2019 Spring Chess Classic

**Hans Jung** · Saturday, 9th March, 2019, 11:05 AM

A very difficult ending to play for Eric especially short of time. It shows how alert you have to be at that level. Very tricky tactic based on passed pawn and remove the defender

**Hans Jung** · Saturday, 9th March, 2019, 11:49 AM

This afternoon Eric gets to play the great Ivanchuk as Black. I hope you enjoy the the experience Eric! (hope you get a chance to analyse with him too)

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 9th March, 2019, 09:44 PM

2019 Spring Chess Classic

March 9, 2019

Round Eight

Round 8, Mar. 9
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam – Xiong, Jeffery
B96 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 h6 8.Bh4 Qb6 9.a3 Nbd7 10.f5 e5 11.Nb3 Qc7 12.Qf3 b5 13.O-O-O Bb7 14.g4 Rc8 15.Bd3 Qb8 16.Be1 Nc5 17.Nxc5 dxc5 18.h4 b4 19.axb4 cxb4 20.Ne2 Qc7 21.Ng3 Nd7 22.b3 Bc5 23.f6 g6 24.h5 Qa5 25.Kd2 g5 26.Nf5 Rc6 27.Ke2 Rxf6 28.Rf1 Kd8 29.Bc4 Kc8 30.Bg3 Qc7 31.Bd5 Re8 32.c4 bxc3 33.Qxc3 Bc6 34.Rc1 Bb5+ 35.Bc4 Qb7 36.Qd3 Kb8 37.Bxb5 axb5 38.Rfd1 Ba3 39.Ra1 Nc5 40.Qd5 Nxe4 41.Bxe5+ Nd6 42.Rxa3 Rxe5+ 43.Qxe5 Re6 44.Qxe6 Qg2+ 45.Kd3 fxe6 46.Nxd6 Qf3+ 47.Kc2 b4 48.Ra5 Qc3+ 49.Kb1 Qxb3+ 50.Kc1 Qc3+ 51.Kb1 b3 52.Rb5+ Ka8 53.Rc1 Qd3+ 54.Ka1 Qd4+ 55.Kb1 Qd3+ 56.Ka1 Qd4+ 1/2-1/2

Final position

Round 8, Mar. 9
Robson, Ray – Akobian, Varuzhan
C11 French, Steinitz, Boleslavsky variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Ne2 Qb6 9.Rb1 Qa5+ 10.Bd2 Qc7 11.c3 b5 12.f5 exf5 13.Nf4 Nb6 14.Bd3 g6 15.O-O c4 16.Bc2 Be7 17.b3 Be6 18.Qe1 Qd7 19.Qg3 Rc8 20.h4 a5 21.Bd1 b4 22.Be2 h6 23.Rfd1 bxc3 24.Bxc3 Bb4 25.Bxb4 axb4 26.bxc4 dxc4 27.d5 Nxd5 28.Bxc4 Qa7+ 29.Kh1 Nxf4 30.Qxf4 g5 31.Qc1 Ke7 32.Bxe6 fxe6 33.Qc4 Rhd8 34.Rxd8 Kxd8 35.Rd1+ Kc7 36.Rd6 Kb7 37.Nd4 Qa4 38.Nxe6 Nxe5 39.Qd5+ 1-0

Round 8, Mar. 9
Nyzhnyk, Illya – Le, Quang Liem
E63 King’s Indian, Fianchetto, Panno System

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O d6 6.c4 Nc6 7.Nc3 a6 8.e4 Bg4 9.Be3 Nd7 10.Qd2 Bxf3 11.Bxf3 e5 12.d5 Nd4 13.Bg2 c5 14.dxc6 bxc6 15.Ne2 c5 16.Nc3 Nb6 17.b3 Ra7 18.Nd5 Nxd5 19.cxd5 a5 20.Rac1 Qd7 21.Rc4 Rb8 22.Bxd4 exd4 23.Re1 a4 24.b4 cxb4 25.Rxb4 Rxb4 26.Qxb4 Qc7 27.Bf1 Bf6 28.Bd3 Kg7 29.Rb1 a3 30.Kg2 Qc3 31.Qxc3 dxc3 32.Kf3 Bd4 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Mar. 9
Bok, Benjamin – Tari, Aryan
A11 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.c4 c6 5.b3 d5 6.Bb2 O-O 7.O-O a5 8.Nc3 Ne4 9.Na4 b5 10.Bxg7 Kxg7 11.Nb2 bxc4 12.bxc4 Nd7 13.Qc2 Ba6 14.Rab1 Rc8 15.d3 Nef6 16.Qc3 Re8 17.Nd4 Nc5 18.Nb3 Nxb3 19.axb3 Rb8 20.Ra1 Rb4 21.Ra3 d4 22.Qc2 Qc7 23.Rfa1 Reb8 24.Rxa5 Rxb3 25.Rxa6 Rxb2 26.Qd1 c5 27.R6a2 h5 28.Rxb2 Rxb2 29.Bf3 Qb6 30.Qc1 Nd7 31.Qg5 Qf6 32.Qxf6+ Kxf6 33.Kg2 Ke5 34.Ra6 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Mar. 9
Ivanchuk, Vassily – Hansen, Eric
D56 QGD, Lasker Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 O-O 6.Nf3 h6 7.Bh4 Ne4 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.Rc1 c6 10.Be2 Nd7 11.O-O Nxc3 12.Rxc3 dxc4 13.Bxc4 b6 14.Qc2 Bb7 15.Bd3 c5 16.Bh7+ Kh8 17.Be4 Bxe4 18.Qxe4 Rac8 19.Qb7 Qd6 20.Qa6 Rc7 21.Rfc1 Rfc8 22.h3 Kh7 23.Qa3 Qd5 24.dxc5 Nxc5 25.Nd4 a5 26.R3c2 e5 27.Nb5 Rc6 28.Nc3 Qe6 29.Na4 Nxa4 30.Qxa4 Rxc2 31.Rxc2 Rxc2 1/2-1/2

Standings

1-3 Robson, Xiong, Nyzhnyk 5
4 Tari 4.5
5-6 Le, Hansen 4
7-8 Akobian, Bok 3.5
9 Ivanchuk 3
10 Kasimdzhanov 2.5

Results Group B

Steingrimsson-Chirila 1-0
Bai-Kadric 0.5-0.5
Baryshpolets-Mista 0.5-0.5
Kaidanov-Sorokin 1-0
Erenburg-Theodorou 0.5-0.5

Standings

1 Bai 6
2 Baryshpolets 5
3-4 Mista, Kaidanov 4.5
5 Sorokin 4
6-8 Erenburg, Theodorou, Kadric 3.5
9 Chirila 3
10 Steingrimsson 2.5

Round 8, Mar. 9
Steingrimsoon, Hedinn – Chirila, Ioan-Cristian
A34 English, symmetrical, Three Knights System

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 Nxc3 6.bxc3 g6 7.Bb5+ Nd7 8.Ba3 Qc7 9.d4 Bg7 10.Bxc5 b6 11.Bb4 a6 12.Qa4 Bb7 13.Bd3 e5 14.Qc2 Qc6 15.e4 exd4 16.cxd4 Qxc2 17.Bxc2 Rc8 18.Kd2 Nf6 19.Rhe1 Ng4 20.Re2 a5 21.Ba4+ Kd8 22.Bd6 Ba6 23.Rb1 Bh6+ 24.Ke1 Bxe2 25.Kxe2 Rc4 26.Bb3 Rc6 27.e5 Bf8 28.Ng5 Nh6 29.Bxf8 Rxf8 30.Nxh7 Rh8 31.Ng5 Ke7 32.d5 Rcc8 33.d6+ Kf8 34.f4 Nf5 35.d7 Rb8 36.Nxf7 Nd4+ 37.Ke3 Nxb3 38.Nxh8 Nc5 39.Nxg6+ Kf7 40.f5 1-0

Round 8, Mar. 9
Kaidanov, Gregory – Sorokin, Aleksey
A05 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 O-O 5.Bg2 d5 6.c4 Nc6 7.cxd5 Qxd5 8.Nc3 Qh5 9.h3 Rd8 10.Qc1 Be6 11.Na4 Nd7 12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.Qc3+ f6 14.Rc1 a5 15.Qe3 Bf7 16.O-O Qb5 17.d4 Nb6 18.Nc5 Nd5 19.Qe4 Rd6 20.Rfe1 b6 21.Na4 Qb4 22.e3 e5 23.Rc4 Qa3 24.dxe5 Re8 25.Qb1 b5 26.exd6 bxc4 27.bxc4 Ndb4 28.d7 Rd8 29.Nc5 Nc2 30.Qxc2 Qxc5 31.Rd1 Be6 32.Nd4 Nxd4 33.exd4 Qb4 34.d5 Bxd7 35.Qd2 Qc5 36.Qd4 Qa3 37.c5 Re8 38.c6 Bf5 39.d6 cxd6 40.Qxd6 Re1+ 41.Kh2 Qxd6 42.Rxd6 Re2 43.g4 Bc8 44.Rd8 Be6 45.Kg3 Rxa2 46.c7 Ra3+ 47.Kh2 Rc3 48.Bd5 Bxg4 49.hxg4 Rxc7 50.Ra8 Rc5 51.Ra7+ Kh8 52.Ra8+ Kg7 53.Ra7+ Kh8 54.Be4 Rg5 55.Bf3 Rc5 56.Kg3 Rb5 57.Be4 Rb3+ 58.f3 Rb5 59.Kf4 Re5 60.Rf7 Re6 61.Bd3 Rd6 62.Ke4 Re6+ 63.Kd5 Rb6 64.Kc5 Re6 65.Bc4 Re3 66.Rxf6 1-0

Final position. How would you finish off Black?

**Hans Jung** · Sunday, 10th March, 2019, 04:07 PM

Cristian Chirila got some satisfaction beating the leader of the B section Jinshi Bai in the last round and handing him his only loss but GM Bai still wins the tournament.

**Hans Jung** · Sunday, 10th March, 2019, 04:44 PM

In the A section after many games played it comes down to an accurately played endgame between two of three tied for first (going into the round), Jeffery Xiong and Ray Robson. If Jeffery finds accurate moves he wins the tournament (likely).

**Hans Jung** · Sunday, 10th March, 2019, 04:45 PM

A tough fighting tournament where the two most experienced players Chucky and Rustam Kasimdzhanov finish in the last two places.

**Hans Jung** · Sunday, 10th March, 2019, 05:06 PM

A deserved win of the tournament for Jeffery Xiong who was the most consistent grandmaster in the field. Congratulations.

**Hans Jung** · Sunday, 10th March, 2019, 05:08 PM

This result ties Jeffery Xiong with Ivanchuck for 62nd in the world. (admittedly Chucky is in a slump, hopefully temporarily.

**Hans Jung** · Sunday, 10th March, 2019, 05:12 PM

Eric Hansen ties for 5th and gains a few rating points. Not bad for being bottom ranked. Just a few misses (tricky moves) away from a first or second place finish. It was nice to see Eric totally competitive with the field. I hope he plays more soon. Eric's games are mostly exciting to watch.

**Bob Armstrong** · Sunday, 10th March, 2019, 07:33 PM

The "Kids" are tougher in all sections (GM to U 900) these days.........ask us poor 1400's who are always donating points to 1300's whose feet don't touch the floor, when they are sitting in the chair crushing us!

Bob A

**Hans Jung** · Sunday, 10th March, 2019, 08:18 PM

I can relate. 20 years of donating points to underrated youth. and its only getting harder.

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 10th March, 2019, 09:18 PM

2019 Spring Chess Classic

March 10, 2019

Round Nine

Round 9, Mar. 10
Tari, Aryan – Kasimdzhanov, Rustam
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 Rb8 12.Nc2 Bg5 13.a4 bxa4 14.Ncb4 Nxb4 15.cxb4 O-O 16.Rxa4 a5 17.h4 Bh6 18.b5 Bd7 19.Nc3 d5 20.exd5 e4 21.Be2 e3 22.f4 g6 23.g3 Bg7 24.Qb3 Qe8 25.O-O Bxc3 26.Qxc3 Bxb5 27.Bxb5 Qxb5 28.Rxa5 Qe2 29.Qe1 Qxb2 30.Qxe3 Rfe8 31.Qa3 Qd2 32.Rf2 Rb1+ 33.Kg2 Qe1 34.Kf3 Qd1+ 0-1

Round 9, Mar. 10
Hansen, Eric – Bok, Benjamin
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 O-O 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re1 Re8 11.c3 Rxe1 12.Qxe1 Ne8 13.Bf4 d5 14.Nd2 g6 15.Nf3 Ng7 16.Bd3 Bf5 17.Bxf5 Nxf5 18.Qe2 c6 19.Re1 Ng7 20.Be5 Bxe5 21.Nxe5 Qd6 22.Qf3 f6 23.Nd3 Re8 24.Rxe8+ Nxe8 25.Qe3 Ng7 26.h3 Kf7 27.Qh6 Kg8 28.Qe3 Kf7 29.Qh6 Kg8 30.Qe3 g5 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Mar. 10
Le, Quang Liem – Ivanchuk, Vassily
D11 QGD Slav

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 c6 3.c4 Nf6 4.g3 a6 5.Bg2 Bf5 6.Nc3 e6 7.O-O Nbd7 8.Nh4 Bg4 9.h3 Bh5 10.Qb3 Qb6 11.Rd1 h6 12.f4 dxc4 13.Qxc4 g5 14.fxg5 hxg5 15.Bxg5 Rg8 16.Bf4 Nd5 17.Nxd5 cxd5 18.Qd3 Bd6 19.Qe3 Bxf4 20.Qxf4 Bxe2 21.Re1 Bd3 22.Rad1 Be4 23.Bxe4 dxe4 24.Rxe4 Rd8 25.Rf1 Rf8 26.Rf2 Qc6 27.Re1 Nb6 28.Ng6 Nd5 29.Qf3 Rd7 30.Nxf8 Kxf8 31.Qh5 Qb6 32.Qh8+ Ke7 33.Qg7 Kd6 34.Qe5+ Ke7 35.Ref1 1-0

Round 9, Mar. 10
Akobian, Varuzhan – Nyzhnyk, Illya
D47 QGD, Semi-Slav Meran, Wade variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.a3 Bd6 10.O-O O-O 11.Bd2 a5 12.Rc1 b4 13.axb4 axb4 14.Na4 Qa5 15.Ra1 e5 16.Be2 e4 17.Ne1 c5 18.dxc5 Nxc5 19.Bxb4 Qxb4 20.Qxd6 Rfd8 21.Qe7 Re8 22.Qd6 Red8 23.Qe7 Re8 24.Qd6 Red8 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Mar. 10
Xiong, Jeffery – Robson, Ray
D13 QGD Slav, Exchange variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 a6 7.Rc1 Bf5 8.e3 e6 9.Qb3 Nh5 10.Be5 f6 11.Bg3 Nxg3 12.hxg3 Bg6 13.Nh4 Bf7 14.Bd3 f5 15.g4 g6 16.gxf5 exf5 17.Nf3 Bd6 18.O-O O-O 19.Ne2 Na5 20.Qd1 Qf6 21.Qa4 Nc4 22.Qc2 Na5 23.Ne5 Bxe5 24.dxe5 Qxe5 25.Qc7 Qxc7 26.Rxc7 Rfc8 27.Rfc1 Rxc7 28.Rxc7 d4 29.Nxd4 Bxa2 30.b4 Nc6 31.Nxc6 bxc6 32.Rxc6 a5 33.b5 a4 34.b6 Rb8 35.Ba6 Kg7 36.b7 Bd5 37.Rc5 Be6 38.Rc8 Rxb7 39.Bxb7 Bxc8 40.Bxc8 Kf6 41.Ba6 Ke5 42.f3 f4 43.Kf2 a3 44.Bc4 h5 45.exf4+ Kxf4 46.g3+ Kf5 47.Ba2 g5 48.Ke3 Ke5 49.Bb1 Kf6 50.Ke4 Ke6 51.Ba2+ Kf6 52.Bb3 Kg6 53.Ke5 Kg7 54.Kf5 Kh6 55.Ba2 1-0

Final Standings

1 Xiong 6
2 Nyzhnyk 5.5
3-4 Le, Robson 5
5-6 Tari, Hansen 4.5
7-8 Akobian, Bok 4
9 Kasimdzhanov 3.5
10 Ivanchuk 3

- now only 4 players who are over 40 above 2700 and Kramnik is retired and Topalov semi-retired

- sad for Ivanchuk. other veteran Rustam also doing poorly. that makes Dreev's win some months ago even more impressive

Final Round Results (Group B)

Theodorou-Steingrimsson 0-1
Sorokin-Erenburg 0-1
Mista-Kaidanov 1-0
Kadric-Baryshpolets 1-0
Chirila-Bai 1-0

Final Standings

1 Bai 6
2 Mista 5.5
3 Baryshpolets 5
4-6 Erenburg, Kadric, Kaidanov 4.5
7-8 Chirila, Sorokin 4
9-10 Steingrimsson, Theodorou 3.5

Round 9, Mar. 10
Chirila, Ioan-Cristian – Bai, Jinshi
D10 QGD Slav Defence, Exchange variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Bf4 Nc6 5.e3 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bf5 7.Qb3 Na5 8.Qa4+ Bd7 9.Qc2 e6 10.Bd3 Be7 11.h3 Rc8 12.Nf3 b5 13.a3 O-O 14.O-O a6 15.Ne5 h6 16.Qe2 Qb6 17.g4 Be8 18.g5 hxg5 19.Bxg5 Qd8 20.Kh1 Nd7 21.Nxd7 Qxd7 22.Rg1 f5 23.Rg3 Bxg5 24.Rxg5 Rc7 25.Rag1 Qd6 26.Qf3 Nc4 27.Ne2 Nxb2 28.Nf4 Nxd3 29.Nxd3 Rf6 30.Nf4 Rh6 31.Qg3 Qe7 32.Kh2 a5 33.Nd3 Rh5 34.Rxh5 Bxh5 35.Nf4 Be8 36.Nxe6 Rc6 37.Qxg7+ Qxg7 38.Rxg7+ Kh8 39.Re7 Bh5 40.Kg3 b4 41.axb4 axb4 42.Kh4 Bd1 43.Kg5 Rb6 44.Nf4 Kg8 45.Ng6 1-0

Position after White’s 33.Nd3 What is Black’s best reply?

**Hans Jung** · Monday, 11th March, 2019, 09:49 AM

In post 18 with question how does white finish black off I will volunteer the idea of f4 then g5, and mating net of black king via f8+ and g8.

**Hans Jung** · Monday, 11th March, 2019, 09:52 AM

In post 27 good question for defensive thinking, what is Black's best move and plan?

**Hans Jung** · Monday, 11th March, 2019, 09:55 AM

Comment above only 4 players over 40 yrs of age above 2700. Thats why Vishy Anand is so amazing. Top 10 in the world, constantly (still!) challenging for 2800 and 50 yrs old in a few months!