Prague International Chess Festival 2020

[Hans Jung]

Rd 7 Exciting games. Sam Shankland played a lovely game. A real treasure.

[Hans Jung]

Ragger dodged a bullet. Interesting exercise is how to win for white (without looking at computer lines.

[Hans Jung]

I was rooting for Vitiugov's sprightly knights, but alas not enough to win.

[Hans Jung]

Frioujza's hugely energetic pressure play eventually broke through.

[Hans Jung]

Rd 8 Vidit had the initiative with a bishop sacrifice on f7 on move 12 and found the best moves to keep it going until move 31. There with two rooks on the 7th and a knight going to f6 he slipped with the immediate b3, rather than the zwischenzug Rdf7+ first, and then b3. With that slip and losing the advantage he played impulsively in the endgame and actually lost. Too bad. A little more accuracy would have sewn up the game and the tournament.

[Hans Jung]

The Anton game was a good game to watch. Why? Anton got multi pawns for the piece and it was nice to see how he worked those pawns. First passed pawn on the queenside and then drive the passed pawns on the kingside.

[Hans Jung]

Vitiugov did a lot of good work to win the queen but just when it looked in the bag his opponent set up a type of fortress. Those endings are exhausting to play and he couldnt come up with a win.

[Wayne Komer]

Prague International Chess Tournament 2020

February 20, 2020

Round Eight

Round 8, Feb. 20
Harikrishna, Pentala – Ragger, Markus
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 Bg4 10.Be3 Nd4 11.Bxd4 exd4 12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.Bxd5 Rc8 14.h3 Bd7 15.Nxd4 c6 16.Bb3 Bf6 17.c3 Bxd4 18.cxd4 Qf6 19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Qxe5 21.d4 Qf6 22.Rc1 a5 23.Re1 a4 24.Ba2 Rce8 25.Qd3 g6 26.Qc3 Rxe1+ 27.Rxe1 Re8 28.Rxe8+ Bxe8 29.Bb1 Bd7 30.Be4 h5 31.g3 Qe6 32.Bg2 Qe2 33.h4 Qd1+ 34.Kh2 Qe2 35.Kg1 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Feb. 20
Grandelius, Nils – Anton Guijarro, David
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.c3 Nf6 6.Re1 O-O 7.d4 a6 8.Bd3 d5 9.e5 Ne4 10.Be3 Qb6 11.Qc2 cxd4 12.cxd4 Bf5 13.Nc3 Nxc3 14.bxc3 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 Na5 16.h4 Qe6 17.Ng5 Qg4 18.f3 Qxh4 19.Re2 Nc4 20.g3 Qxg3+ 21.Rg2 Qh4 22.Rh2 Qg3+ 23.Kh1 Nxe5 24.dxe5 Qxe5 25.Bd2 h6 26.Nh3 e6 27.Re1 Qf6 28.Nf2 h5 29.Nh3 Rfc8 30.Ng5 Rc4 31.f4 Rac8 32.Nf3 Ra4 33.Qb1 b5 34.Ne5 Qf5 35.Qxf5 exf5 36.Rh3 d4 37.cxd4 Rxd4 38.Nf3 Rd3 39.Re7 Bc3 40.Bxc3 Rcxc3 41.Kg2 Rc2+ 42.Kg3 Rc4 43.Re2 b4 44.Rh1 a5 45.Rf1 a4 46.Re8+ Kg7 47.Re7 b3 48.axb3 Rxb3 49.Re2 a3 50.Rd2 Ra4 51.Ra2 f6 52.Rh1 Rc4 53.Rf1 h4+ 54.Kxh4 Rxf4+ 55.Kg3 g5 56.Kg2 Kg6 57.Nd2 Rg4+ 58.Kf2 Rb2 59.Rxb2 axb2 60.Rb1 Rb4 61.Nf3 f4 62.Ne1 Rb3 63.Ke2 g4 64.Nd3 f3+ 65.Kd2 g3 66.Kc2 Rb8 67.Nxb2 f2 0-1

Final Position



- a joyful position for black. Always pleasant to play a pawnalanche.

Round 8, Feb. 20
Firouzja, Alireza – Shankland, Sam
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O d6 6.c3 a6 7.a4 h6 8.Re1 O-O 9.h3 Re8 10.Nbd2 Be6 11.Bxe6 Rxe6 12.b4 Ba7 13.Bb2 Nh7 14.Nf1 Ne7 15.d4 Ng6 16.Ng3 Nh4 17.a5 Nxf3+ 18.Qxf3 g6 19.Rad1 Qh4 20.c4 Bxd4 21.Bxd4 exd4 22.Rxd4 Rae8 23.Qd3 f5 24.c5 Qe7 25.cxd6 cxd6 26.Qd2 Kg7 27.Rd1 fxe4 28.Rxd6 Rxd6 29.Qxd6 Qxd6 30.Rxd6 Nf6 31.Ne2 e3 32.fxe3 Rxe3 33.Nf4 Re4 34.Nd3 Re7 35.Nc5 Kf7 36.Kf2 Ne4+ 37.Nxe4 Rxe4 38.Rb6 Re7 39.Kf3 Kg7 40.Kf4 h5 41.h4 Kh6 42.g3 Kg7 43.Rd6 Kh6 44.Rf6 Kh7 45.Rb6 Kg7 46.b5 axb5 47.Rxb5 Kh6 48.Kf3 Kg7 49.Rd5 Kh6 50.Rc5 Kg7 51.Kf4 Kh6 52.Rb5 Kg7 53.Re5 Rc7 54.Ke4 Rc3 55.Rg5 b6 56.Kd4 Rc6 57.a6 b5 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Feb. 20
Vitiugov, Nikita – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
D02 Queen’s Bishop game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Bf4 Bf5 4.c4 e6 5.Nc3 Bd6 6.Bxd6 Qxd6 7.e3 O-O 8.Qb3 b6 9.Rc1 c6 10.Be2 Nbd7 11.O-O h6 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Rfd1 b5 14.Bd3 Bxd3 15.Rxd3 Rfc8 16.Rd2 Nb6 17.Qd1 a5 18.Rdc2 a4 19.Nb1 Nc4 20.b3 axb3 21.axb3 Na5 22.Qd3 Ne4 23.Nbd2 Nxd2 24.Nxd2 Nb7 25.g3 Ra3 26.Qf5 Rc7 27.e4 dxe4 28.Nxe4 Qxd4 29.Rxc6 Rxc6 30.Rxc6 Rxb3 31.Rc7 Nd8 32.Rd7 Qa1+ 33.Kg2 Qa8 34.Kh3 Rb4 35.f3 Ra4 36.Re7 Qc6 37.Nd6 Qxd6 38.Re8+ Qf8 39.Rxf8+ Kxf8 40.Qc5+ Kg8 41.Qxb5 Rd4 42.Qe8+ Kh7 43.f4 g6 44.g4 Rd3+ 45.Kg2 Kg7 46.f5 gxf5 47.gxf5 Rd6 48.Qe7 Rd5 49.h4 Rxf5 50.Qxd8 Rf4 51.Qc8 Re4 52.Qc3+ Kg8 53.Qc8+ Kg7 54.Qc3+ Kg8 55.Qg3+ Kf8 56.Qd3 Rg4+ 57.Kf3 Rg6 58.h5 Rg5 59.Qh7 Rxh5 60.Kf4 Ke7 61.Qg7 Rg5 62.Qxh6 Rg6 63.Qh8 Rf6+ 64.Ke5 Re6+ 65.Kf5 Rg6 66.Qb8 Rf6+ 67.Ke5 Re6+ 68.Kd5 Rg6 1/2-1/2

Chess24: Another chess is tough moment - Vitiugov had a tablebase win (7 moves win, with 56.Qa3+ mate-in-29...) until he played 56.Qd3

Round 8, Feb. 20
Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi – Navara, David
E12 Queen’s Indian, Petrosian System

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Bb7 5.Bf4 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Bg3 Nd7 8.e4 N5f6 9.e5 Nh5 10.Nc3 Be7 11.Bc4 a6 12.d5 exd5 13.Bxd5 Nxg3 14.hxg3 c6 15.Bxf7+ Kxf7 16.e6+ Kxe6 17.Qe2+ Kf7 18.O-O-O Bf6 19.Ne4 Qe7 20.Nd6+ Kf8 21.Qxe7+ Bxe7 22.Nxb7 Nf6 23.Ne5 Nd5 24.Kb1 Rc8 25.Rhe1 Bxa3 26.Nxc6 Bb4 27.Nxb4 Nxb4 28.Rd7 h5 29.Nd6 Ra8 30.Ree7 Rh7 31.Ne4 Rh6 32.Rxg7 Rd8 33.b3 Rxd7 34.Rxd7 a5 35.f3 Rc6 36.Rd2 Kf7 37.Kb2 Ke6 38.Nc3 Rd6 39.Re2+ Kf5 40.Ne4 Rd1 41.Nc3 Rd3 42.Nb1 Nd5 43.Kc2 Nb4+ 44.Kb2 Nd5 45.Na3 Ne3 46.Nc4 Nxc4+ 47.bxc4 a4 48.Kc2 Rb3 49.Rd2 Rb4 50.Kc3 Rb3+ 51.Kc2 Rb4 52.Kc3 Rb3+ 53.Kd4 a3 54.Ra2 Ke6 55.c5 b5 56.g4 hxg4 57.fxg4 b4 58.g5 Rb2 59.Ra1 a2 60.g6 b3 61.c6 Rc2 62.Rf1 b2 63.g7 Rxg2 64.c7 Kd7 0-1

Navara reckoned that he had a lost game until White played 33.b3

Position after 33.b3




Standings after Round Eight

1 Vidit 5
2-4 Vitiugov, Firouzja, Anton 4.5
5-7 Duda, Shankland, Navara 4
8-9 Ragger, Harikrishna 3.5
10 Grandelius 2.5

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2020...chki_Sebastian Nice finish!

[Hans Jung]

Firoujza first!!

[Hans Jung]

Vidit spoiled a great tournament - its a shame.

[Hans Jung]

Sam Shankland - nice finish.

[Wayne Komer]

Prague International Chess Festival 2020

February 21, 2020

Round Nine

(Chess24) - 16-year-old Alireza Firouzja has won the 2020 Prague Masters after beating Vidit 2:0 in a blitz playoff. It took immense fighting spirit and some help from the universe as Firouzja survived a lost position against David Anton to join a 5-way tie for 1st place. Despite getting blown away by Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Vidit still had the best tiebreaks and qualified for a playoff against Alireza, but his 2 losses there made it a disastrous 4 in a row at the end. Jorden van Foreest took the Challengers title and will play the Masters next year after winning 3 of his last 4 games.

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/

Round 9, Feb. 21
Navara, David – Harikrishna, Pentala
D25 QGA, Janowsky-Larsen variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.Bxc4 e6 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.O-O Be7 8.e4 O-O 9.e5 Ne8 10.Be3 c6 11.h3 Bh5 12.g4 Bg6 13.Ne1 Nb6 14.Bb3 Nc7 15.f4 f5 16.Nd3 Nbd5 17.Qd2 Qd7 18.Rac1 Rad8 19.Nxd5 Nxd5 20.Nc5 Bxc5 21.Rxc5 fxg4 22.hxg4 Be4 23.Qe1 Qf7 24.Bd2 Qg6 25.Qh4 Rd7 26.Qh5 Qxh5 27.gxh5 Nc7 28.Be3 Bd5 29.Bd1 Bxa2 30.Bg4 Bd5 31.f5 exf5 32.Rxf5 Rxf5 33.Bxf5 Rf7 34.Bc8 Rf3 35.Bf2 Rb3 36.Bh4 Kf7 37.Rc2 Be6 38.Rf2+ Ke8 39.Rg2 Bxc8 40.Rxg7 Nd5 41.Rg8+ Kd7 42.e6+ Kxe6 43.Rxc8 Rh3 44.Bd8 Rxh5 45.Rb8 Kd7 46.Ba5 b6 47.Bd2 a5 48.Kg2 Kc7 49.Rh8 Kb7 0-1

Round 9, Feb. 21
Ragger, Markus – Grandelius, Nils
B52 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 g6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg7 9.f3 O-O 10.Be3 Nc6 11.O-O a6 12.Qd3 Rfc8 13.b3 b5 14.cxb5 Ne5 15.Qd2 d5 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.exd5 axb5 18.Rad1 Qxd5 19.Qe2 Nc6 20.Nxb5 Qe6 21.Rfe1 Nb4 22.Nd4 Qf6 23.Rd2 h5 24.Nb5 Qe6 25.Nd4 Qf6 26.Nb5 Qe6 27.Nd4 Qf6 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Feb. 21
Anton Guijarro, David – Firouzja, Alireza
E92 King’s Indian, Petrosian System, Stein variation

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.d5 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 Na6 10.Nd2 Bd7 11.a3 Qe8 12.g4 a4 13.f3 h5 14.Rg1 hxg4 15.fxg4 Nh7 16.Qc2 Nc5 17.O-O-O Bh6 18.g5 Qe7 19.Nf3 Nb3+ 20.Kb1 Bg7 21.Bf2 Nd4 22.Qd2 Nxe2 23.Qxe2 f5 24.Be3 fxe4 25.Nd2 Rf4 26.Bxf4 exf4 27.Ndxe4 Re8 28.Qf2 Qf7 29.Ka1 Qf5 30.Rde1 Be5 31.h4 Qh3 32.Rh1 Qd3 33.h5 Bf5 34.hxg6 Bxg6 35.Rh6 Kf7 36.Qh4 Nf8 37.Qh1 Bg7 38.Rh4 Rxe4 39.Rxe4 Bxc3 40.Rhxf4+ Kg8 41.bxc3 Qxc3+ 42.Ka2 Qb3+ 43.Ka1 Qxa3+ 44.Kb1 Nd7 45.Kc2 Ne5 46.Qh6 Bxe4+ 47.Rxe4 Qa2+ 48.Kd1 Qb3+ 49.Kc1 Qc3+ 50.Kd1 Qd3+ 51.Kc1 Qxe4 52.Qe6+ Kf8 53.Qh6+ Ke8 54.Qe6+ Kd8 55.Qg8+ 1/2-1/2

Position after White’s 42.Ka2. Is there a win for Black here?



Round 9, Feb. 21
Shankland, Sam – Vitiugov, Nikita
A10 English Opening

1.c4 b6 2.e4 Bb7 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 c5 5.Nge2 e6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nc6 8.Be3 Be7 9.Qd2 O-O 10.O-O-O Ne5 11.f4 Neg4 12.e5 Ne4 13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.Be2 f5 15.exf6 Nxf6 16.Bd3 Qc8 17.Bxe4 Nxe4 18.Qc2 Nd6 19.b3 Qb7 20.Kb1 Rac8 21.Rhe1 Rc7 22.Bc1 b5 23.c5 Nf5 24.Nxf5 Rxf5 25.Rxd7 Rfxc5 26.Rxc7 Rxc7 27.Qe2 Rc6 28.f5 Bb4 29.Rd1 exf5 30.Qe8+ Bf8 31.Rd7 Qc8 32.Qf7+ Kh8 33.Bb2 Rg6 34.g3 f4 35.Qxf4 Re6 36.a3 Re2 37.Rc7 Qe8 38.Qf5 Kg8 39.Rxa7 Qe4+ 40.Qxe4 Rxe4 41.Rb7 Re1+ 42.Ka2 Re2 43.Rxb5 Be7 44.Kb1 Re1+ 45.Kc2 Re2+ 46.Kc1 Rxh2 47.b4 h5 48.a4 Rh1+ 49.Kc2 Rh2+ 50.Kb3 Rh3 51.Bc3 Rxg3 52.Rxh5 g5 53.Rh6 Bf8 54.Rc6 g4 55.a5 1-0

Round 9, Feb. 21
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi
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.a3 Bd6 10.O-O-O Bd7 11.c5 Bf8 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Ne7 15.Bd3 g6 16.Ne5 Bc6 17.Qf4 Nf5 18.g4 Bh6 19.Nxc6 bxc6 20.Qe4 Bxd2+ 21.Rxd2 Ne7 22.Bc4 Nd5 23.h4 Qf6 24.h5 e5 25.Kb1 Rad8 26.Re2 Nf4 27.Re3 Nd5 28.hxg6 hxg6 29.Reh3 Kf8 30.Bxa6 Qxf2 31.Rf3 Qxd4 32.Qxg6 Nf4 33.Qf6 Qe4+ 34.Bd3 1-0

Playoff

Round 10, Feb. 21
5+3
Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi – Firouzja, Alireza
E11 Bogo-Indian Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O c6 8.Qc2 Nbd7 9.b3 b6 10.Bc3 Bb7 11.Nbd2 Qc7 12.Rfd1 c5 13.Rac1 dxc4 14.Nxc4 b5 15.Ba5 Qb8 16.Nce5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Nd5 18.Bd2 h6 19.g4 Qe8 20.h4 f5 21.exf6 Nxf6 22.g5 Be4 23.Qb2 Ng4 24.Bc3 Qg6 25.Rd7 Rf7 26.Qd2 hxg5 27.hxg5 Qh5 28.Rxe7 Rxe7 29.Qd6 Rf7 30.Qxe6 Bf5 31.Qc6 Rc8 32.Qd5 Re8 33.Qc6 Rxe2 34.Rd1 Rxf2 35.Rd8+ Kh7 36.Qe8 Rxf3 37.Qh8+ Kg6 38.Qxh5+ Kxh5 39.Bxf3 Kxg5 40.Rd5 Kf4 41.Bxg4 Kxg4 42.Rxc5 Bd3 43.Bd2 Kf3 44.Re5 Be4 45.Rxb5 Rd7 46.Bb4 Rd1+ 47.Kh2 Kg4 0-1

Final Position



Round 11, Feb. 21
5+3
Firouzja, Alireza – Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi
B30 Sicilian Defence

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.d4 e6 6.Na3 a6 7.Nc4 Qd8 8.Bg5 Nf6 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 11.Rd1+ Ke7 12.Nfe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 h6 14.Bf4 Ne4 15.Nd3 Ba7 16.f3 Nf6 17.Ne5 Nd5 18.Bg3 Re8 19.Bf2 f6 20.Bxa7 Rxa7 21.Nc4 b5 22.Na5 Bd7 23.Kf2 Rc7 24.Bd3 Nb6 25.Rhe1 Na4 26.Rd2 Rd8 27.Bg6 Bc8 28.Rxd8 Kxd8 29.Re2 e5 30.Rd2+ Rd7 31.Re2 Rd6 32.c4 b4 33.c5 Rd5 34.Nc6+ Kc7 35.Nxb4 Rxc5 36.Be8 Nb6 37.Bf7 a5 38.Rc2 Kd6 39.Rd2+ Ke7 40.Nd5+ Kxf7 41.Nxb6 Be6 42.b3 g5 43.Na4 Rc7 44.Nb2 h5 45.Nd1 f5 46.Nb2 Rc6 47.Nd3 Kf6 48.Re2 e4 1-0

It looks like Vidit lost on time at the end.

Congratulations to young Firouzja – quite a tournament!