Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

[Hans Jung]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

Lots of interesting games and upsets. I admire Etienne Bacrot's pawn play. One of my favorites to watch.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

Anand falls out of the Top 10 with his loss to GM Adrien Demuth (2535) today ):

http://www.2700chess.com/

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

Tradewise Gibraltar

January 30, 2016

Round Five

Tradewise Gibraltar
Round 5, Jan. 30, 2016
Anand, Vishy 92784) – Demuth, Adrien (2535)
C72 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.O-O Bg4 6.h3 h5 7.Bxc6+ bxc6 8.d3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Qf6 10.Qd1 g5 11.Nc3 Ne7 12.g3 Bg7 13.Kh2 Qg6 14.f4 exf4 15.gxf4 g4 16.f5 Be5+ 17.Bf4 Qf6 18.Qd2 Rb8 19.Rab1 Rg8 20.Bxe5 Qxe5+ 21.Qf4 Qc5 22.Rg1 Kd7 23.h4 g3+ 24.Rxg3 Rxg3 25.Kxg3 Rg8+ 26.Kh3 Rg4 27.Qf3 Qd4 28.Rf1 Nd5 29.Ne2 Qf6 30.Qf2 Ne3 31.Rg1 Nxc2 32.Nf4 Rxg1 33.Qxg1 Qxb2 34.Qg8 Qxa2 35.Nxh5 Ne3 36.Nf6+ Ke7 37.Nh7 Kd7 38.h5 Qe2 39.Kh4 Qh2+ 40.Kg5 Qg3+ 41.Kh6 Qxg8 42.Nf6+ Ke7 43.Nxg8+ Kf8 44.Nf6 a5 45.Kh7 a4 0-1

Round 5, Jan. 30, 2016
Nakamura, Hikaru (2787) – Muzychuk, Mariya (2554)
D45 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 h6 8.Rg1 e5 9.Bd2 e4 10.Nh4 g6 11.h3 a6 12.O-O-O b5 13.c5 Bh2 14.Rh1 Bc7 15.f3 a5 16.fxe4 b4 17.Nxd5 cxd5 18.exd5 Bg3 19.Nf3 O-O 20.Rg1 Qc7 21.Bc4 Ba6 22.d6 Bxd6 23.Qxg6+ Kh8 24.Qxh6+ Nh7 25.Ng5 Nf6 26.Rdf1 1-0

Round 5, Jan. 30, 2016
Muzychuk, Anna (2537) – Yu Yangyi (2747)
B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.O-O Nf6 5.Re1 a6 6.Bf1 b6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bb7 9.f3 e6 10.c4 Be7 11.Nc3 O-O 12.Be3 Rc8 13.Rc1 Ne5 14.b3 Qc7 15.Qd2 Qb8 16.Kh1 Ba8 17.Qf2 Rfe8 18.Na4 Nfd7 19.Nc3 Rc7 20.Qd2 Rec8 21.Bg1 Ng6 22.Bd3 Bf6 23.Be3 Re8 24.Bf1 h6 25.Red1 Rec8 26.Re1 Rc5 27.Nde2 R5c6 28.Nd4 R6c7 29.Red1 Be7 30.Re1 Re8 31.Red1 Bf8 32.Re1 Nf6 33.Bg1 h5 34.Na4 Nd7 35.Bf2 h4 36.Kg1 Be7 37.Be3 Bf6 38.Qf2 Be5 39.Nc3 Nf6 40.Qd2 Rd7 41.f4 Ng4 42.g3 Bf6 43.f5 exf5 44.Nxf5 hxg3 45.hxg3 Nxe3 46.Qxe3 Ne7 47.Bh3 Nxf5 48.Bxf5 Rde7 49.Nd5 Bxd5 50.cxd5 g6 51.Bh3 Rxe4 52.Qd2 Kg7 53.Rxe4 Rxe4 54.Re1 Rd4 55.Qf2 Rxd5 56.Qf3 Rc5 57.Rf1 Qd8 58.Qb7 Rc2 59.Rf4 Qe8 60.Re4 Qb5 61.Be6 Qc5+ 0-1

Round 5, Jan. 30, 2016
Tari, Aryan (2556) – Esserman, Marc (2419)
B99 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.O-O-O Nbd7 10.g4 b5 11.Bxf6 Nxf6 12.g5 Nd7 13.f5 O-O 14.h4 b4 15.Nce2 exf5 16.exf5 Bb7 17.Qh3 Bxh1 18.Qxh1 d5 19.Qxd5 Rad8 20.Ne6 fxe6 21.Qxe6+ Kh8 22.Qxe7 Rfe8 23.Qf7 Rf8 24.Qe7 Rc8 25.Nd4 Rfe8 26.Qxb4 Qf4+ 27.Qd2 Qxh4 28.Bxa6 Ra8 29.Bb5 Rxa2 30.Nb3 Ra7 31.Bxd7 Rd8 32.Qe2 Qxg5+ 33.Kb1 h5 34.Rh1 h4 35.Bb5 Re7 36.Qc4 g6 37.Rxh4+ Rh7 38.Qc3+ 1-0

Round 5, Jan. 30, 2016
Piasetski, Leon (2277) – Dassolu, Rotimi (2060)
A41 Old Indian, Tartakower (Wade) Variation

1.Nf3 d6 2.d4 Bg4 3.e4 Nf6 4.h3 Bh5 5.Nc3 c6 6.Qe2 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 e5 8.Be3 Nbd7 9.O-O-O Qe7 10.g4 g6 11.g5 Nh5 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.Bc4 Nb6 14.Bb3 Bg7 15.Rd2 O-O 16.Rhd1 Nf4 17.a4 Qb4 18.Na2 Qa5 19.Rd6 Nxa4 20.Bd2 Qa6 21.Bb4 Ne2+ 22.Kb1 Nd4 23.R6xd4 exd4 24.Bxf8 Rxf8 25.Nb4 Qa5 26.Nd3 Nc5 27.Nxc5 Qxc5 28.h4 b5 29.Qg3 a5 30.f4 a4 31.Ba2 Re8 32.e5 Bf8 33.h5 Qb4 34.hxg6 hxg6 35.Qd3 Kg7 36.Rh1 a3 37.Bb3 a2+ 38.Ka1 Re7 39.Qh3 1-0

Round 5, Jan. 30, 2016
Plotkin, Victor (2291) – Carlstedt, Jonathan (2461)
C50 Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian Four Knights Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Nc3 h6 6.O-O d6 7.Na4 Bg4 8.c3 Qe7 9.Qe2 Nh5 10.Nxc5 dxc5 11.h3 Bd7 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Qxh5 b5 14.Bb3 c4 15.dxc4 bxc4 16.Bc2 O-O 17.Qe2 Bb5 18.b4 Rfe8 19.Be3 Nd3 20.Bd4 Qxe4 21.Qxe4 Rxe4 22.a4 Bd7 23.Rfd1 Rxd4 24.cxd4 Nxb4 25.Be4 Re8 26.Bf3 c3 27.a5 c2 28.Rdc1 Bf5 29.Ra3 Rd8 30.d5 Nxd5 31.Bxd5 Rxd5 32.Kh2 Rd1 33.Raa1 Rd2 34.Kg3 Rd3+ 35.Kh2 Rb3 36.Ra2 c5 37.Raxc2 Bxc2 38.Rxc2 Rb5 39.Ra2 Kf8 40.Kg3 Ke7 41.Kf4 Kd6 42.Ke4 Kc6 43.Kd3 Rb3+ 44.Kc4 Rb4+ 45.Kc3 Kb5 46.Re2 Rc4+ 47.Kd3 Rd4+ 48.Kc3 Rd7 49.Rb2+ Kxa5 50.Kc4 Rc7 51.g3 Ka6 52.Rb5 Rc6 53.Rb2 Rc7 54.Rb5 Re7 55.Rxc5 Re2 56.Rf5 f6 57.Rd5 Rc2+ 58.Kb4 Kb6 59.Rd6+ Kc7 60.Ra6 Kb7 61.Re6 Rc6 62.Re7+ Rc7 63.Re6 Kc8 64.h4 Kd7 65.Ra6 Ke8 66.Kb3 Kf7 67.h5 Kf8 68.Ra5 Re7 69.Ra2 Re5 70.Rxa7 Rxh5 71.Kc4 Re5 72.Kd3 h5 73.Rb7 Kg8 74.Ra7 Kh7 75.Rb7 Kh6 76.Ra7 Re8 77.Ra5 g6 78.Rb5 f5 79.Rb6 Kg7 80.Ra6 Kf7 81.Ra7+ Re7 82.Rxe7+ Kxe7 83.f4 Kd7 84.Ke3 Kc6 85.Kd2 Kd6 0-1

Round 5, Jan. 30, 2016
Eagleton, Greg (1981) – Dougherty, Michael (2149)
D32 QGD, Tarrasch Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 c5 4.e3 d5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Be2 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.a3 a5 11.b3 Bg4 12.Bb2 Re8 13.Nd4 Nxd4 14.Bxg4 Nxb3 15.Qxb3 Nxg4 16.Nxd5 Qd6 17.g3 Qh6 18.h4 Bd6 19.Qc4 Ne5 20.Bxe5 Bxe5 21.Rab1 Rab8 22.Rfc1 Qe6 23.Rb6 Bd6 24.Qb5 Rbc8 25.Rd1 Qg4 26.Qd3 Bxa3 27.Ra1 Bf8 28.Rxb7 a4 29.Qb5 a3 30.Nb4 h6 31.Nc6 Rxe3 32.Qd5 Qf3 33.Qd7 Rxc6 34.fxe3 Rg6 0-1

Round 5, Jan. 30, 2016
Boron, Anthony (1915) – Burrows, Martin (2115)
A45 Queen’s Pawn Game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.e3 Bg7 4.c3 d6 5.Nd2 O-O 6.h3 Nc6 7.Ngf3 Nd7 8.Bb5 e5 9.Bg3 Qe7 10.Bh4 Qe8 11.O-O a6 12.Ba4 Nb6 13.Bc2 f5 14.dxe5 dxe5 15.Bb3+ Kh8 16.Nc4 Nxc4 17.Bxc4 Be6 18.Qe2 h6 19.Bg3 Qf7 20.Bxe6 Qxe6 21.Rfe1 Rad8 22.b3 Rd7 23.Rad1 Rfd8 24.Rxd7 Qxd7 25.Qc4 Bf6 26.Qc5 Qd6 27.Qc4 Kg7 28.h4 Qd3 29.Qxd3 Rxd3 30.Rc1 Kf7 31.Kf1 Ke6 32.Ke2 Rd7 33.Rc2 Ne7 34.Nd2 c6 35.f3 Nd5 36.Bf2 e4 37.Nb1 exf3+ 38.gxf3 Ke7 39.Bg3 Kd8 40.Rc1 Re7 41.Bf2 Nxe3 42.Kd3 Ng2 43.Rg1 Nf4+ 44.Kc4 b5+ 45.Kb4 0-1

Rank After Round 5

1. Ragger, Markus 4.5
2. Bacrot, Etienne 4.5
3. Harikrishna, P. 4.5
4. Gupta, Abhijeet 4.5
5. Jakovenko, Dmitry 4.0
6. Lenic, Luka 4.0
7. Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 4.0
8. Harika, Dronavalli 4.0
9. Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 4.0
10. Nakamura, Hikaru 4.0
11. Rapport, Richard 4.0
12. Jones, Gawain 4.0
13. Ni Hua 4.0
14. Edouard, Romain 4.0
15. Yu Yangyi 4.0

and 11 others with 4.0

60. Muzychuk, Anna 3.0
61. Pogonina, Natalija 3.0
62. Muzychuk, Mariya 3.0
64. Anand, Vishy 3.0
73. Short, Nigel 3.0
125. Piasetski, Leon 2.5
165. Plotkin, Victor 2.0
189. Dougherty, Michael 2.0
241. Boron, Anthony 1.0

Round Six Pairings

1. Harikrishna – Gupta
2. Ragger – Nakamura
3. MVL – Jones
4. Yu Yangyi – Edouard
5. Grigoriants – Jakovenko
6. Wojtaszek – Lenic
7. Demuth – Rapport
8. Ni Hua – Tari Aryan
9. Fruzon – Donchenko
10. Ly – Vidit
11. Anton – Harika
12. Kelires – Grandelius
13. Al-Sayed – Li Chao B
14. Fressinet – Gledura
15. Gopal – Howell
28. Anand - Fiala
59. Teran – Piasetski
79. Mannion - Dougherty
83. Boado – Plotkin
107. Boron - Kandic

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

And Bacrot tied for the lead, has a 1/2 point bye in today's round 6. ???

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

The first two games to finish are the Ragger-Nakamura draw and the Rapport win. We're either going to have one sole leader after 6 rounds (should there be a winner in the Harikrishna-Gupta game) or a massive logjam at 5/6, one of whom will be the always entertaining Richard Rapport. Stockfish didn't like Rapport's opening moves but Stockfish didn't factor in the full one hour time advantage they generated. (:

http://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2016-...apport_Richard

[Hans Jung]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

After seeing Anand's finish Im in shock. When I left the game I assumed he would play 38.Qxf7+ and wrap things up. Having the computer in front of you makes assumptions deceptively easy.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

Ragger gets a draw off Nakamura. This tournament is a real fight - so many tough games and opponents. Anand, Nakamura, and even MVL are not having things their way.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

Round 7 pairings are now available.

http://chess-results.com/tnr202897.a...=2&rd=7&wi=821

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

January 31, 2016

Round Six

John Saunders from the Official Site:

Round Six Summary

No fewer than ten players now share the lead on 5/6 after Sunday's sixth round. One of the four round five leaders on 4½/5, Etienne Bacrot (France), opted out of the round by taking a half-point bye, while Pentala Harikrishna and Abhijeet Gupta (both India) played a long but ultimately indecisive game. Markus Ragger (Austria), the other player on 4½, drew an interesting struggle with Hikaru Nakamura (USA).

Six players caught up with the leading pack: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) ground out a win against Gawain Jones (England) ; Yu Yangyi (China) outplayed Romain Edouard (France) ; Richard Rapport (Hungary) refuted Adrien Demuth of France's speculative exchange sacrifice; Lazaro Bruzón (Cuba) (left) won what was probably the game of the day against Alexander Donchenko (Germany) ; Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (India) steadily outplayed Moulthun Ly (Australia) ; and Harika Dronavalli's great run of success was brought to an end by David Anton Guijarro (Spain).

In the race for the women's prize, Harika Dronavalli is still on 4/6 and has now been caught by Valentina Gunina (Russia), Irina Krush (USA), Padmini Rout (India), Alexandra Kosteniuk (Russia), Alina Kashlinskaya (Russia) and Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine).

The games:

Gibraltar Masters
Round 6, Jan. 31, 2016
Ragger, Markus – Nakamura, Hikaru
E99 King’s Indian, Orthodox, Aronin-Taimanov, Main Line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Nd3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bd2 g5 13.Rc1 Ng6 14.c5 Nf6 15.Nb5 Rf7 16.Ba5 b6 17.cxd6 cxd6 18.Be1 g4 19.fxg4 Nxe4 20.Nb4 a6 21.Bf3 Ng3 22.Nxd6 Qxd6 23.Rc6 Qf8 24.hxg3 fxg3 25.d6 e4 26.Be2 Rxf1+ 27.Bxf1 Bxg4 28.Qd5+ Kh8 29.Rc7 Be6 30.Qxe4 Bf5 31.Qd5 Be4 32.Qd2 Be5 33.Rc4 Bb7 34.d7 Rd8 35.Nc6 Bxc6 36.Rxc6 Qf5 37.Rc8 Rxc8 38.Qd3 Qf8 39.dxc8=Q Qxc8 1/2-1/2

Markus Ragger is an Austrian grandmaster (b. 1988). His endgame against Hillarp Persson in the 2015 Politiken Cup had a curious result. If you have ten minutes go to:

http://sagarteacheschess.blogspot.ca...premature.html

Round 6, Jan. 31, 2016
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime – Jones, Gawain
C78 Ruy Lopez, Moeller Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bc2 d5 8.d4 dxe4 9.Nbd2 exf3 10.Qxf3 Be7 11.Qxc6+ Bd7 12.Qf3 exd4 13.Ne4 O-O 14.Rd1 Re8 15.Rxd4 c5 16.Rd1 Qc8 17.Qd3 Nxe4 18.Qxd7 Qxd7 19.Rxd7 Nf6 20.Rd1 c4 21.Bf4 Bc5 22.Kf1 a5 23.Re1 Rxe1+ 24.Rxe1 Kf8 25.Bd1 Re8 26.Bf3 b4 27.Rc1 bxc3 28.Rxc3 Bb4 29.Rc1 Ne4 30.Rc2 a4 31.Be3 f5 32.g3 Rc8 33.Be2 Nd6 34.a3 Ba5 35.Bf4 Ke7 36.Bd1 c3 37.bxc3 Ne4 38.c4 Nc3 39.Be2 Nxe2 40.Kxe2 Bb6 41.Rb2 Bc5 42.Rb7+ Ke6 43.Bc1 Be7 44.Rb6+ Kf7 45.Kd3 Rd8+ 46.Kc3 Rd1 47.Be3 Bxa3 48.Ra6 Be7 49.c5 g5 50.Rxa4 Rd8 51.Kc4 h5 52.Ra7 Rg8 53.Kd5 Rd8+ 54.Ke5 f4 55.gxf4 gxf4 56.Bxf4 Rc8 57.Be3 Ke8 58.Kd5 Kf7 59.c6 Rd8+ 60.Ke5 1-0

Occasionally a player will allow a beautiful mate instead of resigning before it can be played on the board…

Round 6, Jan. 31, 2016
Gopal, G.N. – Howell, David
C96 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Keres Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7 12.Nbd2 g6 13.b3 exd4 14.cxd4 cxd4 15.Nxd4 Bb7 16.N2f3 Bf6 17.Bf4 Ne5 18.Rc1 Rc8 19.Bb1 Re8 20.Qd2 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 h5 22.Re1 Qc7 23.Rc1 Qd8 24.Re1 Ba8 25.Rd1 Nb7 26.Bg5 Nc5 27.Qf4 Ncd7 28.Qg3 Nc5 29.Bxf6 Qxf6 30.Ng5 Qg7 31.f4 Ned7 32.f5 Bxe4 33.Nxe4 Nxe4 34.Bxe4 Rxe4 35.Qxd6 Nf8 36.Nc6 Kh7 37.Nd4 Kg8 38.Nc6 Kh7 39.f6 Qh6 40.Qc7 Kg8 41.Ne7+ Kh8 42.Rd8 Re2 43.Kh2 Rxa2 44.h4 a5 45.Qc1 Qxc1 46.Rxf8+ Kh7 47.Rxf7+ Kh8 48.Nxg6+ Kg8 49.Rg7# 1-0

Round 6, Jan. 31, 2016
Anand, Vishy – Fiala, Vaclav
B91 Siclian, Najdorf, Zagreb Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 g6 7.Bg2 Bg7 8.O-O O-O 9.h3 Nc6 10.Be3 Bd7 11.Nde2 Na5 12.b3 Rc8 13.Qd2 Re8 14.Rac1 b5 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.exd5 Qc7 17.Rfd1 Bb2 18.Rb1 Bg7 19.c3 Nb7 20.Rbc1 a5 21.b4 e5 22.dxe6 Bxe6 23.Nf4 Bc4 24.Nd5 Qb8 25.Nb6 axb4 26.cxb4 Rc7 27.a4 Be5 28.a5 d5 29.Nxd5 Bxd5 30.Qxd5 Nd6 31.Rxc7 Qxc7 32.Bc5 1-0

The following is the rank after Round 6. Bacrot took a bye and yet he is leading the pack. I am not sure how to explain this so I shall keep mum.

Rank After Round Six

1. Bacrot 5.0
2. MVL 5.0
3. Ragger 5.0
4. Harikrishna 5.0
5. Gupta 5.0
6. Rapport 5.0
7. Yu Yangyi 5.0
8. Bruzon 5.0
9. Anton 5.0
10. Vidit 5.0
13. Nakamura 4.5
45. Anand 4.0
87. Piasetski 3.5
132. Plotkin 3.0
181. Dougherty 2.5
243. Boron 1.0

Round Seven Pairings

1. Ragger-MVL
2. Bruzon-Harikrishna
3. Vidit-Yu Yangyi
4. Rapport-Anton
5. Gupta-Bacrot
6. Nakamura-Lenic
7. Li Chao-Bachmann
8. Jakovenko-Maze
9. Perez-Wojtaszek
10. Ni Hua-Vazquez
14. Gledura-Anand
49. Piasetski-Tan
61. Plotkin-Nezad
78. Dougherty-Perez
113. Magnusdottir-Boron

I wrote about Gilles Suez-Panama the other day. He has 1.5 points so far.

And the quote of the day has to do with the fact that Anand lost a game, as did Nigel Short, so they are both playing on lower boards.

(Nigel Short) - Playing so badly at Gibraltar that I even found myself sitting next to the 5-time World Champion today :)

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

No further word on how and why Etien Bacrot was allowed to take a 1/2 point bye in Round 6. Was it requested at the start of the tournament or was it a tactical decision on his part before the round? And in fact Chess24 live games has him with zero for that round while ChessResults and the official site both give him the half point. You would think there would be some controversy over this.
The official site >>>>>http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

No further word on how and why Etien Bacrot was allowed to take a 1/2 point bye in Round 6. Was it requested at the start of the tournament or was it a tactical decision on his part before the round? And in fact Chess24 live games has him with zero for that round while ChessResults and the official site both give him the half point. You would think there would be some controversy over this.
The official site >>>>>http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/

An even higher seed, Dmitry Jakovenko, did the same thing the previous round, Vlad. And lots of GMs taking byes today. Imho, it's not a viable strategy to optimize your chances of winning a Swiss of this magnitude.

http://chess-results.com/tnr202897.a...&art=40&wi=821

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

An even higher seed, Dmitry Jakovenko, did the same thing the previous round, Vlad. And lots of GMs taking byes today. Imho, it's not a viable strategy to optimize your chances of winning a Swiss of this magnitude.

http://chess-results.com/tnr202897.a...&art=40&wi=821

That may depend on the circumstance at the time. There may be a situation where taking a tactical 1/2 point in the late round could gain advantage. In any event the allowable situations should be laid out in advance.

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

Furthermore - Bacrot was due to play black in round 6 against one of the tournament leaders in which case he might have been satisfied with a draw - so why nor take a bye instead for an easy 1/2 point, a rest day and play the leaders in a later round possibly with white.
Moreover, why would tournament organizers and sponsors raise substantial prize money only to have the players carve up the pot by backroom deals and then go home with the cash without fighting for it?

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

February 1, 2016

Round Seven

Anand loses to the 16-year old Hungarian IM Benjamin Gledura.

Gibraltar Masters
Round 7, Feb. 1, 2016
Gledura, Benjamin – Anand, Viswanathan
D45 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O e5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.e4 exd4 11.Nxd5 Nxd5 12.exd5 h6 13.Nxd4 Qh4 14.Nf3 Qh5 15.Bh7+ Kh8 16.Qf5 Qxf5 17.Bxf5 Nf6 18.Bxc8 Rfxc8 19.Rd1 Rd8 20.Be3 Be7 21.d6 Rxd6 22.Rxd6 Bxd6 23.Rd1 Bc7 24.Kf1 a6 25.h3 Kg8 26.b3 Rd8 27.Rxd8+ Bxd8 28.Ke2 h5 29.Bg5 Kf8 30.Kd3 Ke8 31.Bxf6 Bxf6 32.Ke4 Bd8 33.Ne5 Ke7 34.Kd5 Bb6 35.Nd3 Kd7 36.Nc5+ Bxc5 37.Kxc5 Kc7 38.h4 Kd7 39.Kb6 Kc8 40.b4 Kb8 41.f3 Kc8 42.g4 hxg4 43.fxg4 Kb8 44.h5 f6 45.a4 Kc8 46.Ka7 Kc7 47.b5 a5 48.Ka8 1-0

- Anand resigns, and has now lost 20.5 rating points in Gibraltar!

(Susan Polgar) - Anand lost again & his rating dropped by 20+ pts in just 7 rds. This is why many top players do not play in open tournaments

(Sam Shankland) - I had this exact endgame once a few years ago and thought it was well known, surprised Anand went into it...

From chessgames.com

Benjamin Gledura, born July 4, 1999. FIDE Master (2009), IM (2014) He is coached by IM Andras Meszaros. Won his title when he won the European U10 Championship in 2009. Apart from being a powerful junior chess player, he is a junior regional and national swimming champion in Hungary with numerous awards.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

Tradewise Gibraltar 2016

February 1, 2016

Round Seven (continued)

The co-hosts are Simon Williams and Elisabeth Paehtz. She is a German WGM (b. 1985). Her father, Thomas Paehtz, was a grandmaster.

She had quite an interesting interview in Kingpin three years ago:

http://www.kingpinchess.net/2013/10/...-20-questions/

from which we learn:

- that she likes the books of Tommy Jaud

- if she could edit her past, she would study opera singing while playing chess

- “I am satisfied with my appearance, but could be 5 cm taller. I am 1.60m (5ft 3in) and therefore below average by German standards.”

- “The most embarrassing moment at the chessboard was in 2002 during the Las Vegas Open. I had to leave the board crying tears of laughter as my neighbour acted very weird in time trouble. Embarrassing because I should have controlled myself. Obviously my neighbour could not do anything to control his nervousness.”

- “In my childhood I studied the book series by Yusupov and Dvoretsky and nowadays I use their books to teach others. I’ve met Yusupov and I admire him not only as a great coach but also because of his great personality.”

Some games:

Simon says that at a previous interview Markus Ragger remarked that he studied chess for 8 hours a day.

Tradewise Gibraltar
Round 7, Feb. 1, 2016
Ragger, Markus – Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
D85 Grunfeld, Modern Exchange Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Rb1 O-O 9.Be2 cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Qxa2 12.O-O Bg4 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bh4 a5 15.Rxb7 g5 16.Bg3 a4 17.h3 Bxf3 18.Bxf3 Nc6 19.e5 Qc4 20.Rb2 Qxd4 21.Qxd4 Nxd4 22.Bxa8 Rxa8 23.Rfb1 Ra5 24.Ra2 a3 25.f3 Bxe5 26.Bxe5 Rxe5 27.Rxa3 Ne2+ 28.Kf2 Nf4 29.Rb2 h5 30.Rd2 h4 31.Re3 Rxe3 32.Kxe3 f6 33.Kf2 Kf7 34.Ra2 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Feb. 1, 2016
Rapport, Richard – Anton Guijarro, David
A00 Benko/Trident Opening

1.g3 c5 2.Bg2 Nc6 3.e4 g6 4.d3 Bg7 5.f4 d6 6.Nh3 Nf6 7.O-O O-O 8.Nf2 Nd7 9.Nd2 Rb8 10.h4 b5 11.h5 b4 12.Nf3 Nf6 13.hxg6 hxg6 14.Nh4 Nh5 15.Nf5 e5 16.fxe5 dxe5 17.c3 c4 18.Nxg7 Kxg7 19.Qf3 cxd3 20.Nxd3 bxc3 21.bxc3 Ba6 22.Rd1 Bxd3 23.Rxd3 Qe7 24.Be3 Na5 25.Rad1 Nc4 26.Rd7 Qf6 27.Bxa7 Rb2 28.Qd3 Nb6 29.Rf1 Nxd7 30.Qxd7 Qe6 31.Qxe6 fxe6 32.Rxf8 Kxf8 33.Kh2 Rxa2 34.Bb8 Nf6 35.Kh3 Nd7 36.Bd6+ Kf7 37.Bf1 Rd2 38.Bc7 Rc2 39.Ba5 Nc5 40.Bc7 Nxe4 41.Bxe5 Rc1 0-1

Anton is a Spanish player who has become a chess professional.

Round 7, Feb. 1, 2016
Nakamura, Hikaru – Lenic, Luka
A18 English, Mikenas-Carls Variation

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.e4 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.e5 Ne4 6.d4 Bb4 7.Qa4+ Nc6 8.Bb5 O-O 9.Bxc6 a5 10.Ne2 bxc6 11.O-O Ba6 12.Rd1 c5 13.Qc2 Nxc3 14.Nxc3 Re8 15.a3 Bxc3 16.Qxc3 cxd4 17.Rxd4 Rxe5 18.Bf4 Re2 19.Rad1 Qf6 20.Rxd5 Qxf4 21.Rd8+ Re8 22.Rxa8 Rxa8 23.Qc6 Rb8 24.Qxa6 Qe5 25.Qb7 c5 26.Qd5 Qxd5 27.Rxd5 c4 28.Kf1 Kf8 29.Rd2 Ke7 30.Ke2 Ke6 31.Kd1 c3 32.bxc3 Rb3 33.Kc2 a4 34.Rd4 Rxa3 35.Kb2 Rb3+ 36.Kc2 Ra3 37.Kb2 1/2-1/2
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Tim Harding is playing in the tournament. He is a Dublin-based writer, correspondence player and historian. I haven’t particularly collected him but a quick check showed that I have 26 of his books in my collection. These include The Games of the World Correspondence Championships I-X, Counter Gambits, The Fighting Fajarowicz, The Write Move, Startling Correspondence Chess Miniatures etc.

He was born in 1948 in London, published Chess Mail from 1996 to 2006 and recently got his PhD degree from the University of Dublin in history.

He discusses his new book Joseph Henry Blackburne (McFarland) with Simon. Blackburne was the best player produced in Great Britain before WWII. His last tournament was St. Petersburg 1914.

Tim wrote Eminent Victorian Chess Players and then spent three years writing the Blackburne book. It is massive, weighing 6 kg and containing about 950 complete games.

J.H.B. was born in 1841 in a suburb of Manchester and was inspired by Paul Morphy’s play. In November 1861 Louis Paulsen came to Manchester to give a simultaneous blindfold exhibition. Blackburne was one of his opponents, and lost. Blackburne was inspired by Paulsen to also give blindfold exhibitions. Blackburne was soon playing chess blindfolded with 3 players simultaneously.

In 1861-1862 Blackburne was the champion of the Manchester Chess Club. Runner-up was Horwitz. He then entered the London International Tournament (the world's first chess round robin or all-play-all tournament) in 1862 and defeated Steinitz in their individual game. Blackburne came in 9th place. Time was measured with sand glasses. It was actually Blackburne who suggested chess clocks.

In 1862 Blackburne was giving blindfold exhibitions. He challenged 10 members of the Manchester chess club, winning 5, drawing 3, and losing 2. He did the same during the London International Tournament.

Blackburne had been working in a warehouse, but upon his return to Manchester, his job was taken over by someone else. So he turned to chess to be his profession.

At the end of 1862 (December 1862-January 1863) he played Steinitz in a match in London and lost. He had lost 7 games, drew 2, and won one game.

In 1863 Blackburne began travelling all over Britain to give blindfold simultaneous exhibitions.

He defeated Nimzovich at St. Petersburg in 1914 when he was 72. That same year he tied for first place in the British championship with Yates. This was Blackburne's last international tournament.

He died at his residence at Lewisham on September 1, 1924 at the age of 82.

His funeral took place at Ladywell Cemetery on September 4, 1924. It is estimated he played over 100,000 chess games in his career, more than any other chess player. His Elo historical rating is at 2570. He participated in 53 national or international tournaments in 53 years of international play.

He composed chess problems and Simon tries successfully to solve “white to move and mate in three” which was published in La Strategie in 1884.

There are no openings named after Blackburne but there is a gambit called the Blackburne Shilling. He probably used it to beat amateurs in some of this simuls:

C50 Blackburne shilling Gambit
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Nxe5 Qg5 $1 5.Nxf7 Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Nf3# 0-1
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As of this round, Tim has scored 1.5 points

Round 7, February 1, 2016
Jones, Gawain – Goryachkina, Aleksandra
A15 English, Neo-Catalan

1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Bd7 6.Qxc4 c5 7.Ne5 Qc8 8.b3 Nc6 9.Nxd7 Qxd7 10.Bb2 Be7 11.d3 Rc8 12.Nd2 O-O 13.O-O Rfd8 14.Qc2 Nd4 15.Qd1 h6 16.a3 b6 17.Re1 Rc7 18.Nc4 Qc8 19.Rc1 Ne8 20.Ne5 Bf6 21.f4 Bxe5 22.fxe5 Qd7 23.e3 Nf5 24.Be4 Rcc8 25.Qf3 Ne7 26.Qh5 Nc7 27.Rc2 Ncd5 28.g4 Ng6 29.Rf2 Qe7 30.Ref1 Nh8 31.Rf6 gxf6 32.exf6 Qf8 33.Rf3 Rd7 34.Rh3 Nc7 35.Qg5+ 1-0

And with the ladies – Irina Krush just did what Nakamura and Anand couldn't....she won against Gregoriy Oparin!

Harika Dronavali is the leading woman player.