Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2019

[Wayne Komer]

Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2019

January 31, 2019

Round Ten Wrap-up

Former Women's World Champion takes Top Women's Prize

27-year-old former women's world champion Tan Zhongyi has won the £15,000 women's first prize at the 2019 Gibraltar Masters after defeating higher-rated Serbian grandmaster Aleksandar Indijc in the last round.

The two Ukrainian sisters, Mariya and Anna Muzychuk, both former winners of the Gibraltar women's top prize, were level with her going into the final round but couldn't match her final score of of 7 out of 10 as they drew and lost their last round games respectively.

___________

Magnus Carlsen and Jan Gustafsson spoke by Skype during the last round. Some of the comments from chess24.com twitter:

Magnus confesses he actually just blundered a pawn against Richard Rapport: "I just stumbled onto this beautiful construct by pure luck!"

Position after Carlsen’s 25.e5



"I was just feeling so ridiculously dumb, so that was why it was kind of hard for me to feel good about the game, because even though after that it went swimmingly it was all based on a very, very basic oversight!"

Magnus mentions that the position before he played Bxh6 against Duda was one he and Jan (and others) had looked at together before the Caruana match, though they'd just quickly noted the computer gives +1:

Carlsen: "I’m very happy with my performance. Apart from the game against Rapport I don’t think I made any outright blunders, and even that one turned out to be a very good move… It’s nice to have a tournament when you have no particular regrets"

Magnus on the current hierarchy in world chess:
"I think it's me, Fabi & everyone else"

Carlsen on his plans: "The Grand Prix I would say is very, very unlikely, the #GrandChessTour probably is going to happen. I've been talking about playing more rapid & blitz, so I cannot let one good classical tournament change that!"

Carlsen: "I read the book "Kramnik, My Life and Games" & that became one of my very favourite books growing up & I absolutely loved his way of playing, his style & just the richness of ideas in his play, which is still there. I admire him very much & that’s not going to change"

The interview is at:

https://chess24.com/en/live/video/in...magnus-carlsen

The game with Rapport:

Tata Steel Masters 2019
Round 8, Jan. 20
Carlsen, Magnus - Rapport, Richard
B80 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Fianchetto variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.g3 a6 7.Bg2 Nf6 8.O-O d6 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Na4 Rb8 11.c4 c5 12.b3 Be7 13.Bb2 O-O 14.Qe1 Nd7 15.Rd1 Bb7 16.Qc3 Bf6 17.Qd2 Be7 18.Qc3 Bf6 19.Qd2 Be7 20.f4 e5 21.Bc3 Bc6 22.Ba5 Qb7 23.Nc3 exf4 24.gxf4 Rfe8 25.e5 Bxg2 26.Qxg2 dxe5 27.Nd5 e4 28.Bc3 f6 29.Kh1 Kh8 30.Rg1 Bf8 31.Ne3 Qc6 32.Rd5 Qe6 33.Rh5 Qf7 34.Qh3 g6 35.Rh4 Rb6 36.f5 Ne5 37.Nd5 Rd6 38.fxg6 Nxg6 39.Bxf6+ Rxf6 40.Rxh7+ 1-0

____________

D. Gukesh (who got a live rating of 2650 at Gib) - Performed well at the Gibraltar Masters 2019. Gained valuable experience and also some Elo points! :) A big thanks to the organizers for their wonderful hospitality. Next up is Aeroflot Open in Moscow.

[Wayne Komer]

Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2019

January 31, 2019

Round Ten

Results

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg

1 GM Yu Yangyi 2764 7 0 - 1 7½ GM Artemiev Vladislav 2709
2 GM Karthikeyan Murali 2570 7 1 - 0 7 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2780
3 GM Aronian Levon 2767 6½ 0 - 1 6½ GM Howell David W L 2685
4 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2749 6½ ½ - ½ 6½ GM Grandelius Nils 2682
5 GM Navara David 2738 6½ ½ - ½ 6½ GM Melkumyan Hrant 2660
6 GM Vitiugov Nikita 2720 6½ 1 - 0 6½ GM Vaibhav Suri 2590
7 GM Alekseenko Kirill 2637 6½ ½ - ½ 6½ GM Adams Michael 2701
8 GM Lalith Babu M R 2547 6½ ½ - ½ 6½ GM Saric Ivan 2690
9 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2734 6 0 - 1 6½ GM Anton Guijarro David 2642
10 GM So Wesley 2765 6 1 - 0 6 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel 2603
11 GM Le Quang Liem 2714 6 1 - 0 6 GM Santos Latasa Jaime 2581
12 GM Mamedov Rauf 2703 6 1 - 0 6 GM Muzychuk Anna 2569
13 GM Matlakov Maxim 2700 6 1 - 0 6 GM Puranik Abhimanyu 2536
14 GM Lagarde Maxime 2604 6 ½ - ½ 6 GM Cheparinov Ivan 2691
15 IM Gukesh D 2497 6 ½ - ½ 6 GM Adhiban B. 2689
16 GM Eljanov Pavel 2680 6 1 - 0 6 GM Moroni Luca Jr 2562
17 GM Edouard Romain 2643 6 1 - 0 6 GM Gallego Alcaraz Andres Felipe 2502
18 GM Indjic Aleksandar 2630 6 0 - 1 6 GM Tan Zhongyi 2502
19 GM Tari Aryan 2625 6 ½ - ½ 6 GM Chandra Akshat 2492
20 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. 2589 6 ½ - ½ 6 GM Moussard Jules 2605
21 GM Muzychuk Mariya 2540 6 ½ - ½ 6 GM Jumabayev Rinat 2604
22 GM Jones Gawain C B 2691 5½ 1 - 0 6 IM Abel Dennes 2458
23 GM Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando 2512 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2713
24 GM Sethuraman S.P. 2665 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Nguyen Thai Dai Van 2535
25 GM Short Nigel D 2648 5½ 0 - 1 5½ GM Sadzikowski Daniel 2534
26 IM Harsha Bharathakoti 2481 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Vocaturo Daniele 2626
27 GM Donchenko Alexander 2604 5½ 1 - 0 5½ IM Krishna C R G 2469
28 GM Svane Rasmus 2594 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Arizmendi Martinez Julen Luis 2506
29 GM Mikhalevski Victor 2581 5½ 0 - 1 5½ IM Bjerre Jonas Buhl 2422
30 GM Cramling Pia 2462 5½ 0 - 1 5½ GM Yuffa Daniil 2578
31 GM Ju Wenjun 2575 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ IM Prithu Gupta 2462
32 GM Ramirez Alejandro 2567 5½ 0 - 1 5½ GM Solozhenkin Evgeniy 2427
33 IM Sadhwani Raunak 2451 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Koneru Humpy 2541
34 IM Vega Gutierrez Sabrina 2390 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Werle Jan 2541


Final Ranking after 10 Rounds

Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1

1 GM Artemiev Vladislav RUS 2709 8.5 2941
2 GM Karthikeyan Murali IND 2570 8 2747
3 GM Vitiugov Nikita RUS 2720 7.5 2779
4 GM Howell David W L ENG 2685 7.5 2705
5 GM Anton Guijarro David ESP 2642 7.5 2696
6 GM Navara David CZE 2738 7 2790
7 GM Grandelius Nils SWE 2682 7 2771
8 GM Lalith Babu M R IND 2547 7 2767
9 GM Le Quang Liem VIE 2714 7 2741
10 GM Saric Ivan CRO 2690 7 2736
11 GM So Wesley USA 2765 7 2734
12 GM Yu Yangyi CHN 2764 7 2715
13 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2780 7 2708
14 GM Adams Michael ENG 2701 7 2706
GM Alekseenko Kirill RUS 2637 7 2706
16 GM Nakamura Hikaru USA 2749 7 2703
17 GM Edouard Romain FRA 2643 7 2692
18 GM Mamedov Rauf AZE 2703 7 2681
19 GM Eljanov Pavel UKR 2680 7 2673
20 GM Melkumyan Hrant ARM 2660 7 2659
21 GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2700 7 2642
22 GM Tan Zhongyi CHN 2502 7 2585
23 GM Muzychuk Mariya UKR 2540 6.5 2718
24 GM Aronian Levon ARM 2767 6.5 2706
25 GM Vaibhav Suri IND 2590 6.5 2685
26 GM Lagarde Maxime FRA 2604 6.5 2652
27 IM Gukesh D IND 2497 6.5 2650
28 GM Adhiban B. IND 2689 6.5 2637
29 GM Jumabayev Rinat KAZ 2604 6.5 2636
30 GM Cheparinov Ivan GEO 2691 6.5 2635
31 GM Chandra Akshat USA 2492 6.5 2634
32 GM Jones Gawain C B ENG 2691 6.5 2629
33 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. RUS 2589 6.5 2626
34 GM Sadzikowski Daniel POL 2534 6.5 2617
35 GM Yuffa Daniil RUS 2578 6.5 2601
36 GM Solozhenkin Evgeniy RUS 2427 6.5 2586
37 GM Moussard Jules FRA 2605 6.5 2582
38 GM Tari Aryan NOR 2625 6.5 2561
39 GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2604 6.5 2557
40 IM Bjerre Jonas Buhl DEN 2422 6.5 2511
41 GM Naiditsch Arkadij AZE 2734 6 2654
42 GM Svane Rasmus GER 2594 6 2648
43 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2603 6 2643
44 GM Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando ESP 2512 6 2637
45 GM Ju Wenjun CHN 2575 6 2608
46 IM Abel Dennes GER 2458 6 2607
47 IM Harsha Bharathakoti IND 2481 6 2601
48 GM Werle Jan NED 2541 6 2600
49 GM Koneru Humpy IND 2541 6 2595
GM Puranik Abhimanyu IND 2536 6 2595
51 GM Nguyen Thai Dai Van CZE 2535 6 2593
52 GM Ivanchuk Vassily UKR 2713 6 2586

[Wayne Komer]

Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2019

January 31, 2019

Round Ten

Vladislav Artemiev won his game against Yu Yangyi and wins Gibraltar.

The brief announcement on the official site:

The 20-year-old Russian won the 2019 Gibraltar Masters tournament with a brilliant last-round win against the Chinese grandmaster Yu Yangyi.

He finished with 8.5/10, half a point ahead of 19-year-old Indian grandmaster Karthikeyan Murali who scored a sensational win against the tournament top seed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to finish second on 8 points.

Artemiev takes the £25,000 cheque for first prize, Murali takes home the £20,000 second prize.

Games

Round 10, Jan. 31
Yu, Yangyi – Artemiev, Vladislav
B12 Caro-Kann, Advance variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Nd7 6.O-O Bg6 7.c3 Nh6 8.a4 a5 9.Na3 Be7 10.Nc2 O-O 11.Nce1 c5 12.Bxh6 gxh6 13.Bb5 cxd4 14.cxd4 Nb8 15.Qd2 Kg7 16.Nd3 Na6 17.Nf4 Qb6 18.h4 Rfc8 19.Rfc1 Rxc1+ 20.Rxc1 Nb4 21.g3 Na2 22.Rd1 Rc8 23.Nh2 Qc7 24.Bd3 h5 25.g4 Nb4 26.Bxg6 hxg6 27.gxh5 Qc2 28.hxg6 Qf5 29.Qe3 fxg6 30.Qg3 Rf8 31.Ng2 Qc2 32.Ne3 Qe4 33.Neg4 Nc6 34.Qe3 Rf4 35.Nf6 Bxf6 36.exf6+ Kxf6 37.Qxe4 Rxe4 38.Nf3 Ne7 39.Kg2 Nf5 40.Rd3 Nxh4+ 41.Nxh4 Rxh4 42.Kg3 g5 43.Kg2 Re4 44.Kg3 Kf5 45.Kg2 g4 46.Kf1 b6 47.Kg2 Re1 48.b3 Ke4 49.Rd2 Rb1 50.Kg3 Kf5 51.Rd3 Rh1 52.Kg2 Rh3 0-1

Round 10, Jan. 31
Karthikeyan, Murali – MVL
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Byrne Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7 10.Be2 h5 11.h4 Nc6 12.Nf3 gxh4 13.Bxh4 Qa5 14.Qd2 Be6 15.Rd1 Rc8 16.O-O Rg8 17.Nd5 Qxd2 18.Rxd2 Bh6 19.Rdd1 f6 20.c3 Bg5 21.Bg3 Bh6 22.Nh4 Kf7 23.Nf5 Bxf5 24.exf5 Rg5 25.Bc4 Na5 26.Bd3 Rcg8 27.Bf4 R5g7 28.Rfe1 Nc6 29.Be4 h4 30.f3 Bxf4 31.Nxf4 Nge5 32.Bd5+ Ke8 33.Bxg8 Nxf3+ 34.Kf2 Nxe1 35.Bd5 Rg5 36.Kxe1 Rxf5 37.Ng6 Rh5 38.Rd3 Rh6 39.Nf4 e5 40.Ne6 Ne7 41.Bxb7 Kd7 42.Nf8+ Kc7 43.Bxa6 d5 44.c4 f5 45.Bb5 f4 46.Ra3 1-0

Round 10, Jan. 31
Aronian, Levon – Howell, David W
B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Qc7 6.h3 g6 7.Qc2 f6 8.Ne2 e5 9.O-O Nge7 10.dxe5 fxe5 11.c4 e4 12.Bxe4 dxe4 13.Nbc3 Bg7 14.Nd5 Qd6 15.Bf4 Be5 16.Rad1 Bxf4 17.Ndxf4 Qe5 18.b4 Nxb4 19.Qb3 Nbc6 20.c5 Qxc5 21.Nc3 Qb4 22.Qc2 O-O 23.Ncd5 Nxd5 24.Nxd5 Qa3 25.Rfe1 Bf5 26.Re3 Qa5 27.Qc4 Rf7 28.Nf6+ Kg7 29.Rd5 Be6 0-1

Position after White’s 11.c4?



- 11. c4 to drop a piece by a one-move trick. Is this dementia settling in?
-: what a crappy game from levon
- nah...even without the bishop being blundered, c4 is anti-intuitive because of ..Nb4
- How well for David
- just some reckless play since he cannot win the tournament I think
- Naka is sitting next to Aronian and shakes his head at this

Round 10, Jan. 31
Blesic, Vaso – Nakamura, Hikaru
D02 Queen’s Pawn, London System

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.e3 d5 6.h3 Bd6 7.Bxd6 Qxd6 8.Nbd2 O-O 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.a4 c4 11.Bxc6 Bxc6 12.Ne5 Rfc8 13.O-O Be8 14.f4 Rab8 15.Qe2 a5 16.e4 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 dxe4 18.Qxe4 f6 19.Nf3 Bc6 20.Qe3 Qd7 21.Rfe1 Bd5 22.Nd2 b5 23.Ne4 Qc6 24.Re2 Re8 25.axb5 Rxb5 26.Nc5 e5 27.fxe5 fxe5 28.Rf1 Rbb8 29.Rfe1 Bf7 30.dxe5 Rb5 31.e6 Bh5 32.g4 Rxc5 33.gxh5 Rxh5 34.e7 Rf5 35.Qe4 Qc5+ 36.Kg2 g6 37.Rf1 Rg5+ 38.Kh1 Kg7 39.Qe6 Qd5+ 40.Qxd5 Rxd5 41.Rf4 Rd7 1/2-1/2

Round 10, Jan. 31
Navara, David – Shachar, Ehud
C03 French, Tarrasch

1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 c5 6.e5 Nfd7 7.c3 Nc6 8.O-O g5 9.dxc5 g4 10.Nd4 Ndxe5 11.Bb5 Bd7 12.N2b3 h5 13.Re1 Ng6 14.c4 dxc4 15.Bxc4 Nce5 16.Be2 Bc6 17.Nxc6 Qxd1 18.Rxd1 Nxc6 19.Be3 Bf6 20.Bb5 O-O 21.Rd7 a6 22.Bxc6 bxc6 23.Na5 Ne7 24.Rad1 Nd5 25.Nxc6 Nxe3 26.fxe3 Bxb2 27.Ne7+ Kg7 28.c6 Bf6 29.c7 Bxe7 30.Rxe7 Kf6 31.Red7 Rfc8 32.Rf1+ Ke5 33.Rfxf7 Ra7 34.Kf2 h4 35.Rg7 h3 36.Rg5+ Kf6 37.Rc5 hxg2 38.Kxg2 e5 39.e4 Rb7 40.Rc6+ Kg5 41.Kg3 a5 42.Rf7 1-0

Round 10, Jan. 31
Vitiugov, Nikita – Vaibhav, Suri
B12 Caro-Kann

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.dxc5 e6 5.Nf3 Bxc5 6.Bd3 Ne7 7.a3 Ng6 8.O-O Nc6 9.b4 Bb6 10.Re1 a5 11.Bxg6 fxg6 12.b5 Ne7 13.a4 O-O 14.Be3 Bd7 15.Nbd2 Rc8 16.Ra3 Bxe3 17.Raxe3 g5 18.h3 h6 19.Rd3 Be8 20.Nd4 Qb6 21.c3 Bg6 22.Rde3 Rc7 23.h4 Rxc3 24.Rxc3 Qxd4 25.Rf3 Nf5 26.hxg5 hxg5 27.Nb3 Qxa4 28.Qd2 g4 29.Qf4 Qxb5 30.Qxg4 Qe8 31.Rh3 b6 32.Rc1 Qf7 33.Nd2 b5 34.Nf3 Nh6 35.Qd4 Be4 36.Qb6 Ng4 37.Rc7 Qf5 38.Qa7 Qg6 39.Rg3 d4 40.Nh2 Rxf2 41.Nxg4 1-0

Round 10, Jan. 31
Alekseenko, Kirill – Adams, Michael
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 Nd7 7.Nc4 f6 8.Qe2 Nf8 9.Be3 Bxe3 10.fxe3 Be6 11.O-O-O Bxc4 12.dxc4 Qe7 13.h4 h5 14.Nh2 Nd7 15.g4 O-O-O 16.Nf1 Qf7 17.Ng3 hxg4 18.h5 f5 19.Nxf5 Nf6 20.Rxd8+ Rxd8 21.b3 b6 22.Ng3 Kb7 23.Rf1 Qe6 24.Qf2 Rh8 25.Qf5 Qe7 26.Kb2 a5 27.a4 Qe8 28.Rh1 Qe7 29.Qg6 Qe8 30.Qg5 Rh7 31.Rd1 c5 32.Rh1 Kb8 33.Rf1 Nxh5 34.Nxh5 Rxh5 35.Qxg7 Rh8 36.Qxg4 Rg8 37.Qh4 Qd7 38.Qh5 Qd2 39.Qxe5 Qxe3 40.Rd1 Qh3 41.Qd5 Re8 42.Qc6 Qc8 43.Qg6 Re6 44.Qg4 Qh8+ 45.Kb1 Qe5 46.Re1 Rd6 47.Rf1 Rd4 48.Re1 Rd2 49.Qf3 Rd4 50.Qf5 Qg3 51.Rh1 Qe3 52.Rh8+ Ka7 53.Qe5 Qxe4 54.Qxc7+ Qb7 55.Qe5 Rd7 56.Re8 Qc7 57.Qe6 Qb7 58.Ka2 Qc7 59.Qe3 Qb7 60.Re5 Qg2 61.Kb2 Qg7 62.Kc1 Qg2 63.Qe1 Qf3 64.Re7 Qf4+ 65.Kb1 Qd6 66.Rxd7+ Qxd7 67.Qe4 Qd6 68.Kc1 Kb8 69.Qd5 Qf4+ 70.Kd1 Kc7 71.Ke2 Qh2+ 72.Kd3 Qg3+ 73.Ke4 Qg4+ 74.Ke5 Qg5+ 75.Ke6 Qh6+ 76.Kf5 Qh5+ 77.Kf4 Qh2+ 78.Kg5 Qxc2 79.Qf7+ Kd6 80.Qf4+ Kc6 81.Qf3+ Kc7 82.Kf6 Qd2 83.Qf5 Qd4+ 84.Kf7 1/2-1/2

Round 10, Jan. 31
Naiditsch, Arkadij – Anton Guijarro, David
A20 English Opening

1.c4 e5 2.g3 c6 3.d4 e4 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qb3 a5 6.Bf4 d5 7.e3 Nf6 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.Qxc3 O-O 10.Ne2 h6 11.c5 Bg4 12.h3 Bf3 13.Rg1 Nh7 14.g4 Ng5 15.Ng3 Ne6 16.Bd6 Re8 17.Nf5 Nd7 18.h4 Kh7 19.Bh2 b6 20.cxb6 Qxb6 21.g5 hxg5 22.hxg5 c5 23.dxc5 Ndxc5 24.Nd6 d4 25.exd4 Nxd4 26.Bc4 Nd3+ 27.Kf1 Ne2 0-1

Round 10, Jan. 31
So, Wesley – Deac, Bogdan-Daniel
E49 Nimzo-Indian, Botvinnik System

1.c4 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 c5 9.Nf3 Qc7 10.Be2 b6 11.O-O Bb7 12.Bb2 Rd8 13.c4 cxd4 14.exd4 Nc6 15.Bd3 Ne7 16.Re1 Ng6 17.Ne5 Nf4 18.Bf1 Ng6 19.Bd3 Nf4 20.Bf1 Ng6 21.Nxg6 hxg6 22.a4 Bc6 23.Ra3 Qf4 24.Qe2 Rac8 25.h3 Qd6 26.a5 Rb8 27.Re3 Qd7 28.Re5 Rdc8 29.h4 Re8 30.axb6 axb6 31.h5 Nxh5 32.Rxh5 gxh5 33.Qxh5 f5 34.Re3 Qf7 35.Qh2 Qf6 36.Bc3 f4 37.Re5 Qg6 38.Rh5 Qe4 39.Rh8+ Kf7 40.Rh4 Kg8 41.Rh8+ Kf7 42.Rh4 Kg8 43.Rxf4 Qc2 44.Qg3 Rb7 45.Rg4 Ree7 46.Bd3 Qc1+ 47.Kh2 Be8 48.d5 exd5 49.Qh3 Re4 50.Bxe4 dxe4 51.Rh4 1-0

Round 10, Jan. 31
Gukesh, D. – Adhiban, B.
D41 QGD, Semi-Tarrasch, Modern line

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.d4 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.e4 Ndb4 10.d5 exd5 11.exd5 Nd4 12.Nxd4 cxd4 13.a3 dxc3 14.axb4 Bxb4 15.Qd4 Bd6 16.bxc3 b6 17.Ba3 Re8 18.Bxd6 Qxd6 19.Ra2 Bd7 20.c4 Rec8 21.Ra6 Qb4 22.Qa1 Rxc4 23.Rxa7 Rxa7 24.Qxa7 Qd6 25.Rb1 h6 26.Bf1 Rc8 27.Qxb6 Qxd5 28.Bg2 Qd2 29.h4 Bf5 30.Ra1 Qc3 31.Qa5 Qxa5 1/2-1/2

Round 10, Jan. 31
Cuenca Jimenez, Jose Fernando – Ivanchuk, Vassily
A40 Queen’s Pawn, Franco-Indian Defence

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+ 3.Bd2 a5 4.a3 Bxd2+ 5.Qxd2 d6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.Rd1 O-O 9.e4 Qe7 10.Be2 e5 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.Qd4 Be6 14.O-O Rfe8 15.f4 Qxd4+ 16.Rxd4 Bg4 17.Bxg4 Nxg4 18.Re1 Kf8 19.Nd5 Rac8 20.h3 Nf6 21.Nxf6 gxf6 22.Rd5 b6 23.Kf2 Re6 24.g4 Rce8 25.Kf3 h6 26.b3 Kg7 27.Re3 Kf8 28.Re1 Kg7 29.Re3 Kf8 30.Re1 Kg7 1/2-1/2

[Hans Jung]

The last top 10 to have a chance for first MVL goes down in an excellent fighting Siciian. Congratulations to his opponent Karthikeyan and also Artemiev for playing so well with great results.

[Wayne Komer]

Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2019

January 30, 2019

Round Nine

Selection of Games

This announcement from chess24.com:

Gib Masters 9: Artemiev leads as Lev & Naka fail

Vladislav Artemiev beat David Navara to take the sole lead going into the final round of the 2019 Gibraltar Masters. We’re going to have a first-time winner this year, with only three other players still in contention: Yu Yangyi, who has White against Artemiev, and Murali Karthikeyan and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who face each other. The winners for the last four years - Levon Aronian and Hikaru Nakamura - are out of contention after being held to draws in the penultimate round.

First a quick announcement: the last round of the Gibraltar Masters starts at 11:00 CET, 4 hours earlier than usual, and at 14:00 CET World Champion Magnus Carlsen will be joining Jan Gustafsson live here on chess24! They’ll be able to look at the games from Gibraltar, but will also be talking about other topics such as Vladimir Kramnik’s retirement and the recent Tata Steel Masters.

The final showdown

For the title and the £25,000 top prize only the first two boards matter:

The situation is simple:

If Artemiev wins with Black he’s won the tournament

If Artemiev draws then he still wins the title unless there’s a winner on board 2. If there is, that winner will play Artemiev in a speed chess playoff

If Yu Yangyi beats Artemiev he’ll win the tournament unless there’s a winner on board 2. If there is, he plays that player in a speed chess playoff

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/gib...aka-fall-short

_____________

Round 9, Jan. 30
Saric, Ivan – Aronian, Levon
C50 Giuoco Piano, Italian Four Knights variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.Na4 Bb6 7.a3 O-O 8.O-O Kh8 9.Nxb6 axb6 10.Ng5 Qe7 11.f4 h6 12.Nf3 Bg4 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 b5 15.Ba2 b4 16.Qf2 exf4 17.Qxf4 Nd7 18.Bd5 Nb6 19.Be3 bxa3 20.Bxb6 axb2 21.Rab1 cxb6 22.Rxb2 Rac8 23.Rxb6 Nd4 24.Kh2 Rxc2 25.Qxd6 Qxd6+ 26.Rxd6 f6 27.Bxb7 Rb8 28.Rb6 Rc3 29.Rd1 Nb3 30.Rb1 Nc5 31.d4 Nxb7 32.Rxb7 Rxb7 33.Rxb7 Re3 34.Rb8+ Kh7 35.Re8 Rd3 36.d5 f5 37.exf5 Rxd5 38.g4 Rd2+ 39.Kg3 Rd3+ 40.Kg2 Rd2+ 41.Kf3 Rd1 42.Re7 Kg8 43.Kg3 Rd3+ 44.Kh4 Rd5 45.Kh5 Kh7 46.Kh4 Kg8 47.Kg3 Rd3+ 48.Kg2 Rd2+ 49.Kf3 Rd1 50.h4 h5 51.gxh5 Rf1+ 52.Kg4 Rg1+ 53.Kf4 Rf1+ 54.Ke5 Re1+ 55.Kd6 Rd1+ 56.Ke6 Re1+ 57.Kd7 Rd1+ 58.Ke8 Rd5 59.h6 Rxf5 60.Rxg7+ 1/2-1/2

• saric is a poisonous opponent, and nowadays more solid than ever
• If white manages to open the position it will be dangerous for black
• If the game opens even more, Levon is fried
• Saric seems to be good at upsetting SGMs
• saric is member of the team of superGM born in year 1990.
• This guy beat Magnus Carlsen before, he can surely beat Aronian too.
• to be fair Carlsen played a bs opening in their first encounter, maybe underestiamted him a little bit
• lev 12 minutes for 18 moves tho
• frustrating for Ivan. Couldn't put Levon away
• just after the queen trade. it really looked bad for Levon

Round 9, Jan. 30
Yu, Yangyi – Le, Quang Liem
E00 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Be7 5.Bg2 d5 6.Nf3 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.a4 a5 9.Qc2 Ne4 10.Be3 c6 11.Na3 f5 12.Ne1 Bf6 13.Nd3 Kh8 14.Rae1 Re8 15.Rc1 c5 16.Nxc5 Nexc5 17.dxc5 d4 18.Bd2 Nxc5 19.b4 d3 20.exd3 Nxd3 21.Rb1 axb4 22.Bxb4 e5 23.Rfd1 e4 24.Bf1 Qd7 25.Nb5 Nxb4 26.Rxb4 Qe7 27.Nd6 Rf8 28.c5 h5 29.Bc4 Ra5 30.Bd5 Qc7 31.Nxb7 Bxb7 32.Rxb7 Qxc5 33.Qe2 g6 34.Bf7 f4 35.Bxg6 Bg7 36.Bxe4 fxg3 37.hxg3 Re8 38.Rdd7 Rxa4 39.Rxg7 Rexe4 40.Rh7+ Kg8 41.Rbg7+ 1-0

Round 9, Jan. 30
Karthikeyan, Murali – Matlakov, Maxim
B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bg5 Nbd7 9.a4 h6 10.Be3 Ng4 11.Bd2 Ngf6 12.Be3 Ng4 13.Bd2 O-O 14.O-O b6 15.Bc4 Bb7 16.Qe2 Ngf6 17.Nh4 Nc5 18.f3 d5 19.exd5 Nxd5 20.Nf5 Bf6 21.Rfd1 Nxc3 22.Bxc3 Qc7 23.Nd6 Bc6 24.Bxe5 Qe7 25.Bxf6 Qxf6 26.b3 Rad8 27.Nxf7 Rxd1+ 28.Rxd1 Rxf7 29.Qe3 a5 30.Qd4 Be8 31.Qxf6 gxf6 32.Rd6 Nd7 33.Kf2 Kf8 34.Bxf7 Kxf7 35.Ke3 Ke7 36.Rc6 Bf7 37.Kd4 Bg6 38.Kc3 Bf5 39.h3 Bg6 40.Kd4 h5 41.Kc3 Kf7 42.Kd2 Ke7 43.h4 Bf5 44.c4 Be6 45.Kc3 Bf7 46.g4 Be8 47.gxh5 Bxh5 48.f4 Bf3 49.Rc8 Nc5 50.Rb8 Nd7 51.Rh8 Nf8 52.Rg8 Bh5 53.f5 Nd7 54.b4 axb4+ 55.Kxb4 Be2 56.Rg2 Bd3 57.h5 Bxf5 58.h6 Kf7 59.Rg7+ Kf8 60.Kb5 Ne5 61.Rc7 Nd7 62.Kc6 Ke7 63.Rxd7+ Bxd7+ 64.Kxb6 Kf7 65.a5 Bc8 66.a6 Bxa6 67.Kxa6 f5 68.h7 1-0

Round 9, Jan. 30
Lalith Babu M – So, Wesley
E11 Bogo-Indian Defence

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O c6 8.Qc2 Nbd7 9.Rd1 b6 10.Nc3 dxc4 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Nd5 13.Ne4 Ba6 14.Nd6 b5 15.b3 Bxd6 16.exd6 Qxd6 17.e4 Nb4 18.Qc3 Nd3 19.Qa5 c5 20.bxc4 bxc4 21.e5 Qb6 22.Bxa8 Rxa8 23.Qxb6 axb6 24.a4 Nxe5 25.Bc3 Nd3 26.Rab1 Rb8 27.Ba5 g5 28.Rd2 b5 29.axb5 Rxb5 30.Rxb5 Bxb5 31.Bc3 Bc6 32.Ra2 h6 33.Ra7 Bf3 34.Kf1 e5 35.Re7 f6 36.Rc7 h5 37.Bd2 h4 38.gxh4 gxh4 39.Be3 c3 40.Bxc5 c2 41.Ba3 Bd1 42.f3 h3 43.Rc3 Nf4 44.Bc1 Ne6 45.Kf2 Kf7 46.Rc6 Nd4 47.Rc7+ Kg6 48.Rc3 Ne6 49.Rc4 Kf5 50.Be3 Kg6 51.Bc1 Kf7 52.Ke3 Ke7 53.Ke4 Kd6 54.Ba3+ Kd7 55.Bc1 Kd6 56.Ba3+ Kd7 57.Bc1 Nd4 58.Rxd4+ exd4 59.f4 f5+ 60.Kxd4 Bf3 61.Ke3 Be4 62.Ba3 Kc6 63.Bc1 Kd5 64.Bb2 Kc4 65.Bc1 Kc3 66.Ba3 Bc6 67.Bc1 Kb3 68.Kd4 Ka2 69.Kc3 Ba4 70.Kd2 Kb3 71.Ke3 Kb4 72.Kd3 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Jan. 30
Koneru, Humpy – Ivanchuk, Vassily
D11 QGD Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.Bd3 e6 6.Nbd2 Nbd7 7.O-O Be7 8.b3 O-O 9.Bb2 Bh5 10.Qc2 Bg6 11.Rfd1 Qc7 12.h3 Rfe8 13.Bxg6 hxg6 14.e4 dxe4 15.Nxe4 Nxe4 16.Qxe4 Rad8 17.Rd2 Qa5 18.Qc2 Qf5 19.Rad1 a6 20.Qc3 Nf6 21.Re2 Nd7 22.Bc1 Qh5 23.Bb2 Nf8 24.Qe1 f6 25.h4 Qf5 26.Bc3 Qf4 27.Bb4 Bxb4 28.Qxb4 e5 29.Qxb7 Qg4 30.Red2 e4 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Jan. 30
Vaibhav, Suri – Jones, Gawain
E70 King’s Indian Defence

1.c4 g6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 O-O 5.Nf3 d6 6.h3 e5 7.d5 a5 8.Be3 Na6 9.g4 Nc5 10.Nd2 a4 11.Be2 c6 12.g5 Nfd7 13.h4 f5 14.f3 Qb6 15.Qb1 Qa5 16.h5 f4 17.Bf2 Rf7 18.a3 cxd5 19.cxd5 b5 20.Bxb5 Ba6 21.Nc4 Qc7 22.Bxa6 Rxa6 23.Nd2 Rb6 24.Kf1 Qb7 25.Ra2 gxh5 26.Kg2 Bf8 27.Rxh5 Rg7 28.Kh1 Be7 29.Qc2 Bxg5 30.Bxc5 dxc5 31.Nc4 Rh6 32.Rxh6 Bxh6 33.Qxa4 Nf8 34.b3 Qe7 35.Rh2 Bg5 36.d6 Qf6 37.Qe8 Rb7 38.Nd5 Qg6 39.Qxe5 Rxb3 40.Ne7+ Bxe7 41.Rg2 Bh4 42.Qxf4 Qxg2+ 43.Kxg2 Ng6 44.Qf5 Rd3 45.e5 Kg7 46.e6 Rd4 47.Qf7+ Kh6 48.e7 Nf4+ 49.Qxf4+ 1-0

Round 9, Jan. 30
Grandelius, Nils – ju, Wenjun
A21 English, Kramnik-Shirov Counter-Attack

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 a5 4.Nf3 d6 5.a3 c6 6.axb4 cxd5 7.cxd5 Nf6 8.d3 Nxd5 9.Bd2 Nc6 10.bxa5 O-O 11.g3 h6 12.Bg2 Be6 13.O-O Nxa5 14.e4 Nf6 15.Bc3 Qb6 16.Qa4 Nb3 17.Qxa8 Rxa8 18.Rxa8+ Kh7 19.h3 Nc5 20.Rd1 Ncxe4 21.dxe4 Nxe4 22.Be1 Nxg3 23.Nd4 Nf5 24.Nxf5 Bxf5 25.Bc3 Qc7 26.Ra7 Qc8 27.Kh2 Qc4 28.Rxb7 Qf4+ 29.Kg1 Qg5 30.Kf1 Qh5 31.Rxd6 Bxh3 32.Rb4 e4 33.Rdd4 e3 34.Bxh3 Qxh3+ 35.Ke2 exf2 36.Kxf2 Qh2+ 37.Ke1 f6 38.Kd1 h5 39.Kc1 Qg1+ 40.Kc2 Qg2+ 41.Kb1 Qc6 42.Rf4 Kg6 43.Rfc4 Qd6 44.Ka2 Qe6 45.b3 Qe2+ 46.Bb2 Kh6 47.Rc7 Qe1 48.Rcc4 Qf2 49.Ra4 Qb6 50.Rcb4 Qc7 51.Rb5 Kg6 52.Rd5 Qb7 53.Rd2 Qc7 54.Rdd4 Qb7 55.Rd8 Kh7 56.Ra5 Qf3 57.Rdd5 g5 58.Rf5 1-0

[Wayne Komer]

Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2019

January 30, 2019

Round Nine

Results

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg

1 GM Artemiev Vladislav 2709 6½ 1 - 0 6½ GM Navara David 2738
2 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2780 6 1 - 0 6½ GM Alekseenko Kirill 2637
3 GM Saric Ivan 2690 6 ½ - ½ 6 GM Aronian Levon 2767
4 GM Yu Yangyi 2764 6 1 - 0 6 GM Le Quang Liem 2714
5 GM Howell David W L 2685 6 ½ - ½ 6 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2749
6 GM Anton Guijarro David 2642 6 ½ - ½ 6 GM Vitiugov Nikita 2720
7 GM Karthikeyan Murali 2570 6 1 - 0 6 GM Matlakov Maxim 2700
8 GM Lalith Babu M R 2547 6 ½ - ½ 5½ GM So Wesley 2765
9 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2734 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel 2603
10 GM Adams Michael 2701 5½ 1 - 0 5½ GM Svane Rasmus 2594
11 GM Vaibhav Suri 2590 5½ 1 - 0 5½ GM Jones Gawain C B 2691
12 GM Adhiban B. 2689 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Antipov Mikhail Al. 2589
13 GM Grandelius Nils 2682 5½ 1 - 0 5½ GM Ju Wenjun 2575
14 GM Santos Latasa Jaime 2581 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Eljanov Pavel 2680
15 GM Melkumyan Hrant 2660 5½ 1 - 0 5½ IM Sadhwani Raunak 2451
16 GM Chandra Akshat 2492 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Edouard Romain 2643
17 IM Abel Dennes 2458 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Tari Aryan 2625
18 GM Moussard Jules 2605 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Muzychuk Mariya 2540
19 GM Puranik Abhimanyu 2536 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Lagarde Maxime 2604
20 GM Koneru Humpy 2541 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2713
21 GM Ernst Sipke 2540 5 0 - 1 5 GM Mamedov Rauf 2703
22 GM Cheparinov Ivan 2691 5 1 - 0 5 GM Hjartarson Johann 2530
23 GM Dragnev Valentin 2511 5 0 - 1 5 GM Indjic Aleksandar 2630
24 GM Vocaturo Daniele 2626 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando 2512
25 GM Arizmendi Martinez Julen Luis 2506 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Donchenko Alexander 2604
26 GM Jumabayev Rinat 2604 5 1 - 0 5 GM Krysa Leandro 2499
27 GM Gallego Alcaraz Andres Felipe 2502 5 1 - 0 5 GM Papp Gabor 2603
28 GM Tan Zhongyi 2502 5 1 - 0 5 GM Maze Sebastien 2596
29 GM Cramling Pia 2462 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Mikhalevski Victor 2581
30 GM Peralta Fernando 2580 5 0 - 1 5 IM Gukesh D 2497
31 GM Muzychuk Anna 2569 5 1 - 0 5 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2486
32 IM Prithu Gupta 2462 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Ramirez Alejandro 2567
33 GM Moroni Luca Jr 2562 5 1 - 0 5 GM Lei Tingjie 2447
34 IM Pigott John C 2387 5 0 - 1 4½ GM Short Nigel D 2648

Round Ten Pairings

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg

1 GM Yu Yangyi 2764 7 - 7½ GM Artemiev Vladislav 2709
2 GM Karthikeyan Murali 2570 7 - 7 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2780
3 GM Aronian Levon 2767 6½ - 6½ GM Howell David W L 2685
4 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2749 6½ - 6½ GM Grandelius Nils 2682
5 GM Navara David 2738 6½ - 6½ GM Melkumyan Hrant 2660
6 GM Vitiugov Nikita 2720 6½ - 6½ GM Vaibhav Suri 2590
7 GM Alekseenko Kirill 2637 6½ - 6½ GM Adams Michael 2701
8 GM Lalith Babu M R 2547 6½ - 6½ GM Saric Ivan 2690
9 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2734 6 - 6½ GM Anton Guijarro David 2642
10 GM So Wesley 2765 6 - 6 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel 2603
11 GM Le Quang Liem 2714 6 - 6 GM Santos Latasa Jaime 2581
12 GM Mamedov Rauf 2703 6 - 6 GM Muzychuk Anna 2569
13 GM Matlakov Maxim 2700 6 - 6 GM Puranik Abhimanyu 2536
14 GM Lagarde Maxime 2604 6 - 6 GM Cheparinov Ivan 2691
15 IM Gukesh D 2497 6 - 6 GM Adhiban B. 2689
16 GM Eljanov Pavel 2680 6 - 6 GM Moroni Luca Jr 2562
17 GM Edouard Romain 2643 6 - 6 GM Gallego Alcaraz Andres Felipe 2502
18 GM Indjic Aleksandar 2630 6 - 6 GM Tan Zhongyi 2502
19 GM Tari Aryan 2625 6 - 6 GM Chandra Akshat 2492
20 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. 2589 6 - 6 GM Moussard Jules 2605
21 GM Muzychuk Mariya 2540 6 - 6 GM Jumabayev Rinat 2604
22 GM Jones Gawain C B 2691 5½ - 6 IM Abel Dennes 2458
23 GM Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando 2512 5½ - 5½ GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2713
24 GM Sethuraman S.P. 2665 5½ - 5½ GM Nguyen Thai Dai Van 2535
25 GM Short Nigel D 2648 5½ - 5½ GM Sadzikowski Daniel 2534
26 IM Harsha Bharathakoti 2481 5½ - 5½ GM Vocaturo Daniele 2626
27 GM Donchenko Alexander 2604 5½ - 5½ IM Krishna C R G 2469
28 GM Svane Rasmus 2594 5½ - 5½ GM Arizmendi Martinez Julen Luis 2506
29 GM Mikhalevski Victor 2581 5½ - 5½ IM Bjerre Jonas Buhl 2422
30 GM Cramling Pia 2462 5½ - 5½ GM Yuffa Daniil 2578
31 GM Ju Wenjun 2575 5½ - 5½ IM Prithu Gupta 2462
32 GM Ramirez Alejandro 2567 5½ - 5½ GM Solozhenkin Evgeniy 2427
33 IM Sadhwani Raunak 2451 5½ - 5½ GM Koneru Humpy 2541


Standing after Round Nine

1 Artemiev 7.5
2-4 MVL, Yu Yangyi, Karthikeyan 7
5-17 Navara, Lalith, Grandelius, Aronian, Saric, Vitiugov, Vaibhav, Adams, Alekseenko, Nakamura, Howell, Melkumyan, Anton 6.5
18-43 Le, So, Naiditsch, Adhiban, Mamedov, Eljanov, Matlakov, Tari, Gukesh among others 6

[Hans Jung]

What a tournament! Of the 6 players 2750 and over only Yu Yangyi has a chance to stop the leader Artemiev. In previous years Nakamura seemed to own Gibraltar but not this year. A new winner is almost assured.

[Wayne Komer]

Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2019

January 30, 2019

Round Nine

Early Games

Round 9, Jan. 30
Artemiev, Vladislav – Navara, David
A05 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 d5 4.Bb2 c5 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.c4 d4 7.b4 O-O 8.bxc5 Ne4 9.O-O Nxc5 10.d3 e5 11.Ba3 Nba6 12.Nfd2 Re8 13.Ne4 Bf8 14.Nxc5 Nxc5 15.Nd2 Rb8 16.Rb1 b6 17.Bxc5 Bxc5 18.Qa4 Bg4 19.Bf3 Bh3 20.Qxa7 Bxf1 21.Kxf1 Re7 22.Qa4 Qd7 23.Rb5 Qa7 24.Qb3 Kg7 25.a4 Ra8 26.Bxa8 Qxa8 27.f3 Ra7 28.Ne4 Rxa4 29.Nxc5 bxc5 30.Rxc5 Ra3 31.Qb4 Ra4 32.Qb6 Ra1+ 33.Kf2 e4 34.Rd5 e3+ 35.Kg2 Qa7 36.Qxa7 Rxa7 37.f4 1-0

- Vladislav Artemiev will go into tomorrow's final round of #GibChess with a half-point lead over MVL and Yu Yangyi (he's already played Maxime, so looks set to play the Chinese player):

Round 9, Jan. 30
MVL – Alekseenko, Kirill
C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a3 O-O 9.Nc3 Na5 10.Ba2 Be6 11.b4 Bxa2 12.Rxa2 Nc6 13.Bg5 Ng4 14.Bd2 Nf6 15.Re1 Qd7 16.Nd5 Nxd5 17.exd5 Na7 18.a4 c6 19.dxc6 Nxc6 20.c4 d5 21.axb5 axb5 22.Rxa8 Rxa8 23.cxb5 Nxb4 24.Nxe5 Qxb5 25.Qg4 Ra7 26.h4 Nc6 27.Bh6 Bf8 28.Nd7 f5 29.Qxf5 1-0

- Kirill Alekseenko spent a mere 56 minutes 9 seconds on 20...d5, but so far it seems he calculated correctly!

MVL: "It was a good preparation - thanks to Etienne (Bacrot) for that. If Kirill had been prepared it would have been a draw. That's how it goes"

Round 9, Jan. 30
Howell, David – Nakamura, Hikaru
A18 English, Mikenas-Carls variation

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.e5 Ne4 6.Nf3 Bf5 7.d4 Bb4 8.Bd2 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 O-O 10.Be2 b6 11.O-O c5 12.Nd2 Nc6 13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.f3 Bg6 15.f4 Be4 16.Bf3 cxd4 17.Bxd4 Bxf3 18.Rxf3 Nxd4 19.Qxd4 Rc8 20.Qd2 Qe7 21.Rd3 Qc5+ 22.Kh1 Rfd8 23.Rd1 Qc2 24.g3 Qxd2 25.R1xd2 Kf8 26.Kg2 Ke7 27.f5 g6 28.g4 d4 29.Kf3 gxf5 30.gxf5 Rc5 1/2-1/2

(Hikaru Nakamura) - Solid chess can sometimes just lead to draws which means that sometimes you just have to throw your hands up in the air like what?!

(Anish Giri in reply) - Guys, my man Hikaru needs a hug. #GoHikaru #DrawHikaru

Round 9, Jan. 30
Peralta, Fernando – Gukesh, D.
D48 QGD, Semi-Slav, Meran, Reynold’s variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.d5 Qc7 11.O-O Bb7 12.dxe6 fxe6 13.Ne2 e5 14.Ng3 c4 15.Bc2 O-O-O 16.Qe2 Nc5 17.a4 Ne6 18.axb5 axb5 19.b3 Nd4 20.Nxd4 exd4 21.bxc4 bxc4 22.Ba4 Bd6 23.Bb5 c3 24.Bg5 Qc5 25.Bxf6 gxf6 26.Rfb1 Rhf8 27.Bd3 Rf7 28.Nf5 Rc7 29.Rb5 Qc6 30.Qa2 c2 31.Rc1 Qc3 32.Qxc2 Bf4 33.Rcb1 Qxc2 34.Bxc2 d3 35.Bb3 d2 36.Be6+ Kb8 37.Rd1 Rc1 38.Bb3 Rd3 39.Ba4 Ra3 0-1

Position after Black’s 34….d3



- the kid's having a quite good tournament, with a 2600 perf as of now !
- Wild game ahead most probably
- last time i was here around move 25 white was lost

[Wayne Komer]

Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2019

January 29, 2019

Round Eight

Selection of Games

Round 8, Jan. 29
Aronian, Levon – Artemiev, Vladislav
D15 QGD Slav Accepted

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.e3 g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.O-O O-O 8.Bd2 Bg4 9.Qb3 Ra7 10.Rfd1 e6 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Nbd7 13.Ne2 Re8 14.Be1 a5 15.Qc2 Nb6 16.b3 Nc8 17.Nf4 Nd6 18.Nd3 Nd7 19.Rac1 Qe7 20.a4 h5 21.cxd5 exd5 22.b4 axb4 23.Bxb4 Rea8 24.a5 Bf8 25.Rb1 Qe8 26.Bxd6 Bxd6 27.Rb3 Qd8 28.a6 Rxa6 29.Rxb7 Qc8 30.Rb3 Ra1 31.Rbb1 R8a2 32.Qc3 Rxb1 33.Rxb1 Ra3 34.Qc2 Qa8 35.g3 Ra1 36.Rxa1 Qxa1+ 37.Kg2 Qa6 38.e4 Qc4 39.Qxc4 dxc4 40.Ne1 c5 41.Be2 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Jan. 29
Le, Quang Liem – MVL
D85 Grunfeld, Exchange variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be3 c5 8.Rc1 O-O 9.Nf3 Bg4 10.Be2 Qa5 11.O-O Qxa2 12.Ra1 Qb2 13.Qd3 Qb6 14.Rfb1 Qc7 15.Qc4 b6 16.h3 Bd7 17.dxc5 bxc5 18.Qxc5 Qxc5 19.Bxc5 Bc6 20.Rxa7 Rxa7 21.Bxa7 Nd7 22.Bd3 Ra8 23.Bd4 Ra3 24.Rc1 Bh6 25.Re1 Bf4 26.g3 Bd6 27.e5 Bc5 28.Be4 Bxe4 29.Rxe4 Bxd4 30.Rxd4 Nb6 31.Rd3 Na4 32.e6 fxe6 33.Ng5 Rxc3 34.Rd8+ Kg7 35.Nxe6+ Kf6 36.Nf4 Kf7 37.h4 1/2-1/2

Round 8 Jan. 29
Alekseenko, Kirill – Naiditsch, Arkadij
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 d6 5.O-O Be7 6.c3 O-O 7.Re1 a6 8.Ba4 Bg4 9.Nbd2 Nd7 10.h3 Bh5 11.Bc2 Kh8 12.g4 Bg6 13.Nf1 Nb6 14.Ng3 d5 15.Qe2 f6 16.h4 Bf7 17.h5 dxe4 18.dxe4 Bc4 19.Qe3 Nd7 20.Nh4 Bc5 21.Qf3 Rf7 22.Bb3 Bxb3 23.axb3 Qe8 24.b4 Bb6 25.Ngf5 Nf8 26.Kh2 Ne6 27.Rg1 Ng5 28.Qe2 Nd8 29.Bxg5 fxg5 30.Nf3 Ne6 31.Nxe5 Rf6 32.Nd3 g6 33.hxg6 hxg6 34.Rg3 Kg8 35.Rh3 Rd8 36.Rh1 Rxd3 37.Qxd3 Nf4 38.Kg1 Bxf2+ 39.Kxf2 Nxd3+ 40.Ke3 Rf8 41.Ne7+ Kf7 42.Nd5 Qd8 43.Rh7+ Ke6 44.Kxd3 Rf3+ 45.Kd4 Rf4 46.Re7+ Kd6 47.Rhh7 c6 48.Nxf4 Qb6+ 49.Kd3 1-0

- Topsy-turvy game, this game.
- amazing game
- nice game
- Berlin to honour Kramnik's retreat from chess

Round 8, Jan. 29
Lagarde, Maxime – So, Wesley
C49 Four Knights, double Ruy Lopez

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.Nd5 Nxd5 6.exd5 e4 7.dxc6 dxc6 8.Bc4 exf3 9.Qxf3 O-O 10.c3 Qh4 11.d3 Bd6 12.h3 Be6 13.Bb3 Bxb3 14.axb3 Qe7+ 15.Qe2 Qf6 16.Ra4 Rae8 17.Re4 Rxe4 18.Qxe4 Qd8 19.O-O Re8 20.Qc4 Qf6 21.Qg4 Qe5 22.g3 Qd5 23.Qd1 Qe6 24.Kg2 Qd5+ 25.Kg1 h5 26.h4 c5 27.c4 Qf5 28.Kg2 Be5 29.Re1 Rd8 30.Re3 Bd4 31.Rf3 Qg6 32.Be3 Bf6 33.Bxc5 b6 34.Bb4 Bxb2 35.Qe2 Bf6 36.Be7 Re8 37.Re3 Bxe7 38.Rxe7 Qc6+ 39.Kg1 Rxe7 40.Qxe7 a5 1/2-1/2

- this is So boring
- Wes needs a white blunder to win this
- Maxime also needs a black blunder to win

Round 8, Jan. 29
Ivanchuk, Vassily – Muzychuk, Anna
A30 English, symmetrical

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.e3 Nf6 5.d4 cxd4 6.exd4 d5 7.Bg5 Be6 8.Bxf6 exf6 9.Be2 Bb4 10.cxd5 Bxd5 11.O-O O-O 12.Rc1 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Nxd4 14.Bxb7 Rb8 15.Nd5 Ne6 16.Nxb4 Rxb7 17.a3 a5 18.Qf3 Qb6 19.Nd5 Qxb2 20.Nxf6+ Kg7 21.Qe4 Rfb8 22.Nd7 Qd4 23.Qxd4+ Nxd4 24.Nxb8 Ne2+ 25.Kh1 Nxc1 26.Rxc1 Rxb8 27.h4 Rb3 28.Rc5 Rxa3 29.h5 Kf6 30.g4 Ra4 31.Kh2 Rxg4 32.hxg6 Kxg6 33.Rxa5 h5 34.Rb5 f6 35.Ra5 h4 36.Kh3 Rf4 37.Rb5 f5 1/2-1/2

- Vas y Vassily !!!
- Battle of the CHUKs
- In an all Ukrainian matchup that isn't that surprising.
- LOL chucky is losing. chucky can win against carlsen one day and lose against anybody the next day. that's why we love him
- might join Kramnik in retirement
- chuky the greatest legend there is

Round 8, Jan. 29
Werle, Jan – Hones, Gawain
E97 King’s Indian, Orthodox, Aronin-Tamanov, Bayonet Attack

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.b4 a5 10.bxa5 Rxa5 11.a4 Nh5 12.Re1 f5 13.Ng5 Nf4 14.Bf1 h6 15.Nf3 g5 16.Nd2 c5 17.Nb5 Ra6 18.Ra3 Nfg6 19.exf5 Nxf5 20.Ne4 Nd4 21.g3 Bf5 22.Bg2 Rf7 23.Bd2 Bf8 24.Nxd4 exd4 25.f4 gxf4 26.gxf4 Nh4 27.Rg3+ Bg7 28.Bh3 Bxh3 29.Rxh3 Nf5 30.a5 Rxa5 31.Ng3 Ne3 32.Qb1 Rxf4 33.Qg6 Rf6 34.Qe4 Qd7 35.Nh5 Qxh3 36.Nxf6+ Bxf6 37.Qg6+ Bg7 38.Bxa5 Qg4+ 39.Qxg4 Nxg4 40.Re6 Ne3 41.Rxd6 Nxc4 42.Rd8+ Kf7 43.Be1 b6 44.Rd7+ Kg6 45.Re7 Bf6 46.Re6 Kf5 47.Rc6 Bg5 48.d6 Ke6 49.Bg3 d3 0-1

Round 8, Jan. 29
Ju, Wenjun – Tomazini, Zan
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c5 4.d5 b5 5.cxb5 a6 6.bxa6 Nxa6 7.Nc3 Bg7 8.Nf3 d6 9.Bg2 O-O 10.O-O Bf5 11.Nd2 Nb4 12.Nc4 Bc2 13.Qd2 Bb3 14.Na3 Bxd5 15.Nxd5 Nfxd5 16.Nc4 Nf6 17.Bxa8 Qxa8 18.a3 d5 19.Nb6 Qa7 20.axb4 Qxa1 21.bxc5 e6 22.b4 Ne4 23.Qd3 Qc3 24.Qxc3 Nxc3 25.Re1 Nb5 26.Bd2 Rb8 27.e4 dxe4 28.Rxe4 Rd8 29.Be3 Rd3 30.c6 Rc3 31.Rc4 Be5 32.Rxc3 Bxc3 33.Bc5 Be5 34.Nd7 Bc7 35.Nf6+ Kh8 36.f4 e5 37.Nd5 Bb8 38.Bb6 Ba7 39.Bxa7 Nxa7 40.c7 1-0

[Wayne Komer]

Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2019

January 29, 2019

Round Eight

Results

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg

1 GM Aronian Levon 2767 5½ ½ - ½ 6 GM Artemiev Vladislav 2709
2 GM Le Quang Liem 2714 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2780
3 GM Matlakov Maxim 2700 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Yu Yangyi 2764
4 GM Navara David 2738 5½ 1 - 0 5½ GM Grandelius Nils 2682
5 GM Alekseenko Kirill 2637 5½ 1 - 0 5½ GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2734
6 GM Vitiugov Nikita 2720 5½ ½ - ½ 5½ GM Saric Ivan 2690
7 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2749 5 1 - 0 5½ GM Svane Rasmus 2594
8 GM Lagarde Maxime 2604 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM So Wesley 2765
9 GM Mamedov Rauf 2703 5 0 - 1 5 GM Karthikeyan Murali 2570
10 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel 2603 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Adams Michael 2701
11 GM Muzychuk Mariya 2540 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Adhiban B. 2689
12 IM Gukesh D 2497 5 0 - 1 5 GM Howell David W L 2685
13 GM Eljanov Pavel 2680 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Chandra Akshat 2492
14 GM Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando 2512 5 0 - 1 5 GM Anton Guijarro David 2642
15 GM Indjic Aleksandar 2630 5 0 - 1 5 GM Lalith Babu M R 2547
16 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2713 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Muzychuk Anna 2569
17 GM Ramirez Alejandro 2567 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Cheparinov Ivan 2691
18 GM Werle Jan 2541 4½ 0 - 1 4½ GM Jones Gawain C B 2691
19 GM Vazquez Igarza Renier 2567 4½ 0 - 1 4½ GM Melkumyan Hrant 2660
20 GM Short Nigel D 2648 4½ 0 - 1 4½ GM Puranik Abhimanyu 2536
21 GM Edouard Romain 2643 4½ 1 - 0 4½ GM Nguyen Thai Dai Van 2535
22 GM Tari Aryan 2625 4½ 1 - 0 4½ GM Sadzikowski Daniel 2534
23 IM Sosa Tomas 2499 4½ 0 - 1 4½ GM Moussard Jules 2605
24 GM Donchenko Alexander 2604 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Dragnev Valentin 2511
25 GM Lemos Damian 2474 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Jumabayev Rinat 2604
26 GM Papp Gabor 2603 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Arizmendi Martinez Julen Luis 2506
27 IM Harsha Bharathakoti 2481 4½ 0 - 1 4½ GM Vaibhav Suri 2590
28 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. 2589 4½ 1 - 0 4½ IM Krishna C R G 2469
29 GM Cornette Matthieu 2587 4½ 0 - 1 4½ IM Abel Dennes 2458
30 IM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat 2468 4½ 0 - 1 4½ GM Santos Latasa Jaime 2581

Round Nine Pairings

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg

1 GM Artemiev Vladislav 2709 6½ - 6½ GM Navara David 2738
2 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2780 6 - 6½ GM Alekseenko Kirill 2637
3 GM Saric Ivan 2690 6 - 6 GM Aronian Levon 2767
4 GM Yu Yangyi 2764 6 - 6 GM Le Quang Liem 2714
5 GM Howell David W L 2685 6 - 6 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2749
6 GM Anton Guijarro David 2642 6 - 6 GM Vitiugov Nikita 2720
7 GM Karthikeyan Murali 2570 6 - 6 GM Matlakov Maxim 2700
8 GM Lalith Babu M R 2547 6 - 5½ GM So Wesley 2765
9 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2734 5½ - 5½ GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel 2603
10 GM Adams Michael 2701 5½ - 5½ GM Svane Rasmus 2594
11 GM Vaibhav Suri 2590 5½ - 5½ GM Jones Gawain C B 2691
12 GM Adhiban B. 2689 5½ - 5½ GM Antipov Mikhail Al. 2589
13 GM Grandelius Nils 2682 5½ - 5½ GM Ju Wenjun 2575
14 GM Santos Latasa Jaime 2581 5½ - 5½ GM Eljanov Pavel 2680
15 GM Melkumyan Hrant 2660 5½ - 5½ IM Sadhwani Raunak 2451
16 GM Chandra Akshat 2492 5½ - 5½ GM Edouard Romain 2643
17 IM Abel Dennes 2458 5½ - 5½ GM Tari Aryan 2625
18 GM Moussard Jules 2605 5½ - 5½ GM Muzychuk Mariya 2540
19 GM Puranik Abhimanyu 2536 5½ - 5½ GM Lagarde Maxime 2604
20 GM Koneru Humpy 2541 5 - 5 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2713
21 GM Ernst Sipke 2540 5 - 5 GM Mamedov Rauf 2703
22 GM Cheparinov Ivan 2691 5 - 5 GM Hjartarson Johann 2530
23 GM Dragnev Valentin 2511 5 - 5 GM Indjic Aleksandar 2630
24 GM Vocaturo Daniele 2626 5 - 5 GM Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando 2512
25 GM Arizmendi Martinez Julen Luis 2506 5 - 5 GM Donchenko Alexander 2604
26 GM Jumabayev Rinat 2604 5 - 5 GM Krysa Leandro 2499
27 GM Gallego Alcaraz Andres Felipe 2502 5 - 5 GM Papp Gabor 2603
28 GM Tan Zhongyi 2502 5 - 5 GM Maze Sebastien 2596
29 GM Cramling Pia 2462 5 - 5 GM Mikhalevski Victor 2581
30 GM Peralta Fernando 2580 5 - 5 IM Gukesh D 2497
31 GM Muzychuk Anna 2569 5 - 5 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2486
32 IM Prithu Gupta 2462 5 - 5 GM Ramirez Alejandro 2567
33 GM Moroni Luca Jr 2562 5 - 5 GM Lei Tingjie 2447
34 IM Pigott John C 2387 5 - 4½ GM Short Nigel D 2648

Standing after Round Eight

1-3 Navara, Artemiev, Alekseenko 6.5
4-15 Lalith, Aronian, Vitiugov, Le, Saric, MVL, Yu, Nakamura, Matlakov, Howell, Karthikeyan, Anton 6
16-38 Including among others Grandelius, Muzychuk, M., So, Naiditsch, Edouard, Adams, Ju, Adhiban, Jones, Eljanov and Tari 5.5

[Wayne Komer]

Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2019

January 29, 2019

Round Eight

Nigel Short gets his rook trapped.

Position after Short’s 29.Re1?



Round 8, Jan. 29
Short, Nigel – Puranik, Abhimanyu
B38 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Maroczy bind

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 c5 4.e4 d6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Bg7 7.Be2 Nc6 8.Be3 O-O 9.O-O Bd7 10.Nc2 Qa5 11.f4 Rfc8 12.Kh1 Be8 13.a3 Nd7 14.b4 Qd8 15.Qe1 Nb6 16.c5 dxc5 17.bxc5 Nd7 18.e5 Qa5 19.Rb1 a6 20.Bg4 h5 21.Bxd7 Bxd7 22.Rxb7 Bf5 23.Nb4 Qxa3 24.Nxc6 Rxc6 25.Nd5 Bf8 26.Nxe7+ Bxe7 27.Rxe7 Rd8 28.Qc1 Qb3 29.Re1 Kf8 30.Ra7 Qb8 31.Rd1 Rxd1+ 32.Qxd1 Qxa7 33.Qd8+ Kg7 34.Bd4 f6 35.exf6+ Kf7 36.Qd5+ Re6 37.Be5 g5 38.c6 Kg6 39.h3 Qf7 40.c7 Re8 41.Qf3 h4 42.Kg1 Qd7 43.g4 Bc2 44.f7 Kxf7 45.fxg5+ Ke6 46.Qf6+ Kd5 47.Bf4 Qe6 48.Qd8+ Kc6 49.Be5 Qd7 50.Qf6+ Kb7 51.Bd6 Qc6 0-1

Nakamura has a quick win

Round 8, Jan. 29
Nakamura, Hikaru – Svane, Rasmus
B12 Caro-Kann, Advance variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 Qa5+ 7.Nd2 e6 8.Ne2 Qa6 9.c4 c5 10.dxc5 Nc6 11.Qc3 dxc4 12.b4 cxb3 13.axb3 Qb5 14.Ba3 Nge7 15.Nc4 Nd5 16.Qg3 g6 17.Nc3 Nxc3 18.Qxc3 O-O-O 19.O-O Kb8 20.Nd6 Bxd6 21.exd6 Rhe8 22.Bc1 Rd7 23.Be3 e5 24.f4 exf4 25.Bxf4 Nb4 26.Bg3 Rc8 27.Rxf7 1-0

Round 8, Jan. 29
Navara, David – Grandelius, Nils
B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky, Moscow Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O a6 6.c4 g6 7.Nc3 Bg7 8.d3 O-O 9.h3 b6 10.Bg5 h6 11.Be3 Bb7 12.Qd2 Kh7 13.Rab1 e6 14.b4 Qc7 15.Rfc1 Rfd8 16.Bd1 Bf8 17.Bf4 Ne5 18.bxc5 bxc5 19.Nxe5 dxe5 20.Bxe5 Qxe5 21.Rxb7 Kg7 22.Qe3 Rab8 23.Rb3 Nd7 24.f4 Qd4 25.Kf2 f5 26.e5 Be7 27.Rcb1 Rxb3 28.Rxb3 Rb8 29.Qxd4 cxd4 30.Rxb8 Nxb8 31.Ne2 Nd7 32.Kf3 Bc5 33.Ba4 Nb6 34.Bc6 a5 35.a4 Kf7 36.Nc1 Bb4 37.Nb3 Bc3 38.c5 Nc8 39.Bd7 Ne7 40.c6 Nd5 41.Nc5 Nc7 42.Bc8 Ke7 43.Na6 Nd5 44.c7 Nb6 45.Bb7 Kd7 46.c8=Q+ Nxc8 47.Nc5+ Kc7 48.Bxc8 Kxc8 49.Nxe6 Bb2 50.g4 fxg4+ 51.hxg4 1-0

- 1-0 David is a nice guy!
- Easy win, all black pawns in kingside will fall
- Because they are blocked in white squares and black bishop cannot defend it, knights will be exchanged (42move)
- Navara can pass 2750 for the 2nd time
- would pass Nakamura except that Naka won already
- Navara at the board is a picture of total concentration
- yes
- this is superGM 2700 elo concentration at work

And there was a good joint analysis with both Gukesh and David Powell coming in and sitting by Simon Williams. The game ended with a loss by Gukesh and the times on the clock were 32 seconds for him and 59 seconds for David.
Gukesh said that he studies chess six hours a day and his other sport is badminton. He seems like a really nice kid.

Round 8, Jan. 29
Gukesh, David – Powell, David
D02 Queen’s Pawn game

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O Be7 5.d4 b5 6.a4 b4 7.c4 bxc3 8.Nxc3 O-O 9.Bf4 a5 10.Rc1 c6 11.Ne5 Ba6 12.Qd2 Nfd7 13.Nxd7 Nxd7 14.Rfd1 Qb6 15.e4 Rfc8 16.exd5 cxd5 17.Bf1 Bxf1 18.Kxf1 Rc4 19.Ne2 Nf6 20.Rxc4 dxc4 21.Be3 Qc6 22.Qc2 Qh1+ 23.Ng1 Rc8 24.f3 Nd5 25.Bc1 h5 26.Qf2 c3 27.bxc3 Rxc3 28.Bd2 Rc2 29.Rc1 Ra2 30.Qe2 Kh7 31.Rc8 g6 32.Qe5 Bf6 33.Qd6 Rxd2 0-1

[Hans Jung]

First Wesley So and then Hikaru Nakamura losing. Are their chances for first done or will they make an incredible comeback. A lot of top players are taking half point byes. Lots of pressure.

[Wayne Komer]

Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2019

January 28, 2019

Round Seven

Selection of Games

Artemiev-Nakamura – given earlier in thread

Round 7, Jan. 28
Saric, Ivan – Navara, David
C89 Ruy Lopez, Marshall Counter-Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qf3 Qh4 15.g3 Qh3 16.Be3 Bxd3 17.Nd2 Qf5 18.Bd4 Rfd8 19.Qxf5 Bxf5 20.Ne4 Bf8 21.f3 h6 22.Rad1 a5 23.a4 b4 24.Bc4 Rab8 25.Be5 Rb7 26.Bd4 Rbd7 27.Rc1 bxc3 28.bxc3 Rb7 29.Rb1 Rdb8 30.Rxb7 Rxb7 31.Bf1 Nc7 32.Nc5 Rb2 33.Re5 Be6 34.Nxe6 Nxe6 35.Be3 Rb3 36.Rxa5 Rxc3 37.Kf2 Rc2+ 38.Be2 c5 39.Ra8 Nd4 40.Bxd4 cxd4 41.Ke1 g5 42.Rd8 d3 43.Bxd3 Rxh2 44.a5 Kg7 45.a6 Bb4+ 46.Kd1 Bc5 47.Rd7 Rh3 48.Bc4 Rxg3 49.Bxf7 Kf6 50.Bd5 g4 51.a7 Bxa7 52.Rxa7 gxf3 53.Ke1 h5 54.Kf2 h4 55.Rh7 Rg5 56.Bxf3 h3 57.Ke3 Rc5 58.Rxh3 Ke5 59.Be4 Rc3+ 60.Bd3 Rc5 61.Rh6 Kd5 62.Rh4 Kd6 63.Bc4 Ke5 64.Re4+ Kf5 65.Be6+ Kf6 66.Kf4 Rc2 67.Bg4 Rf2+ 68.Bf3 Rf1 69.Re2 Kf7 70.Ra2 Kf6 71.Ra6+ Ke7 72.Ke4 Re1+ 73.Kd5 Rg1 74.Kd4 Re1 75.Be4 Rd1+ 76.Ke5 Re1 77.Ra7+ Ke8 78.Kd5 Kf8 79.Bf5 Re7 80.Ra8+ Kf7 81.Ra6 Re1 82.Bg6+ Ke7 83.Be4 Rd1+ 84.Ke5 Re1 85.Ra2 Kd7 86.Ra7+ Ke8 87.Ra8+ 1/2-1/2

Position after White’s 60.Bd3



A draw after 60..Ke6

Round 7, Jan. 28
Grandelius, Nils – Le, Quang Liem
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.h3 Ne7 8.d4 Bb6 9.Re1 c6 10.Bd3 Ng6 11.Be3 Nh5 12.Nbd2 Nhf4 13.Bf1 exd4 14.Nxd4 d5 15.N4f3 Be6 16.exd5 Bxd5 17.g3 Ne6 18.h4 Re8 19.Bg2 h6 20.Qc2 Qf6 21.a4 Bxe3 22.Rxe3 Nc7 23.Ne4 Bxe4 24.Rxe4 Rxe4 25.Qxe4 Re8 26.Qd4 Qxd4 27.Nxd4 Kf8 28.a5 a6 29.h5 Ne5 30.Nf5 Nb5 31.Rd1 g6 32.hxg6 fxg6 33.Nxh6 Kg7 34.f4 Kxh6 35.fxe5 Rxe5 36.Rd7 Re1+ 37.Kh2 c5 38.Rxb7 Ra1 39.Rb6 Rxa5 40.Be4 Kg7 41.Rxg6+ Kf8 42.Bd5 Ra1 43.Kh3 Rb1 44.Rf6+ Ke7 45.Rf2 a5 46.g4 a4 47.g5 a3 48.bxa3 Nxc3 49.Bc4 Rg1 50.Rg2 Rh1+ 51.Kg4 Re1 52.Kh5 Ne4 53.Kg6 Rc1 54.Bd5 Nd6 55.Re2+ Kd8 56.Kh7 Rc3 57.a4 Rh3+ 58.Kg7 c4 59.g6 c3 60.Kf6 Rg3 61.Bf7 Kd7 62.Be6+ Kd8 63.Ke5 Kc7 64.Bf7 Nxf7+ 65.gxf7 Rf3 66.Ke6 Kb6 67.Re4 c2 68.Rc4 Re3+ 69.Kd7 Rd3+ 70.Ke7 Re3+ 71.Kf6 Rf3+ 72.Kg7 Rg3+ 73.Kf8 Rg2 74.Rc3 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Jan. 28
Adhiban, B. – Yu, Yangyi
C48 Four Knights, Rubinstein Counter-Gambit

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Nd4 5.Bc4 Bc5 6.Nxe5 Qe7 7.Nf3 d5 8.Bxd5 Bg4 9.d3 Nd7 10.Be3 Ne5 11.Bxf7+ Nxf7 12.Nd5 Qd7 13.c3 Nxf3+ 14.gxf3 Bxe3 15.Nxe3 Bh5 16.Ng4 O-O-O 17.d4 Ng5 18.h4 Nxf3+ 19.Qxf3 Rhf8 20.Qe3 Qxg4 21.Kd2 Rf3 22.Rag1 Qe6 23.Qe1 Qxa2 24.Kc2 Be8 25.Rxg7 Ba4+ 26.Kc1 Qa1+ 0-1

- worst game ever
- knight gone
- 6 red out of 24, such a record
- he must be drunk or something
- hopeless to try to beat Chinese players unless yu are carlsen
- but adhiban is done here
- worst four knights ever played between two high level players

Round 7, Jan. 28
MVL Tari, Aryan
A36 English, ultra-symmetrical variation

1.c4 c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.b3 d6 6.Bb2 e5 7.e3 Bf5 8.Nge2 Nge7 9.O-O O-O 10.Ne4 Qd7 11.f4 Rad8 12.d3 b6 13.N2c3 h6 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.cxd5 Ne7 16.Nf2 Qc8 17.e4 Bd7 18.Qd2 f5 19.Rae1 Qc7 20.Nd1 Rf7 21.Ne3 exf4 22.gxf4 Bxb2 23.Qxb2 fxe4 24.dxe4 Rdf8 25.e5 Rxf4 26.Rxf4 Rxf4 27.exd6 Qxd6 28.Nc4 Rxc4 29.bxc4 Nf5 30.Bh3 Qf4 31.Qf6 Qd4+ 32.Qxd4 cxd4 33.Kf2 Kf7 34.Ke2 Ke7 35.Kd3+ Kd6 36.Bxf5 1-0

• Qf4 is a blunder under time pressure

Round 7, Jan. 28
So, Wesley – Lagno, Kateryna
A26 English, Closed System

1.c4 e5 2.d3 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 d6 6.e3 h5 7.h4 Nf6 8.Nge2 O-O 9.e4 Nd7 10.Bg5 f6 11.Be3 Nc5 12.O-O Ne6 13.f4 Ned4 14.Bxd4 exd4 15.Nd5 f5 16.b4 Ne7 17.Nxe7+ Qxe7 18.Rc1 a5 19.b5 Bd7 20.Qd2 b6 21.Kh2 Rae8 22.Ng1 Bf6 23.Rce1 Qg7 24.Bh3 Re7 25.exf5 gxf5 26.Rxe7 Qxe7 27.Re1 Qf7 28.Bg2 Kh7 29.Bd5 Qg6 30.Nf3 Re8 31.Ng5+ Bxg5 32.hxg5 Kg7 33.Rxe8 Qxe8 34.Qf2 Kg6 35.Qxd4 Qe2+ 36.Bg2 h4 37.Qf6+ 1-0

Round 7, Jan. 28
Koneru, Humpy – Howell, David
E62 King’s Indian, Fianchetto, Uhlmann variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O Nc6 7.Nc3 e5 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Bg5 Be6 10.Qa4 Qc8 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Nd5 Bd8 13.Rfd1 e4 14.Nd4 Nxd4 15.Rxd4 f5 16.Qa3 Re8 17.Rad1 c6 18.Nf4 Bf7 19.Rd7 Bf6 20.h4 Rd8 21.Rxd8+ Bxd8 22.Qc3 Qc7 23.e3 Be7 24.Bf1 b6 25.Be2 a5 26.a3 a4 27.Rd2 Bd6 28.Qc2 Be5 29.Qd1 Ra7 30.Kg2 Kg7 31.Qc2 Qe7 32.Bf1 h6 33.Ne2 Qf6 34.Nc3 g5 35.hxg5 hxg5 36.Kg1 Bxc3 37.Qxc3 Qxc3 38.bxc3 Ra5 39.Rb2 Rc5 40.Rb4 b5 41.cxb5 cxb5 42.g4 Be8 43.c4 bxc4 44.Rxc4 Rd5 45.Kh2 Rd2 46.gxf5 Rxf2+ 47.Bg2 Re2 48.Kg1 Kf6 49.Bxe4 Rxe3 50.Rb4 Rb3 51.Rb7 g4 52.Kf2 Rxa3 53.Rb6+ Kg5 54.f6 Bf7 55.Ra6 Ra1 56.Kg3 a3 57.Ra5+ Kxf6 0-1

Round 7, Jan. 28
Iturrizaga Bonelli, Eduardo – Gukesh, D.
D46 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 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Be2 Bb7 11.e4 e5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nd4 Neg4 14.g3 Re8 15.Nf5 Bc5 16.Bf4 Qb6 17.Bxg4 Nxg4 18.Rad1 Rad8 19.Kg2 Ne5 20.Rxd8 Qxd8 21.Rd1 Qf6 22.a4 b4 23.Ne2 Bf8 24.Bxe5 Qxe5 25.f3 Qf6 26.Nf4 g6 27.Ne3 Rd8 28.Ng4 Qe7 29.e5 Rxd1 30.Qxd1 Bg7 31.Qd4 c5 32.Nf6+ Qxf6 33.exf6 cxd4 34.fxg7 Kxg7 35.a5 Kf6 36.Kf2 Ke5 37.Nd3+ Kd5 38.b3 Kc6 39.Nxb4+ Kb5 40.Nc2 d3 0-1

Round 7, Jan. 28
Henderson de La Fuente, Lance – Lagarde, Maxime
B33 Sicilian, Pelikan, Chelyabinsk variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 Bg5 12.Nc2 Rb8 13.a4 bxa4 14.Ncb4 Nxb4 15.cxb4 O-O 16.Rxa4 a5 17.b5 Bd7 18.Nc3 d5 19.Nxd5 Bxb5 20.Bxb5 Rxb5 21.O-O Qb8 22.b4 axb4 23.Qb3 h5 24.Rfa1 h4 25.h3 Qd6 26.Ra7 Rbb8 27.Rc7 Bd8 28.Rc4 Bb6 29.Rac1 Bd4 30.Rc7 Qh6 31.R1c2 Kh8 32.Kh2 Qg5 33.Ne7 Qf4+ 34.Kg1 Ra8 35.Rc1 Qxf2+ 36.Kh1 Ra2 37.Qf3 Qxf3 38.gxf3 b3 39.Rb7 b2 40.Rf1 Ra1 41.Kg2 Rxf1 42.Kxf1 Ra8 0-1

From the EC Forum: The Spanish do generate some splendid names. Here's a couple of IMs who, if results go the right way, could be paired tomorrow.

Lance Henderson De La Fuente - Paolo Ladron De Guevara Pinto

Names straight from the pages of Cervantes

Round 7, Jan. 28
Ivanchuk, Vassily – Kavutskiy, Konstantin
B48 Sicilian, Taimanov variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.O-O-O Be7 9.Be2 d6 10.g4 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 e5 12.Qd3 Be6 13.g5 Nd7 14.h4 Nc5 15.Qd2 Qa5 16.f3 Rc8 17.a3 O-O 18.Kb1 f5 19.exf5 Bxf5 20.h5 Ne6 21.Rhg1 Rfd8 22.Bd3 Bxd3 23.Qxd3 Rxc3 24.Qxc3 Qxc3 25.bxc3 d5 26.Rd3 d4 27.cxd4 exd4 28.Re1 Kf7 29.g6+ hxg6 30.hxg6+ Kf6 31.Bf2 Rh8 32.Rxd4 Bc5 33.Bh4+ Rxh4 34.Rxh4 Bf2 35.Rxe6+ Kxe6 36.Rf4 b6 37.a4 1-0

- g4, this is the old Chucky. He'll crush Great Constantin.

Round 7, Jan. 28
Hanley, Craig – Ju, Wenjun
C11 French, Burn variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Bxf6 gxf6 7.c3 f5 8.Nd2 Nd7 9.Ngf3 c5 10.Nc4 cxd4 11.Qxd4 Nf6 12.Qf4 Nd5 13.Qh6 Bf8 14.Qd2 Bg7 15.Nce5 Qc7 16.Bb5+ Kf8 17.c4 Nf6 18.O-O h6 19.Rad1 Ne4 20.Qf4 Kg8 21.Rfe1 Kh7 22.Ba4 f6 23.Nd3 Qxc4 24.Bb3 Qa6 25.Nh4 Rd8 26.Qe3 Bf8 27.Qe2 Bd7 28.f3 Ng5 29.Nf4 Qxe2 30.Rxe2 Bb5 31.Ree1 Bc5+ 32.Kh1 Bf2 33.Rxd8 Rxd8 34.Nxe6 Bxh4 35.g3 Rd2 36.Nxg5+ Bxg5 37.Re7+ Kh8 38.f4 Bc6+ 39.Kg1 Rg2+ 40.Kf1 Rxh2 41.Be6 Rxb2 42.a3 Rg2 43.fxg5 fxg5 0-1

• Black bishop en prise for four moves

[Wayne Komer]

Gibraltar International Chess Festival 2019

January 28, 2019

Round Seven

Results

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg

1 GM Artemiev Vladislav 2709 5 1 - 0 5 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2749
2 GM Saric Ivan 2690 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Navara David 2738
3 GM Grandelius Nils 2682 5 ½ - ½ 5 GM Le Quang Liem 2714
4 GM Adhiban B. 2689 5 0 - 1 4½ GM Yu Yangyi 2764
5 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2780 4½ 1 - 0 4½ GM Tari Aryan 2625
6 GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2734 4½ 1 - 0 4½ GM Santos Latasa Jaime 2581
7 GM Jumabayev Rinat 2604 4½ 0 - 1 4½ GM Vitiugov Nikita 2720
8 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel 2603 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Mamedov Rauf 2703
9 GM Adams Michael 2701 4½ ½ - ½ 4½ GM Lalith Babu M R 2547
10 GM Papp Gabor 2603 4½ 0 - 1 4½ GM Matlakov Maxim 2700
11 GM Svane Rasmus 2594 4½ 1 - 0 4½ GM Edouard Romain 2643
12 GM Werle Jan 2541 4½ 0 - 1 4½ GM Alekseenko Kirill 2637
13 GM Jones Gawain C B 2691 4 ½ - ½ 4½ GM Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando 2512
14 GM So Wesley 2765 4 1 - 0 4 GM Lagno Kateryna 2560
15 GM Koneru Humpy 2541 4 0 - 1 4 GM Howell David W L 2685
16 GM Nguyen Thai Dai Van 2535 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Short Nigel D 2648
17 GM Anton Guijarro David 2642 4 1 - 0 4 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2486
18 GM Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo 2637 4 0 - 1 4 IM Gukesh D 2497
19 GM Gallego Alcaraz Andres Felipe 2502 4 0 - 1 4 GM Indjic Aleksandar 2630
20 GM Sadzikowski Daniel 2534 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Donchenko Alexander 2604
21 IM Henderson De La Fuente Lance 2489 4 0 - 1 4 GM Lagarde Maxime 2604
22 GM Chandra Akshat 2492 4 1 - 0 4 GM Maze Sebastien 2596
23 GM Lemos Damian 2474 4 ½ - ½ 4 GM Cornette Matthieu 2587
24 GM Karthikeyan Murali 2570 4 1 - 0 4 GM Libiszewski Fabien 2481
25 GM Muzychuk Anna 2569 4 ½ - ½ 4 IM Abel Dennes 2458
26 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2713 3½ 1 - 0 4 IM Kavutskiy Konstantin 2424
27 GM Cheparinov Ivan 2691 3½ 1 - 0 3½ GM Harika Dronavalli 2471
28 IM Krishna C R G 2469 3½ 1 - 0 3½ GM Sethuraman S.P. 2665
29 GM Melkumyan Hrant 2660 3½ 1 - 0 3½ IM Barski Radoslaw 2458
30 GM Akobian Varuzhan 2643 3½ 0 - 1 3½ IM Sadhwani Raunak 2451

Round Eight Pairings

Bo. Name Rtg Pts. Result Pts. Name Rtg

1 GM Aronian Levon 2767 5½ - 6 GM Artemiev Vladislav 2709
2 GM Le Quang Liem 2714 5½ - 5½ GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2780
3 GM Matlakov Maxim 2700 5½ - 5½ GM Yu Yangyi 2764
4 GM Navara David 2738 5½ - 5½ GM Grandelius Nils 2682
5 GM Alekseenko Kirill 2637 5½ - 5½ GM Naiditsch Arkadij 2734
6 GM Vitiugov Nikita 2720 5½ - 5½ GM Saric Ivan 2690
7 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2749 5 - 5½ GM Svane Rasmus 2594
8 GM Lagarde Maxime 2604 5 - 5 GM So Wesley 2765
9 GM Mamedov Rauf 2703 5 - 5 GM Karthikeyan Murali 2570
10 GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel 2603 5 - 5 GM Adams Michael 2701
11 GM Muzychuk Mariya 2540 5 - 5 GM Adhiban B. 2689
12 IM Gukesh D 2497 5 - 5 GM Howell David W L 2685
13 GM Eljanov Pavel 2680 5 - 5 GM Chandra Akshat 2492
14 GM Cuenca Jimenez Jose Fernando 2512 5 - 5 GM Anton Guijarro David 2642
15 GM Indjic Aleksandar 2630 5 - 5 GM Lalith Babu M R 2547
16 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2713 4½ - 4½ GM Muzychuk Anna 2569
17 GM Ramirez Alejandro 2567 4½ - 4½ GM Cheparinov Ivan 2691
18 GM Werle Jan 2541 4½ - 4½ GM Jones Gawain C B 2691
19 GM Vazquez Igarza Renier 2567 4½ - 4½ GM Melkumyan Hrant 2660
20 GM Short Nigel D 2648 4½ - 4½ GM Puranik Abhimanyu 2536
21 GM Edouard Romain 2643 4½ - 4½ GM Nguyen Thai Dai Van 2535
22 GM Tari Aryan 2625 4½ - 4½ GM Sadzikowski Daniel 2534
23 IM Sosa Tomas 2499 4½ - 4½ GM Moussard Jules 2605
24 GM Donchenko Alexander 2604 4½ - 4½ GM Dragnev Valentin 2511
25 GM Lemos Damian 2474 4½ - 4½ GM Jumabayev Rinat 2604
26 GM Papp Gabor 2603 4½ - 4½ GM Arizmendi Martinez Julen Luis 2506
27 IM Harsha Bharathakoti 2481 4½ - 4½ GM Vaibhav Suri 2590
28 GM Antipov Mikhail Al. 2589 4½ - 4½ IM Krishna C R G 2469
29 GM Cornette Matthieu 2587 4½ - 4½ IM Abel Dennes 2458
30 IM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat 2468 4½ - 4½ GM Santos Latasa Jaime 2581
31 IM Sadhwani Raunak 2451 4½ - 4½ GM Yuffa Daniil 2578
32 GM Ju Wenjun 2575 4½ - 4½ IM Tomazini Zan 2439

Standing after Round Seven

1 Artemiev 6
2-13 Navara, Grandelius, Naiditsch, Aronian, Vitiugov, Saric, Svane, Le, MVL, Yu Yangyi, Alekseenko, Matlakov 5.5
14-30 List includes So, Adams, Eljanov, Nakamura, Gukesh and Howell 5

[Ian Findlay]

Yes, great position!. Also, found interesting the 'weak Stockfish' engine on chess24, liked 30. Qxf3 instead of 30. Bxf3 evaluating it as about +4.5, but after Rxe6 Qf1+, Kxh7 Rf1, Artemiev pointed out in the post game interview that black has Qe8! and alll of a sudden, the same engine says -5.0! So strange that Qe8 was not in engine's top 3 moves for black, but when you play it, it says black is winning. I don't understand.