No short draws in Grand Prix

May 4, 2008

Position No. 6001: White to play and win. From the game Alexander Areshchenko-Matej Sebenik, European Championship, Plovdiv 2008.

Solution to Position No. 6000: I apologize for the error in last week’s chess diagram, which omitted a Black pawn at h7. White wins with 1 Rxg4! Rxg4 2 Nf5, threatening 3 Nh6 mate. Both 2 … Rg6 3 Ne7+ and 2 … Rg7 3 Nh6+ Kh8 4 Qxf8+! Rg8 5 Nf7+ cost Black his Queen, while 2 … h5 loses to either 3 e5 or 3 Nh6+ Kh7 4 e5+ Ng6 5 Nxg4.

The first Grand Prix tournament continues through Tuesday in Baku, Azerbaijan. Former U.S. champion Gata Kamsky shares the early lead at 4-2 with Alexander Grischuk of Russia and Wang Yue of China. You can see games and interviews at baku2008.fide.com.

All three Grand Prix tournaments this year will forbid draws by agreement. If the players reach a sterile position, they must continue playing until a grandmaster on the tournament staff declares the game drawn. The commendable intent of the rule is to make every game a fight to the finish. Short, bloodless games disappoint spectators, but we will see if players complain about wasting hours on boring games.

The European Championship concludes today in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The field includes 181 grandmasters, about a sixth of the world’s total. A former Southern California champion is among the leaders. Valentin Iotov, the Bulgarian youngster who won the 2006 Southern California Open, was tied for fourth place at 5 1/2 -1 1/2 .

Local news

Grandmaster Melikset Khachiyan, state champion IM Enrico Sevillano and IM Tim Taylor scored 4-1 to tie for first place in the Westwood Spring Open at the Los Angeles Chess Club last Sunday. Khachiyan defeated Sevillano in the last round of the 47-player tournament.

Samuel Sevian, 7, led the Reserve (under-1800) section. Organizer John Hillery plans two more 40-minute tournaments this year at the club.

The Bobby Fischer Memorial Scholastic tournament attracted 56 students to Westwood Charter School in Los Angeles on April 26. David Coles won a blitz playoff against Eric Huang to lead the Championship (grades K-12) section. Other winners were Christopher Lopez, Nicholas Papazyan, Karinne Robbins, Mia Royce, Gwen Symonds, Stefano Watchi, Reid Whitney, William Roskin, Roya Touran, Amanda Whiting, Jack Kiefer and Asher Aronzon. Ivona Jezierska directed.

The Santa Monica Bay Chess Club will begin three-game quad tournaments on Monday. Call Pete Savino at (310) 827-2789 or see geocities.com/santamonicabaychessclub for information.

A new club has opened at Hanley Chess Academy, 7390 Center Ave. in Huntington Beach. The HCA Chess Club will meet from 6 to 11:30 p.m. Thursdays for tournaments and casual play. Organizer Joe Hanley plans a five-round rated tournament, beginning at 7:30 p.m. May 15. For details, contact him at (714) 925-3195 or at refchess@gmail.com.

Today’s games

GM Viktor Bologan (Moldova)-GM Bartlomiej Heberla (Poland), European Championship, Plovdiv 2008: 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Nf6 3 d3 Nc6 4 Nf3 Bc5 5 c3 0-0 6 Bb3 A fashionable variation of the Giuoco Piano. a6 7 h3 d5!? Instead of the conservative 7 … d6. 8 exd5 Nxd5 9 0-0 Nde7 10 Nxe5 Black handles 10 Re1 smoothly with 10 … Ng6 rather than 10 … Qd6 11 Nbd2! Qxd3 12 Nxe5. Nxe5 11 d4 Bxd4 Sharper and probably stronger than 11 … Bd6 12 dxe5 Bxe5, when 13 Nd2 Ng6 14 Nf3 favors White slightly. 12 cxd4 N5c6 13 Bg5 Be6 Welcoming 14 Bxe6 fxe6 15 Nc3 Qd7, as d4 is at least as vulnerable as e6. Against 13 … h6 14 Bh4 Qd6, setting up … Ne7-f5, White keeps an edge with 15 d5 Na5 16 Bxe7 Qxe7 17 Bc2. 14 Nc3 Bxb3 15 Qxb3 Qxd4?! Correct is 15 … Nxd4 16 Qxb7 h6, as 17 Bxe7 Qxe7 18 Nd5?! Qd6 is dangerous only for White. 16 Rfe1 Na5 Or 16 … Nf5 17 Qxb7, with an edge to White because of Black’s split Queenside pawns. 17 Qa3 Nec6 Black must have relied on this maneuver, but White has ample compensation. 18 Rad1 Qa7? To survive, Black had to find the intricate variation 18 … Nc4! 19 Qb3 Qc5 20 Nd5 (or 20 Rd5 Qb4) Nd4! 21 Qxb7 c6. 19 Nd5 Nc4?! Allowing a beautiful finish. However, 19 … f6 20 Be3 Qb8 would not save Black because 21 Bf4 Rf7 22 Nxc7! Rxc7 23 Qg3 Ne5 24 Rxe5! fxe5 25 Bxe5 gains a pawn. 20 Nf6+! Also 20 Qg3 wins. gxf6 Obviously useless is 20 … Kh8 21 Qd3! g6 22 Qxc4. 21 Qg3 fxg5 22 Qxg5+ Kh8 23 Qf6+ Kg8 24 Rd5! N4e5 25 Rdxe5 Nxe5 26 Rxe5 Rfe8 Similar is 26 … Rfd8 27 Rg5+ Kf8 28 Rf5! Rd7 29 Qh8+ Ke7 30 Re5+ Kd6 31 Qf6 mate. If 26 … h6 27 Qxh6 Qb6 28 Rg5+ Qg6 29 Rxg6+ fxg6 30 Qxg6+ Kh8 31 f4, the Queen and pawns will overwhelm Black’s Rooks. 27 Rg5+ Kf8 28 Rf5!, Black Resigns.

GM Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan)-GM Peter Svidler (Russia), Baku 2008: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 a6 Sometimes called the Kan or Paulsen variation of the Sicilian Defense. 5 Nc3 b5 6 Be2 A worthy alternative to 6 Bd3 and 6 g3. Bb7 7 Bf3 Qc7 8 0-0 Bd6!? Rare, but possibly best. Too dangerous is 8 … b4?! 9 Nd5!, while 8 … Nc6 9 Nxc6 assures White an edge. 9 a4!? More ambitious than 9 g3 Be5 10 Bg2. Bxh2+ Correct. Black cannot stand 9 … b4? 10 Ncb5. 10 Kh1 Be5 If 10 … b4? 11 Ncb5! axb5 12 Nxb5 Qe5 13 g3 Bxg3 14 fxg3, White gains material due to his threats of 15 Bf4 and 15 Nd6+. Nor is 10 … bxa4? 11 g3 acceptable for Black. 11 axb5 Nf6 12 Be3 0-0 13 Qd3 d6 14 Rfd1 Nfd7 All right, but 14 … Qe7 (eyeing h4) 15 Kg1 axb5 16 Rxa8 Bxa8 17 Ndxb5 Rd8 should equalize. 15 Qd2 Rc8? Allowing White to regroup. Black must keep pressure on e4 by 15 … Nf6. 16 Be2! Nf6 17 f4 Now the hometown invitee has the world’s ninth-ranked player on the ropes. Bxd4 18 Qxd4 d5 Miserable, as are 18 … e5 19 Qxd6 and 18 … Ne8 19 b6. The more natural 18 … axb5 19 Rxa8 Bxa8 20 Nxb5 is unpleasant too. Then 20 … Qxc2 21 Rc1 costs the Queen, while 20 … Qe7 21 Nxd6 Rxc2 22 Bf3 solidifies White’s position, threatens 23 Qa4, and prepares to advance the b-pawn. 19 bxa6 Nxa6 20 e5 Ne8 Not 20 … Ne4? 21 Nxe4 dxe4 because 22 Qd6! embarrasses the Knight at a6. And 20 … Nd7 21 Bd3 leaves Black powerless against the intrusion Nc3-b5-d6. 21 f5! Welcoming 21 … exf5?! 22 Nxd5. Nc5 22 Bb5 Qd8 23 Rxa8 Bxa8 24 f6!? Attacking strongly. The only question is whether 24 b4 Nd7 25 fxe6 fxe6 26 Rf1, using the f-file, is more decisive. Nd7 Svidler puts up an excellent fight but he cannot save the game. He rejects 24 … gxf6 because 25 Bxe8 Qxe8 26 exf6 Ne4 27 Nxe4 e5 28 Qd2 dxe4 29 Bh6 is fatal. 25 fxg7 Qc7 Avoiding the devastating finish 25 … Nxg7? 26 Bxd7 Qxd7 27 Ne4! Ne8 28 Nd6! Nxd6 29 Qg4+ Kh8 30 exd6 f6 31 Bd4 Rf8 32 Rf1 Qg7 33 Rxf6! Rxf6 34 Qxg7+ Kxg7 35 d7. 26 Bf4 Qb7 27 Rd3 The target is h7. Nxg7 28 Bxd7 Rc4 No better is 28 … Qxd7 29 Ne4! Ne8 30 Bh6. 29 Qf2 Qxd7 30 Rg3 Kh8 31 Bg5, Black Resigns.