Chess

By Errol Tiwari On In Chess with Errol |

Iturrizaga v Giri

Meet Anish Giri, 14 years, seven months and eight days old as of today, an enormously talented chess player who is now the world’s youngest grandmaster. Anish defeated Venezuelan grandmaster Eduardo Iturrizaga at the annual Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee last week to capture his final grandmaster norm. A chess player vying for the grandmaster title must obtain three norms before s/he is considered for the title. The contestant, therefore, must end three grandmaster tournaments among the top finishers. Anish is of Russian/Nepalese extraction and speaks four languages, namely, English, Russian, Japanese and Nepalese. The teenager currently lives in Holland where he is learning Dutch and rapidly improving his chess.
Meet Anish Giri, 14 years, seven months and eight days old as of today, an enormously talented chess player who is now the world’s youngest grandmaster. Anish defeated Venezuelan grandmaster Eduardo Iturrizaga at the annual Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee last week to capture his final grandmaster norm. A chess player vying for the grandmaster title must obtain three norms before s/he is considered for the title. The contestant, therefore, must end three grandmaster tournaments among the top finishers. Anish is of Russian/Nepalese extraction and speaks four languages, namely, English, Russian, Japanese and Nepalese. The teenager currently lives in Holland where he is learning Dutch and rapidly improving his chess.

Here is the game with which Anish captured his final grandmaster norm.

Iturrizaga, E (2528) – Giri, A (2469)
Corus C Wijk aan Zee NED (11), 30.1.2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Bd2 Nbd7 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Qc2 Bd6 10.h3 0-0 11.0-0-0 Qe7 12.g4 dxc4 13.g5 Nd5 14.h4 c5 15.Nxd5 exd5 16.Bg2 cxd4 17.exd4 Nb6 18.h5 c3 19.bxc3 Ba3+ 20.Kb1 Qd6 21.Rh4 Nc4 22.Bf4 Qb6+ 23.Qb3 Qc6 24.Rdh1 Rfe8 25.Bc1 Rad8 26.hxg6 fxg6 27.Qc2 Bxc1 28.Qxc1 Re2 29.Rh8+ Kf7 30.Rxd8 Qb6+ 31.Ka1 Qxd8 32.Qb1 Qd7 33.Bf1 Na3 34.Qd3 Rxf2 35.Bh3 Qe7 36.Rf1 Rxf1+ 37.Qxf1+ Ke8 38.Qc1 Nc4 39.Qb1 200909diagrm

39…Qxg5. 39…Qe3 threatening …Qxc3 and mate would have been faster. 40.Qb5+ Kf8 41.Qb4+ Qe7 42.Kb1 Qxb4+ 43.cxb4 and Black is two pawns up. Anish goes on to win the endgame in convincing fashion: 43…Ke7 44.Kc2 Nd6 45.Kd3 Nf5 46.a4 Ke6 47.Bg4 g5 48.Bh5 Ne7 49.Bg4+ Kd6 50.b5 b6 51.Ke3 g6 52.Bh3 Nf5+ 53.Kd3 Nh6 54.Ke3 g4 55.Bf1 Nf5+ 56.Kd3 g3 57.Bh3 g5 White Resigns !  0-1.

Dominguez v Aronian

Dominguez Perez, L (2717) – Aronian, L (2750)
Corus A Wijk aan Zee NED (11), 30.1.2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.d4 Nxd4 9.Nxd4 exd4 10.e5 Ne8 11.c3 dxc3 12.Nxc3 d6 13.Bd5!? Not strictly new, but new at GM level. Rb8 14.Be3 Be6 15.Ba7 Bxd5 16.Bxb8 Bb7 17.Ba7 Qa8. 17…c5 looks critical, but Fritz 11 offers 18.Rc1 Qc7 19.b4 c4 (19…Ba8? 20.exd6 Bxd6 21.Bxc5) and the bishop escapes. 18.exd6 Bxd6 19.Bd4 b4 20.Na4 Bxg2 21.Rxe8 Qxe8. 21…Rxe8 22.Qg4. 22.Kxg2 c5 23.Be3 Qc6+ 24.f3 Re8 25.Bf2 c4. 25…Re6!? 26.Nb6 c3 27.bxc3 bxc3 28.Qd5 Qc7 29.Nc4 Bb4. 29…Bxh2 30.Qd3. 30.Rc1

Leinier Dominguez of Cuba had a sensational tournament at Wijk aan Zee. Over the first nine rounds he accumulated a +2 score, and played unbeaten to share the lead. During the second phase of the tournament, Dominguez lost to the Norwegian prodigy, Magnus Carlsen. He rebounded however, to beat the former world championship candidate and Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian, ranked among the top ten chess players in the world. Aronian placed 2nd in the tournament and Dominguez was sixth. In picture, Dominguez reflects upon his game with Aronian using a demonstration board.
Leinier Dominguez of Cuba had a sensational tournament at Wijk aan Zee. Over the first nine rounds he accumulated a +2 score, and played unbeaten to share the lead. During the second phase of the tournament, Dominguez lost to the Norwegian prodigy, Magnus Carlsen. He rebounded however, to beat the former world championship candidate and Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronian, ranked among the top ten chess players in the world. Aronian placed 2nd in the tournament and Dominguez was sixth. In picture, Dominguez reflects upon his game with Aronian using a demonstration board.

30…Re2? The final mistake, but 30…Rc8 31.a3 Qxc4 32.Qxc4 Rxc4 33.axb4 is still much better for White. 31.Rxc3 h6 32.Re3 Rxa2 33.Re8+ Kh7 34.Ne3 Rxf2+ 35.Kxf2 Bc3 36.Kg2 Black Resigns ! 1–0.
200909diagrm2