Gibraltar 2015

[Hans Jung]

Re: Gibraltar 2015

For who Victor? For you? If so congratulations! You deserve it for doing so well against so many GMs!

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Gibraltar 2015

For who Victor? For you? If so congratulations! You deserve it for doing so well against so many GMs!

Victor decided to stop coaching/captaining the Olympic team and to get on it as the player :)

[Hans Jung]

Re: Gibraltar 2015

Those master classes at Gibraltar are usually very interesting to watch. The best in my mind is the one yesterday by Hou Yifan. Not so much for the game but the delightful interview that followed. Yifan is a well spoken, thoughtful, well educated and very classy young lady. Down to earth and modest as well.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Gibraltar 2015

Gibraltar 2015

Round Nine
February 4, 2015

Some jokes about Bachman(n)-Turner Overdrive today. BTO is a rock group from Winnipeg, popular in the 1970s. Anyway, taking care of business, back to Axel Bachmann against Hikaru Nakamura:

Gibraltar Masters
Round 9, Feb. 4, 2015
Bachmann, Axel – Nakamura, Hikaru
A11 English, Caro-Kann/KIA Yugoslav

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c6 3.Bg2 Bg4 4.c4 e6 5.O-O Nd7 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nc3 Ngf6 8.d3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 d4 10.Ne4 Be7 11.Nxf6+ Nxf6 12.b4 O-O 13.Qb3 Nd5 14.b5 Qd7 15.Bd2 Bf6 16.bxc6 bxc6 17.Qc4 Rab8 18.Rab1 Nc3 19.Rb3 Qe6 20.Qxc6 Nxe2+ 21.Kg2 Qxc6 22.Bxc6 Nc3 23.Bf4 Rxb3 24.axb3 g5 25.Bd2 Rc8 26.Bf3 a5 27.Ra1 Rc5 28.Bb7 Re5 29.Kf1 Rb5 30.Ba6 Rxb3 31.Rxa5 Rb1+ 32.Kg2 h6 33.h4 gxh4 34.Bxh6 hxg3 35.fxg3 Rb2+ 36.Kf3 Bd8 37.Rc5 Rb6 38.Rc8 Rxh6 39.Rxd8+ Kg7 40.Bc4 Rf6+ 41.Kg2 Nd1 42.Rxd4 Ne3+ 43.Kh3 Rh6+ 44.Rh4 Rb6 45.Re4 Rh6+ 46.Rh4 Rb6 47.Re4 Rh6+ 1/2-1/2

Chessbomb kibitzers:

- Knacker did very well to hold the draw - a very professional performance by him

- yeah, naka hasnt had much need for defense in Gibraltar, but he brought it today

- blame the inexperience of white for giving up the bishop pair here

- this dude bachmann played a great game

- Good game by Bachmann, nice hold by Naka.

- He's obviously playing beyond his rating just to get to play on board 1

- I think this is just a tough opponent for Nakamura, he also held him to a draw with black in the Olympiad

_______

David Wei Liang Howell (born 14 November 1990) is an English chess Grandmaster and the current British Chess Champion. He is the youngest chess Grandmaster in the United Kingdom, a title he earned when he came second during the 35th Rilton Cup in Stockholm on 5 January 2007[2] when he was 16.

Leonard Barden writing in August, 1991: “Even in a game known for its prodigies it was a momentous achievement. British chess was hailing a new child star yesterday after a boy aged eight took on England's number five grandmaster and won. In the most sensational result of the Mind Sports Olympiad in London, David Howell, British under-10 champion of Seaford, Sussex, defeated John Nunn, 44, player and author of world renown.

Although it was only five-minute blitz chess, a race of moves against the clock, experts take this form of the game extremely seriously. The audience of experts yesterday was too stunned to applaud when Nunn resigned.”

Gibraltar Masters
Round 9, Feb. 4, 2015
Howell, David – Naroditsky, Daniel
A29 English, Bremen

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.O-O Be7 8.a3 O-O 9.b4 Be6 10.d3 a5 11.b5 Nd4 12.Nxe5 Bf6 13.f4 Nb3 14.Be3 Nxa1 15.Qxa1 Nd5 16.Bd4 Bxe5 17.Bxe5 f6 18.Nxd5 Bxd5 19.Bxc7 Qxc7 20.Bxd5+ Kh8 21.Kg2 Qd7 22.Qa2 Qxb5 23.Rb1 Qc5 24.a4 Rab8 25.Rxb7 Qd4 26.Rxb8 Rxb8 27.Bc6 Qe3 28.Bf3 Qd4 29.Bc6 Qe3 30.Bf3 Qd4 31.h4 Qb4 32.Qc2 Qb3 33.Qc7 Qb6 34.Qf7 Qd4 35.h5 Qd6 36.h6 Qf8 37.Qa7 gxh6 38.Qxa5 Qg7 39.Qf5 Rg8 40.g4 h5 41.Qxh5 Qd7 42.a5 f5 43.a6 fxg4 44.Qe5+ Rg7 45.Bd5 1-0

- Excellent play by Howell

- nice pressure by Howell, he has a very good tournament here

- I hope Howell wins tomorrow and Nakamura does too. Both of them deserve to finish in style. If it goes to a rapid playoff though, Howell will get embarrassed.

Gibraltar Masters
Round 9, Feb. 4, 2015
Topalov, Veselin – Wei, Yi
D76 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.cxd5 Nxd5

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Nf3 Nb6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.e3 O-O 9.O-O Re8 10.a3 a5 11.Ne1 Be6 12.Nd3 Bc4 13.Nc5 Bxf1 14.Qxf1 Qb8 15.Qb5 e5 16.Nxb7 exd4 17.Ne2 Na7 18.Qd3 dxe3 19.Bxe3 Bxb2 20.Rb1 Bg7 21.Nf4 Qc8 22.Bxb6 cxb6 23.Nd6 Qc3 24.Qxc3 Bxc3 25.Nxe8 Rxe8 26.Rxb6 Bd4 27.Ra6 Nb5 28.Rxa5 Nc3 29.Bf1 Rb8 30.Ne2 Bb6 31.Re5 Nd1 32.Kg2 Bxf2 33.a4 Ba7 34.Rb5 Rd8 35.Rb7 Bc5 36.Rb5 Ba7 37.Rb7 Bc5 1/2-1/2

A miniature:

Gibraltar Masters
Round 9, Feb. 4, 2015
Harikrishna, Pentala – Padmini, Rout
A48 King’s Indian, Torre Attack

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.Nbd2 d5 5.e3 O-O 6.Bd3 c5 7.c3 b6 8.Qe2 Bb7 9.h4 Nbd7 10.h5 a6 11.hxg6 hxg6 12.Ne5 Nh7 13.Bf4 Qc8 14.Ng4 f5 15.Nh6+ Bxh6 16.Rxh6 Rf6 17.O-O-O Ndf8 18.Rdh1 Bc6 19.Be5 Rf7 20.Nf3 c4 21.Bc2 e6 22.Nh4 Rg7 23.Bxg7 Kxg7 24.Nxg6 1-0

Hou Yifan beats Rapport!

Gibraltar Masters
Round 9, Feb. 4, 2015
Hou, Yifan – Rapport, Richard
B06 Robatsch Defence

1.e4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.d4 a6 4.f4 d5 5.e5 h5 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 e6 9.g3 Ne7 10.Be3 Nbc6 11.g4 Qd7 12.O-O-O O-O-O 13.Bd3 hxg4 14.hxg4 f6 15.exf6 Bxf6 16.Qf2 Qd6 17.a3 Kb8 18.Kb1 Rdf8 19.Ne2 Na5 20.Bd2 Nac6 21.Bc1 Bg7 22.Qe3 Na5 23.Rhe1 Nac6 24.Rh1 Na5 25.Bd2 Nc4 26.Bxc4 dxc4 27.Rxh8 Rxh8 28.Re1 Qc6 29.Bc1 Rh4 30.f5 Rxg4 31.fxe6 Re4 32.Qf3 Rxe6 33.Qf7 Nd5 34.Qxg7 Ka7 35.Qf8 c3 36.Qc5+ Qxc5 37.dxc5 c6 38.Bg5 Re5 39.Bh4 cxb2 40.Kxb2 1-0

It is not clear whether Richard lost on time or not. Hou certainly had a winning position.

- R9: Huge day for Hou Yifan, new record high rating, #58 overall in world!

Gibraltar Masters
Round 9, Feb. 4, 2015
Sutovsky, Emil – Spraggett, Kevin
B01 Scandinavian, Pytel-Wade Variation

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 g6 6.Nb5 Qb6 7.Na3 c6 8.Nc4 Qd8 9.Nce5 Bg7 10.Bc4 O-O 11.O-O Nd5 12.Re1 a5 13.a3 Na6 14.Ba2 Nac7 15.c4 Nf6 16.h3 Bf5 17.Be3 Nd7 18.Qb3 Nxe5 19.dxe5 Qc8 20.Bb6 Ra6 21.Rad1 Ne6 22.c5 Nf4 23.Ng5 Nd5 24.Rxd5 cxd5 25.Qxd5 e6 26.Qd6 Re8 27.g4 Bc2 28.Qd2 h6 29.Nxf7 Kxf7 30.Qxc2 Rxb6 31.Bb1 Rc6 32.Qxg6+ Kg8 33.Re3 Rxc5 1-0

Stockfish gives Black’s 28..h6 as bad, his 31…Rc6 as worse and 33…Rxc5 as worst.

Standing After Round Nine

Nakamura 8
Howell 7.5
Bachmann 7
Hou Yifan 7
Harikrishna 7
Vitiugov 7
Naroditsky 6.5
Yu Yangyi 6.5
Svidler 6.5
Topalov 6.5

Final Round Pairings

1. Nakamura-Harikrishna
2. Hou Yifan- Howell
3. Vitiugov-Bachmann
4. Bartel-Topalov
5. Svidler-Sutovsky
6. Naroditsky-Jakovenko
7. Bok-Yu Yangyi
8. Kuipers-Matlakov
9. Dheparinov-Adhiban
10. Wei Yi-Felgaer
11. Wagner-Iturrizaga
12. Rapport-Nakar
19. Hansen-Troff
32. Mkrtchian-Spraggett
46. Plotkin-Adia

Hansen has 6, Spraggett 5.5 and Plotkin 5.

If the Gibraltar Masters finishes with two or more players tied for first place it doesn’t, like many tournaments, share the prize money or award prizes based on tiebreak criteria. Instead there’s a play-off battle where a few minutes of chess can cost many thousands of pounds.

[Caleb Petersen]

Re: Gibraltar 2015

I'm excited for Hansen-Troff in round 10!

[Alex Ferreira]

Re: Gibraltar 2015

Jonathan Yu just got one of his games selected for annotations by Karsten Muller on the latest chessbase article:
http://en.chessbase.com/post/mueller...from-gibraltar

4th game, nice opposite colour bishop endgame win by Johnny!

[Bator Sambuev]

Re: Gibraltar 2015

Bravo, Victor!

[Andy Shaw]

Re: Gibraltar 2015

Bravo, Victor!

Why aren't you playing in the tournament, Bator? We would have loved to see you play!

[Rene Preotu]

Re: Gibraltar 2015

Bravo, Victor!

Now is official. Congratulations Victor!

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Gibraltar 2015

Now is official. Congratulations Victor!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2522[/ATTACH]

Hi Victor: well deserved. Your chess has been at a high level for a long time (if a patzer is allowed to make this kind of judgment about strong play! ;) )

Bob A

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: Gibraltar 2015

Now is official. Congratulations Victor!

Great!

What is a difference "IM norm" and "IM norm done"?

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Gibraltar 2015

Jonathan Yu finished his excellent tournament with a draw against GM James Tarjan (2518) and a 2409 TPR, 328 points above his old 2081 FIDE rating. Jonathan picks up 75.2 points for this performance and will now see his name appear on Canada's Top 100 come March.

http://chess-results.com/tnr158561.a...wi=821&snr=191

[Felix Dumont]

Re : Re: Gibraltar 2015

Great!

What is a difference "IM norm" and "IM norm done"?

I think this was posted before round 10, and so "IM norm done" meant that the norm was not conditional on the result of the last tounrd.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Gibraltar 2015

Gibraltar 2015

Final Round
February 5, 2015

Standings after round 10

1 Nakamura
2 Howell
3 – 10 Bachmann, Hou Yifan, Harikrishna, Vitiugov, Topalov, Adhiban, Wagner, Matlakov
for more details, see below

Gibraltar Masters
Round 10, Feb. 5, 2015
Nakamura, Hikaru – Harikrishna, Pentala
E15 Queen’s Indian, Nimzowitsch Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.d5 exd5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.O-O Nc6 10.Rd1 Be7 11.Qa4 Nf6 12.Nh4 O-O 13.Nf5 d5 14.Nc3 Nd4 15.Nxd4 cxd4 16.Rxd4 Qe8 17.Qxe8 Rfxe8 18.Rd1 Bb4 19.Bd2 Bxc3 20.Bxc3 Rxe2 21.Bf3 Re6 22.Bxf6 Rxf6 23.Bxd5 Bxd5 24.Rxd5 g6 25.Rad1 Rc6 26.Rd7 Rc2 27.Rb7 Rxb2 28.Rdd7 Rf8 29.Rxa7 b5 30.Rdb7 b4 31.h4 h5 32.Kg2 Kg7 33.Ra4 Rc8 34.Rbxb4 Rcc2 35.Rxb2 Rxb2 36.Ra7 Kf6 37.a4 Ra2 38.Ra8 Kf5 39.a5 Ra3 40.Ra7 Kf6 41.Ra8 Kf5 42.Ra7 Kf6 43.a6 Ke6 44.f3 Kf6 45.Kf2 Ke5 46.Ke2 Kf6 47.Ra8 Kf5 48.Kf2 Kf6 49.g4 Ke5 50.a7 Kf6 51.gxh5 gxh5 52.Rh8 Rxa7 53.Rxh5 Ra1 54.Rb5 Rh1 55.Kg3 Kg6 56.Rb6+ f6 57.Rb5 Kh6 58.Kg4 Kg6 59.h5+ Kh6 60.f4 Rg1+ 61.Kf5 Kxh5 62.Kxf6+ Kh6 63.Rb2 Rg6+ 64.Kf7 Rg7+ 65.Kf8 Rg4 66.Rb4 Kg6 67.f5+ Kxf5 68.Rxg4 Kxg4 1/2-1/2

Gibraltar Masters
Round 10, Feb. 5, 2015
Hou, Yifan – Howell, David
C48 Four Knights, Spanish, Classical Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.O-O O-O 6.d3 Re8 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.Nd5 Qd8 10.c3 a6 11.Ba4 Ba7 12.h3 Ne7 13.d4 Nxd5 14.exd5 exd4 15.Nxd4 b5 16.Bc2 Qf6 17.Qd3 g6 18.a4 c5 19.dxc6 dxc6 20.axb5 cxb5 21.Rae1 Rxe1 22.Rxe1 Bb7 23.Bb3 Rd8 24.Qg3 Bxd4 25.cxd4 Kg7 26.Rd1 Rd7 27.Qc3 h5 28.Ba2 Qc6 29.Qxc6 Bxc6 30.b4 Kf6 31.d5 Bb7 32.f4 Ke7 33.d6+ Kf6 34.g4 hxg4 35.hxg4 g5 36.fxg5+ Kg6 37.Bb1+ Kxg5 38.Bf5 Rd8 39.d7 Bf3 40.Rd4 Kf6 41.Rd3 Bb7 42.Kf2 Ke7 43.Re3+ Kd6 44.Re8 Kc7 45.g5 Bc6 46.Re7 Rg8 1/2-1/2

David Howell, playing Black against Hou Yifan, could have reached 8½ had he won but, in trying to do so, overreached and was lost at one stage, but Hou Yifan missed her best chance and the game was eventually drawn.

Howell gets the draw and a clear second. Elisabeth says that the whole room was rooting for him. Glasses of wine are passed around in celebration.

Nakamura comes in and says the tournament went well though he was in a spot of trouble yesterday. Hikaru was going to offer a draw to Pentala, when he went wrong about move 25, and so with chances in the rook endgame, Hikaru played on.

There were no rest days, so ten games in a row was tiring. Starting on the 12th he will be in Zurich.

Getting to 2800 and doing well in the Grand Prix are his two ambitions this year. As for games, he liked Debashis vs Topalov in the second round and also his game against Adhiban in Round Five.

Online Comments During the Last Round

(Stuart Conquest (tweet)) – Can David Howell save his game against Hou Yifan? Not looking good.

(Jonathan Tisdall (tweet)) – Continue to be deeply impressed by his Yi Wei kid. Title challenger for sure.

- 1st Nakamura 8.5 (£20,000), 2nd Howell 8 (£16,000)

- Tradewise Gibraltar: Women's Prizes - Hou Yifan 7½ (£15k), 2-5 R Padmini, A Muzychuk, A Stefanova, Ju Wenjun 6½ (£5250 each)

- With a beautiful win in the last round of Gibraltar, 15 year old Wei Yi joins the top 40 of the live rating list

(Stuart Conquest (tweet)) – If Nakamura draws, & Hou Yifan wins, the Women's World Champion ends clear 2nd - £16,000 - plus £15,000 top woman - for a £31,000 total!

(Stuart Conquest (tweet)) - Big congratulations to Norway's Johan Salomon & Canada's Victor Plotkin, both of whom have earned IM norms.

Gibraltar Masters
Round 10, Feb. 5, 2015
Wei, Yi – Felgaer, Ruben
B35 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Uogele Variation (Bc4)

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 d6 8. f3 O-O 9. Qd2 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Be6 11. Bb3 Qa5 12. O-O-O b5 13. Kb1 Rfc8 14. Rhe1 Bxb3 15. cxb3 Rab8 16. h4 b4 17. Nd5 Nxd5 18. exd5 Bxd4 19. Qxd4 Rb7 20. Qd2 Qd8 21. h5 a5 22. g4 Rbc7 23. Re2 Rc5 24. f4 Qd7 25. hxg6 fxg6 26. Re6 Qc7 27. Re2 Qd7 28. f5 Rc2 29. Qxc2 Rxc2 30. Kxc2 gxf5 31. gxf5 Qxf5+ 32. Rd3 Kf8 33. a4 Ke8 34. Re3 h5 35. Kb1 Kd8 36. Ka2 Kd7 37. Rd4 Qg5 38. Rh3 Qe5 39. Rd2 Qg5 40. Rd1 Qe5 41. Rh4 Qf5 42. Rd2 Qg5 43. Rdh2 Qxd5 44. Rxh5 e5 45. Rh7+ Kc6 46. Rc2+ Kb6 47. Re7 Qa8 48. Rd7 Qf8 49. Rdc7 Qf3 50. Rc8 Kb7 51. R2c7+ Kb6 52. Rd7 Qf6 53. Rb8+ Kc6 54. Ra7 e4 55. Rxa5 e3 56. Re8 Qf2 57. Ra7 d5 58. Re6+ Kc5 59. Rc7+ Kd4 60. Rce7 Kd3 61. Rxe3+ Qxe3 62. Rxe3+ Kxe3 63. a5 d4 64. a6 d3 65. a7 d2 66. a8=Q d1=Q 67. Qe8+ Kd2 68. Qe4 Kc1 69. Qxb4 Qd7 70. Qc5+ Kd1 71. Ka3 Qd8 72. Qg1+ Kc2 73. Qf2+ Kd1 74. Qf1+ Kd2 75. Qc4 Kd1 76. b4 Qa8+ 77. Kb3 Qf3+ 78. Ka2 Qa8+ 79. Kb1 Kd2 80. b5 Qh1+ 81. Ka2 Qa8+ 82. Kb3 Qe8 83. b6 Qe3+ 84. Qc3+ Kd1 85. Ka2 Qe4 86. b7 1-0

Never have heard of the Uogele Variation! The Endgame database says that White wins in 15 moves after 86..Qxb7.

Final Ranking After 10 Rounds

1. Nakamura 8.5
2. Howell 8.0
3. Hou Yifan 7.5
4. Vitiugov 7.5
5. Topalov 7.5
6. Wagner 7.5
7. Wei Yi 7.5
8. Adhiban 7.5
9. Harikrishna 7.5
10. Bachmann 7.5
11. Matlakov 7.5
12. Svidler 7.0
48. Hansen 6.5
49. Troff 6.5
54. Spraggett 6
78. Plotkin 5.5
91. Yu 5.5

[Hans Jung]

Re: Gibraltar 2015

What a fantastic tournament to watch! Real excitement on many boards every round and awesome atmosphere even for the fans