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Abu Dhabi Masters 2018
August 17, 2018
It is getting impossible to cover every first-class tournament these days.
Perhaps I can put everything that happened in one posting.
From ChessBase:
The race for the title between Daniil Dubov, Anton Korobov and Salem Saleh ended in a deadlock between the three GMs after a nailbiting final round. Due to his better tiebreak, Dubov was declared the winner while Korobov and Saleh were placed second and third, respectively. The tournament also witnessed two Indian teenagers, Nihal Sarin and Arjun Erigaisi earn their grandmaster titles at its conclusion.
The top of the standings/results table:
Final Ranking after 9 Rounds
Rk. NameFED Rtg Pts.
1 GM Dubov Daniil RUS 2691 7.5
2 GM Korobov Anton UKR 2664 7.5
3 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2636 7.5
4 GM Sargissian Gabriel ARM 2680 7
5 GM Rapport Richard HUN 2719 6.5
6 GM Wang Hao CHN 2711 6.5
7 GM Cheparinov Ivan GEO 2718 6.5
8 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS 2707 6.5
9 GM Amin Bassem EGY 2684 6.5
10 GM Maghsoodloo Parham IRI 2636 6.5
11 GM Karthikeyan Murali IND 2609 6.5
12 GM Jojua Davit GEO 2583 6.5
13 IM Harsha Bharathakoti IND 2454 6.5
14 GM Abdusattorov Nodirbek UZB 2539 6.5
15 GM Debashis Das IND 2539 6.5
16 GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. IND 2581 6
17 IM Erigaisi Arjun IND 2517 6
18 GM Akopian Vladimir ARM 2655 6
19 GM Puranik Abhimanyu IND 2514 6
20 GM Short Nigel D ENG 2659 6
21 IM Dimakiling Oliver PHI 2401 6
22 GM Yuffa Daniil RUS 2570 6
23 GM Istratescu Andrei ROU 2573 6
24 IM Nihal Sarin IND 2556 5.5
25 IM Kuybokarov Temur UZB 2499 5.5
26 GM Kravtsiv Martyn UKR 2654 5.5
27 GM Firouzja Alireza IRI 2561 5.5
28 GM Pantsulaia Levan GEO 2587 5.5
29 GM Vocaturo Daniele ITA 2617 5.5
30 IM Nguyen Anh Khoi VIE2454 5.5
____________
Chess.com has an article of which this is the intro:
Prodigy Nihal Sarin Becomes a Grandmaster at 14
At the age of 14 years, one month, and one day, the Indian prodigy Nihal Sarin became the 12th-youngest grandmaster in chess history. He scored his third grandmaster norm at the 25th Abu Dhabi Masters held at Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Nihal started strongly with 3/4. His round-four win against Australian IM Ikeda Junta was particularly impressive.
In round five, Nihal played GM Ivan Cheparinov, who recently switched his federation to Georgia. He was pressing but had to be content with a draw. Then he scored a clutch win in round six against GM Mircea-Emeilian Parligras of Romania. That was probably the pivotal game for his GM-norm.
In the game, Nihal showed fine positional understanding, won a pawn, and demonstrated excellent technique to bring home the point.
Abu Dhabi Masters
Round 4, August 11, 201
Ikeda, Junta –- Sarin, Nihal
E20 Nimzo-Indian, Kmoch variation
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.d4 Bb4 4.f3 c5 5.d5 b5 6.e4 O-O 7.e5 Ne8 8.f4 exd5 9.cxd5 d6 10.Nf3 c4 11.Bd2 Nc7 12.Ne4 Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 dxe5 14.d6 Ne6 15.f5 Nd4 16.f6 Re8 17.O-O-O Bf5 18.Re1 Bxe4 19.Rxe4 Nbc6 20.fxg7 Qxd6 21.Be2 Qg6 22.Re3 Nb4 0-1
Round 6, August 12, 2018
Sarin, Nihal –- Parligras, Mircea-Emilian
D35 QGD, Exchange variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 c6 7.Qc2 Be7 8.e3 Nh5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Rb1 g6 11.Be2 Nb6 12.O-O Bf5 13.Bd3 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 O-O 15.b4 a6 16.Nd2 f5 17.a4 f4 18.e4 dxe4 19.Ncxe4 Nd5 20.Rfe1 Rae8 21.Nf3 Qc7 22.b5 axb5 23.axb5 Nhf6 24.Nxf6+ Nxf6 25.Rec1 Qd6 26.bxc6 bxc6 27.Qc4+ Qd5 28.Qxc6 Qxc6 29.Rxc6 Rc8 30.Rxc8 Rxc8 31.h3 h6 32.Nh4 Rd8 33.Nxg6 Rxd4 34.Ne7+ Kh7 35.Rb7 Rd1+ 36.Kh2 Nh5 37.Nf5+ Kg6 38.Nh4+ Kg5 39.Nf3+ Kf6 40.Rb6+ Kg7 41.Ne5 Nf6 42.Rb7+ Kg8 43.Ng4 Nxg4+ 44.hxg4 Rd6 45.f3 Rd4 46.Re7 Rd6 47.Re4 Rf6 48.Kh3 Kg7 49.Kh4 Kg6 50.Rb4 Kg7 51.Kh5 Ra6 52.Rxf4 Ra2 53.Rb4 Rxg2 54.Rb7+ Kf6 55.Rb6+ Kg7 56.Rg6+ Kf7 57.Kxh6 Rf2 58.Rg7+ Kf8 59.Ra7 Rxf3 60.g5 Rg3 61.Kg6 Rg1 62.Ra8+ Ke7 63.Rg8 Rg2 64.Kh7 Kf7 65.g6+ Kf6 66.Rf8+ Ke7 67.g7 1-0
____________
Nigel Short was playing in perhaps his last tournament before the FIDE Presidential elections. He scored 6 out of 9. This game attracted my eye:
Round 1, August 7, 2018
Aronyak, Ghosh –- Short, Nigel
A45 Queen’s Pawn game
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 b6 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.e3 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Nc3 O-O 7.Be2 d6 8.h3 Nbd7 9.O-O Ne4 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 11.Bg3 c5 12.Qb3 Nf6 13.Rfd1 Qc7 14.Rac1 Bb7 15.d5 Ne4 16.Bh2 e5 17.Qc2 f5 18.a3 Rae8 19.b4 Bc8 20.Nd2 Ng5 21.f3 Qe7 22.Nf1 f4 23.e4 Bf6 24.Kf2 Nf7 25.Nd2 Bh4+ 26.Kf1 Ng5 27.Bd3 Nxh3 28.Nb3 Ng5 29.Ke2 Nf7 30.Kd2 Bf2 31.Bg1 Bxg1 32.Rxg1 Bd7 33.b5 a6 34.Kc3 Ra8 35.a4 a5 36.Qf2 Qf6 37.Rh1 Kg7 38.Rh2 h5 39.Rch1 Rh8 40.Be2 Rh6 41.Nc1 Rah8 42.Qe1 g5 43.Nd3 R8h7 44.Nf2 Nh8 45.Qd1 Ng6 46.Kc2 Ne7 47.Kb3 Ng8 48.Qb1 Qg6 49.Qd1 Nf6 50.Qb1 Kf8 51.Kb2 Rg7 52.Qd1 Rh8 53.Bd3 Rhg8 54.Qe2 g4 55.Rh4 Qf7 56.Qf1 gxf3 57.gxf3 Rg3 58.Be2 R8g5 59.Nd3 Qg6 60.Ne1 Rg1 61.Qf2 R5g3 62.Bf1 Rxh1 63.Rxh1 Qg5 64.Ng2 Rh3 65.Rxh3 Bxh3 66.Nxf4 Qxf4 67.Bxh3 Nxe4 68.Qc2 Ng5 69.Qg6 e4 70.Be6 exf3 71.Qh6+ Ke7 0-1
Position after 23. e4
The sole comment on chessbomb was:
Not like Nigel to miss 23....Bxh3
My engine doesn’t consider that move at all and recommends Bd7. Perhaps this is a good test of your engine!
Anyway, that is all I know about the Abu Dhabi tourney.
Refs:
https://www.chess.com/news/view/prod...ter-at-14-8860
https://en.chessbase.com/post/abu-dh...akes-the-title
August 17, 2018
It is getting impossible to cover every first-class tournament these days.
Perhaps I can put everything that happened in one posting.
From ChessBase:
The race for the title between Daniil Dubov, Anton Korobov and Salem Saleh ended in a deadlock between the three GMs after a nailbiting final round. Due to his better tiebreak, Dubov was declared the winner while Korobov and Saleh were placed second and third, respectively. The tournament also witnessed two Indian teenagers, Nihal Sarin and Arjun Erigaisi earn their grandmaster titles at its conclusion.
The top of the standings/results table:
Final Ranking after 9 Rounds
Rk. NameFED Rtg Pts.
1 GM Dubov Daniil RUS 2691 7.5
2 GM Korobov Anton UKR 2664 7.5
3 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2636 7.5
4 GM Sargissian Gabriel ARM 2680 7
5 GM Rapport Richard HUN 2719 6.5
6 GM Wang Hao CHN 2711 6.5
7 GM Cheparinov Ivan GEO 2718 6.5
8 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS 2707 6.5
9 GM Amin Bassem EGY 2684 6.5
10 GM Maghsoodloo Parham IRI 2636 6.5
11 GM Karthikeyan Murali IND 2609 6.5
12 GM Jojua Davit GEO 2583 6.5
13 IM Harsha Bharathakoti IND 2454 6.5
14 GM Abdusattorov Nodirbek UZB 2539 6.5
15 GM Debashis Das IND 2539 6.5
16 GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. IND 2581 6
17 IM Erigaisi Arjun IND 2517 6
18 GM Akopian Vladimir ARM 2655 6
19 GM Puranik Abhimanyu IND 2514 6
20 GM Short Nigel D ENG 2659 6
21 IM Dimakiling Oliver PHI 2401 6
22 GM Yuffa Daniil RUS 2570 6
23 GM Istratescu Andrei ROU 2573 6
24 IM Nihal Sarin IND 2556 5.5
25 IM Kuybokarov Temur UZB 2499 5.5
26 GM Kravtsiv Martyn UKR 2654 5.5
27 GM Firouzja Alireza IRI 2561 5.5
28 GM Pantsulaia Levan GEO 2587 5.5
29 GM Vocaturo Daniele ITA 2617 5.5
30 IM Nguyen Anh Khoi VIE2454 5.5
____________
Chess.com has an article of which this is the intro:
Prodigy Nihal Sarin Becomes a Grandmaster at 14
At the age of 14 years, one month, and one day, the Indian prodigy Nihal Sarin became the 12th-youngest grandmaster in chess history. He scored his third grandmaster norm at the 25th Abu Dhabi Masters held at Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Nihal started strongly with 3/4. His round-four win against Australian IM Ikeda Junta was particularly impressive.
In round five, Nihal played GM Ivan Cheparinov, who recently switched his federation to Georgia. He was pressing but had to be content with a draw. Then he scored a clutch win in round six against GM Mircea-Emeilian Parligras of Romania. That was probably the pivotal game for his GM-norm.
In the game, Nihal showed fine positional understanding, won a pawn, and demonstrated excellent technique to bring home the point.
Abu Dhabi Masters
Round 4, August 11, 201
Ikeda, Junta –- Sarin, Nihal
E20 Nimzo-Indian, Kmoch variation
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.d4 Bb4 4.f3 c5 5.d5 b5 6.e4 O-O 7.e5 Ne8 8.f4 exd5 9.cxd5 d6 10.Nf3 c4 11.Bd2 Nc7 12.Ne4 Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 dxe5 14.d6 Ne6 15.f5 Nd4 16.f6 Re8 17.O-O-O Bf5 18.Re1 Bxe4 19.Rxe4 Nbc6 20.fxg7 Qxd6 21.Be2 Qg6 22.Re3 Nb4 0-1
Round 6, August 12, 2018
Sarin, Nihal –- Parligras, Mircea-Emilian
D35 QGD, Exchange variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 c6 7.Qc2 Be7 8.e3 Nh5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Rb1 g6 11.Be2 Nb6 12.O-O Bf5 13.Bd3 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 O-O 15.b4 a6 16.Nd2 f5 17.a4 f4 18.e4 dxe4 19.Ncxe4 Nd5 20.Rfe1 Rae8 21.Nf3 Qc7 22.b5 axb5 23.axb5 Nhf6 24.Nxf6+ Nxf6 25.Rec1 Qd6 26.bxc6 bxc6 27.Qc4+ Qd5 28.Qxc6 Qxc6 29.Rxc6 Rc8 30.Rxc8 Rxc8 31.h3 h6 32.Nh4 Rd8 33.Nxg6 Rxd4 34.Ne7+ Kh7 35.Rb7 Rd1+ 36.Kh2 Nh5 37.Nf5+ Kg6 38.Nh4+ Kg5 39.Nf3+ Kf6 40.Rb6+ Kg7 41.Ne5 Nf6 42.Rb7+ Kg8 43.Ng4 Nxg4+ 44.hxg4 Rd6 45.f3 Rd4 46.Re7 Rd6 47.Re4 Rf6 48.Kh3 Kg7 49.Kh4 Kg6 50.Rb4 Kg7 51.Kh5 Ra6 52.Rxf4 Ra2 53.Rb4 Rxg2 54.Rb7+ Kf6 55.Rb6+ Kg7 56.Rg6+ Kf7 57.Kxh6 Rf2 58.Rg7+ Kf8 59.Ra7 Rxf3 60.g5 Rg3 61.Kg6 Rg1 62.Ra8+ Ke7 63.Rg8 Rg2 64.Kh7 Kf7 65.g6+ Kf6 66.Rf8+ Ke7 67.g7 1-0
____________
Nigel Short was playing in perhaps his last tournament before the FIDE Presidential elections. He scored 6 out of 9. This game attracted my eye:
Round 1, August 7, 2018
Aronyak, Ghosh –- Short, Nigel
A45 Queen’s Pawn game
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 b6 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.e3 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Nc3 O-O 7.Be2 d6 8.h3 Nbd7 9.O-O Ne4 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 11.Bg3 c5 12.Qb3 Nf6 13.Rfd1 Qc7 14.Rac1 Bb7 15.d5 Ne4 16.Bh2 e5 17.Qc2 f5 18.a3 Rae8 19.b4 Bc8 20.Nd2 Ng5 21.f3 Qe7 22.Nf1 f4 23.e4 Bf6 24.Kf2 Nf7 25.Nd2 Bh4+ 26.Kf1 Ng5 27.Bd3 Nxh3 28.Nb3 Ng5 29.Ke2 Nf7 30.Kd2 Bf2 31.Bg1 Bxg1 32.Rxg1 Bd7 33.b5 a6 34.Kc3 Ra8 35.a4 a5 36.Qf2 Qf6 37.Rh1 Kg7 38.Rh2 h5 39.Rch1 Rh8 40.Be2 Rh6 41.Nc1 Rah8 42.Qe1 g5 43.Nd3 R8h7 44.Nf2 Nh8 45.Qd1 Ng6 46.Kc2 Ne7 47.Kb3 Ng8 48.Qb1 Qg6 49.Qd1 Nf6 50.Qb1 Kf8 51.Kb2 Rg7 52.Qd1 Rh8 53.Bd3 Rhg8 54.Qe2 g4 55.Rh4 Qf7 56.Qf1 gxf3 57.gxf3 Rg3 58.Be2 R8g5 59.Nd3 Qg6 60.Ne1 Rg1 61.Qf2 R5g3 62.Bf1 Rxh1 63.Rxh1 Qg5 64.Ng2 Rh3 65.Rxh3 Bxh3 66.Nxf4 Qxf4 67.Bxh3 Nxe4 68.Qc2 Ng5 69.Qg6 e4 70.Be6 exf3 71.Qh6+ Ke7 0-1
Position after 23. e4
The sole comment on chessbomb was:
Not like Nigel to miss 23....Bxh3
My engine doesn’t consider that move at all and recommends Bd7. Perhaps this is a good test of your engine!
Anyway, that is all I know about the Abu Dhabi tourney.
Refs:
https://www.chess.com/news/view/prod...ter-at-14-8860
https://en.chessbase.com/post/abu-dh...akes-the-title