 Êf658Íb8 Êg559Íg3 Ìf660Êe3 Êg461Íe1 Ìd762Êd4 Êf463Íd2+ Êg372Íe3 Ìxb4+73Êxb5.70...Ìxe6+ 71Êe3 Êg472Êe4 Ìf473Íf2 Ìe274Êe3 Ìc375Êd4 Ìd176Íe1 Êh377Êc5 Ìb278Êd4 Êg279Íh4 Ìc40-1White is losing the bishop while Blackcrucially holds on to his b-pawn. If I goÊc5,he can play ..Ìa3!, so I resigned.A crushing loss. A combination of inexperiencein these endings, my opponent’s excellent playand extreme fatigue at the end had cost me agame I really should have drawn. Perhaps thebiggest reason for my loss though was my lackof match practice. I hadn’t played atournament since the Isle of Man in October.Playing hundreds of blitz games on Chess.comwasn’t quite the substitute for playing that Ithought it was. This rustiness was to affect methe whole way through the tournament andmade me realise I’m the sort of guy who needsto play himself into form and who really needsto be playing a lot.Ëg525Ëa7!The idea of him simply going back and takingthe a-pawn hadn’t really occurred to me. I hadassumed my threats on the kingside wouldsoon assume unmanageable proportions, but infact this is not the case.25...Ìf6 26Ëxa5 Îc827Ëe164Íe1+Missing 64Íe3!.Once the bishop reachesthis diagonal, it’s impossible for Black to win. Infact endgame expert Keith Arkell told me laterin the tournament something interesting aboutthis ending. He said even if you just leave thewhite bishop on the board and take all the otherpieces away, leaving only the black king, knight,f-pawn and white bishop, Black cannot win thisendgame. He simply can’t shift the bishop offthe g1-a7 diagonal.This is a good example of when knowledgeand experience can be useful. If I had knownthis beforehand, it might have saved megetting into trouble later and here 64...f2 65Íxf2+ Êxf266 e5 is an obvious draw.64...Êf4 65Íd2+ Êg466Íe1 Ìf867Êd5?!A first sign that I am getting edgy, andextreme fatigue is starting to kick in. Why Idid not play 67Êc5I don’t know, but Iprobably saw ghosts around here. I suspect67...Ìg6 68Êxb5 Ìe5was what I didn’tlike, but then again the bishop can reach thekey diagonal: 69Íf2!.67...Ìg6 68 e5Êf569 e6Ìf4+Channelling Your InnerDavid HowellComing off a bad loss like this, I knew thenext game would be tough and that indeedproved to be the case.D.Gluckman-D.GormallyRound 527...Íc4??A hideous blunder. A pawn down, I felt Ineeded to be as active as possible, but it wasnot yet time to panic. 27...Ìh5! would havebeen much calmer, intending to simplyexchange White’s bishop on d3, which tosome extent holds his position together. Thegame would then have remained unclear, butnow I’m simply losing.28Îf5!As soon as I moved my bishop, I realisedthat White could hit me with 28Ëc3!,butwhat he played was even stronger.28...Ëg6 29Ìd6 Íxd330Ìxc8 Êh731Ìe7 Ëg432 h3Ëxe470Êd4?Akin to resignation. My opponent showedme 70Êc6! Êxe671Íf2!after the game,with which White finally secures the muchsought after draw (earlier I had missed71Êxb5 Ìd372Íh4 Êf5!and so panickedwhen I saw this line after his 69th, assumingthat I must now be losing), and if 71...Ìd3www.chess.co.uk17...Ìe8One of the first chess books I seriouslystudied was Danny King’sWinning with theNajdorf.I recall in one of the chapters in asimilar position (although possibly without theinclusion of the move ...h6), King recommendsthis manoeuvre, espousing its merits in greatdetail. At the time I used to play this ideaagainst my Nigel Short chess computer, whichunlike the silicon beasts we encounter today,had no learning algorithm and would justmindlessly repeat the same losing moves ithad played in the previous game.18Íd3 Íf619Ëb4This irritating idea was one of the reasonswhy at the board I started to have my doubtsabout this ...Ìe8 idea, some 20 years onfrom when I first played it.19...a5 20Ëxb7 Îb821Ëa7 Îxb222Ìb5 Íe523Íxe5dxe5 24Ëc5Around about this point we were bothgetting fairly short of time. The situation israther obscure, but objectively if White stayscool he should win – he is winning both onposition and material. It was now that I choseto channel my ‘Inner David Howell’.Having had some encounters with David inrecent times, I am godsmacked over how he isable to remain completely calm when underextreme pressure both on the clock and on theboard. Nerves that good are unusual, but theycan inspire you to act in a similar fashion.Certainly my aspiration to remain sphinx-like andutterly removed of anxiety seemed to unnervemy opponent, who now conspired to throw hisadvantage away with a series of mistakes, to the17point where he was actually losing.33Îxe5?This seemed excessively greedy – whygrab another pawn when you are winning inany case? 33Ëg3!was winning on the spot,according to the engine. Black has no time for33...Îxc2 as 34Îxf6is a clincher. However,at the board I was astonished as to why hedidn’t just play 33Ëxe4 Íxe434Îf2as thisseemed the practical choice. Not only isWhite up the exchange, but he still has his a-pawn. Moreover, all the tricks are gone andWhite is surely winning.33...Ëb7!With the queens on the board, anything ispossible...34Ìd5 Ìxd535 cxd3Ìe3!And he had missed this.36Îe4 Ìxg2become quite fashionable of late.7 e4 0-0 8Ìf3 Ëa59Ìd29Íd3?was a trap I recently fell into myselfin the Isle of Man. My opponent confidentlywhipped off my d-pawn with 9...Ìxd5!, afterwhich I felt like a patzer. By some miracle I wasable to make a draw, but White is surely introuble here. This happened against the youngGerman player Thorben Koop, and afterwardshe told me Boris Gelfand fell for the same trapagainst Magnus in a rapid game.Inspired by Carlsen’s adoption of this line, I’vebeen playing this version of the Benko a lot onChess.com, and it’s surprising how many fall forthis trap. After 10 exd5Íxc3+11 bxc3 (againstKoop I tried 11Ìd2when 11...Íxa6! 12Íxa6Íxd2+13Íxd2 Ëxa6would be a good reply)11...Ëxc3+ Black is already much better.9...Íxa6 10Íxa6 Ëxa611 a4 e6 12 dxe612Ìb5?!exd5 13Ìc7 Ëc614Ìxa8dxe4 just seems to give Black too much playfor the exchange.12...fxe6 13Ìb5 Ëc614Ëe2d5 15 0-0continuation like 19Ëe6+ Îf720Ëc6 Ìe5!.17Ìf3 Ìf4?After 17...Ìb6! 18 b3 arguably White isdoing well here too, but at least the rook ona3 is shut out of the game.18Íxf4 Îxf419 exd5This is all OK, I thought. If he now plays19Îe3,I can hit him with 19...d4!.19...exd5 20Îe3!37Ëf1?37Îe7! Ìxe1+38Îxb7 Îxb739Îxe1Îb3!40Îa1 Îxd341 a5Îxh3+42Êg2should probably be drawn.37...Ëd5?37...Ìh4! was winning, as White has no goodway of stopping ...f5, and if 38Êg1 Ëb6+39 d4Ëg6+40Îg4 Ëc2with a murderous attack.38Îb1?38Ëc1!was still equal apparently, butfinding such a computer-like defence withthe flag hanging is beyond most players.38...Ìe3Now it is finally over.39Ëc1 Îxb140Ëxb1f5 41Ëb5 Ëxb542 axb5 fxe4 43 dxe4Ìc444Êg2 Êg645Êf3 Êf646Êe2 Êe547Êd3 Ìd648 b6Ìxe449Êc4 Ìd6+0-1Relieved by this miracle reprieve from thegallows, on another occasion I might havebeen inspired to have a decent finish, butHastings just wasn’t my tournament. In thenext round I faced Glenn Flear, another playerwho really puts you to the test in the opening.G.Flear-D.GormallyRound 6Benko Gambit1 d4Ìf62 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 4 cxb5 a65 bxa6 g6 6Ìc3 Íg7This way of playing the Benko where Blackdelays recapturing the pawn on a6 has1815...Ìbd7To be honest I felt unnerved by howquickly and confidently Glenn had played theopening and probably didn’t spend enoughtime here. He seemed to be sitting there witha slightly bored and distracted expression –almost saying, oh get on with it, so I can finishyou off. I think what upset me was that I hadnever played the Benko before in a classicalgame, but Glenn seemed completelyprepared for it – only afterwards did he tellme that he had already played all thesemoves in a French League game!As Mark Hebden said to me later, with hisinfinite experience and wisdom, in such Benkopositions when White has played a4, theblack knight really belongs on b4, so15...Ìa6! was correct. However, the realmistakes come later.16Îa3! Ìh5?!Already a sign that my calculations arefaulty due to a lack of practice. The move myhand really wanted to play was 16...c4!, butthen I thought he could play 17 exd5 (themachine’s recommendation, 17 b4!?, ispossibly better and worthy of furtherinvestigation) 17...exd5 18Ìd4and if I go tod6 he plays 19Ëe6+,trades queens, takeson g7 and wins the ending. However, Black isnot obliged to exchange just yet and can play18...Ëb7!, retaining excellent chances after aBut I had forgotten about the possibility ofhim taking on d5 and then playingÎe3.Thisis what happens when you don’t checkvariations and skip over lines too quickly –you miss stuff.20...Ìf820...Îfxa4 allows the rook to penetrate:21Îe6 Ëb722Ìd6 Ëa623Îe8+ Îxe824Ëxe8+ Ìf825Ëf7+ Êh826Ëxd5andit doesn’t look like much fun for Black.21 b3 c4 22 g3?!22Îc1!would have been even stronger.22...d4 23Ìfxd4 Íxd424 gxf4Íxe325Ëxe3 Îe8?Far too optimistic. Again I should havetrusted my instincts and played the morestubborn 25...cxb3! 26Ëxb3+ Ëe627Ëxe6+Ìxe628Îa1 Îa529Îa3 Ìxf430 f3,which, as Glenn rightly pointed out in the post-mortem, would have posed White serioustechnical problems in the realisation of hisadvantage. However, I had no appetite fordefending a slightly worse ending, preferring tofall on my sword as quickly as possible.26Ëc1 Ëf327Ëxc4+ Ìe628 f5!An accurate way to finish.28...Ëxf5 29Ìc71-0The Silver TsunamiI wasn’t the only one during the event tomention that the tournament seemed to be onits last legs. Looking around the playing hall at thestart of the event it struck me how old everyonewas compared to most Opens these days – eventhe spectators seemed impossibly ancient andinfirm. It was like the cast fromCocoon.Perhaps this is a reflection of a growingtrend in society – the domination of the old,the “silver tsunami” that Martin Amis oncealluded to. But if so, then it is a dangeroussign for the future, because if chesstournaments in the UK are indeed dominatedby the old, who are to replace them?There just don’t seem to be the juniorsFebruary 2016 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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//-->ChessSubscription Rates:United Kingdom1 year (12 issues)2 year (24 issues)3 year (36 issues)ContentsEditorial.................................................................................................................4Malcom Pein on the latest developments60 Seconds with..............................................................................................7England International, WFM Kanwal BhatiaA Dramatic Knockout......................................................................................8An ice-calm David Howell triumphed in the British KnockoutLuke on Fire......................................................................................................14Luke McShane racked up no less than9�½/10 in the Super RapidDefeat, Despair, Dejection........................................................................16Danny Gormally reports on a tough Hastings for the home playersFind the Winning Moves.............................................................................21Can you do as well as the GMs at the Classic and Qatar Masters?Christmas Quiz Solutions...........................................................................24It was fiendishly tough, but how did you fare?Classic Carlsen................................................................................................26Magnus left it right until the last minute to win the ClassicThe Hidden Classic........................................................................................30Jonathan Bryant explains what really happens each day at OlympiaBehind the Scenes.........................................................................................32Shamir Allibhai on directing two films about chessDouglas Morton Horne................................................................................34Matthew Lunn pays tribute to the late England InternationalHow Good is Your Chess?..........................................................................36Daniel King looks at a smooth play-off win from the ClassicOpening Trends...............................................................................................39The Reti Opening dominated 2015, but didn’t shine in QatarPenrose’s Rivals: Part V..............................................................................40John Saunders concludes his series with a look at 1968 and 1969Never Mind the Grandmasters................................................................44Carl Portman vents his frustration at the Exchange FrenchOverseas News...............................................................................................46David Howell did well in Estonia and Gawain Jones in New ZealandHome News.......................................................................................................50All the latest results, including Hastings and the London JuniorSolutions............................................................................................................53New Books and Software...........................................................................54A bumper crop of reviews, including aRepertoire for Blitz and RapidForthcoming Events.....................................................................................57Saunders on Chess........................................................................................58John reflects on the unfortunate, early death of Ivan BukavshinPhoto credits:Stephen Connor (p.4), David Llada (p.48), Ray Morris-Hill (pp.5-12, 14-15, 27-31, 37), Brendan O’Gorman (pp.16, 19-20), www.chessfilm.co (pp.32-33).Founding Editor: B.H. Wood, OBE. M.Sc †Executive Editor: Malcolm PeinEditors: Richard Palliser, Matt ReadAssociate Editor: John SaundersSubscriptions Manager: Paul HarringtonTwitter: @CHESS_MagazineTwitter: @TelegraphChess - Malcolm PeinWebsite: www.chess.co.uk£49.95£89.95£125£60£112.50£165$90$170$250£72£130£180Europe1 year (12 issues)2 year (24 issues)3 year (36 issues)USA & Canada1 year (12 issues)2 year (24 issues)3 year (36 issues)Rest of World (Airmail)1 year (12 issues)2 year (24 issues)3 year (36 issues)Distributed by:Post Scriptum (UK only),Unit G, OYO Business Park, Hindmans Way,Dagenham, RM9 6LN - Tel: 020 8526 7779LMPI (North America)8155 Larrey Street, Montreal (Quebec),H1J 2L5, Canada - Tel: 514 355-5610Views expressed in this publication are notnecessarily those of the Editors. Contributions tothe magazine will be published at the Editors’discretion and may be shortened if space is limited.No parts of this publication may be reproducedwithout the prior express permission of the publishers.All rights reserved. © 2016Chess Magazine (ISSN 0964-6221) is published by:Chess & Bridge Ltd, 44 Baker St, London, W1U 7RTTel: 020 7288 1305 Fax: 020 7486 7015Email: info@chess.co.uk, Website: www.chess.co.ukFRONT COVER:Cover Design: Matt ReadCover Photography: Carl PortmanUS & Canadian Readers – You can contact us via ourAmerican branch – Chess4Less based in West PalmBeach, FL. Call toll-free on 1-877 89CHESS (24377).You can even order Subscriber Special Offers onlinevia www.chess4less.comPrinted in the UK by The Magazine PrintingCompany using only paper from FSC/PEFCsuppliers www.magprint.co.ukwww.chess.co.uk3DEFEAT,DESPAIR,DEJECTIONhad figured out what was going on.As we are living in these times of increasingalertness about terrorist threats, and as I havean over active imagination at the best of times,I glanced out the window. Suddenly in thedarkened road outside, I could see the lights ofseveral cars appear. This was it, I decided; wewere being set up. The driver had beenincapacitated, and those cars clearly heldbloodthirsty jihadists, brandishing sub-machineguns. ‘We’re sitting ducks here!’ I thought.Of course, nothing happened. The journeyended uneventfully, and I found my way tomy hotel in Hastings. A miserable day endedon another dreary note when I discovered myroom backed on to a nightclub. The very nextday I asked to change rooms, as the noisewould have been otherwise unbearable. (I’mvery sensitive to these sort of things.)My first real test came in round four,where I found myself facing a PolishGrandmaster, Alexander Mista, who not solong ago was comfortably over 2600.With the notable exception of Peter Batchelor, the Britsdidn’t shine at Hastings, as Danny Gormally explains...D.Gormally-A.MistaRound 4Our reporter, Danny Gormally, in acton in Hastings. At least in this encounter Danny got toenjoy a lively Sicilian. Sitting next to him is another Najdorf connoiseur, IM Richard Bates.It’s funny how the mind works. In life Ibelieve we skip along a narrow thread ofsanity, only protected from the ghastlyterrors of the universe by being fed tinyslivers of reality at a time, lest a greaterknowledge of the world around us shouldoverwhelm that fragile sense of self, and leadus to worlds and horrors unknown. What onearth is he blabbering about, I hear youwonder? You thought this was supposed tobe an article about Hastings.Well it is, but at times during this year’stournament I wondered if I was losing my mind.16The sheer tedium of playing this admittedlyworld famous tournament, year after year,seeing the same old faces again and again, wasbeginning to wear on my sanity.The early portents weren’t good. Gettingthe train down to London, I nearly had a panicattack when we stopped just outside London,in Potters Bar. After not moving for a fewminutes, a voice came on the tannoy, where alady explained how she had been unable toget in touch with the driver, but it seemed asif someone had pulled the emergency cord, sothe train was to remain stationary until they51Ìxd4+51Íxd4exd4 52Ìxd4+ Êe553Êc3seemed drawish, but that also seemed thecase about the move I played in the game. Intruth I approached this encounter with limitedambition and my draw offer just before thetime control was firmly rebuffed by myopponent. It certainly felt like I was facingsomeone of 2600 calibre – the sense thatthey are applying the pressure move aftermove, until your resources are worn downand you eventually crack. After 53...Ìh4 54Êd3I recall my opponent saying somethingafter the game about sacrificing on f3 aroundabout here, but this is hard to believe.51...exd4 52Êc2g4! 53 fxg4 hxg454 hxg4Ìe3+55Êd3 Ìxg456Íxd4I had seen this position earlier in mycalculations and assumed it was acomfortable draw, which is probably indeedthe case, but 2600-level players are verygood at constantly posing little problems totheir opponents. Just when you think thegame is at an end and all the problems havebeen solved, there arrives another one. HereBlack has at least the comfortable side of thedraw as the white king is restricted andFebruary 2016cannot approach the black f-pawn.56...f3 57Ía7 Êf658Íb8 Êg559Íg3 Ìf660Êe3 Êg461Íe1 Ìd762Êd4 Êf463Íd2+ Êg372Íe3 Ìxb4+73Êxb5.70...Ìxe6+ 71Êe3 Êg472Êe4 Ìf473Íf2 Ìe274Êe3 Ìc375Êd4 Ìd176Íe1 Êh377Êc5 Ìb278Êd4 Êg279Íh4 Ìc40-1White is losing the bishop while Blackcrucially holds on to his b-pawn. If I goÊc5,he can play ..Ìa3!, so I resigned.A crushing loss. A combination of inexperiencein these endings, my opponent’s excellent playand extreme fatigue at the end had cost me agame I really should have drawn. Perhaps thebiggest reason for my loss though was my lackof match practice. I hadn’t played atournament since the Isle of Man in October.Playing hundreds of blitz games on Chess.comwasn’t quite the substitute for playing that Ithought it was. This rustiness was to affect methe whole way through the tournament andmade me realise I’m the sort of guy who needsto play himself into form and who really needsto be playing a lot.Ëg525Ëa7!The idea of him simply going back and takingthe a-pawn hadn’t really occurred to me. I hadassumed my threats on the kingside wouldsoon assume unmanageable proportions, but infact this is not the case.25...Ìf6 26Ëxa5 Îc827Ëe164Íe1+Missing 64Íe3!.Once the bishop reachesthis diagonal, it’s impossible for Black to win. Infact endgame expert Keith Arkell told me laterin the tournament something interesting aboutthis ending. He said even if you just leave thewhite bishop on the board and take all the otherpieces away, leaving only the black king, knight,f-pawn and white bishop, Black cannot win thisendgame. He simply can’t shift the bishop offthe g1-a7 diagonal.This is a good example of when knowledgeand experience can be useful. If I had knownthis beforehand, it might have saved megetting into trouble later and here 64...f2 65Íxf2+ Êxf266 e5 is an obvious draw.64...Êf4 65Íd2+ Êg466Íe1 Ìf867Êd5?!A first sign that I am getting edgy, andextreme fatigue is starting to kick in. Why Idid not play 67Êc5I don’t know, but Iprobably saw ghosts around here. I suspect67...Ìg6 68Êxb5 Ìe5was what I didn’tlike, but then again the bishop can reach thekey diagonal: 69Íf2!.67...Ìg6 68 e5Êf569 e6Ìf4+Channelling Your InnerDavid HowellComing off a bad loss like this, I knew thenext game would be tough and that indeedproved to be the case.D.Gluckman-D.GormallyRound 527...Íc4??A hideous blunder. A pawn down, I felt Ineeded to be as active as possible, but it wasnot yet time to panic. 27...Ìh5! would havebeen much calmer, intending to simplyexchange White’s bishop on d3, which tosome extent holds his position together. Thegame would then have remained unclear, butnow I’m simply losing.28Îf5!As soon as I moved my bishop, I realisedthat White could hit me with 28Ëc3!,butwhat he played was even stronger.28...Ëg6 29Ìd6 Íxd330Ìxc8 Êh731Ìe7 Ëg432 h3Ëxe470Êd4?Akin to resignation. My opponent showedme 70Êc6! Êxe671Íf2!after the game,with which White finally secures the muchsought after draw (earlier I had missed71Êxb5 Ìd372Íh4 Êf5!and so panickedwhen I saw this line after his 69th, assumingthat I must now be losing), and if 71...Ìd3www.chess.co.uk17...Ìe8One of the first chess books I seriouslystudied was Danny King’sWinning with theNajdorf.I recall in one of the chapters in asimilar position (although possibly without theinclusion of the move ...h6), King recommendsthis manoeuvre, espousing its merits in greatdetail. At the time I used to play this ideaagainst my Nigel Short chess computer, whichunlike the silicon beasts we encounter today,had no learning algorithm and would justmindlessly repeat the same losing moves ithad played in the previous game.18Íd3 Íf619Ëb4This irritating idea was one of the reasonswhy at the board I started to have my doubtsabout this ...Ìe8 idea, some 20 years onfrom when I first played it.19...a5 20Ëxb7 Îb821Ëa7 Îxb222Ìb5 Íe523Íxe5dxe5 24Ëc5Around about this point we were bothgetting fairly short of time. The situation israther obscure, but objectively if White stayscool he should win – he is winning both onposition and material. It was now that I choseto channel my ‘Inner David Howell’.Having had some encounters with David inrecent times, I am godsmacked over how he isable to remain completely calm when underextreme pressure both on the clock and on theboard. Nerves that good are unusual, but theycan inspire you to act in a similar fashion.Certainly my aspiration to remain sphinx-like andutterly removed of anxiety seemed to unnervemy opponent, who now conspired to throw hisadvantage away with a series of mistakes, to the17point where he was actually losing.33Îxe5?This seemed excessively greedy – whygrab another pawn when you are winning inany case? 33Ëg3!was winning on the spot,according to the engine. Black has no time for33...Îxc2 as 34Îxf6is a clincher. However,at the board I was astonished as to why hedidn’t just play 33Ëxe4 Íxe434Îf2as thisseemed the practical choice. Not only isWhite up the exchange, but he still has his a-pawn. Moreover, all the tricks are gone andWhite is surely winning.33...Ëb7!With the queens on the board, anything ispossible...34Ìd5 Ìxd535 cxd3Ìe3!And he had missed this.36Îe4 Ìxg2become quite fashionable of late.7 e4 0-0 8Ìf3 Ëa59Ìd29Íd3?was a trap I recently fell into myselfin the Isle of Man. My opponent confidentlywhipped off my d-pawn with 9...Ìxd5!, afterwhich I felt like a patzer. By some miracle I wasable to make a draw, but White is surely introuble here. This happened against the youngGerman player Thorben Koop, and afterwardshe told me Boris Gelfand fell for the same trapagainst Magnus in a rapid game.Inspired by Carlsen’s adoption of this line, I’vebeen playing this version of the Benko a lot onChess.com, and it’s surprising how many fall forthis trap. After 10 exd5Íxc3+11 bxc3 (againstKoop I tried 11Ìd2when 11...Íxa6! 12Íxa6Íxd2+13Íxd2 Ëxa6would be a good reply)11...Ëxc3+ Black is already much better.9...Íxa6 10Íxa6 Ëxa611 a4 e6 12 dxe612Ìb5?!exd5 13Ìc7 Ëc614Ìxa8dxe4 just seems to give Black too much playfor the exchange.12...fxe6 13Ìb5 Ëc614Ëe2d5 15 0-0continuation like 19Ëe6+ Îf720Ëc6 Ìe5!.17Ìf3 Ìf4?After 17...Ìb6! 18 b3 arguably White isdoing well here too, but at least the rook ona3 is shut out of the game.18Íxf4 Îxf419 exd5This is all OK, I thought. If he now plays19Îe3,I can hit him with 19...d4!.19...exd5 20Îe3!37Ëf1?37Îe7! Ìxe1+38Îxb7 Îxb739Îxe1Îb3!40Îa1 Îxd341 a5Îxh3+42Êg2should probably be drawn.37...Ëd5?37...Ìh4! was winning, as White has no goodway of stopping ...f5, and if 38Êg1 Ëb6+39 d4Ëg6+40Îg4 Ëc2with a murderous attack.38Îb1?38Ëc1!was still equal apparently, butfinding such a computer-like defence withthe flag hanging is beyond most players.38...Ìe3Now it is finally over.39Ëc1 Îxb140Ëxb1f5 41Ëb5 Ëxb542 axb5 fxe4 43 dxe4Ìc444Êg2 Êg645Êf3 Êf646Êe2 Êe547Êd3 Ìd648 b6Ìxe449Êc4 Ìd6+0-1Relieved by this miracle reprieve from thegallows, on another occasion I might havebeen inspired to have a decent finish, butHastings just wasn’t my tournament. In thenext round I faced Glenn Flear, another playerwho really puts you to the test in the opening.G.Flear-D.GormallyRound 6Benko Gambit1 d4Ìf62 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 4 cxb5 a65 bxa6 g6 6Ìc3 Íg7This way of playing the Benko where Blackdelays recapturing the pawn on a6 has1815...Ìbd7To be honest I felt unnerved by howquickly and confidently Glenn had played theopening and probably didn’t spend enoughtime here. He seemed to be sitting there witha slightly bored and distracted expression –almost saying, oh get on with it, so I can finishyou off. I think what upset me was that I hadnever played the Benko before in a classicalgame, but Glenn seemed completelyprepared for it – only afterwards did he tellme that he had already played all thesemoves in a French League game!As Mark Hebden said to me later, with hisinfinite experience and wisdom, in such Benkopositions when White has played a4, theblack knight really belongs on b4, so15...Ìa6! was correct. However, the realmistakes come later.16Îa3! Ìh5?!Already a sign that my calculations arefaulty due to a lack of practice. The move myhand really wanted to play was 16...c4!, butthen I thought he could play 17 exd5 (themachine’s recommendation, 17 b4!?, ispossibly better and worthy of furtherinvestigation) 17...exd5 18Ìd4and if I go tod6 he plays 19Ëe6+,trades queens, takeson g7 and wins the ending. However, Black isnot obliged to exchange just yet and can play18...Ëb7!, retaining excellent chances after aBut I had forgotten about the possibility ofhim taking on d5 and then playingÎe3.Thisis what happens when you don’t checkvariations and skip over lines too quickly –you miss stuff.20...Ìf820...Îfxa4 allows the rook to penetrate:21Îe6 Ëb722Ìd6 Ëa623Îe8+ Îxe824Ëxe8+ Ìf825Ëf7+ Êh826Ëxd5andit doesn’t look like much fun for Black.21 b3 c4 22 g3?!22Îc1!would have been even stronger.22...d4 23Ìfxd4 Íxd424 gxf4Íxe325Ëxe3 Îe8?Far too optimistic. Again I should havetrusted my instincts and played the morestubborn 25...cxb3! 26Ëxb3+ Ëe627Ëxe6+Ìxe628Îa1 Îa529Îa3 Ìxf430 f3,which, as Glenn rightly pointed out in the post-mortem, would have posed White serioustechnical problems in the realisation of hisadvantage. However, I had no appetite fordefending a slightly worse ending, preferring tofall on my sword as quickly as possible.26Ëc1 Ëf327Ëxc4+ Ìe628 f5!An accurate way to finish.28...Ëxf5 29Ìc71-0The Silver TsunamiI wasn’t the only one during the event tomention that the tournament seemed to be onits last legs. Looking around the playing hall at thestart of the event it struck me how old everyonewas compared to most Opens these days – eventhe spectators seemed impossibly ancient andinfirm. It was like the cast fromCocoon.Perhaps this is a reflection of a growingtrend in society – the domination of the old,the “silver tsunami” that Martin Amis oncealluded to. But if so, then it is a dangeroussign for the future, because if chesstournaments in the UK are indeed dominatedby the old, who are to replace them?There just don’t seem to be the juniorsFebruary 2016 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]