Prague

[Hans Jung]

Enjoying two endgames Duda - Navarra and a positional struggle between Grandelius and Shankland.

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021..._Jan_Krzysztof I am particularly enjoying this game. (Of course its no where near finished yet) Both sides are being creative. I like Shankland's A4 move and the black pieces behind pawns on d5 and e5 are a strangely dynamic formation.

[Aris Marghetis]

I've seen some pictures from Arbiters there, and it seems mask-free, distancing-free, etc. About half their country has received the first shot, and they are apparently very comfortable with that.

[Hans Jung]

I've seen some pictures from Arbiters there, and it seems mask-free, distancing-free, etc. About half their country has received the first shot, and they are apparently very comfortable with that.

Wow! That is news.

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021...-Shankland_Sam How could 21.Nf3 be labelled a mistake? Well you have to analyse the position and have knowledge (Nimzovitsch, good squares, and pawn levers). Good game by Sam.

[Hans Jung]

Sam Shankland wins a battle against co leader Abasov to go a point ahead of the field.

[Wayne Komer]

Prague Chess Festival - Masters 2021

June 18, 2021

Shankland’s games so far

Round 1, June 14
Grandelius, Nils – Shankland, Sam
C07 French, Tarrasch, open variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6.Bc4 Qd7 7.O-O Nc6 8.Nb3 a6 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Qc7 11.Bd3 Bd6 12.h3 Bd7 13.Re1 Ne7 14.Qh5 Qc5 15.Qxc5 Bxc5 16.Be3 Bd6 17.Be4 O-O-O 18.Rad1 Bc7 19.Bg5 f6 20.Bd2 Ng6 21.Nb3 Kb8 22.Nc5 Bc8 23.g3 e5 24.Bg2 h5 25.Be3 Ne7 26.c3 Nf5 27.Bc1 Bb6 28.Ne4 Be6 29.b3 a5 30.Ba3 a4 31.bxa4 Bxa2 32.Nc5 Rxd1 33.Rxd1 Bxc5 34.Bxc5 Rc8 35.Bb6 Be6 36.Rd3 Nh6 37.Rd6 Bf5 38.Be3 Nf7 39.Rb6 Nd8 40.a5 Rxc3 41.a6 Bc8 42.a7+ Ka8 43.h4 Nc6 44.Bxc6 Rxc6 45.Rxc6 bxc6 46.Bc5 e4 47.Kf1 g5 48.Ke2 gxh4 49.gxh4 Bg4+ 50.Ke3 f5 51.Kf4 Kb7 52.Kg5 Ka8 53.Kf4 1/2-1/2

Round 2, June 15
Shankland, Sam – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Be3 Be7 9.Qd2 O-O 10.O-O-O Nbd7 11.g4 b5 12.g5 b4 13.Ne2 Ne8 14.f4 a5 15.f5 a4 16.fxe6 axb3 17.cxb3 fxe6 18.Bh3 Nc7 19.Kb1 d5 20.exd5 exd5 21.Bg2 Ra5 22.a4 Kh8 23.Rhe1 Ra6 24.h4 Rd6 25.Bg1 h6 26.Qxb4 d4 27.Nc1 Nd5 28.Qb5 Nf4 29.Bc6 hxg5 30.hxg5 Nb8 31.Be4 Nd7 32.g6 Rb6 33.Qc4 Nxg6 34.Nd3 Nf4 35.Bc6 Bh4 36.Rxe5 Nxe5 37.Nxe5 Qf6 38.Bxd4 Rbb8 39.Nd7 1-0

Round 3, June 16
Navara, David – Shankland, Sam
A29 English, Bremen

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Bc5 7.O-O O-O 8.d3 Re8 9.Bg5 Nxc3 10.bxc3 f6 11.Bc1 Be6 12.Bb2 Bf8 13.Qc2 Qd7 14.Rfd1 Qf7 15.e4 Na5 16.Nd2 Rad8 17.d4 c6 18.f4 exf4 19.gxf4 f5 20.e5 c5 21.Nf3 Be7 22.Kh1 Nc4 23.Qe2 Qh5 24.a4 Nb6 25.dxc5 Bxc5 26.Qb5 Be3 27.Rxd8 Rxd8 28.a5 Nc4 29.a6 bxa6 30.Qxa6 Bd5 31.Rd1 Bd2 32.Bc1 Kh8 33.Rxd2 Nxd2 34.Qa5 Rd7 0-1

Round 4, June 17
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw – Shankland, Sam
E04 Catalan, open

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.Qa4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Nd5 8.Qc2 b5 9.a4 Bxd2+ 10.Nbxd2 Ncb4 11.Qc1 c6 12.b3 c3 13.Ne4 bxa4 14.Rxa4 c2 15.Qd2 O-O 16.O-O a5 17.Rc1 Ba6 18.Raa1 Qb6 19.Nc5 Rfd8 20.e3 Nf6 21.Qc3 Nfd5 22.Qd2 Nf6 23.Qc3 Nfd5 24.Qd2 Nf6 1/2-1/2

Round 5, June 18
Shankland, Sam – Abasov, Nijat
E46 Nimzo-Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd2 d5 6.Nf3 b6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Rc1 Bb7 9.Bd3 Be7 10.O-O c5 11.dxc5 bxc5 12.Re1 Nbd7 13.e4 c4 14.Bb1 dxe4 15.Nxe4 Nxe4 16.Bxe4 Bxe4 17.Rxe4 Bf6 18.Bc3 Bxc3 19.Rxc3 Nb6 20.Qe2 Qd5 21.Re5 Qd6 22.g3 Rad8 23.h4 f6 24.Re4 Qd1+ 25.Kg2 Qxe2 26.Rxe2 Rd7 27.Rec2 Rfd8 28.Ra3 Kf7 29.Ra6 Rc7 30.Nd2 Rdd7 31.Ne4 Kg6 32.Ra5 Rd5 33.Ra3 Re5 34.Nd2 h5 35.Rac3 Ra5 36.a3 Ra4 37.Rc1 Kf5 38.b4 Kg6 39.Ne4 Nd5 40.Rf3 c3 41.Nxc3 Ra6 42.Ne2 Re7 43.Nd4 Re4 44.Nb5 Re2 45.Rd3 Ne7 46.Rc7 Rb6 47.Nxa7 1-0

Sam’s 6^th and 7^th Round opponents are: Thai Nguyen and Jorden Van Foreest, respectively.

Shankland is 34^th on the rating list with 2705.8

[Hans Jung]

Its good to see Sam over 2700. Thats a hard spot to maintain.

[Hans Jung]

Grandelius went from +3 to -3 in ten moves and eventually lost. Bizarre.

[Wayne Komer]

Prague Chess Festival – Masters 2021

June 19, 2021

Round 6

Round 6, June 19
Nguyen, Thai Dai Van – Shankland, Sam
D39 QGD, Ragozin, Vienna variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Bxc4 c5 9.O-O cxd4 10.Nb5 Qe7 11.Qxd4 O-O 12.Nxa7 Bc5 13.Nxc8 Rxc8 14.Qd3 Nc6 15.Qe2 Rd8 16.Rad1 Nd4 17.Nxd4 Rxd4 18.Rxd4 Bxd4 19.g3 Rd8 20.Kg2 Bb6 21.Bb3 Qb4 22.Rd1 Rxd1 23.Bxd1 Bd4 24.b3 Bc5 25.h4 g6 26.a4 h5 27.Qf3 b5 28.Qe2 bxa4 29.bxa4 Bb6 30.Qf3 Qd4 31.Bc2 Kg7 32.Qf4 Qc3 33.Bd1 Qd4 34.Bb3 Qc3 35.Qf3 Qxf3+ 36.Kxf3 Kf6 37.Bc4 Ke5 38.Bb5 f5 39.exf5 exf5 40.Be8 Kf6 41.Ke2 Ba5 42.f3 Bb4 43.f4 Ba5 44.Kf3 1/2-1/2

Round 6, June 19
Grandelius, Nils – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
C02 French, Advance, Milner-Barry Gambit

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Be2 Nh6 7.Bxh6 gxh6 8.Qd2 Bd7 9.O-O O-O-O 10.Na3 Rg8 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.b4 Bf8 13.Nb5 Nxb4 14.Nxa7+ Qxa7 15.cxb4 Rg4 16.a3 Ba4 17.h3 Rg7 18.Rfc1+ Kb8 19.Qc3 Qb6 20.Nd4 Be7 21.Qe3 Rdg8 22.Bf1 Bg5 23.f4 Bd8 24.Kh1 Rg3 25.Qd2 Qa7 26.Rc3 Rxc3 27.Qxc3 Bb6 28.Nf3 Rc8 29.Qe1 Bf2 30.Qb1 Bc2 31.Qb2 Be3 32.a4 Be4 33.Qe2 Bxf4 34.a5 Rc2 35.Qd1 Qf2 36.a6 Be3 0-1

Position after Black’s 23…Bd8



Is 24.Kh1 the losing move here?

Standings after Round Six

1 Shankland 4.5
2-3 Wojtaszek, Duda 4
4-5 Nguyen, Abasov 3
6 Van Foreest, J. 2.5
7 Grandelius 2
8 Navara 1

[Hans Jung]

Is 24.Kh1 the losing move? Maybe not, but its tactically naive and allows Rg3 and the black pieces are getting coordinated fast.
What do I know? I would have played 22.Nc6+ winning the queen and then tried to ride out the tactics even tho I know that Rxg2+ is coming.

[Hans Jung]

Last round Sam Shankland survived the king hunt and then won the endgame in dramatic style to go +4 for a great tournament win. Duda who was half a point behind beat the normally solid Wojtaszek with a kingside attack but it was not enough to catch up with Shankland.

[Wayne Komer]

Prague Chess Festival – Masters 2021

June 20, 2021

Round 7

Round 7, June 20
Shankland, Sam – Van Foreest, Jorden
E05 Catalan, open, Classical line

1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e6 3.Bg2 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.d4 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bf4 Bd6 11.Qc1 Nbd7 12.Nc3 Ne4 13.Rd1 Nxc3 14.bxc3 a5 15.c4 Bxf4 16.Qxf4 Nb6 17.Rdc1 Bxa4 18.Qd2 Bc6 19.c5 Nd7 20.Rxa5 Rxa5 21.Qxa5 b6 22.cxb6 cxb6 23.Qa7 Be4 24.e3 Nf6 25.Ne5 Bxg2 26.Kxg2 h5 27.h3 Qd5+ 28.Kg1 Ne4 29.h4 Qa5 30.Ra1 Qc3 31.Ra2 Qb3 32.Kg2 Qd5 33.Kg1 Kh7 34.Nxf7 Qf5 35.Ng5+ Nxg5 36.hxg5 h4 37.gxh4 Qg4+ 38.Kf1 Rc8 39.Qa3 Qd1+ 40.Kg2 Rc1 41.Kg3 Qg1+ 42.Kf4 Qh2+ 43.Ke4 Qg2+ 44.f3 Qh3 45.Qf8 Rc8 46.Qf7 Qxh4+ 47.Qf4 Qxf4+ 48.Kxf4 b5 49.Rb2 Rb8 50.Ke5 Rb6 51.Rb4 Kg6 52.f4 Kf7 53.e4 Ke7 54.d5 g6 55.dxe6 Rxe6+ 56.Kd5 Rd6+ 57.Kc5 Rd1 58.Rxb5 Rf1 59.Rb7+ Ke8 60.f5 gxf5 61.g6 fxe4 62.Rb8+ 1-0

Round 7, June 20
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Wojtaszek, Radoslaw
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.c3 O-O 9.a4 Bd7 10.Bc2 Re8 11.Re1 h6 12.Nbd2 Bf8 13.Nf1 d5 14.exd5 Nxd5 15.Bd2 b4 16.a5 bxc3 17.bxc3 Nf6 18.Ng3 Rb8 19.Ba4 Bd6 20.Qc2 Na7 21.Bb3 Be6 22.Bxe6 Rxe6 23.d4 Nc6 24.Rad1 exd4 25.Rxe6 fxe6 26.cxd4 Qe8 27.Re1 Rb5 28.Ne4 Nxe4 29.Qxe4 Qd7 30.Bxh6 gxh6 31.Qg6+ Kh8 32.Qxh6+ Qh7 33.Qf6+ Qg7 34.Qxe6 Nxd4 35.Nxd4 Qxd4 36.Qh6+ Kg8 37.Re8+ 1-0

Final Standings

1 Shankland 5.5
2 Duda 5
3 Wojtaszek 4
4-5 Nguyen, Abasov 3.5
6-7 Grandelius, Van Foreest, J. 2.5
8 Navara 1.4

Sam Shankland - Won the Prague Masters outright with 5.5/7 and a TPR over 2900. Felt so great to play chess again! Super happy that I was able to show good form in spite of the long break.