Chess with Errol

Carlsen wins Tata Steel Masters Tournament

By

World chess champion, Norway’s Magnus Carlsen emerged victorious in the brutal Tata Steel Masters Chess Tournament in the Netherlands recently. No player was safe in the competition. All suffered defeats at one time or another. Early on, Carlsen and the world’s number two, Fabiano Caruana were outplayed at the hands of a Polish player, Radoslaw Wojtazek. But Carlsen rebounded, and in a series of exciting games, notched-up six wins in succession to claim the tournament. Caruana did not do as well and finished seventh in the overall points table. France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave finished in second place while the Indian-Dutch grandmaster, Anish Giri, placed third.

We are not clear as to the player who received the prestigious Brilliancy Prize, as that player has not yet been named. In the Challengers section of the tournament, the teenage grandmaster Wei Yi from China won, and inevitably clinched a place in next year’s Masters competition. During the 13-round tournament, Yi was in devastating form, scoring eight wins and five draws; a phenomenal performance. He added 20 points to his FIDE rating of 2675. Grandmasters David Navarra, 2729, and Samuel Shankland, 2652, were second and third respectively.

The 2015 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival is currently underway and at the end of round two, India’s grandmaster Debarashi Das scored a draw against former Bulgarian world champion Veselin Topalov in a Rubinstein Variation of the Nizmo-Indian defence. The game was a thriller. Topalov obtained two massive queens playing the black pieces, but Das counter-attacked and the game subsequently fizzled into a draw.

20131117chessChess games
The following games were played in the Tata Steel Group B tournament which was contested alongside the Masters competition in the Netherlands. China’s youthful grandmaster Wei Yi won the tournament.

White Robin van Kampen
Black Samuel Sevian

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. O-O Nd4 6. Nxd4
Bxd4 7. c3 Bb6 8. Na3 c6 9. Ba4 O-O 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bh4 d6
12. Nc4 Bc7 13. Ne3 Be6 14. Bc2 d5 15. exd5 cxd5 16. d4 exd4
17. Qxd4 Qd6 18. Bg3 Qb6 19. Bxc7 Qxc7 20. Rad1 Rfd8 21. Rfe1
b5 22. Bf5 Re8 23. Bd3 Rab8 24. Re2 a5 25. a3 Qb6 26. Nc2 Qxd4
27. Nxd4 Bd7 28. Rxe8+ Bxe8 29. b4 a4 30. f3 Bd7 31. Kf2 Kf8
32. Ke3 Ke7 33. h4 Kd6 34. g4 g6 35. Rg1 Ne8 36. g5 h5 37. Re1
Nc7 38. f4 Rg8 39. Kd2 Ne6 40. Nxb5+ Bxb5 41. Bxb5 Nxf4

India’s Debarashi Das (left) contemplates his next move as Bulgarian grandmaster Veselin Topalov prepares to move a pawn. The game ended in a draw.
India’s Debarashi Das (left) contemplates his next move as Bulgarian grandmaster Veselin Topalov prepares to move a pawn. The game ended in a draw.

42. Re8 Rxe8 43. Bxe8 Ng2 44. Bxa4 Nxh4 45. Bd1 Nf5 46. a4 Kc6
47. Bf3 Nd6 48. Kd3 h4 49. Kd4 Nf5+ 50. Ke5 Ne3 51. Kf6 Nc4

52. Bg2 Ne3 53. Bh1 Ng4+ 54. Kxf7 Nf2 55. Bf3 Nd3 56. Ke6 Nf4+
57. Ke5 Nd3+ 58. Kd4 Nf4 59. c4 h3 1-0.

White Wei Yi
Black Valentina Gunina

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6. O-O Bg6
7. Nbd2 Nh6 8. Nb3 Nf5 9. Bd2 Be7 10. g4 Nh4 11. Nxh4 Bxh4
12. f4 f5 13. exf6 Qxf6 14. g5 Qf7 15. Na5 Nb6 16. Bd3 Bh5
17. Nxb7 Nc8 18. Be2 Bxe2 19. Qxe2 Qxb7 20. Qh5+ Qf7 21. Qxh4
Nd6 22. Qh3 Qf5 23. Qxf5 exf5 24. Rf3 Kd7 25. Re1 Ne4 26. Bb4
a5 27. Bc5 h6 28. gxh6 Rxh6 29. Re2 Rg6+ 30. Rg2 Rxg2+
31. Kxg2 Re8 32. a4 Re6 33. h3 Nd2 34. Rf2 Ne4 35. Rf3 Nd2
36. Rg3 g5 37. Rxg5 Re2+ 38. Kg3 Ne4+ 39. Kf3 Rxc2 40. Rxf5

Congratulations! Congratulations are in order for Kenny Solomon (above), South Arica’s first chess grandmaster. Solomon, 34, took up chess as a pastime at 13, and was influenced by the games of Russia’s former world champion, Anatoly Karpov. At the 40th Chess Olympiad which was held in Istanbul, Turkey, in September 2012, Solomon displayed the extraordinary ability of scoring two grandmaster norms, according to Dr Daaim Shabazz, publisher of the celebrated magazine, The Chess Drum. Dr Shabazz writes: “According to the FIDE Handbook, a GM norm, [nine games or better], at the Olympiad counts as a 20-game norm. In other words, the one norm counts as two.” To achieve such an extraordinary feat, Solomon opposed an International Master from Nigeria, and nine grandmasters from Singapore, Turkey, Brazil, Switzerland, Chile, Colombia, Bulgaria, Bolivia and France, all champions of their respective nations. His only defeats emanated from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Veselin Topalov and Yannick Pelletier. It is rare that a player from a lower-tier chess nation would obtain such an opportunity to play champion after champion and succeed with an enviable plus score. Recently, the online magazine Chess Base, celebrated Solomon’s rise to grandmaster status. Solomon was quoted as saying: “We must use what we have to get what we want.”
Congratulations! Congratulations are in order for Kenny Solomon (above), South Arica’s first chess grandmaster. Solomon, 34, took up chess as a pastime at 13, and was influenced by the games of Russia’s former world champion, Anatoly Karpov. At the 40th Chess Olympiad which was held in Istanbul, Turkey, in September 2012, Solomon displayed the extraordinary ability of scoring two grandmaster norms, according to Dr Daaim Shabazz, publisher of the celebrated magazine, The Chess Drum. Dr Shabazz writes: “According to the FIDE Handbook, a GM norm, [nine games or better], at the Olympiad counts as a 20-game norm. In other words, the one norm counts as two.” To achieve such an extraordinary feat, Solomon opposed an International Master from Nigeria, and nine grandmasters from Singapore, Turkey, Brazil, Switzerland, Chile, Colombia, Bulgaria, Bolivia and France, all champions of their respective nations. His only defeats emanated from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Veselin Topalov and Yannick Pelletier. It is rare that a player from a lower-tier chess nation would obtain such an opportunity to play champion after champion and succeed with an enviable plus score. Recently, the online magazine Chess Base, celebrated Solomon’s rise to grandmaster status. Solomon was quoted as saying: “We must use what we have to get what we want.”
Rxb2 41. Re5 Rb3+ 42. Kg4 Rg3+ 43. Kh4 Rg7 44. f5 Rh7+ 45. Kg4
Rg7+ 46. Kh5 Rh7+ 47. Kg6 Rxh3 48. Re7+ Kd8 49. Ra7 Ke8
50. Ra8+ Kd7 51. Ra7+ Ke8 52. Ra8+ Kd7 53. Rxa5 Rg3+ 54. Kf7
Ng5+ 55. Kf6 Nh7+ 56. Ke5 Re3+ 57. Kf4 Re4+ 58. Kf3 Nf6
59. Ra7+ Ke8 60. a5 Nd7 61. a6 Re1 62. Rb7 Ra1 63. a7 Kd8
64. Rb8+ 1-0.

White David Navara
Black Jan Timman

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 O-O 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 d5
7. e5 Nfd7 8. Bd3 c5 9. h4 g6 10. h5 cxd4 11. Nb3 dxc4
12. Bxc4 b5 13. Bd3 Bb7 14. Qd2 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Qd5 16. Nf3 g5
17. Nxg5 f5 18. Rh3 Qxg2 19. Bf1 1-0.

White A R Saleh Salem
Black Van Kampen

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. Be2 Nf6 6. O-O Nc6 7. d4 cxd4
8. Nxd4 Nxd4 9. cxd4 Be7 10. Nc3 Qd6 11. Qb3 O-O 12. Rd1 Rd8 13. Bf3 a6 14.
a3 Nd5 15. g3 Nxc3 16. Bf4 Ne2+ 17. Bxe2 Qd5 18. Bc4 Qa5 19. Rac1 b5 20.
Be2 Bd6 21. Bg5 f6 22. Bf3 Rb8 23. Rxc8 Rdxc8 24. Qxe6+ Kh8 25. Bxf6 Qc7
26. Bg5 Rf8 27. Rc1 Rbe8 28. Qd5 Qd7 29. Be3 Rc8 30. Rxc8 Rxc8 31. Kg2 Rd8
32. Be4 Bf8 33. Qg5 Be7 34. Qh5 g6 35. Qe5+ Kg8 36. Bh6 Bh4 37. f3 1-0.

20150201Ches2

Trending