Isle of Man International 2017

[Dan Scoones]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

A quick note that GM James Tarjan defeated not one but two world champions at the Isle of Man International: Vladimir Kramnik in Round 3 and Alexandra Kosteniuk in Round 9. Congratulations to the winner of the first Paul Keres Memorial tournament, Vancouver 1976!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

Isle of Man International 2017

October 1, 2017

Final Round

Round Nine (continued)

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Rakesh, Kumar Jena – Gelfand, Boris
B30 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch- Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.O-O Nge7 5.c3 a6 6.Bxc6 Nxc6 7.d4 cxd4 8.cxd4 d5 9.exd5 exd5 10.Bg5 f6 11.Bf4 Bg4 12.Nc3 Qd7 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 Rd8 15.Na4 Kf7 16.Rad1 Qf5 17.g4 Qe4 18.Qxe4 dxe4 19.Be3 h5 20.g5 f5 21.f3 exf3 22.Rxf3 g6 23.Rf2 Nb4 24.Nc3 Nd5 25.Nxd5 Rxd5 26.Bf4 Bg7 27.Rc2 Re8 28.Rc7+ Re7 29.Rxe7+ Kxe7 30.Be3 f4 31.Bxf4 Rxd4 32.Re1+ Kd7 33.Be3 Ra4 34.Bc5 Bxb2 35.Re7+ Kc6 36.Bf2 Rxa2 37.Re6+ Kd5 38.Rxg6 Be5 39.Rg8 Ke4 40.g6 Kf5 41.g7 Kg5 42.Rb8 Bxg7 43.Rxb7 Be5 44.Rb4 a5 45.Re4 Kf5 46.Rc4 a4 47.Kg2 a3 48.Ra4 Bd6 49.Kf3 Rd2 50.Ra5+ Ke6 0-1

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Ju Wenjun – Sundararajan, Kidambi
A90 Dutch Defence

1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 c6 5.Bf4 d6 6.Nf3 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Nc3 d5 9.Rc1 Ne4 10.h4 Bd6 11.Ne5 Qe7 12.Nxe4 fxe4 13.c5 Bc7 14.f3 exf3 15.Rxf3 Bxe5 16.Bxe5 Rxf3 17.exf3 Nd7 18.Bd6 Qf6 19.Qd2 Nf8 20.Re1 b6 21.b4 Ba6 22.Re3 bxc5 23.bxc5 Bc4 24.Qb2 Re8 25.Kh2 Bb5 26.a4 Ba6 27.Qb4 Ng6 28.Qb2 Ne7 29.Rb3 Nf5 30.Be5 Qf7 31.Qd2 h6 32.Bh3 Rf8 33.Rb2 Qg6 34.Qa5 Bd3 35.Qxa7 Nxh4 36.gxh4 Rxf3 37.Bxe6+ Kh7 38.Rg2 1-0

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Hambleton, Aman – Kavutskiy, Konstantin
A45 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 Bg7 5.h4 h5 6.Nb5 Na6 7.Nf3 c6 8.Nc3 Bg4 9.Be2 Nd7 10.e4 e6 11.Qd2 O-O 12.O-O-O b5 13.Ng5 Bxe2 14.Qxe2 Qa5 15.g4 Nb6 16.gxh5 Nc4 17.Kb1 b4 18.Na4 Qxa4 19.hxg6 fxg6 20.exd5 Rae8 21.Qxc4 cxd5 22.Qd3 Rxf4 23.Qxg6 Rf6 24.Qh7+ Kf8 25.Rdg1 Qd7 26.Qd3 Rh6 27.Qxa6 Bxd4 28.Rg4 Bb6 29.Rf4+ Kg8 30.Rg1 Rg6 31.h5 Qc7 32.Rfg4 Rg7 33.h6 Rg6 34.Qd3 1-0

A Piasetski double-header

Round 8, Sept. 30, 2017
Piasetski, Leon – Fischer, Daniel
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 Bf5 4.d3 h6 5.c4 e6 6.Nd4 Bh7 7.Qb3 Nbd7 8.Qxb7 Rb8 9.Qc6 Bb4+ 10.Bd2 O-O 11.cxd5 Ne5 12.Qc2 Nxd5 13.O-O Bxd2 14.Nxd2 Nb4 15.Qc5 Nd7 16.Qxa7 Nb6 17.N4b3 N4d5 18.Qa5 Qd7 19.Rfc1 1-0

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Trent, Lawrence – Piasetski, Leon
B06 Pirc-Robatsch

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6 5.Qd2 b5 6.f3 Bb7 7.h4 h5 8.Nh3 Nf6 9.Ng5 Nbd7 10.a4 c6 11.Be2 b4 12.Nd1 a5 13.Nf2 Qc7 14.O-O O-O 15.c3 bxc3 16.bxc3 e5 17.Rab1 Ba6 18.Bxa6 Rxa6 19.Nd3 Raa8 20.dxe5 dxe5 21.Qa2 Nh7 22.Nxh7 Kxh7 23.Rfd1 Bf6 24.g3 Be7 25.Rd2 Kg7 26.Kg2 Rab8 27.Rbd1 Rfd8 28.f4 Bd6 29.Qc4 exf4 30.gxf4 Be7 31.Bd4+ Kg8 32.Ne5 Nxe5 33.Bxe5 Qc8 34.f5 Rb7 35.Rxd8+ Bxd8 36.Qxc6 Rb2+ 37.Kf3 1-0

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk. SNo Name FED Rtg - TB1 Rp

1 - - GM Carlsen Magnus - NOR 2827 - 7.5 2903
2 - - GM Anand Viswanathan - IND 2794 - 7 2806
- - GM Nakamura Hikaru - USA 2781 - 7 2831
4 - - GM Kramnik Vladimir - RUS 2803 - 6.5 2660
- - GM Caruana Fabiano - USA 2799 - 6.5 2831
- - GM Adams Michael - ENG 2738 - 6.5 2719
- - GM Eljanov Pavel - UKR 2734 - 6.5 2749
- - GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi - IND 2702 - 6.5 2764
- - GM Sutovsky Emil - ISR 2683 - 6.5 2712
- - GM Rapport Richard - HUN 2675 - 6.5 2732
- - GM Shirov Alexei - LAT 2630 - 6.5 2703
- - GM Swapnil S. Dhopade - IND 2532 - 6.5 2768
13 - - GM Rodshtein Maxim - ISR 2695 - 6 2616
- - GM Leko Peter - HUN 2679 - 6 2646
- - GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam - UZB 2676 - 6 2707
- - GM Movsesian Sergei - ARM 2671 - 6 2622
- - GM Hou Yifan - CHN 2670 - 6 2687
- - GM Granda Zuniga Julio E - PER 2653 - 6 2573
- - GM Sargissian Gabriel - ARM 2652 - 6 2624
- - GM L'ami Erwin - NED 2611 - 6 2708
- - GM Bindrich Falko - GER 2598 - 6 2666
- - GM Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan - IND 2568 - 6 2704
- - GM Lenderman Aleksandr - USA 2565 - 6 2768
- - GM Wagner Dennis - GER 2564 - 6 2672
25 - - GM Vallejo Pons Francisco - ESP 2716 - 5.5 2631
- - GM Naiditsch Arkadij - AZE 2702 - 5.5 2644
- - GM Howell David W L - ENG 2701 - 5.5 2589
- - GM Short Nigel D - ENG 2698 - 5.5 2589
- - GM Adhiban B. - IND 2670 - 5.5 2564
- - GM Jones Gawain C B - ENG 2668 - 5.5 2596
- - GM Akobian Varuzhan - USA 2662 - 5.5 2541
- - GM Fressinet Laurent - FRA 2657 - 5.5 2660
- - GM Grandelius Nils - SWE 2653 - 5.5 2652
- - GM Xiong Jeffery - USA 2633 - 5.5 2592
- - GM Bok Benjamin - NED 2620 - 5.5 2552
- - GM Bogner Sebastian - SUI 2599 - 5.5 2545
- - GM Huschenbeth Niclas - GER 2596 - 5.5 2593
- - GM Tregubov Pavel V. - RUS 2589 - 5.5 2446
- - GM Tari Aryan - NOR 2588 - 5.5 2633
- - GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. - IND 2573 - 5.5 2551
- - GM Pichot Alan - ARG 2565 - 5.5 2575
- - GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel - ROU 2559 - 5.5 2578
- - GM Donchenko Alexander - GER 2559 - 5.5 2613
- - IM Praggnanandhaa R - IND 2500 - 5.5 2531
- - IM Brown Michael William - USA 2499 - 5.5 2613
- - GM Tarjan James - USA 2412 - 5.5 2671
- - IM Cornette Deimante - LTU 2404 - 5.5 2467
48 - - GM Gelfand Boris - ISR 2737 - 5 2507
- - GM Riazantsev Alexander - RUS 2666 - 5 2539
- - GM Sethuraman S.P. - IND 2617 - 5 2661
- - GM Sokolov Ivan - NED 2603 - 5 2539
- - GM Svane Rasmus - GER 2595 - 5 2510
- - GM Ju Wenjun - CHN 2574 - 5 2470
- - GM Brunello Sabino - ITA 2555 - 5 2536
- - GM Vishnu Prasanna. V - IND 2543 - 5 2481
- - GM Harika Dronavalli - IND 2528 - 5 2481
- - GM Perelshteyn Eugene - USA 2524 - 5 2501
- - IM Lampert Jonas - GER 2514 - 5 2580
- - GM Olafsson Helgi - ISL 2512 - 5 2459
- - IM Nihal Sarin - IND 2483 - 5 2506
- - IM Hambleton Aman - CAN 2479 - 5 2505
- - IM Basso Pier Luigi - ITA 2460 - 5 2461
- - IM Visakh N R - IND 2458 - 5 2445
- - IM Swayams Mishra - IND 2444 - 5 2386
- - IM Zatonskih Anna - USA 2424 - 5 2582
- - IM Kojima Shinya - JPN 2403 - 5 2383
- - IM Harsha Bharathakoti - IND 2394 - 5 2693
- - FM Ragnarsson Dagur - ISL 2340 - 5 2365
69 - - GM Almasi Zoltan - HUN 2707 - 4.5 2537
- - GM Timman Jan H - NED 2573 - 4.5 2563
- - GM Kosteniuk Alexandra - RUS 2552 - 4.5 2496
- - GM Mekhitarian Krikor Sevag - BRA 2534 - 4.5 2421
- - GM Panchanathan Magesh Chandran - IND 2481 - 4.5 2517
- - GM Khmelniker Ilya - ISR 2480 - 4.5 2464
- - GM Salomon Johan - NOR 2476 - 4.5 2501
- - IM Batsiashvili Nino - GEO 2472 - 4.5 2643
- - IM Christiansen Johan-Sebastian - NOR 2457 - 4.5 2498
- - IM Paehtz Elisabeth - GER 2453 - 4.5 2428
- - GM Neelotpal Das - IND 2448 - 4.5 2421
- - IM Yankelevich Lev - GER 2443 - 4.5 2347
- - WGM Shvayger Yuliya - ISR 2442 - 4.5 2391
- - IM Gaponenko Inna - UKR 2437 - 4.5 2358
- - IM Trent Lawrence - ENG 2427 - 4.5 2412
- - Arjun Kalyan - IND 2406 - 4.5 2511
- - Loos Roland - GER 2393 - 4.5 2328
- - Woellermann Jan - GER 2384 - 4.5 2473
- - GM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan - SCO 2369 - 4.5 2194
- - IM Krishna C R G - IND 2367 - 4.5 2534
- - IM Hemant Sharma (del) - IND 2342 - 4.5 2398
- - FM Paul Johannes - GER 2335 - 4.5 2285
- - FM Jessel Stephen - IRL 2334 - 4.5 2401
- - WIM Vaishali R - IND 2329 - 4.5 2296
- - WGM Enkhtuul Altan-Ulzii - MGL 2327 - 4.5 2441
- - IM Kolbus Dietmar - GER 2320 - 4.5 2292
- - IM Rudolf Anna - HUN 2286 - 4.5 2466
- - Balint Vilmos - HUN 2281 - 4.5 2383
97 - - IM Lubbe Nikolas - GER 2515 - 4 2415
- - IM Zumsande Martin - GER 2471 - 4 2345
- - GM Sundararajan Kidambi - IND 2426 - 4 2483
- - Raja Harshit - IND 2423 - 4 2401
- - FM Rakesh Kumar Jena - IND 2418 - 4 2260
- - GM Arkell Keith C - ENG 2415 - 4 2353
- - IM Wallace John Paul - AUS 2413 - 4 2433
- - IM Degtiarev Evgeny - GER 2412 - 4 2393
- - IM Roberson Peter T - ENG 2403 - 4 2461
- - IM Houska Jovanka - ENG 2393 - 4 2458
- - IM Kavutskiy Konstantin - USA 2390 - 4 2414
- - IM Karavade Eesha - IND 2384 - 4 2380
- - FM Fenil Shah - IND 2362 - 4 2241
- - IM Ledger Andrew J - ENG 2361 - 4 2365
- - WGM Rapport Jovana - SRB 2327 - 4 2292
- - IM Rathnakaran K. - IND 2326 - 4 2418
- - Vignesh B - IND 2260 - 4 2321
- - WIM Osmanodja Filiz - GER 2245 - 4 2256
115 - - IM Kjartansson Gudmundur - ISL 2456 - 3.5 2314
- - IM Esserman Marc - USA 2453 - 3.5 2330
- - Pranav V - IND 2372 - 3.5 2164
- - IM Bellin Robert - ENG 2344 - 3.5 2323
- - FM Zwahr Paul - GER 2306 - 3.5 2232
- - IM L'ami Alina - ROU 2286 - 3.5 2424
- - IM Piasetski Leon - CAN 2286 - 3.5 2151

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

Isle of Man International 2017

October 1, 2017

Final Round

Round Nine (continued)

The games:

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Anand, Vishy – Hou Yifan
C01 French, Exchange

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d3 Nf6 6.d4 d5 7.Bd3 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Re1 Bg4 10.Bg5 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Re8 12.c3 c6 13.Qc2 h6 14.Bf4 Nh5 15.Be5 Bg5 16.h3 Bxf3 17.Nxf3 Bf4 18.Bh7+ Kh8 19.Bxf4 Nxf4 20.Bf5 Qc7 21.Bxd7 Qxd7 22.Ne5 Qe6 23.Re3 Kg8 24.Rae1 Qc8 25.Nxf7 Rxe3 26.Rxe3 Kxf7 27.Rf3 Kg8 28.Rxf4 Qe6 29.Qf5 Re8 30.Qxe6+ Rxe6 31.Kf1 a5 32.Rf3 Rg6 33.a4 Rd6 34.Ke2 Rd8 35.Kd3 Rb8 36.Rf5 b5 37.axb5 Rxb5 38.Kc2 Rb7 39.f4 Rb8 40.g4 a4 41.Re5 Kf7 42.f5 Ra8 43.Re6 Rc8 44.Re5 Ra8 45.h4 a3 46.bxa3 Rxa3 47.Kb2 Ra8 48.g5 hxg5 49.hxg5 Rb8+ 50.Kc2 Rh8 51.Re6 Rh5 52.g6+ Kf8 53.f6 1-0

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Jones, Gawain – Kramnik, Vladimir
C45 Scotch, Mieses variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4 Ba6 9.Nd2 g6 10.Nf3 Qb4+ 11.Kd1 Ne7 12.Qc2 c5 13.Bd3 Bg7 14.Re1 O-O 15.Qb3 Nc6 16.Bd2 Qb6 17.Qxb6 axb6 18.Kc2 Rad8 19.a3 d6 20.exd6 Rxd6 21.Bc3 Na5 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.Nd2 Rfd8 24.Re3 Bc8 25.Kc3 Bf5 26.Bxf5 Rxd2 27.Be4 R8d4 28.b3 Rxf2 29.Rf3 Re2 30.Bd5 c6 31.Bxf7 Nb7 32.b4 Nd6 0-1

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Akobian, Varuzhan – Caruana, Fabiano
A46 Queen’s Pawn

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bf5 5.d5 Bg7 6.Nd4 Bd7 7.e4 O-O 8.Be2 e6 9.Bg5 h6 10.Be3 exd5 11.exd5 Re8 12.Qd2 Kh7 13.O-O-O Na6 14.h4 Nc5 15.h5 g5 16.f3 Kg8 17.g4 Rb8 18.Rhe1 c6 19.Kb1 cxd5 20.cxd5 a6 21.Bd3 Nxd3 22.Qxd3 Rc8 23.Nde2 b5 24.Ng3 Rc4 25.Bd2 Rf8 26.Nf5 Bxf5 27.Qxf5 b4 28.Ne2 Nd7 29.Rc1 Rxc1+ 30.Rxc1 a5 31.Ng3 Re8 32.Re1 Nc5 33.Rxe8+ Qxe8 34.b3 a4 35.Bxb4 axb3 36.axb3 Qb8 37.Bxc5 dxc5 38.Ne4 Qxb3+ 39.Kc1 Bd4 40.Kd2 c4 41.Qc8+ Kg7 42.d6 Qd3+ 43.Kc1 Be3+ 0-1

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Adams, Michael – Xiong, Jeffery
A34 English, symmetrical, three Knights System

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 Nc6 6.Bb5 Nxc3 7.bxc3 Bd7 8.O-O e6 9.d4 Be7 10.e4 O-O 11.Re1 cxd4 12.cxd4 Rc8 13.Ba4 Nb4 14.Bb3 Bb5 15.Re3 Qb6 16.a4 Bc4 17.a5 Qa6 18.Bd2 Rfd8 19.Ra4 Qb5 20.h3 a6 21.Ra1 Qe8 22.Bxc4 Rxc4 23.Rb1 Nc2 24.Rc3 Rxc3 25.Bxc3 Na3 26.Rxb7 Nb5 27.Bb2 Nd6 28.Ra7 Rb8 29.Qe2 Bf8 30.Rxa6 Qa4 31.Ne5 Rc8 32.Qd3 Qa2 33.Bc3 Qa3 34.Rc6 Rxc6 35.Nxc6 Nxe4 36.Qxe4 Qxc3 37.g3 Qa1+ 38.Kg2 Qa4 39.Qf3 1-0

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Shirov, Alexi – Howell, David
C96 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Keres

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 exd4 13.cxd4 Nc6 14.d5 Nce5 15.a4 Bb7 16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.f4 Ng6 18.Nf3 Re8 19.axb5 axb5 20.Rxa8 Qxa8 21.b3 Bd8 22.f5 Nf8 23.Bf4 Qa6 24.Bd3 c4 25.bxc4 bxc4 26.Bc2 Bf6 27.Qd2 c3 28.Qd3 Qb6+ 29.Be3 Qa5 30.Rb1 Ba6 31.Qd1 Qc7 32.Rb6 Bb7 33.Qb1 Ba8 34.Qb4 Rd8 35.Ra6 Qe7 36.Bf4 Qb7 37.Qxb7 Bxb7 38.Rb6 Ba8 39.Bxd6 Nd7 40.Ra6 h6 41.e5 Nxe5 42.Bxe5 Bxe5 43.Nxe5 Bxd5 44.Ra5 Bxg2 45.Kxg2 Rd2+ 46.Kg3 Rxc2 47.Ra8+ Kh7 48.Nxf7 g5 49.Ne5 Re2 50.Ra7+ Kg8 51.Ng6 c2 52.f6 Re3+ 53.Kf2 c1=Q 54.Rg7# 1-0

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Sutovsky, Emil – Grandelius, Nils
C88 Ruy Lopez, Closed, anti-Marshall

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.a4 b4 9.d4 d6 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Nxe5 dxe5 12.Qe2 a5 13.Rd1 Ba6 14.Qf3 Qe8 15.Be3 Qc6 16.Nd2 Bc5 17.Bd5 Nxd5 18.exd5 Qb6 19.Bxc5 Qxc5 20.Ne4 Qb6 21.d6 cxd6 22.Rxd6 Qc7 23.Qf5 Bb7 24.Ng5 g6 25.Qxe5 Qxc2 26.Nxh7 Kxh7 27.Rd4 Kg8 28.Rh4 f6 29.Qe6+ Rf7 30.Qh3 f5 31.Rh8+ Kg7 32.Qh6+ Kf6 33.Rxa8 Bxa8 34.Qh8+ Rg7 35.Qxa8 Qd2 36.h4 Rc7 37.Qh8+ Ke6 38.Qe8+ Kf6 39.Re1 Kg7 40.Qe5+ Kg8 41.h5 gxh5 42.Re3 Qd7 43.Rg3+ Kh7 44.f4 Rc4 45.Kh2 Qf7 46.Rg5 Re4 47.Rxf5 Rxe5 48.Rxf7+ Kg6 49.fxe5 Kxf7 50.Kg3 1-0
______

Can you mate a tricky grandmaster with B and N in 26 moves or less?

Position after 74.Nxg5



Round 9, Oct. 1,2017
Wagner, Dennis – Sokolov, Ivan
D35 QGD, Exchange, positional line

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Bf5 8.Qf3 Bg6 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.Qxf6 gxf6 11.Nf3 Nd7 12.Nh4 O-O-O 13.f4 Re8 14.f5 Bh7 15.Kf2 h5 16.Bd3 Bh6 17.Rae1 Nb6 18.Re2 Kb8 19.Nf3 Nc8 20.h3 Reg8 21.g4 Nd6 22.Ree1 Bf8 23.Reg1 Rg7 24.Ne2 Bg8 25.Ng3 Rgh7 26.Ne1 Rg7 27.Kf3 Rgh7 28.Ng2 Ne8 29.Nf4 Ng7 30.Re1 Kc7 31.e4 dxe4+ 32.Bxe4 hxg4+ 33.hxg4 Rxh1 34.Rxh1 Rxh1 35.Nxh1 Ne8 36.Ng3 Bh6 37.Bd3 Kd6 38.Ne4+ Ke7 39.Bc4 Nc7 40.Nd3 a5 41.a3 Bg5 42.Nec5 b6 43.Ne4 Ne8 44.d5 cxd5 45.Bxd5 Bh7 46.Nc3 Nd6 47.Be4 Nc4 48.a4 Kd6 49.Bd5 Nd2+ 50.Ke2 Bg8 51.Ba2 Kc6 52.Nf2 Kc5 53.Kd3 Kb4 54.Nfe4 Nxe4 55.Nxe4 b5 56.axb5 Kxb5 57.Bd5 Bh4 58.Kd4 Kb4 59.Ba2 a4 60.Kd5 a3 61.bxa3+ Kxa3 62.Bc4 Kb4 63.Bd3 Bh7 64.Kd6 Ka5 65.Ke7 Bg6 66.Nxf6 Kb4 67.fxg6 fxg6 68.Bxg6 Kc5 69.Ke6 Kd4 70.Ne4 Ke3 71.Kf5 Kf3 72.Bf7 Ke3 73.g5 Bxg5 74.Nxg5 Kd4 75.Be6 Ke3 76.Ke5 Kd3 77.Bd5 Kc3 78.Ke4 Kd2 79.Kd4 Kc2 80.Ne4 Kb2 81.Nd2 Kc2 82.Nf1 Kb2 83.Ne3 Kc1 84.Kc3 Kb1 85.Nc2 Kc1 86.Ba2 Kd1 87.Nd4 Kc1 88.Ne2+ Kd1 89.Kd3 Ke1 90.Ke3 Kd1 91.Bb3+ Ke1 92.Nf4 Kf1 93.Bc2 1-0

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Short, Nigel – Khmelniker, Ilya
A48 King’s Indian, Torre Attack

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.Nbd2 d6 5.c3 h6 6.Bh4 g5 7.Bg3 Nh5 8.e4 Nd7 9.Nc4 Ndf6 10.Bd3 Nxg3 11.hxg3 e6 12.Ne3 b6 13.d5 O-O 14.dxe6 fxe6 15.Qc2 Bb7 16.O-O-O g4 17.Nh2 Qe7 18.Nhxg4 Nxg4 19.Nxg4 Qg5+ 20.Ne3 b5 21.Kb1 b4 22.cxb4 c5 23.Bc4 Qe5 24.f3 d5 25.Ng4 Qg5 26.Be2 dxe4 27.f4 Qg6 28.Rd7 Bd5 29.Rxg7+ Kxg7 30.Qc3+ Kh7 31.Nxh6 Qxh6 32.Rxh6+ Kxh6 33.bxc5 1-0

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Timman, Jan – Cornette, Deimante
D31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.Re1 Nf6 6.c3 O-O 7.h3 Ne8 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 Qb6 10.Bxc6 dxc6 11.Nc3 Nd6 12.Na4 Qd8 13.Nc3 Be6 14.Bf4 Qa5 15.Qe2 Rad8 16.Red1 Bc4 17.Qc2 Nb5 18.Nxb5 Qxb5 19.Rd2 Be6 20.Qd1 Qb4 21.Be3 Rd6 22.b3 Rfd8 23.Rc1 Qa5 24.Rc5 Qb4 25.Rcc2 Qa5 26.Rc5 Qb4 27.d5 cxd5 28.exd5 Bf5 29.Rc4 Qa5 30.Bc5 b5 31.Bb4 Qa6 32.Bxd6 bxc4 33.Bxe7 Rd7 34.d6 c3 35.Rd5 c2 36.Qc1 Qc6 37.Rxf5 Bb2 38.Ne5 Bxc1 39.Nxc6 Be3 0-1

Two James Tarjan games for Hans

Round 8, Sept. 30, 2017
Vishnu, Prasanna – Tarjan, James
C55 Two Knights Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.Nc3 O-O 6.a3 d6 7.Be3 Na5 8.Ba2 c5 9.h3 Nc6 10.Nd2 Be6 11.Nd5 b5 12.O-O Rb8 13.c3 a5 14.a4 b4 15.Bc4 Nd7 16.Nf3 Nb6 17.Bb3 Re8 18.Rc1 bxc3 19.bxc3 Bf6 20.Nxf6+ Qxf6 21.Bc2 h6 22.Rb1 Bc8 23.Qe2 Ba6 24.Nd2 Nd4 25.cxd4 exd4 26.Bb3 Re7 27.Rbc1 Reb7 28.Rc2 dxe3 29.fxe3 Qd8 30.Rf5 g6 31.Rf4 Kg7 32.Qf1 Qe8 33.Qa1+ Kg8 34.Qf6 d5 35.Rh4 h5 36.Qg5 c4 37.dxc4 dxc4 38.Nxc4 Nxc4 39.Bxc4 Bxc4 40.Rxc4 Rb4 41.e5 Qxa4 42.Rxb4 Rxb4 43.Qd8+ Kh7 44.Rxb4 axb4 45.Qe7 Qb3 46.Kf2 Qc4 47.e6 Qa2+ 48.Kf3 Qd5+ 49.e4 Qxe6 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Tarjan, James – Kosteniuk, Alexandra
A22 English, Bremen, reverse Dragon

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nc3 Nb6 6.b3 Be7 7.Bb2 Nc6 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.Nf3 Qd6 10.O-O Bf5 11.d3 Qe6 12.Ne4 O-O-O 13.Qc2 f6 14.Rfc1 Kb7 15.b4 Bxb4 16.Rab1 Be7 17.a4 Ka8 18.a5 Nd7 19.Qa4 Rb8 20.Rxc6 Qb3 21.Qxb3 Rxb3 22.Nfd2 Rb7 23.Rc2 Rhb8 24.Nc4 a6 25.Rbc1 Rb3 26.Bc3 Be6 27.f4 exf4 28.gxf4 R3b5 29.Bd4 Bb4 30.Bc3 Be7 31.Bd4 R8b7 32.Kg2 Kb8 33.Ncd6 Bxd6 34.Nxd6 Rd5 35.Nxb7 Rxd4 36.Nd8 Bd5+ 37.e4 Kc8 38.Nc6 Bxc6 39.Rxc6 Rxd3 40.Rxc7+ Kd8 41.Ra7 Rd6 42.Kf3 g5 43.Rg1 h6 44.h4 Ke7 45.hxg5 hxg5 46.fxg5 fxg5 47.Rxg5 Kf6 48.Kf4 Ke6 49.Rg6+ Nf6 50.Rxf6+ 1-0

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Praggnanandhaa, R. - Balint, Vilmos
A05 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b6 3.Bg2 Bb7 4.O-O e6 5.d3 d5 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.e4 c5 8.Re1 Nc6 9.c3 Qc7 10.Nf1 dxe4 11.dxe4 Rd8 12.Qe2 O-O 13.e5 Nd7 14.h4 Na5 15.b3 Bd5 16.Bf4 c4 17.b4 Nc6 18.N1d2 a5 19.b5 Na7 20.Reb1 Nc5 21.Ne1 Na4 22.Bxd5 Nxc3 23.Qxc4 Nxd5 24.Qxc7 Nxc7 25.a4 Nd5 26.Nef3 Bb4 27.Ne4 Nxf4 28.gxf4 f6 29.exf6 gxf6 30.Rc1 Rd7 31.Rc4 Kf7 32.Rac1 h6 33.Rc7 Ke7 34.Kf1 Rd8 35.h5 f5 36.Ned2 Bd6 37.R7c4 Bb4 38.Nb3 Rd1+ 39.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 40.Ke2 Rd5 41.Rc7+ Rd7 42.Rc1 Kf6 43.Ne5 Rb7 44.Rd1 Nc8 45.Rd8 Rc7 46.Nd4 Bc5 47.Ndc6 Kg7 48.Re8 Nd6 49.Rxe6 Ne4 50.Nd8 Bxf2 51.Rg6+ Kh7 52.Rc6 Rg7 53.Ndf7 Rg2 54.Rxh6+ Kg7 55.Rg6+ Rxg6 56.hxg6 Bc5 57.Nd8 Nc3+ 58.Kd3 Nxa4 59.Ne6+ Kg8 60.Nd7 Be7 61.Kc2 Nc5 62.Nexc5 bxc5 63.b6 Kg7 64.b7 Bd6 65.b8=Q Bxb8 66.Nxb8 Kxg6 67.Nd7 c4 68.Ne5+ Kh5 69.Kc3 Kh4 70.Kxc4 Kg3 71.Ng6 Kf3 72.Kb5 Ke4 73.Kxa5 Kd5 74.Kb5 1-0

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

Isle of Man International 2017

October 1, 2017

Final Round

Round Nine

The premier game is between Carlsen and Nakamura and ends quickly in a draw.

Round 9, Oct. 1, 2017
Carlsen, Magnus – Nakamura, Hikaru
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.a3 Nc6 9.Qc2 Qa5 10.Rd1 Re8 11.Nd2 e5 12.Bg5 Nd4 13.Qc1 Bf5 14.Bxf6 Nc2+ 15.Ke2 Nd4+ 16.Ke1 Nc2+ 17.Ke2 Nd4+ 18.Ke1 Nc2+ 1/2-1/2

At the post-mortem, Naka said that he should have beat Lenderman as White and then played against Magnus in Round 7. Overall, he is happy with his result. He is going to Boston tomorrow for a Forbes Conference, then there is some Red Bull stuff in Texas, then playing Fabiano in the chess.com speed match in November, a match against Topalov in St. Louis and then the FIDE Grand Prix in Majorca and finishing up with the London Chess Classic.

Magnus won the tournament. Carlsen thought that Naka might play the King’s Indian but instead had a chance to play something solid. In Naka’s place he wouldn’t have pushed very hard. What has been bothering him this year is that he hasn’t playing very well but he is encouraged by his recent results. He thinks that is because he has been very relaxed – except for these last two rounds.

His girlfriend was there with him and so he was “forced” to get away from chess for some time each day.

He is playing in the chess.com speed match. He is going to Singapore as well and nothing else until the London Classic.

(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

Isle of Man International 2017

September 30, 2017

Final Round Pairings

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg

1 GM Carlsen Magnus 2827 7 - 6½ GM Nakamura Hikaru 2781
2 GM Anand Viswanathan 2794 6 - 6 GM Hou Yifan 2670
3 GM Eljanov Pavel 2734 6 - 6 GM Swapnil S. Dhopade 2532
4 GM Rapport Richard 2675 6 - 6 GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi 2702
5 GM Jones Gawain C B 2668 5½ - 5½ GM Kramnik Vladimir 2803
6 GM Akobian Varuzhan 2662 5½ - 5½ GM Caruana Fabiano 2799
7 GM Adams Michael 2738 5½ - 5½ GM Xiong Jeffery 2633
8 GM Shirov Alexei 2630 5½ - 5½ GM Howell David W L 2701
9 GM Sutovsky Emil 2683 5½ - 5½ GM Grandelius Nils 2653
10 GM Lenderman Aleksandr 2565 5½ - 5½ GM Leko Peter 2679
11 GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2676 5½ - 5½ GM Bindrich Falko 2598
12 GM Movsesian Sergei 2671 5½ - 5½ GM L'ami Erwin 2611
13 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2716 5 - 5½ GM Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan 2568
14 GM Huschenbeth Niclas 2596 5 - 5 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2702
15 GM Svane Rasmus 2595 5 - 5 GM Rodshtein Maxim 2695
16 GM Tari Aryan 2588 5 - 5 GM Fressinet Laurent 2657
17 GM Granda Zuniga Julio E 2653 5 - 5 IM Harsha Bharathakoti 2394
18 GM Sargissian Gabriel 2652 5 - 5 IM Nihal Sarin 2483
19 GM Wagner Dennis 2564 5 - 5 GM Sokolov Ivan 2603
20 GM Bogner Sebastian 2599 5 - 5 GM Donchenko Alexander 2559
21 IM Brown Michael William 2499 4½ - 4½ GM Almasi Zoltan 2707
22 GM Short Nigel D 2698 4½ - 4½ GM Khmelniker Ilya 2480
23 GM Adhiban B. 2670 4½ - 4½ IM Batsiashvili Nino 2472
24 GM Riazantsev Alexander 2666 4½ - 4½ IM Visakh N R 2458
25 IM Paehtz Elisabeth 2453 4½ - 4½ GM Bok Benjamin 2620
26 GM Sethuraman S.P. 2617 4½ - 4½ IM Swayams Mishra 2444
27 GM Tregubov Pavel V. 2589 4½ - 4½ IM Yankelevich Lev 2443
28 GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. 2573 4½ - 4½ WGM Shvayger Yuliya 2442
29 GM Timman Jan H 2573 4½ - 4½ IM Cornette Deimante 2404
30 GM Pichot Alan 2565 4½ - 4½ Loos Roland 2393
31 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel 2559 4½ - 4½ Woellermann Jan 2384
32 GM Tarjan James 2412 4½ - 4½ GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2552
33 IM Zatonskih Anna 2424 4½ - 4½ GM Vishnu Prasanna. V 2543
34 FM Ragnarsson Dagur 2340 4½ - 4½ GM Olafsson Helgi 2512
35 IM Praggnanandhaa R 2500 4½ - 4½ Balint Vilmos 2281
36 FM Rakesh Kumar Jena 2418 4 - 4 GM Gelfand Boris 2737
37 GM Ju Wenjun 2574 4 - 4 GM Sundararajan Kidambi 2426
38 GM Brunello Sabino 2555 4 - 4 GM Arkell Keith C 2415
39 GM Harika Dronavalli 2528 4 - 4 IM Degtiarev Evgeny 2412
40 GM Perelshteyn Eugene 2524 4 - 4 IM Wallace John Paul 2413
41 IM Lubbe Nikolas 2515 4 - 4 IM Kojima Shinya 2403
42 IM Lampert Jonas 2514 4 - 4 IM Houska Jovanka 2393
43 GM Panchanathan Magesh Chandran 2481 4 - 4 Arjun Kalyan 2406
44 IM Hambleton Aman 2479 4 - 4 IM Kavutskiy Konstantin 2390
45 GM Salomon Johan 2476 4 - 4 FM Jessel Stephen 2334
46 IM Basso Pier Luigi 2460 4 - 4 IM Ledger Andrew J 2361
47 GM Neelotpal Das 2448 4 - 4 IM Krishna C R G 2367
48 IM Rudolf Anna 2286 4 - 4 IM Gaponenko Inna 2437
49 IM Hemant Sharma (del) 2342 4 - 3½ IM Roberson Peter T 2403
50 GM Mekhitarian Krikor Sevag 2534 3½ - 3½ FM Zwahr Paul 2306
51 IM Zumsande Martin 2471 3½ - 3½ IM Rathnakaran K. 2326
52 IM Christiansen Johan-Sebastian 2457 3½ - 3½ IM L'ami Alina 2286
53 WGM Enkhtuul Altan-Ulzii 2327 3½ - 3½ IM Kjartansson Gudmundur 2456
54 IM Trent Lawrence 2427 3½ - 3½ IM Piasetski Leon 2286
55 WGM Rapport Jovana 2327 3½ - 3½ IM Karavade Eesha 2384
56 WFM Zahn Alina 2025 3½ - 3½ GM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan 2369
57 IM Kolbus Dietmar 2320 3½ - 3½ IM Bellin Robert 2344
58 FM Paul Johannes 2335 3½ - 3½ Heimisson Hilmir Freyr 2185
59 WIM Vaishali R 2329 3½ - 3½ Kavinda Akila 2099
60 Raja Harshit 2423 3 - 3 Allen Keith 2231
61 Mueller Philipp 2220 3 - 3 FM Fenil Shah 2362
62 Vignesh B 2260 3 - 3 Jonsson Gauti Pall 2011
63 Byron Alan M 2074 3 - 3 FM Yoo Christopher Woojin 2254
64 WIM Maroroa Sue 2083 3 - 3 IM Watson John 2247
65 CM Thilakarathne G M H 2053 3 - 3 WIM Osmanodja Filiz 2245
66 Maloberti David 2132 2½ - 2½ IM Kiewra Keaton 2433
67 Pranav V 2372 2½ - 2½ Pranav Anand 2106
68 Ojas Kulkarni 2289 2½ - 2½ Burrows Martin P 2085
69 FM Babar Michael 2130 2½ - 2½ FM Loew Gerald 2262
70 Coathup Roger H 2125 2½ - 2½ Player Edmund C 2202
71 Oyama Akito 2198 2½ - 2½ Birkisson Bjorn Holm 2023
72 Fischer Daniel 2100 2½ - 2½ Seyfried Claus 2173
73 Hopson Kevin Mike 1929 2½ - 2½ Birkisson Bardur Orn 2164
74 Mai Aron Thor 2038 2 - 2½ Dahl Baard 1974
75 IM Mannion Stephen R 2320 2 - 2 WFM Frank Tena Dr. 2002
76 Nahnsen Kenneth 2011 2 - 2 Acosta Mariano 1988
77 Prueske Wolfgang 2046 1½ - 2 Kruse Janik 2096
78 Harari Zaki 2027 1½ - 1 Bianco Valerio 2086
79 IM Esserman Marc 2453 3½ 0 not paired
_______

A very interesting final round with Carlsen-Nakamura, Anand against Hou Yifan, Jones vs Kramnik, Akobian vs Caruana, Adams vs Xiong, Hambleton vs Kavutskiy and, even the hooded Lawrence Trent vs Leon.

Remember, the round starts at 12:00 noon local or 7:00 AM Toronto/Montreal

[Hans Jung]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

Lots of interesting moments in this tournament. Personally interested in the games of James Tarjan and how he manages to work positions.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

All set for the showdown of Magnus vs Hikaru in the last round for first place!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

Isle of Man International 2017

September 30, 2017
Round 8

Rank after Round Eight

Rk. Name FED Rtg TB1 Rp

1 - GM Carlsen Magnus NOR 2827 - 7 2947
2 - GM Nakamura Hikaru USA 2781 - 6.5 2835
3 - GM Anand Viswanathan IND 2794 - 6 2769
- GM Eljanov Pavel UKR 2734 - 6 2782
- GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi IND 2702 - 6 2781
- GM Rapport Richard HUN 2675 - 6 2746
- GM Swapnil S. Dhopade IND 2532 - 6 2778
8 - GM Caruana Fabiano USA 2799 - 5.5 2807
- GM Adams Michael ENG 2738 - 5.5 2684
- GM Howell David W L ENG 2701 - 5.5 2635
- GM Sutovsky Emil ISR 2683 - 5.5 2674
- GM Leko Peter HUN 2679 - 5.5 2656
- GM Movsesian Sergei ARM 2671 - 5.5 2623
- GM Jones Gawain C B ENG 2668 - 5.5 2621
- GM Akobian Varuzhan USA 2662 - 5.5 2560
- GM Grandelius Nils SWE 2653 - 5.5 2699
- GM Xiong Jeffery USA 2633 - 5.5 2625
- GM Shirov Alexei LAT 2630 - 5.5 2658
- GM Bindrich Falko GER 2598 - 5.5 2665
- GM Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan IND 2568 - 5.5 2703
- GM Lenderman Aleksandr USA 2565 - 5.5 2779
22 - GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2716 - 5 2644
- GM Naiditsch Arkadij AZE 2702 - 5 2645
- GM Rodshtein Maxim ISR 2695 - 5 2573
- GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam UZB 2676 - 5 2733
- GM Hou Yifan CHN 2670 - 5 2689
- GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2657 - 5 2663
- GM Granda Zuniga Julio E PER 2653 - 5 2550
- GM Sargissian Gabriel ARM 2652 - 5 2596
- GM L'ami Erwin NED 2611 - 5 2715
- GM Sokolov Ivan NED 2603 - 5 2588
- GM Bogner Sebastian SUI 2599 - 5 2580
- GM Svane Rasmus GER 2595 - 5 2533
- GM Tari Aryan NOR 2588 - 5 2635
- GM Wagner Dennis GER 2564 - 5 2635
- GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2559 - 5 2620
- IM Nihal Sarin IND 2483 - 5 2535
- IM Harsha Bharathakoti IND 2394 - 5 2745
39 - GM Kramnik Vladimir RUS 2803 - 4.5 2554
- GM Almasi Zoltan HUN 2707 - 4.5 2592
- GM Short Nigel D ENG 2698 - 4.5 2555
- GM Adhiban B. IND 2670 - 4.5 2529
- GM Riazantsev Alexander RUS 2666 - 4.5 2544
- GM Bok Benjamin NED 2620 - 4.5 2518
- GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2617 - 4.5 2718
- GM Tregubov Pavel V. RUS 2589 - 4.5 2399
- GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. IND 2573 - 4.5 2517
- GM Timman Jan H NED 2573 - 4.5 2626
- GM Pichot Alan ARG 2565 - 4.5 2551
- GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2559 - 4.5 2556
- GM Kosteniuk Alexandra RUS 2552 - 4.5 2558
- GM Vishnu Prasanna. V IND 2543 - 4.5 2483
- GM Olafsson Helgi ISL 2512 - 4.5 2477
- IM Praggnanandhaa R IND 2500 - 4.5 2515
- IM Brown Michael William USA 2499 - 4.5 2554
- GM Khmelniker Ilya ISR 2480 - 4.5 2478
- IM Batsiashvili Nino GEO 2472 - 4.5 2683
- IM Paehtz Elisabeth GER 2453 - 4.5 2447
- IM Swayams Mishra IND 2444 - 4.5 2352
- IM Yankelevich Lev GER 2443 - 4.5 2360
- WGM Shvayger Yuliya ISR 2442 - 4.5 2411
- IM Zatonskih Anna USA 2424 - 4.5 2582
- GM Tarjan James USA 2412 - 4.5 2639
- IM Cornette Deimante LTU 2404 - 4.5 2406
- Loos Roland GER 2393 - 4.5 2344
- Woellermann Jan GER 2384 - 4.5 2506
- FM Ragnarsson Dagur ISL 2340 - 4.5 2341
- Balint Vilmos HUN 2281 - 4.5 2411
69 - GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2737 - 4 2471
- GM Huschenbeth Niclas GER 2596 - 4 2542
- GM Ju Wenjun CHN 2574 - 4 2427
- GM Brunello Sabino ITA 2555 - 4 2503
- IM Lubbe Nikolas GER 2515 - 4 2465
- IM Lampert Jonas GER 2514 - 4 2555
- GM Panchanathan Magesh Chandran IND 2481 - 4 2530
- IM Hambleton Aman CAN 2479 - 4 2472
- GM Salomon Johan NOR 2476 - 4 2561
- IM Basso Pier Luigi ITA 2460 - 4 2425
- GM Neelotpal Das IND 2448 - 4 2428
- GM Sundararajan Kidambi IND 2426 - 4 2520
- FM Rakesh Kumar Jena IND 2418 - 4 2248
- GM Arkell Keith C ENG 2415 - 4 2373
- Arjun Kalyan IND 2406 - 4 2515
- IM Kojima Shinya JPN 2403 - 4 2319
- IM Houska Jovanka ENG 2393 - 4 2499
- IM Kavutskiy Konstantin USA 2390 - 4 2455
- IM Krishna C R G IND 2367 - 4 2545
- IM Ledger Andrew J ENG 2361 - 4 2402
- IM Hemant Sharma (del) IND 2342 - 4 2398
- FM Jessel Stephen IRL 2334 - 4 2391
- IM Rudolf Anna HUN 2286 - 4 2469
92 - GM Mekhitarian Krikor Sevag BRA 2534 - 3.5 2393
- GM Harika Dronavalli IND 2528 - 3.5 2446
- GM Perelshteyn Eugene USA 2524 - 3.5 2471
- IM Zumsande Martin GER 2471 - 3.5 2347
- IM Visakh N R IND 2458 - 3.5 2375
- IM Christiansen Johan-Sebastian NOR 2457 - 3.5 2481
- IM Kjartansson Gudmundur ISL 2456 - 3.5 2359
- IM Esserman Marc USA 2453 - 3.5 2330
- IM Trent Lawrence ENG 2427 - 3.5 2385
- IM Wallace John Paul AUS 2413 - 3.5 2462
- IM Degtiarev Evgeny GER 2412 - 3.5 2411
- IM Roberson Peter T ENG 2403 - 3.5 2481
- IM Karavade Eesha IND 2384 - 3.5 2392
- GM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan SCO 2369 - 3.5 2172
- IM Bellin Robert ENG 2344 - 3.5 2323
- FM Paul Johannes GER 2335 - 3.5 2254
- WIM Vaishali R IND 2329 - 3.5 2301
- WGM Enkhtuul Altan-Ulzii MGL 2327 - 3.5 2396
- WGM Rapport Jovana SRB 2327 - 3.5 2278
- IM Rathnakaran K. IND 2326 - 3.5 2417
- IM Kolbus Dietmar GER 2320 - 3.5 2292
- FM Zwahr Paul GER 2306 - 3.5 2241
- IM L'ami Alina ROU 2286 - 3.5 2468
- IM Piasetski Leon CAN 2286 - 3.5 2164

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

Isle of Man International 2017

September 30, 2017

Round Eight (continued)

Aman Hambleton is playing Julio Granda Zuniga (2653) with seconds on his clock to move 40. Eric, his second, is behind him looking on. Simon says that he is feeling very nervous for Aman because the end is near.

Granda Zuniga is a self-taught grandmaster from Peru (b. 1967). Supposedly, he has never opened a chess book but is a great natural talent.

Round 8, Sept. 30, 2017
Granda Zuniga Julio – Hambleton, Aman
A55 Old Indian, main line

1.g3 e5 2.c4 c6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 d6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.e4 O-O 7.d4 Nbd7 8.O-O a6 9.a4 a5 10.h3 Re8 11.Re1 Bf8 12.b3 exd4 13.Nxd4 Nc5 14.Bf4 g6 15.Ra2 Qb6 16.Rd2 Bd7 17.g4 h6 18.Kh1 Rad8 19.Bh2 Bc8 20.f4 Bg7 21.Bg1 Nfd7 22.Re3 Nf8 23.Nce2 Qc7 24.Qf1 Re7 25.Ng3 Rde8 26.Nc2 Nh7 27.Rde2 Nf6 28.Qe1 Ne6 29.Rf3 Nd7 30.Be3 Nec5 31.Bd2 Nf6 32.Rfe3 b6 33.Bc3 Bb7 34.Nd4 Qb8 35.Ndf5 gxf5 36.Nxf5 Bh8 37.Qh4 Re6 38.Nxh6+ Kf8 39.Nf5 Kg8 40.Nh6+ Kf8 41.g5 Ncxe4 42.Nf5 Kg8 43.Rxe4 1-0

and Aman won’t get the grandmaster norm this tourney
_________

In the feature game, Caruana played 15.g4, which made Magnus think (not a good thing!)

Round 8, Sept. 30, 2017
Caruana, Fabiano – Carlsen, Magnus
C78 Ruy Lopez, Archangel variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.a4 Rb8 9.d4 Bb6 10.a5 Ba7 11.h3 O-O 12.Be3 Ra8 13.Re1 h6 14.Nbd2 Re8 15.g4 Qe7 16.Nf1 Nd8 17.Ng3 c5 18.Qd2 c4 19.Bc2 Nh7 20.b4 cxb3 21.Bxb3 Be6 22.Bc2 Rc8 23.Bd3 Nb7 24.Rec1 Qd8 25.Qb2 Nxa5 26.Nd2 d5 27.Re1 Bb8 28.exd5 Bxd5 29.Bf5 Rc6 30.Qa3 Nb7 31.Rad1 exd4 32.Bxd4 Ng5 33.c4 Rxe1+ 34.Rxe1 Be6 35.Qe3 Bf4 0-1

Olimpiu Urcan - By demonstrating the risks associated with Caruana's 15.g4 novelty, Carlsen offered a strategic masterclass today.

In his postgame interview Carlsen said he thought there were lines for Black that were extremely complicated after g4. It is good to beat someone after walking into his prep. Caruana had a 38-minute think at one point. Magnus played very carefully in the ending so he wouldn’t screw things up. He has an extra half point when meeting Hikaru Nakamura in the final tomorrow for the title and first prize.
________

Round 8, Sept. 30, 2017
Fressinet, Laurent – Anand, Vishy
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 h6 7.Re1 O-O 8.h3 a6 9.a4 a5 10.Nbd2 Ne7 11.Nf1 Ng6 12.Ng3 c6 13.Bb3 Re8 14.d4 Bb6 15.Be3 exd4 16.Bxd4 Be6 17.Bxe6 Rxe6 18.Qb3 Bxd4 19.cxd4 Qd7 20.Re3 Ree8 21.Qc2 Qe6 22.Rae1 Ne7 23.Nd2 b5 24.Nf3 bxa4 25.Qxa4 Reb8 26.Qc2 Rb4 27.d5 cxd5 28.exd5 Qc8 29.Qxc8+ Nxc8 30.R1e2 Nb6 31.Nf5 Nc4 32.Rd3 a4 33.Ne3 Nxb2 34.Ra3 Nc4 35.Nxc4 Rxc4 36.Rd2 Ne4 37.Rd4 Rc1+ 38.Kh2 Nc5 39.Rb4 Rd1 40.Nd4 g6 41.Rc4 Rb8 0-1
______

Jan Timman walks into it with a classic blunder after reaching the time control:

Round 8, Sept. 30, 2017
Howell, David – Timman, Jan
E62 King’s Indian, Fianchetto, Larsen System

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d6 6.Nc3 c6 7.O-O Bf5 8.Ne1 Be6 9.b3 d5 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Nd3 Bf5 12.Bb2 Nc6 13.e3 Rc8 14.Rc1 h5 15.h3 e6 16.Ne5 g5 17.Nb5 a6 18.Nxc6 Rxc6 19.Rxc6 bxc6 20.Nc3 g4 21.h4 Nd7 22.Na4 c5 23.Qd2 cxd4 24.Bxd4 Qe7 25.Rc1 Rd8 26.Bxg7 Kxg7 27.Qd4+ Nf6 28.Qc5 Rd6 29.Nb6 Qd8 30.Nc8 Rd7 31.Nb6 Rb7 32.Na4 a5 33.Qc3 Kg6 34.Qe5 Rb8 35.Qf4 Kg7 36.Nc5 Rc8 37.a3 Bg6 38.b4 axb4 39.axb4 Nd7 40.Qd4+ Kg8 41.Bf1 Qe7 42.Nxe6 1-0

Position after Black’s 41…Qe7?




What does David play to win the game?

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

Isle of Man International 2017

September 30, 2017

Round Eight

A four queens game from yesterday:

Round 7, Sept. 29, 2017
Shvayger, Yullya (2442) – Watson, John 2247)
C18 French, Winawer, Advance

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.h4 Qa5 8.Bd2 Qa4 9.h5 cxd4 10.cxd4 Qxd4 11.Nf3 Qe4+ 12.Be2 Nf5 13.Kf1 b6 14.h6 gxh6 15.Bb5+ Kd8 16.Bxh6 Nxh6 17.Rxh6 Rg8 18.Rh4 Rg4 19.Bd3 Ba6 20.Kg1 Bxd3 21.cxd3 Qg6 22.Rxg4 Qxg4 23.Qc2 Nd7 24.Rc1 Nc5 25.d4 Rc8 26.dxc5 Rxc5 27.Qd2 Qa4 28.Rc3 Kc7 29.Rd3 Qb5 30.Nd4 Qb1+ 31.Kh2 Kb7 32.Rf3 Rc7 33.Rc3 Rc5 34.Nb3 Rxc3 35.Qxc3 Qe4 36.Qg3 a5 37.Nd2 Qc2 38.Qf4 Ka6 39.Nf3 Qg6 40.g3 h6 41.Qc1 Qd3 42.Qc8+ Kb5 43.Qe8+ Ka6 44.a4 b5 45.Qxf7 bxa4 46.Qxe6+ Kb5 47.Qf7 a3 48.e6 a2 49.e7 a1=Q 50.e8=Q+ Kb4 51.Qf4+ Ka3 52.Qea4+ 1-0

Position after 52.Qea4+ - Mate in Four



________

Caruana-Carlsen is the game of the day.

In Nakamura-Sutovsky, Emil has sacrificed two pawns for a non-attack and is losing.

Simon Williams is ecstatic about Akobian-Lenderman because White pushed Harry the h-pawn and it is ready to queen. He compares it to a Morphy game and says that analyzing the variations that were never played was the best ten minutes of his life!
It is an agreed draw.

Varuzhan says in the post-mortem that the h-pawn move was played by Kasparov in his recent St. Louis game and had only been played twice before.

Round 8, Sept 30, 2017
Akobian, Varuzhan – Lenderman, Aleksandr
E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 O-O 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 d5 7.Nf3 dxc4 8.Qxc4 b6 9.h4 Ba6 10.Qc2 Qd5 11.h5 Rc8 12.h6 g6 13.b4 Ne4 14.Rh4 f5 15.Ng5 Nd6 16.Bf4 Bc4 17.f3 Nd7 18.e4 Qxd4 19.Rd1 Qg1 20.Qxc4 Nxc4 21.Rxd7 Ne3 22.Rg7+ Kf8 23.Nxh7+ Ke8 24.Nf6+ Kf8 25.Nd7+ Ke8 26.Nf6+ Kf8 27.Nd7+ Ke8 28.Nf6+ 1/2-1/2

Nakamura and Sutovsky are discussing the game that Hikaru just won. This sets up a Nakamura-Carlsen final tomorrow!

Round 8, Sept. 30, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Sutovsky, Emil
D20 QGA

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bxc4 Bf5 6.Ne2 e6 7.O-O Nb6 8.Bb3 c5 9.Be3 c4 10.Bxc4 Nxc4 11.Qa4+ Nd7 12.Qxc4 Rc8 13.Qa4 Bc2 14.Qxa7 Bd3 15.Nbc3 Ba6 16.d5 Nxe5 17.Rfd1 Nd3 18.dxe6 Bd6 19.exf7+ Kxf7 20.Qd4 Re8 21.Qd5+ Kf8 22.Qf5+ Kg8 23.Bg5 Qc7 24.Qd5+ Kh8 25.Rxd3 Bxh2+ 26.Kh1 Bc4 27.Qd7 h6 28.g3 hxg5 29.Qxc7 Rxc7 30.Rd2 Rf7 31.Nd4 1-0

Hikaru was surprised that Emil didn’t play his usual Grunfeld and employed the Queen’s Gambit Accepted. Emil tried to be very enterprising but missed Hikaru’s strong reply.

It looks like tomorrow Magnus plays Hikaru with Hikaru being black.

The final round starts an hour and a half earlier.

[Alex Ferreira]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

Isle of Man International 2017


_________

Both Vidit and Carlsen had the black pieces in the last round. Carlsen gets the white ones because in such pairings the higher ranked player gets the white. How would this work if they both had white the last round?

That's not quite correct. In a case where both players are due X colour, in simplistic terms:
- The player with the highest number of points gets due colour
- If both players have same number of points, highest rated player gets due colour

(I believe there is a clause with history of colours where how recent the or far back the colour discrepency is, could also play a role in who gets due colour.)

The pairings priority is always about giving the player their due colour. Not to give them white.
In this case, both Carlsen and Vidit were due white. Carlsen having more points in the tournament, gets his colour.
If they were both due black, Carlsen would have gotten black.

Alex F.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

Isle of Man International 2017

September 29, 2017

Round Seven (continued)

Round Seven Results and Round Eight Pairings

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg

1 GM Caruana Fabiano 2799 5½ - 6 GM Carlsen Magnus 2827
2 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2781 5½ - 5½ GM Sutovsky Emil 2683
3 GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi 2702 5½ - 5½ GM Eljanov Pavel 2734
4 GM Fressinet Laurent 2657 5 - 5 GM Anand Viswanathan 2794
5 GM Grandelius Nils 2653 5 - 5 GM Adams Michael 2738
6 GM L'ami Erwin 2611 5 - 5 GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2676
7 GM Sokolov Ivan 2603 5 - 5 GM Rapport Richard 2675
8 GM Bindrich Falko 2598 5 - 5 GM Movsesian Sergei 2671
9 GM Hou Yifan 2670 5 - 5 GM Bogner Sebastian 2599
10 GM Akobian Varuzhan 2662 5 - 5 GM Lenderman Aleksandr 2565
11 GM Swapnil S. Dhopade 2532 5 - 4½ GM Short Nigel D 2698
12 GM Kramnik Vladimir 2803 4½ - 4½ GM Sethuraman S.P. 2617
13 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco 2716 4½ - 4½ GM Tari Aryan 2588
14 GM Howell David W L 2701 4½ - 4½ GM Timman Jan H 2573
15 GM Rodshtein Maxim 2695 4½ - 4½ GM Wagner Dennis 2564
16 GM Leko Peter 2679 4½ - 4½ GM Pichot Alan 2565
17 GM Jones Gawain C B 2668 4½ - 4½ IM Batsiashvili Nino 2472
18 GM Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan 2568 4½ - 4½ GM Riazantsev Alexander 2666
19 GM Donchenko Alexander 2559 4½ - 4½ GM Sargissian Gabriel 2652
20 GM Xiong Jeffery 2633 4½ - 4½ IM Zatonskih Anna 2424
21 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2552 4½ - 4½ GM Shirov Alexei 2630
22 IM Harsha Bharathakoti 2394 4½ - 4 GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. 2573
23 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2702 4 - 4 GM Panchanathan Magesh Chandran 2481
24 IM Swayams Mishra 2444 4 - 4 GM Adhiban B. 2670
25 GM Granda Zuniga Julio E 2653 4 - 4 IM Hambleton Aman 2479
26 GM Bok Benjamin 2620 4 - 4 IM Yankelevich Lev 2443
27 GM Huschenbeth Niclas 2596 4 - 4 GM Salomon Johan 2476
28 GM Svane Rasmus 2595 4 - 4 IM Kavutskiy Konstantin 2390
29 IM Cornette Deimante 2404 4 - 4 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel 2559
30 GM Vishnu Prasanna. V 2543 4 - 4 GM Tarjan James 2412
31 Woellermann Jan 2384 4 - 4 IM Praggnanandhaa R 2500
32 IM Nihal Sarin 2483 4 - 4 IM Rudolf Anna 2286
33 FM Jessel Stephen 2334 4 - 3½ GM Tregubov Pavel V. 2589
34 GM Gelfand Boris 2737 3½ - 3½ IM Hemant Sharma (del) 2342
35 GM Arkell Keith C 2415 3½ - 3½ GM Ju Wenjun 2574
36 IM Wallace John Paul 2413 3½ - 3½ GM Harika Dronavalli 2528
37 IM Degtiarev Evgeny 2412 3½ - 3½ GM Perelshteyn Eugene 2524
38 IM Houska Jovanka 2393 3½ - 3½ IM Lubbe Nikolas 2515
39 Arjun Kalyan 2406 3½ - 3½ IM Lampert Jonas 2514
40 IM Roberson Peter T 2403 3½ - 3½ IM Brown Michael William 2499
41 GM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan 2369 3½ - 3½ GM Khmelniker Ilya 2480
42 IM Visakh N R 2458 3½ - 3½ WIM Vaishali R 2329
43 Loos Roland 2393 3½ - 3½ IM Christiansen Johan-Sebastian 2457
44 IM Esserman Marc 2453 3½ - 3½ FM Ragnarsson Dagur 2340
45 IM Bellin Robert 2344 3½ - 3½ IM Paehtz Elisabeth 2453
46 IM Ledger Andrew J 2361 3½ - 3½ GM Neelotpal Das 2448
47 IM Rathnakaran K. 2326 3½ - 3½ WGM Shvayger Yuliya 2442
48 Balint Vilmos 2281 3½ - 3½ IM Trent Lawrence 2427
49 IM Eggleston David J 2400 3 - 3 GM Brunello Sabino 2555
50 IM Karavade Eesha 2384 3 - 3 GM Mekhitarian Krikor Sevag 2534
51 FM Fenil Shah 2362 3 - 3 IM Basso Pier Luigi 2460
52 IM Gaponenko Inna 2437 3 - 3 Mueller Philipp 2220
53 GM Sundararajan Kidambi 2426 3 - 3 Vignesh B 2260
54 IM Krishna C R G 2367 3 - 3 Raja Harshit 2423
55 Jonsson Gauti Pall 2011 3 - 3 FM Rakesh Kumar Jena 2418
56 WIM Osmanodja Filiz 2245 3 - 3 IM Kojima Shinya 2403
57 IM Kjartansson Gudmundur 2456 2½ - 2½ Oyama Akito 2198
58 IM Kiewra Keaton 2433 2½ - 2½ FM Lorscheid Gerhard 2192
59 Heimisson Hilmir Freyr 2185 2½ - 2½ Pranav V 2372
60 Seyfried Claus 2173 2½ - 2½ FM Paul Johannes 2335
61 Birkisson Bardur Orn 2164 2½ - 2½ WGM Enkhtuul Altan-Ulzii 2327
62 Coathup Roger H 2125 2½ - 2½ WGM Rapport Jovana 2327
63 Pranav Anand 2106 2½ - 2½ IM Kolbus Dietmar 2320
64 FM Zwahr Paul 2306 2½ - 2½ Maloberti David 2132
65 Kavinda Akila 2099 2½ - 2½ Ojas Kulkarni 2289
66 IM Piasetski Leon 2286 2½ - 2½ Fischer Daniel 2100
67 IM Watson John 2247 2½ - 2½ Byron Alan M 2074
68 Allen Keith 2231 2½ - 2½ CM Thilakarathne G M H 2053
69 Player Edmund C 2202 2½ - 2½ WFM Zahn Alina 2025
70 FM Yoo Christopher Woojin 2254 2 - 2 Mai Aron Thor 2038
71 Birkisson Bjorn Holm 2023 2 - 2 FM Babar Michael 2130
72 WFM Frank Tena Dr. 2002 2 - 2 WIM Maroroa Sue 2083
73 Kruse Janik 2096 1½ - 1½ Nahnsen Kenneth 2011
74 Acosta Mariano 1988 1½ - 1½ Burrows Martin P 2085
75 Dahl Baard 1974 1½ - 1½ Prueske Wolfgang 2046
76 Harari Zaki 2027 1½ - 1½ Hopson Kevin Mike 1929
77 Bianco Valerio 2086 1 - 1 IM Mannion Stephen R 2320
78 GM Almasi Zoltan 2707 4 ½ not paired
79 GM Olafsson Helgi 2512 4 ½ not paired
80 IM Zumsande Martin 2471 3 ½ not paired
81 GM Ushenina Anna 2445 0 0 not paired
82 IM L'ami Alina 2286 3 ½ not paired
83 FM Loew Gerald 2262 2 ½ not paired

__________

Round 7, Sept. 29, 2017
Eggleston, David (2400) – Hambleton, Aman (2479)
B43 Sicilian, Kan

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Nxc6 Qxc6 8.O-O b5 9.Re1 Ne7 10.Qd2 Bb7 11.b3 Ng6 12.Bb2 Bd6 13.a4 Qc7 14.axb5 Bxh2+ 15.Kh1 Bf4 16.Qe2 a5 17.Na4 O-O 18.Qh5 Ne5 19.g3 Nxd3 20.cxd3 Bh6 21.Bc1 Bxc1 22.Raxc1 Qd6 23.Nc5 Rab8 24.f4 f5 25.Qe2 Ba8 26.Kh2 Rxb5 27.d4 Rb4 28.e5 Qd5 29.Na6 Rxb3 30.Nc7 Qf3 31.Qxf3 Bxf3 32.d5 Kf7 33.Rb1 a4 34.Rxb3 axb3 35.dxe6+ dxe6 36.Nb5 Rb8 37.Nd4 Be4 0-1

Round 7, Sept. 29, 2017
Byron, Alan – Piasetski, Leon
B06 Robatsch Defence

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 c6 5.Bb3 d5 6.e5 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 e6 9.c3 f6 10.exf6 Nxf6 11.Qe2 Qd6 12.O-O Nbd7 13.Re1 Kf7 14.Bf4 Qxf4 15.Qxe6+ Kf8 16.Qe7+ Kg8 17.Qe6+ Kf8 18.Qe7+ Kg8 19.Qe6+ Kf8 20.Qe7+ 1/2-1/2

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

Isle of Man International 2017

September 29, 2017

Round Seven (continued)

Round 7, Sept. 29, 2017
Timman, Jan – Leko, Peter
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.e3 O-O 7.Qc2 Re8 8.Bd2 a6 9.h3 Bd6 10.a3 Bd7 11.Be2 dxc4 12.Bxc4 h6 13.O-O e5 14.d5 Ne7 15.e4 b5 16.Ba2 Ng6 17.Rfe1 Nh5 18.Be3 Rf8 19.Qd1 Nhf4 20.Rc1 f5 21.exf5 Bxf5 22.Bb1 Bxb1 23.Rxb1 Qd7 24.Bxf4 Rxf4 25.Ne4 Raf8 26.Re3 Qf7 27.Qd3 Rf5 28.Ng3 e4 29.Nxe4 Nf4 30.Qb3 Nxh3+ 31.gxh3 Rxf3 32.Rxf3 Qxf3 33.Qxf3 Rxf3 34.Nxd6 cxd6 35.Rc1 Kf7 36.Rc6 Ke7 37.Rxa6 Rxh3 38.Ra7+ Kf6 39.Rd7 Ke5 40.Rxg7 Rb3 41.Re7+ Kxd5 42.Re2 h5 43.Rd2+ Ke5 44.Re2+ Kd4 45.Rd2+ Ke5 46.Re2+ Kd4 47.Rd2+ Ke5 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Sept. 29, 2017
Praggnanandhaa, R. – Akobian, Varuzhan
C11 French, Burn variation

.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Bxf6 gxf6 7.Qd2 b6 8.O-O-O Bb7 9.Nc3 c6 10.g3 Nd7 11.Bg2 Qc7 12.f4 f5 13.Nf3 O-O-O 14.Qe3 Kb8 15.Ne5 Nxe5 16.dxe5 h5 17.h4 Rhg8 18.Rxd8+ Bxd8 19.Ne2 c5 20.Bf3 Bxf3 21.Qxf3 Qb7 22.Qxb7+ Kxb7 23.Rd1 Kc7 24.Rd3 Be7 25.c4 f6 26.Kd1 Rg4 27.b3 a6 28.a4 Kc6 29.Ke1 Rg8 30.Re3 Re8 31.Kf2 b5 32.axb5+ axb5 33.Nc3 bxc4 34.bxc4 fxe5 35.fxe5 Rg8 36.Ne2 Rg4 37.Kf3 Rxc4 38.Nf4 Rc1 39.Nxh5 c4 40.Nf4 Bc5 41.Re2 c3 42.Nd3 Rf1+ 43.Kg2 Rd1 44.Ne1 Kd5 45.h5 Bf8 46.g4 fxg4 47.Kg3 Bh6 48.Kxg4 Rxe1 49.Rxe1 c2 0-1

- I think this is lost
- It’s 0-1 guys
- He now needs 2 out of 2 in the last two rounds to get his GM norm

Round 7, Sept. 29, 2017
Harika, Dronavalli – Kramnik, Vladimir
A58 Benko Gambit accepted

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.g3 d6 8.Bg2 O-O 9.Nf3 Nbd7 10.O-O Nb6 11.e4 Bxa6 12.Re1 Nc4 13.Bf1 Nd7 14.Nd2 Nde5 15.Nxc4 Nxc4 16.Bd3 Qb6 17.Rb1 Rfb8 18.Na4 Qb4 19.Kg2 Ne5 20.Bd2 Qd4 21.Bc2 Nd3 22.Re3 Bh6 23.Rf3 Bxd2 24.Qxd2 Ne5 25.Qxd4 cxd4 26.Rb3 Bb5 27.a3 Be2 28.Rxb8+ Rxb8 29.b4 Bf3+ 30.Kf1 Rc8 31.Bd1 Bxe4 32.Ra1 Nc4 33.Ke1 Bxd5 34.Be2 Be4 35.f3 Ne3 36.fxe4 Nc2+ 37.Kd2 Nxa1 38.Bd1 f5 39.exf5 gxf5 40.Nb6 Rb8 41.Nc4 Kf7 42.g4 Kf6 43.gxf5 Kxf5 44.Bf3 Kf4 45.Bd5 e5 46.Kd3 Rc8 47.a4 e4+ 48.Bxe4 Rxc4 49.Kxc4 Kxe4 50.a5 Nc2 51.b5 Na3+ 52.Kb4 Nxb5 53.Kxb5 d3 0-1

- Objectively Na3+ was a mistake but still winning
- The easiest win you can see is better than the shortest win you don’t
- nice finish
- Long live the Benko!

Round 7, Sept. 29, 2017
Shirov, Alexei – Visakh, N.R.
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Byrne Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Be7 9.Qd2 O-O 10.O-O-O a5 11.a4 Nc6 12.g4 Nb4 13.g5 Ne8 14.f4 exf4 15.Bxf4 Rc8 16.Kb1 Bg4 17.Re1 d5 18.exd5 Bd6 19.Nd4 Qb6 20.Ndb5 Rd8 21.Bc4 Bf5 22.Bb3 Bxf4 23.Qxf4 Qg6 24.Re2 Bd7 25.Rhe1 Kh8 26.h4 f6 27.Nd4 Nd6 28.Qxd6 Bg4 29.Qh2 Bxe2 30.Qxe2 fxg5 31.Ne6 Rfe8 32.hxg5 Rc8 33.d6 ( 33.d6 { +10.85/21 } 33...Rxe6 34.d7 ) 1-0

Rank after Round Seven

Rk. Name FED Rtg Score Rp

1 GM Carlsen Magnus NOR 2827 - 6 2893
2 GM Caruana Fabiano USA 2799 - 5.5 2873
GM Nakamura Hikaru USA 2781 - 5.5 2800
GM Eljanov Pavel UKR 2734 - 5.5 2803
GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi IND 2702 - 5.5 2797
GM Sutovsky Emil ISR 2683 - 5.5 2728
7 GM Anand Viswanathan IND 2794 - 5 2722
GM Adams Michael ENG 2738 - 5 2685
GM Kasimdzhanov Rustam UZB 2676 - 5 2733
GM Rapport Richard HUN 2675 - 5 2695
GM Movsesian Sergei ARM 2671 - 5 2624
GM Hou Yifan CHN 2670 - 5 2689
GM Akobian Varuzhan USA 2662 - 5 2556
GM Fressinet Laurent FRA 2657 - 5 2716
GM Grandelius Nils SWE 2653 - 5 2691
GM L'ami Erwin NED 2611 - 5 2715
GM Sokolov Ivan NED 2603 - 5 2648
GM Bogner Sebastian SUI 2599 - 5 2580
GM Lenderman Aleksandr USA 2565 - 5 2793
GM Swapnil S. Dhopade IND 2532 - 5 2727
21 GM Kramnik Vladimir RUS 2803 - 4.5 2554
GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2716 - 4.5 2646
GM Howell David W L ENG 2701 - 4.5 2585
GM Rodshtein Maxim ISR 2695 - 4.5 2567
GM Leko Peter HUN 2679 - 4.5 2610
GM Jones Gawain C B ENG 2668 - 4.5 2583
GM Sargissian Gabriel ARM 2652 - 4.5 2594
GM Xiong Jeffery USA 2633 - 4.5 2595
GM Shirov Alexei LAT 2630 - 4.5 2614
GM Sethuraman S.P. IND 2617 - 4.5 2718
GM Tari Aryan NOR 2588 - 4.5 2616
GM Timman Jan H NED 2573 - 4.5 2668
GM Pichot Alan ARG 2565 - 4.5 2585
GM Wagner Dennis GER 2564 - 4.5 2620
GM Kosteniuk Alexandra RUS 2552 - 4.5 2613
IM Batsiashvili Nino GEO 2472 - 4.5 2738
IM Zatonskih Anna USA 2424 - 4.5 2628
IM Harsha Bharathakoti IND 2394 - 4.5 2763
39 GM Almasi Zoltan HUN 2707 - 4 2658
GM Naiditsch Arkadij AZE 2702 - 4 2610
GM Short Nigel D ENG 2698 - 4 2625
GM Adhiban B. IND 2670 - 4 2542
GM Riazantsev Alexander RUS 2666 - 4 2605
GM Granda Zuniga Julio E PER 2653 - 4 2501
GM Bok Benjamin NED 2620 - 4 2529
GM Bindrich Falko GER 2598 - 4 2594
GM Huschenbeth Niclas GER 2596 - 4 2542
GM Svane Rasmus GER 2595 - 4 2495
GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. IND 2573 - 4 2536
GM Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan IND 2568 - 4 2648
GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2559 - 4 2578
GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2559 - 4 2605
GM Vishnu Prasanna. V IND 2543 - 4 2494
GM Olafsson Helgi ISL 2512 - 4 2477
IM Praggnanandhaa R IND 2500 - 4 2534
IM Nihal Sarin IND 2483 - 4 2512
GM Panchanathan Magesh Chandran IND 2481 - 4 2556
IM Hambleton Aman CAN 2479 - 4 2496
GM Salomon Johan NOR 2476 - 4 2561
IM Swayams Mishra IND 2444 - 4 2307
IM Yankelevich Lev GER 2443 - 4 2324
GM Tarjan James USA 2412 - 4 2654
IM Cornette Deimante LTU 2404 - 4 2385
IM Kavutskiy Konstantin USA 2390 - 4 2485
Woellermann Jan GER 2384 - 4 2507
FM Jessel Stephen IRL 2334 - 4 2413
IM Rudolf Anna HUN 2286 - 4 2517
68 GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2737 - 3.5 2492
GM Tregubov Pavel V. RUS 2589 - 3.5 2359
GM Harika Dronavalli IND 2528 - 3.5 2446
GM Perelshteyn Eugene USA 2524 - 3.5 2471
IM Lubbe Nikolas GER 2515 - 3.5 2475
IM Lampert Jonas GER 2514 - 3.5 2576
IM Brown Michael William USA 2499 - 3.5 2527
GM Khmelniker Ilya ISR 2480 - 3.5 2444
IM Visakh N R IND 2458 - 3.5 2375
IM Christiansen Johan-Sebastian NOR 2457 - 3.5 2543
IM Esserman Marc USA 2453 - 3.5 2378
IM Paehtz Elisabeth GER 2453 - 3.5 2413
GM Neelotpal Das IND 2448 - 3.5 2437
WGM Shvayger Yuliya ISR 2442 - 3.5 2374
IM Trent Lawrence ENG 2427 - 3.5 2449
GM Arkell Keith C ENG 2415 - 3.5 2340
IM Wallace John Paul AUS 2413 - 3.5 2462
Arjun Kalyan IND 2406 - 3.5 2515
IM Roberson Peter T ENG 2403 - 3.5 2528
IM Houska Jovanka ENG 2393 - 3.5 2497
Loos Roland GER 2393 - 3.5 2267
GM Arakhamia-Grant Ketevan SCO 2369 - 3.5 2178
IM Ledger Andrew J ENG 2361 - 3.5 2395
IM Bellin Robert ENG 2344 - 3.5 2360
IM Hemant Sharma (del) IND 2342 - 3.5 2349
FM Ragnarsson Dagur ISL 2340 - 3.5 2276
WIM Vaishali R IND 2329 - 3.5 2301
IM Rathnakaran K. IND 2326 - 3.5 2462
Balint Vilmos HUN 2281 - 3.5 2360
97 GM Ju Wenjun CHN 2574 - 3 2431
GM Brunello Sabino ITA 2555 - 3 2468
GM Mekhitarian Krikor Sevag BRA 2534 - 3 2393
IM Zumsande Martin GER 2471 - 3 2347
IM Basso Pier Luigi ITA 2460 - 3 2384
IM Gaponenko Inna UKR 2437 - 3 2338
GM Sundararajan Kidambi IND 2426 - 3 2507
Raja Harshit IND 2423 - 3 2435
IM Degtiarev Evgeny GER 2412 - 3 2383
IM Kojima Shinya JPN 2403 - 3 2279
IM Eggleston David J ENG 2400 - 3 2407
IM Karavade Eesha IND 2384 - 3 2371
IM Krishna C R G IND 2367 - 3 2512
FM Fenil Shah IND 2362 - 3 2218
IM L'ami Alina ROU 2286 - 3 2468
Vignesh B IND 2260 - 3 2356
WIM Osmanodja Filiz GER 2245 - 3 2269
Mueller Philipp GER 2220 - 3 2253
Jonsson Gauti Pall ISL 2011 - 3 2260
116 IM Kjartansson Gudmundur ISL 2456 - 2.5 2330
IM Kiewra Keaton USA 2433 - 2.5 2285
Pranav V IND 2372 - 2.5 2170
FM Paul Johannes GER 2335 - 2.5 2213
WGM Enkhtuul Altan-Ulzii MGL 2327 - 2.5 2376
WGM Rapport Jovana SRB 2327 - 2.5 2237
IM Kolbus Dietmar GER 2320 - 2.5 2266
FM Zwahr Paul GER 2306 - 2.5 2203
Ojas Kulkarni IND 2289 - 2.5 2288
IM Piasetski Leon CAN 2286 - 2.5 2120
IM Watson John USA 2247 - 2.5 2151
________

Whom does Magnus play in Round 8? He has already played
Eljanov and Vidit and just had two whites in a row. Nakamura? Caruana? Sutovsky?

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

Isle of Man International 2017

September 29, 2017

Round Seven (continued)

The two leaders have drawn and Santosh Vidit is in with Simon Williams explaining the game. It seemed that things weren’t exactly going Magnus’s way and he was happy to exchange off and draw.

A better game for Vidit than the last time he met Carlsen, which was at the World’s Rapids in Doha (2016). Carlsen had lost the game previous and he met Vidit in an angry mood! You can see the wipeout at:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1856273

Round 7, Sept. 29, 2017
Carlsen, Magnus – Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack, Pachman System

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O e5 5.d3 Ne7 6.e4 O-O 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Re1 Nc6 9.Nc3 Nde7 10.Rb1 a5 11.b3 Re8 12.Bb2 Nf5 13.Nb5 a4 14.c4 axb3 15.axb3 Nd6 16.Ra1 Rxa1 17.Bxa1 Nxb5 18.cxb5 Nd4 19.Bxd4 exd4 20.Rxe8+ Qxe8 21.Qc1 Bd7 22.Qxc7 Bxb5 23.Bf1 Bc6 24.Qf4 Bxf3 25.Qxf3 Qc6 26.Qd1 b6 27.Bg2 Qe6 28.Bb7 Bf8 29.Qf3 Kg7 30.Qf4 Qf6 31.Qxf6+ 1/2-1/2

Lenderman and Vishy Anand also have drawn:

Round 7, Sept. 29, 2017
Lenderman, Aleksandr – Anand, Vishy
E01 Catalan, Closed

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Bb4+ 5.Nd2 O-O 6.Nf3 b6 7.O-O Bb7 8.Ne5 Nbd7 9.Qa4 Bd6 10.Nxd7 Qxd7 11.Qxd7 Nxd7 12.cxd5 Bxd5 13.e4 Bb7 14.Rd1 Be7 15.Nc4 Nf6 16.f3 c5 17.Be3 cxd4 18.Bxd4 Rfd8 19.Be3 Ne8 20.a4 Nd6 21.Bf1 Nxc4 22.Bxc4 Rxd1+ 23.Rxd1 Rd8 24.Rxd8+ Bxd8 25.b4 Bc7 26.b5 Kf8 27.Kf2 Ke7 28.Ke2 f6 29.Kd3 Bc8 30.f4 Bd7 31.h4 h6 32.g4 Bd6 33.Kc3 Bc8 34.Kd3 Bb7 35.h5 e5 36.f5 Kd7 37.Bd5 Bxd5 38.exd5 Kc7 39.Bd2 Kb7 40.a5 a6 41.Kc4 bxa5 42.Bxa5 axb5+ 43.Kxb5 Be7 44.Bb6 Bf8 45.Be3 Kc7 46.Kc4 1/2-1/2

On the other top board, Gawain Jones is having a rough time of it versus Fabiano Caruana.
When it looked like he was going to resign in a few moves, he ate some chocolate. Fiona asked, “Would someone who is about to resign, start eating a chocolate?”

One supposes that this is the old “eating chocolate” ploy. Fabiano thinks he has a winning position and then is rocked to his very boots by Gawain nonchalantly eating chocolate.

The game continues with Gawain getting a cup of tea. Hikaru looks on. If Gawain eventually comes back with a 20-pound roast turkey then, if I were Fabiano, I would resign myself.

Ah, no danger of that. Gawain offers his hand to Fabiano and the game is over. Then Gawain takes his tea and walks off with Fabiano to analyze the game.

Round 7, Sept. 29, 2017
Caruana, Fabiano – Jones, Gawain
C78 Ruy Lopez, Archangel variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.a4 Rb8 9.d4 Bb6 10.a5 Ba7 11.h3 O-O 12.Be3 Ra8 13.Re1 h6 14.Nbd2 exd4 15.cxd4 Nb4 16.e5 Nfd5 17.Ne4 Nxe3 18.Rxe3 Bb7 19.e6 Nd5 20.exf7+ Kh8 21.Re1 Rxf7 22.Rc1 Rc8 23.Nfg5 Rf5 24.Ne6 Qd7 25.Qg4 Qf7 26.Rxc7 Rxc7 27.Nxd6 Rxf2 28.Nxc7 Qf6 29.Nxd5 Qxd4 30.Qxd4 Bxd4 31.Re4 Ba7 32.Nb6 1-0

- Nice nice nice. A game to play over.
- black misplayed opening
- I don't play this opening but worth looking at
- This game Fabi won in his hotel room
________

Dennis Wagner and Matthias Bluebaum were two talented German youngsters of a group of 4 who were let play chess exclusively after graduating from high school in hopes of their soon becoming grandmasters:

http://blog.zeit.de/schach/bluebaum-...nz-schachbund/

The 20-year-old Wagner plays Nakamura today.

Round 7, Sept. 29, 2017
Wagner, Dennis – Nakamura, Hikaru
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack (Barcza System)

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 c6 4.c4 e6 5.O-O Nd7 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Nc3 Ngf6 8.d3 Bc5 9.h3 Bh5 10.e4 dxe4 11.dxe4 O-O 12.Qe2 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Ne5 14.Rd1 Qb6 15.Bg2 Bd4 16.Bd2 Rfd8 17.Be1 Nc6 18.Kh2 e5 19.f4 Re8 20.Nb5 exf4 21.gxf4 Be3 22.Bd2 Nd5 23.Nd6 Bxf4+ 24.Bxf4 Nxf4 25.Qf3 g5 26.Nxe8 Rxe8 27.Qg3 h6 28.Rd2 Ne5 29.Rad1 Nc4 30.Rd7 Qxb2 31.Rf1 Ne5 32.Rd6 Neg6 33.Rf2 Qe5 34.Rd7 Rc8 35.Rxb7 h5 36.Kh1 Rc3 37.Rf3 Rc2 38.Rf2 Rc3 39.Rf3 h4 40.Qe1 Rc2 0-1

- Wagner is kaput
- So how is Hikaru in the standings?
- Now at 5.5 points

Emil Sutovsky beats Anna Zatonskih, who beat Gelfand yesterday

Round 7, Sept 29, 2017
Zatonskih, Anna – Sutovsky, Emil
B06 Robatsch Defence Geller’s System

1.e4 g6 2.d4 d6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.c3 Nc6 5.Bb5 a6 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.O-O Nf6 8.Re1 O-O 9.Nbd2 a5 10.b3 a4 11.Ba3 Nh5 12.Nf1 c5 13.e5 cxd4 14.cxd4 Nf4 15.Ne3 Bb7 16.Nc4 Qd7 17.h3 axb3 18.axb3 Qf5 19.Re3 Bh6 20.Ne1 dxe5 21.Rxe5 Nxh3+ 22.gxh3 Qxh3 23.d5 Bf4 24.Nf3 Rfd8 25.Bxe7 Rxa1 26.Qxa1 Rxd5 27.Rxd5 Bxd5 28.Qa4 Bh2+ 0-1

Bogner beats Naiditsch

Round 7, Sept. 29, 2017
Bogner, Sebastian – Naiditsch, Arkadij
B32 Sicilian Defence

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6 5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Be3 Qc7 8.a3 a6 9.f4 d6 10.g4 b5 11.g5 Nd7 12.h4 Bb7 13.h5 Nb6 14.Qf3 b4 15.Qf2 bxc3 16.Bxb6 Qc8 17.bxc3 Be7 18.O-O-O O-O 19.g6 fxg6 20.hxg6 h6 21.Bh3 Rb8 22.a4 a5 23.Rhe1 Ba6 24.e5 Nxe5 25.Bxa5 Kh8 26.Qg3 Bc4 27.fxe5 Bg5+ 28.Kb2 Bf4 29.Qg1 Bxe5 30.Rxe5 dxe5 31.Bb4 Rf3 32.Bg2 Rg3 33.Qh2 Re3 34.Qg1 Rg3 35.Qf2 Rxg6 36.Be4 Rg4 37.Nc5 Qe8 38.Qe3 Rf4 39.Nd7 Qh5 40.Rh1 Rxb4+ 41.cxb4 1-0

Jan Timman comes in to sit with Fiona and discuss the ending of his game with Peter Leko. In one possibility each side had two passers and a draw.

Jan says that it is an interesting experience to play in an open tournament where more than half of your opponents are grandmasters. He is here with his wife and they are enjoying themselves.

Fiona says that today it was announced that the English Chess Federation has awarded Jan its Book of the Year award for Timman’s Titans. He says that for half a year he worked 6 hours a day on the book. The total work was one and a half years.

Fiona asks who was his favorite player. Timman says that Kasparov was the greatest World Champion.

From the ECF website:

Book of the Year 2017 – shortlist

The Short List this year contains four differing and wide-ranging books reflecting the different personalities of the writers. Two long standing world class players reveal their opinions; Portisch on the Ruy Lopez and Timman on world champions Euwe to Kasparov, while Smirin has produced a joyous book on the complexities of the Kings Indian. Aagaard meanwhile considers how decisions can/should be made at the board. A rich collection with something for every reader whatever their interests.

King’s Indian Warfare! by Ilya Smirin
Quality Chess pp352

The cover of this book shows Smirin’s intentions: King’s Indian Defence, but the word “Defence” is crossed out with big red slashes and replaced by “Warfare!”. Not a conventional opening book then, but an exhilarating collection of games, illustrating the tactical and attacking aspects of the defence. But what lifts the book above the ordinary is Smirin’s lifelong love for and the enthusiasm with which he plays and writes about, the King’s Indian.

My Secrets in the Ruy Lopez by Lajos Portisch
Gambit pp159 paperback

When a player as renowned as Portisch, (8 times a world candidates qualifier) who was famed for his meticulous opening preparation, writes his first book in English (as far as the judges are aware) on the Ruy Lopez, it is eagerly anticipated and does not disappoint. Portisch defended the Ruy throughout his playing days and examines, on an evolutionary basis, the Ruy’s major variations and systems. Essential reading for a Ruy practitioner; but Portisch also includes perceptive comments on the chess world and players he encountered during his long career, which greatly adds to the books value.

Thinking Inside the Box by Jacob Aagaard
Quality Chess pp407 hard back

Aagaard has for many years been writing books about chess theory and technical improvement. Indeed, he won Book of the Year 2010 for his two volumes on “Attacking Chess”. This latest and final volume in the series “Grand Master Preparation” unifies the concepts in the previous volumes. Aagaard concentrates, in a very personal way, on what went on during the course of his games. This approach enables him to explore such issues as psychology, calculation, analysis and many others. The book concludes with two Appendices. The first is about Aagaard’s views on nutrition; the second by Nikolaos Ntirlis is entitled
“Advanced Engine Management”.

Timman’s Titans by Jan Timman
New in Chess pp332 paperback

Timman has for many years combined outstanding playing and writing skills. In this very personal book he looks at the personalities of world champions from Euwe to Kasparov. He met them all except Alekhine and played against most of them many times. He knew/knows them personally. This gives him a unique insight into their characters and chess styles. Timman includes games and positions he played against the world champions. In doing so, he gained a remarkable insight into a group of widely differing men who only had in common a wonderful chess talent.

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/book-...017-shortlist/

(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Isle of Man International 2017

Isle of Man International 2017

September 29, 2017

Round Seven

The chessbomb kibitzers are active. This interesting exchange:

- It’s rare that Carlsen doesn’t win a tournament or take 2nd place.
- Kasparov was more dominant than Karpov, to say nothing of Carlsen
- But Karpov won all the time
- Carlsen will be beaten by 2025 max, too many young talents coming up
- we missed out on some good matches during the wilderness years in the nineties and early 00s
- And Kasparov was clearly the best player for a number of years after finally getting past Karpov
- Fischer was amazing, but only for a few years and, in my opinion, the other players around at the time were not as good compared to now
- Karpov won the most impressive number of tournaments in the history (more than 160) Never, other chess player will obtain the same results !!
- Kasparov won or tied for first in all tournaments (15) he played in between 1981 and 1990.
- Paul Truong won over 500 tournaments before he was five years old, according to Susan Polgar (so it must be true)
_________

Both Vidit and Carlsen had the black pieces in the last round. Carlsen gets the white ones because in such pairings the higher ranked player gets the white. How would this work if they both had white the last round?

Speculation continues on why players take the half-point bye. On the EC Forum one writer says this:

“I see that today's byes include Boris Gelfand and Keith Arkell. Finding all these players taking byes in this round and previous rounds very new and a bit odd. I normally associate them with amateur players not pros like these guys.”

The interesting thing is that Keith is sitting at his laptop and replied with this:

“All players have the option of one half point bye in rounds 1 to 8.

I've played pretty much non-stop for the last 2 or 3 months - the South Wales International, the Dundee GM all-play-all, the Midlands Open, The British Championship, 41 games of various time controls in Qatar, Paignton Premier and now the Isle of Man. That's probably far more than any other GM on the planet during the same period.

I figured that taking a rest now before, hopefully, playing 2 strong GMs in the last 2 rounds (ending up with a white) made a lot of sense.”
________

Ontario weather has turned cold after an unusual period with temperatures 10C degrees above the seasonal average.
Today, on the Isle of Man, there are scattered showers, 16 C and winds of 31 km/h.
______

- Harika Dronavalli has white against Kramnik I see; Vlad hasn't won with black for 6 games now
- Perhaps that explains his Benko Gambit today?
- The Benko is a fighting opening. Vlad wants blood
- Kramnik's 1st Benko or Benoni according to database
- Vlad knows the Benko even though he does not play it against top players

The game so far:

Round 7, Sept. 29, 2017
Harika, Dronavalli _ Kramnik, Vladimir
A58 Benko Gambit Accepted

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.g3 d6 8.Bg2 O-O 9.Nf3 Nbd7 10.O-O Nb6 11.e4 Bxa6 12.Re1 Nc4 13.Bf1 Nd7 14.Nd2 Nde5 15.Nxc4 Nxc4 16.Bd3 Qb6 17.Rb1 Rfb8 18.Na4 Qb4 19.Kg2 Ne5 *

Position after Black’s 19th move: