Knight endgame

() vs. ()
- -

[Event "ch-RUS Higher League"] [Site "Irkutsk RUS"] [Date "2010.08.26"] [Round "1"] [White "Frolyanov, D."] [Black "Tomashevsky, E."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C95"] [WhiteElo "2587"] [BlackElo "2708"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/5pk1/3p2p1/1p1Pp2p/4P3/2n2P1P/P2N2PK/8 w - - 0 51"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2010.08.20"] {This endgame is better for black because their knight is more active, but probably not winning} 51. a3 h4 52. g3 f5 53. Kg2 (53. gxh4 $2 f4 54. h5 (54. Kg2 Kh6 {is similar to the game}) 54... gxh5 (54... g5 55. h4 $1 Kh6 56. hxg5+ Kxg5 57. Kg2 Kxh5 58. Kh3 Nd1 59. Nb1 Kg5 60. Nd2 Ne3 61. Nb1 Nc4 62. Kg2 Kh4 63. Kh2 $13) 55. Kg2 Kf8 56. Kf1 Ke7 57. Nb3 Kd7 58. Na5 Nb1 59. Nc6 Nxa3 60. Ke2 Kc7 61. Kd3 Kb6 62. Kc3 Kc5 63. Kb3 Nc4 64. Kc3 h4 65. Nb4 Nb2 66. Nc6 Nd1+ 67. Kc2 Nf2 68. Ne7 Nxh3 69. Ng6 Ng1 70. Nxh4 Ne2 $19) 53... hxg3 54. Kxg3 Kh6 55. Kf2 f4 56. Kg2 Kg5 57. Kh2 Kh5 58. Kg2 Nd1 59. Kh2 Ne3 60. Nb1 Nc2 { the white knight is paralyzed, it's not funny for white} 61. Kg1 Kh6 62. Kf2 Kg5 63. Kg1 Kf6 {but black has to create threats on both sides of the board to win, which is not an easy task here} 64. Kf2 (64. h4 Kg7 (64... Ke7) 65. Kf1 Nd4 66. Nd2 Kh6 67. Kg2 Kh5 68. Kh3 Nc2 69. Nb1 Ne1 70. Nc3 Nxf3 71. Nxb5 Nxh4 72. Nxd6 g5 73. Nf5 $1 g4+ 74. Kh2 g3+ 75. Nxg3+ fxg3+ 76. Kxg3 Ng6 77. a4 Kg5 78. a5 Ne7 79. a6 Nc8 80. Kf3 Kf6 81. Kg4 Na7 82. Kh4 Ke7 83. Kg5 Kd6 84. Kf5 Nb5 85. Kf6 $11) 64... Ke7 65. Kg2 Ke8 66. Kh2 Kf7 67. Kg1 Kf8 68. Kf2 Ke7 69. Kg2 Ne3+ 70. Kf2 Nc4 71. Kg2 (71. Ke2 Kd7 72. Kd3 Kc7 73. a4 Nb2+ 74. Kc3 Nxa4+ 75. Kb4 Nc5 (75... Kb6 76. Na3 $11) 76. Kxb5 Nb3 77. Kc4 Nd4 78. Nd2 $11) 71... g5 72. h4 $4 {White can't play this ! Cat and mouse play by black worked. White were on defense and lost their calm, wanting to draw by force. This can often happen when defending a long time slightly worse endgames.} (72. Kf2 Kd7 73. Kf1 Ne3+ 74. Ke2 Nc2 75. Kd3 Nd4 76. Nd2 Kc7 77. Kc3 Kb6 78. Kb4 Ne2 79. Nb1 Nc1 (79... Ng1) 80. a4 bxa4 81. Nd2 Ne2 82. Nc4+ Kc7 83. Nd2 Ng1 84. Kxa4 Nxh3 85. Kb4 Nf2 86. Kc3 g4 87. fxg4 Nxg4 88. Nf3 Nf2 89. Nd2 Kd7 90. Kc4 Kc8 91. Kb5 Kb7 92. Ka5 Nd3 93. Kb5 Kc7 94. Ka5 Kd7 95. Kb5 Nc5 96. Kb6 Na4+ 97. Kb5 Nb2 98. Kb6 Nd1 99. Kb5 $13 {I'm not sure black can win that}) 72... gxh4 73. Kh3 Kd7 74. Kxh4 Kc7 $19 75. Kg5 Kb6 76. Kf6 Kc5 77. Ke7 Kd4 78. Kd7 Ke3 79. Kc6 Kxf3 80. Kxb5 Nb2 81. Kc6 Ke3 82. Kxd6 f3 83. Ke7 Nc4 84. Nc3 Kd2 85. d6 Nxd6 0-1

Sunday's rook endgame, key idea

"Chess teaches you to control the initial excitement you feel when you see something that looks good and it trains you to think objectively when you're in trouble." - Stanley Kubrick

Sébastien - Wilfried

[Event "Ste Foy"] [Site "?"] [Date "2010.08.29"] [Round "?"] [White "Poulet, S."] [Black "Farge, W."] [Result "*"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/5p2/2p1k3/r3P1p1/2PK2Pp/P4R1P/8/8 b - - 0 0"] *

Black to play, a pawn down. How to draw ?
(not very difficult)

Hammer's unlucky day

Arctic Securities Chess Stars began today in Norway, with Carlsen, Anand, Polgar and Hammer. Hammer was the unlucky player of the day (he missed a draw and 2 wins!). I commented his 3 games below. Don't miss Carlsen's incredible mistake against him.

[Event "Arctic Stars Prelim"] [Site "Kristiansund NOR"] [Date "2010.08.28"] [Round "1"] [White "Anand, V."] [Black "Hammer, J."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C53"] [WhiteElo "2800"] [BlackElo "2636"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6k1/1pp3p1/2n2p1p/p1b1p3/P1N1P3/2P2P1P/1P4P1/3KB3 b - - 0 31"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2010.08.28"] {Symetrical pawn structures, same material, nothing really special, but Anand will try to put some pressure on his young opponent} 31... h5 (31... Kf7 { keeping things as they are, for now, looks more logical}) 32. g4 hxg4 33. fxg4 {now it's not symetrical any more, but it's still equal} g5 34. Ke2 Kf7 35. Kd3 Ke6 36. Nd2 Nb8 (36... Kd6 37. h4 gxh4 38. Bxh4 Ke6 { and even if e5 and f6 are on dark squares, it must be equal}) 37. b4 axb4 ( 37... Bb6 38. Nc4 Nd7 39. h4 gxh4 40. Bxh4 c6 41. Kc2 Bd8 42. Bf2 axb4 43. cxb4 Nb8 44. Be1 Na6 45. Ne3 Be7 46. Kb3 b5 47. a5 Bf8 $11) 38. Nb3 Bb6 39. cxb4 c6 40. Kc4 Nd7 (40... Na6 41. a5 Be3 42. b5 cxb5+ 43. Kxb5 Nc7+ 44. Kc4 b6 $11) 41. a5 Be3 42. b5 cxb5+ 43. Kxb5 Nb8 (43... Ba7 $11 44. Bb4 Bd4 45. Nxd4+ (45. Nc5+ Nxc5 46. Bxc5 Bxc5 47. Kxc5 Kd7 48. Kb6 Kc8 49. a6 bxa6 50. Kxa6 Kc7 51. Kb5 Kb7 $11) 45... exd4 46. Kc4 Ke5 47. Kd3 Nb8 48. Be1 Nc6 49. Bg3+ Ke6 50. Bc7 Kd7 51. Bb6 Ke6 52. Bxd4 Nxa5 $11) 44. Nc5+ {forcing a favourable exchange} Bxc5 45. Kxc5 {but despite white small advantages, it's not enough to win} Nd7+ $8 (45... Nc6 $4 46. Kb6 Nd8 {doesn't hold} 47. Kc7 Ke7 48. Bd2 Ke8 49. Bb4 Nc6 50. a6 $18) 46. Kb5 Kd6 47. Bb4+ Ke6 (47... Kc7 $2 48. Be7 Kb8 49. Kc4 b6 50. axb6 Nxb6+ 51. Kb5 Nc8 52. Bxf6 Nd6+ 53. Kc6 Nxe4 54. Bxe5+ Kc8 55. Bd4 Kd8 56. Kd5 Ng3 57. Bf6+ Ke8 58. Bxg5 $18) 48. a6 bxa6+ 49. Kxa6 {black are dominated by e4, the Bb4 and soon white king coming back, but it's still a draw} Kf7 ( 49... Nb8+ $4 50. Kb7 Nd7 51. Kc7 $22 {zugzwang}) 50. Kb7 f5 $4 { Hammer probably thought the endgame was lost, but it wasn't!!} (50... Nf8 $8 51. Bxf8 Kxf8 52. Kc6 (52. Kc8 Ke8 53. Kc7 Ke7 54. Kc6 Ke6 55. Kc5 Ke7 56. Kd5 Kd7 $11) 52... Ke7 (52... Ke8 $4 { wanting to take the opposition, is a well known mistake} 53. Kd6 Kf7 54. Kd7 Kg6 55. Ke8 Kg7 56. Ke7 Kg6 57. Kf8 $18) 53. Kc7 Ke6 $8 { maybe the move Hammer missed} (53... Ke8 $4 54. Kd6 $18 {-52...Ke8}) 54. Kd8 Kd6 (54... Kf7 $4 55. Kd7 $18) 55. Ke8 Kc5 { and black draws because he will promote the e pawn} 56. Ke7 Kd4 57. Kxf6 Kxe4 58. Kxg5 Kf3 59. h4 e4 60. h5 e3 61. h6 e2 62. h7 e1=Q 63. h8=Q Qd2+ 64. Kf5 Qf4+ 65. Ke6 Kxg4 $11) (50... Ke8 $4 51. Kc7 Nf8 52. Bxf8 Kxf8 53. Kd7 Kf7 54. Kd6 $18) 51. exf5 e4 52. Kc6 Ne5+ 53. Kd5 Nd3 54. Bd2 Nf2 (54... Kf6 55. Be3 $18) 55. Bxg5 Nxh3 56. Be3 1-0 [Event "Arctic Stars Prelim"] [Site "Kristiansund NOR"] [Date "2010.08.28"] [Round "2"] [White "Carlsen, M."] [Black "Hammer, J."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D42"] [WhiteElo "2826"] [BlackElo "2636"] [Annotator ",Sylvain"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3r2k1/6pp/6b1/R7/2rp4/2B2P2/PP4PP/2R3K1 w - - 0 30"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2010.08.28"] 30. Rd1 { Hammer was quickly outplayed and is 2 pawns down, but he will fight to survive} Rd7 31. Rb5 h6 (31... dxc3 $4 32. Rxd7 $18) 32. Ba5 Rc2 { the seventh rank is always interesting for a rook} 33. h4 d3 { this passed pawn is becoming dangerous for Carlsen} 34. a4 $2 (34. Bc3 Re7 35. Re5 Rxe5 36. Bxe5 d2 37. Kf2 Bf7 38. Ke3 Bxa2 39. Rxd2 $16) 34... Re7 { and Ree2 is coming now!} 35. h5 (35. Rd2) 35... Be8 36. Rb8 (36. Rb4 Ree2 37. Rg4 Bd7 38. Rg3 Bxa4 39. Rxd3 Rxb2 40. Rd8+ Kh7 41. Bc3 Rb7 42. Rb8 Ree7 { both rooks are back from the 7th to the 2nd! Black has very big drawing possibilities}) 36... Ree2 37. Rxd3 { white took this dangerous pawn but now black rooks are at their best} Rxg2+ 38. Kf1 Rh2 (38... Rcf2+ {was another good move} 39. Ke1 Re2+ 40. Kd1 Kh7 41. Rxe8 $1 Rxe8 42. Bc3 Rg5 43. b4 Rxh5 44. b5 Rh1+ 45. Kc2 h5 46. a5 h4 47. b6 h3 48. f4 Rb8 49. Be5 Rc8+ 50. Kd2 Rh2+ 51. Ke3 Ra2 52. b7 Re8 53. b8=Q Rxb8 54. Bxb8 h2 55. Rd1 Rxa5 56. Ke4 Ra2 57. Rh1 Kg6 58. f5+ Kf7 59. Be5 Re2+ 60. Kf4 Rf2+ 61. Kg4 Re2 62. Bxh2 g6 $11) 39. Rd2 $4 { incredible, the number one in the world is human!!} ({He probably planned to put the Bishop here and mixed up in his head at the very last moment} 39. Bd2 Kf7 $1 (39... Rhxd2 $4 {is losing in this variation} 40. Rxe8+ Kf7 41. Rxd2 Rxd2 42. Rb8 $18) 40. Ke1 Bxa4 $11 { and it's equal, black rooks have sufficient activity for the pawn}) 39... Rhxd2 $4 {Hammer was really short in time, he had seconds left on the clock, and he was probably calculating some Bd2 move beforce Calsen played.} (39... Rc1+ 40. Rd1 Rxd1+ 41. Be1 Rh1+ 42. Kf2 Rhxe1 $19) 40. Bxd2 Kf7 { Jon Ludwig has some chances now though} 41. Bc3 Bxa4 42. Rb7+ Ke6 43. Rxg7 Bb5+ 44. Kg1 Be8 45. Rh7 Kf5 46. Rxh6 Kg5 47. Re6 Bxh5 {but Carlsen's technic will now be almost flawless. It's almost the same endgame than Gelfand's first win against Leko in the match they are currently playing in Hungary!} 48. Re5+ Kh6 49. f4 Kg6 50. f5+ Kf7 51. f6 Bg6 52. Re7+ Kf8 53. Rc7 Ke8 54. b4 Kd8 55. Rc5 { all Magnus' pieces are on dark squares} Kd7 56. b5 Kd6 57. Bb4 Rb2 (57... Rxc5 58. b6 Ke6 59. Bxc5 Be4 60. Be7 $18) 58. Ba3 Ra2 59. Rc3+ Ke6 60. b6 Ra1+ 61. Kf2 Be4 62. Be7 Bh1 63. Re3+ Kf7 64. Rb3 Bb7 65. Ke3 Ra5 66. Rc3 Rb5 67. Rc7 Bh1 68. Bd8+ Ke8 69. f7+ Kf8 70. Bf6 $2 { another small flaw for the human Magnus!} Bd5 $2 (70... Rf5 {was a draw!}) 71. Bd4 Bxf7 72. b7 Be8 73. Ba7 {rapid play often leads to interesting fights!} 1-0 [Event "Arctic Stars Prelim"] [Site "Kristiansund NOR"] [Date "2010.08.28"] [Round "3"] [White "Hammer, J."] [Black "Polgar, Ju"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E53"] [WhiteElo "2636"] [BlackElo "2682"] [PlyCount "90"] [EventDate "2010.08.28"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 c5 7. O-O cxd4 8. exd4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 b6 10. Qb3 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Bb7 12. Ne5 Nbd7 (12... Qc7 { is the move usually played here} 13. Ba3 Re8 14. Bb5 Nc6 15. Rfe1 $14) 13. Nxf7 Rxf7 14. Bxe6 Qe8 $8 15. Ba3 Nf8 16. Bc4 Qd7 17. Bxf7+ Qxf7 18. c4 Ne4 19. Qd3 Ne6 20. d5 N6c5 21. Qd4 $14 Rc8 22. Rfe1 Nd6 23. Rac1 Nf5 24. Qd2 h6 25. Rc3 Qg6 26. h3 $2 (26. Qf4) 26... Nh4 27. Rg3 Ne4 28. Rxg6 Nxd2 29. Rg4 Nhf3+ 30. gxf3 Nxf3+ 31. Kf1 Nh2+ 32. Ke2 (32. Kg2 Nxg4 33. Re7 $1 { is typical computer play}) 32... Nxg4 33. hxg4 Rxc4 { white d pawn is dangerous but it seems black is now able to hold} 34. d6 Ba6 35. Kf3 Bb5 (35... Bb7+ 36. Ke3 Rc3+ 37. Kd4 Rxa3 38. Re8+ Kf7 39. d7 Rxa2 40. d8=Q Rd2+ 41. Ke3 Rxd8 42. Rxd8 Ke7 43. Rb8 Bc6 44. Rg8 Kf6 45. Rc8 $14) 36. Bb2 Rc2 37. Bd4 Rd2 (37... Bc6+ 38. Kf4 Rd2 39. Ke5 Rxa2 40. Ke6 Ra4 41. Be5 Rxg4 42. Rc1 Bb5 $11 {white will have a hard time to win this}) 38. Ke4 Kf7 39. Kd5 Be2 40. Kc6 $2 (40. Rc1 {with good winning opportunities} Bf3+ (40... Bxg4 41. Rc7+ Ke8 42. Re7+ Kd8 43. Rxg7 Bd7 44. Rg8+ Be8 45. f4 h5 46. f5 Rd1 47. f6 Rf1 48. Ke6 $18) 41. Ke5 Bxg4 42. Rc7+ Ke8 43. Re7+ Kd8 44. Rxg7 Re2+ 45. Be3 h5 46. Rxa7 b5 47. Kf6 Rc2 48. f4 $18 {and the f pawn runs fast}) 40... Bf3+ 41. Kc7 Rxd4 42. d7 Rc4+ 43. Kb8 Rd4 44. Kc7 Rc4+ 45. Kb8 Rd4 1/2-1/2

The good choice

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "?"] [Black "?"] [Result "*"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r2r2k1/p4p1p/1p3Q2/5p2/1bbP4/4R3/PP3PPP/6K1 w - - 0 26"] *

White is on the attack. How to proceed now ?
Allocated time: < 1 min.

Another black disaster in Spain

() vs. ()
- -

[Event "Team Ch-ESP"] [Site "Sestao ESP"] [Date "2010.08.26"] [Round "4"][White "Graf, A."][Black "Rubio Tapia,J."][Result "1-0"][ECO "E81"][WhiteElo "2590"][BlackElo "2103"][PlyCount "47"][EventDate "2010.08.23"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 Nbd7 7. Nh3 {an interesting setup} e5 8. Be2 $5 {a rare move, usually white play 8.d5} Nh5 9. O-O f5 {a risky decision, the center is not closed and black's castle can be weakened} 10. exf5 gxf5 11. f4 {thanks to the Nh3} exf4 $6 (11... exd4 12. Bxd4 Nhf6 {was more logical, even if white keeps an edge}) 12. Bf2 $1 {gaining time on the Nh5} Nhf6 13. Nxf4 {excellent square for a knight} Re8 14.Bh4 {black has already a very embarrassing position after a mere 14 moves} c6 15. Nh5 Qb6 (15... Nf8 {trying to clog his castle} 16. Bg4 {flashy} Ng6 17. Bg5 h6 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Bxf5 Bxf5 20. Rxf5 $16) 16. Nxg7 Kxg7 17. Qd2 {now you can count many weaknesses in black side: dark squares (like yesterday's game!), light squares, back rank...} Ne4 18. Nxe4 Rxe4 19. c5 $1 dxc5 20. Qg5+ Kh8 21.Bc4 Rg4 22. Qxg4 $1 {not difficult but pleasant! Do you see the end?} fxg4 23. Rf8+ $1 Kg7 24. Rg8+ 1-0

It's interesting to see that Graf won another game in the same 24 moves in 1998 with this variation (but 8.d5).

Miniaturized master

() vs. ()
- -

[Event "Sants Open A"] [Site "La Bordeta ESP"] [Date "2010.08.25"] [Round "6"] [White "Rodshtein, M."] [Black "Leniart, A."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B39"] [WhiteElo "2609"] [BlackElo "2423"] [PlyCount "37"] [EventDate "2010.08.20"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 c5 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Nc6 7. Be3 Ng4 $5 8. Qxg4 Bxd4 $2 {It has already been tried (without success!) but it's an unlogical move : usually white work hard to exchange this bishop, for example with Qd2 and Bh6. So, exchanging it for free seems really strange.} (8... Nxd4 9. Qd1 Ne6 10. Rc1 {is the main line of 8...Ng4}) 9. Bxd4 Nxd4 10. O-O-O Nc6 { moreover this knight has to move again! All this looks really ugly for black.} 11. Qf4 d6 12. c5 {very logical} O-O 13. h4 $1 (13. cxd6 Be6 { and black will try to complicate the game}) 13... h5 14. Be2 Qa5 15. g4 { white don't care about the d pawn, they only want to mate this poor black king without his fianchetted bishop!} Nd4 $2 {black tries something but it can't work when there are so many threats on his king} (15... Qxc5 16. Rd5 $1 { to prevent Qe5} Qb4 17. a3 Qb6 18. gxh5 $18 { and I would not like to be the black king...}) (15... hxg4 16. h5 { with a strong attack}) 16. Rxd4 e5 { black's idea but they forgot a small detail : their king!} 17. Qh6 exd4 18. Nd5 Qd8 19. g5 1-0

Who said only beginners let their poor king alone with all dark squares weakened ? :-)

Comments on French championship players

Here are my small comments on each player of the 2010 edition:

1. Laurent Fressinet 8
A big year for this 29y-old player. Among French top 3 for years he earned his first French champion title and crossed the 2700 Elo threshold for the first time. Currently 2717 and among world top 30, this nice guy is currently at his top.

2. Romain Edouard 8
Last year was great for Romain, from 2562 to 2620, being 19y-old. It's more difficult this year, but with this fantastic 2nd place he is back. He won 21 Elo points in this tournament. He has a very strong will to win and works with a very good coach.

3. Etienne Bacrot 7
It's not necessary to introduce him! 6 times French champion, youngest GM in the world at his time (he was 14). He failed to win the title this year but he is not very far from his best Elo ever reached and has strengthened his play with more agressive lines.

4. Christian Bauer 6
A very interesting player, always fighting and playing entertaining chess. I must say I have 100% against this player (but ok it's only on 1 game and a simultaneous one :-)).

5-6. Vladislav Tkachiev 5,5
The 2009 champion was totally out of form in this tournament. He was not lucky too. He will be in the French Olympiad team. He can obviously play very good games.

5-6. Iossid Dorfman 5,5
A very wellknown and experienced trainer (Kasparov, Bacrot, among others) but nowadays a disappointing player. As he already did, this year his made 11 draws in 11 games, some of them very quickly. It's a pity because when he wants to attack he can play fantastic chess.

7. Emmanuel Bricard 5
I like this player. He is always playing very strange openings, home-prepared, very interesting. He is very strong in closed positions and is able to outplay strong grandmasters. He played a very good tournament this year because he was last seed!

8. Andrei Sokolov 4,5
Former n°3 in the world, world championship challenger in the 80', very experienced trainer and very solid player (he can probably draw with white against almost every player in the world). He had a disappointing tournament this year.

9. Hicham Hamdouchi 4,5
Former African champion and first to cross 2600, he lives in France for years and played his first French tournament last year. He had a very good start this year but had a very difficult tournament then, being sometimes unlucky (Edouard, Fressinet).

10. Aliaksei Charnushevich 4
A very solid player, playing for Besançon for years. Fressinet and Bacrot had a hard time to finally beat him with white.

11. Jean-Mard Degraeve 4
An experienced and agressive player. He played some fantastic attacking games. Sometimes he goes too far with his openings, but it's very interesting for spectators. This year he was totally out of form too.

12. Matthieu Cornette 4
One of the French hopes, though he is 25 now. He was a very tactical player (and can still play amazing combinations) but decided to play more solid openings now (a little like me, ha ha). I played 2 times against him, scoring +1 -1. In this tournament his play was quite good but he was unlucky in several endgames.

Funny hold-up

vs.
- -

[Event "rated 3 min match"] [Site "Free Internet Chess Server"] [Date "2010.08.23"] [Round "?"] [White "NN"] [Black "arna"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "1947"] [BlackElo "1992"] [PlyCount "123"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [TimeControl "180"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. d5 e6 4. e4 exd5 5. e5 d4 $4 6. exf6 dxc3 7. Qe2+ Be7 8. fxe7 Qa5 9. b3 d5 10. Nf3 Nc6 11. Qe3 Nb4 12. Bd3 d4 13. Qg5 Rg8 14. O-O Nxd3 15. cxd3 Qb6 16. Re1 Be6 17. Qh5 h6 18. Ne5 a5 19. Nc4 Qc6 20. Bf4 Kxe7 21. Bd6+ Qxd6 $1 22. Nxd6 Kxd6 23. Qe5+ Kc6 24. a4 $2 g6 25. Qf6 Rge8 26. h3 Ra6 27. Rac1 Rb6 28. Qf3+ Kc7 29. Rxe6 $2 Rexe6 30. Qxf7+ Kb8 $2 (30... Kd6) 31. Kh2 $2 (31. Qf8+ Ka7 32. Qxc5 $18) 31... Ka7 32. Rc2 h5 33. f4 Rf6 34. Qc7 Rfc6 35. Qe5 $2 (35. Qd8) 35... Rxb3 36. Qe2 Rcb6 37. Qe5 Rc6 38. Qe7 Rb2 (38... Ra3 ) 39. Rc1 Ka6 40. Qd8 c2 $2 41. Qg8 c4 42. Qf7 $4 (42. dxc4 d3 43. Qa8+ Kb6 44. Qd8+) 42... cxd3 $19 43. Qd5 d2 44. Rf1 c1=Q 45. Rxc1 dxc1=Q 46. Qf3 Qc2 47. Kg3 Qe2 48. Qxe2+ Rxe2 49. Kh4 Rc3 50. Kg5 Rxg2+ 51. Kh6 Rgg3 52. Kg7 Rxh3 53. Kf6 Rhf3 54. Ke5 Rxf4 55. Kxf4 Re3 56. Kg5 d3 57. Kh6 d2 58. Kh7 Ra3 59. Kh6 Rxa4 60. Kh7 d1=Q 61. Kh6 Qd2+ 62. Kh7 {black ran out of time} 1/2-1/2

It's not about commenting this game, "?" marks speak for themselves, it's about the third tag of this message.
Of course if it's a serious game you can't fight with a bishop against a queen. Well after it's all about level of the players and time control. I already saw masters playing a serious game a piece down for almost nothing (against another master) and save the game. Because chess is more complex than "I'm a pawn up" or "I'm a piece up" or even "I'm a queen up". King's safety, pieces activity, passed pawns, clock, and a lot of other small things, combined with a Fischer-like will to win, can sometime turn material into insignificant wood!

Edouard - Tkachiev attacking game video

Unusual endgame challenge

Queen against bishop+pawn on the 7th rank.
How should black proceed to win quickly ?
(or he will have to struggle with the 50 moves rule!)
Time allocated : 10 min.

Fast calculation

Black to play. How many seconds to find the mate ?

French championships outcome

Exciting finish in the 2010 French championship!
In round 10 Edouard catched up Fressinet with a spectacular win against defending champion Tkachiev whereas Bacrot could only draw with black against Hamdouchi and Fressinet quickly with white against Dorfman.

Standing before last round :
1-2. Edouard, Fressinet 7,5
3. Bacrot 6,5
4. Bauer 5,5

Last round encounters :
Sokolov,A (2596) - Edouard,R (2620)
Bacrot,E (2720) - Fressinet,L (2697)
R11 Live (Friday)
(If 2 or 3 players finish equal first, there will be rapid/blitz tie-breaks on Saturday)

In the Women championship, Almira Skripchenko (2458) is champion one round before the end with 7/9.

[Update : Edouard and Fressinet both drew last round with good preparation. In the rapid tie-breaks, Fressinet won 1,5-0,5 and gets his first French champion title.
And guess what: Fressinet and Skripchenko are husband and wife!]

Endgame improvement

() vs. ()
-

Do you see where Bacrot could have improved and won ?

Andreikin - Stupak WJun 24 moves game

Here is a game played in the 11th round by the new Junior World champion.

() vs. ()
-

World Junior Championships

World Junior Championships, i.e. under 20, boys and girls, are taking place in Chotowa, Poland. These are very long tournaments played in 13 rounds.

In the boys tournament, the Russian Dmitry Andreikin (2650) was leading for many rounds but in round 12 he decided to make a quick draw with white against his fellow countryman Matlakov (2603). Thus he was joined at 9,5/12 by another Russian, Sanan Sjugirov (2610), who nicely won an endgame of opposite-colored bishops against Swedish IM Blomqvist.
So, the last round of this Monday will be deciding. Both are black but Andreikin has a difficult game against Norwegian Hammer (2636) whereas Sjugirov faces 17y-old UAE player Salem (2469, but doing well so far).
Round 13 live

In the girls tournament, the story is very similar. Slovenian Anna Muzychuk (2527), ranked 8th woman in the world, was leading since round 5, logically collecting an impressive 10/11. But in round 12 she was defeated by 17y-old Peruvian Deysi Cori (2403) and saw the Russian Olga Girya (2373) catching her up.
They both play theorically weaker opponent in the last round. If Muzychuk wins she will probably become world champion.
Round 13 live

[Update:
Andreikin drew and Sjugirov struggled to draw in a breathtaking finish. Polish Swiercz takes 3rd place.
Muzychuk won easily and Girya was happy to draw a losing endgame. 16y-old Indian girl Rout Padmini drew with Cori and finishes 3rd.]

Chess tactic

NN - Sarno,S
1993
Black to play. Do you have this pattern in your mind ?

Howell-Gelfand video

This game was played in the first round of the NH tournament (Rising stars vs Experience) in Amsterdam.
Mig Greengard made some interesting comments on the round 1.
Here is the official website, with the same design than the Amber one, and as usual with a very good following of the tournament : very nice presentation of the players, videos, round reports, live games, and so on.

P.S. Let me know if my English is too poor!

Chess is above all, a fight

As Emanuel Lasker said. He said that too :
Chess is a conflict, not between 2 intelligences, but between 2 wills.

() vs. ()
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Endgame trick

() vs. ()
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Black has a difficult endgame. What is the safest way to draw ?

Koneru-Zhao

Very tactical game yesterday in Mongolia :
() vs. ()
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Rook endgame

How should Black proceed ?
In this case what will be the result of the endgame ?

Jonny Hector

This fantastic Swedish Grandmaster was born in... 1964 ! He learned chess at 14 and progressed fairly quickly. He is one of the most agressive players and often plays unusual and sharp openings.

Last week he played in the Politiken Cup tournament, finishing equal 5th with 7,5/10 (losing against Meier and Ganguly).
Here are some openings he played in this tournament :

7.O-O!? like a Milner-Barry

5...d5 against this English

A good old Evans

Munguntuul - Koneru

Very good game from the Mongolian player today against top seed Humpy Koneru :

British chess championships

Convincing victory of Michael Adams with 9,5/11 (+8 =3), 2757 performance.
It's "just half-a-point short of the record set by former champion Julian Hodgson back in 1992".

Short, McShane and Howell did not play.

Michael Adams British champion 2010

Jovanka Houska British women champion 2010

Photos © Ray Morris-Hill

Official website

Unsound sacrifice for Maia

Former World Champion (1978-1991) Maia Chiburdanidze was playing top seed Koneru (2nd woman to cross 2600 Elo in the history) with black.

In this position she tried a clever exchange sacrifice : 17...Rxe4 18.Qxe4 Re8, with the idea Q moves somewhere then Rxe2 and then Qxf4. Do you see why it doesn't work ?

ZHAO Xue in Women GP

After 5 rounds she is leading the event with Stefanova.

Homework of the day : try to point out the blunders of her opponents in these 5 games.

Games of the event in PGN

Fargere wins Dutch Open

Very convincing performance from Francois Fargere in the Dutch Open after 7 rounds with 6,5. Round 7 he won this important game with black, with a nice use of the e4 square :-)

He faced strong GM Edwin L'Ami in round 8 and drew in 19 moves.
In round 9 he drew with black though his opponent sacrificed pawns and built a strong attack. At the end he was probably winning but strangely decided to secure a draw (whereas tables 2 and 3 quickly drew).

So he won the event with 7,5/9, 1 full point clear of the rest of the field, with 2729 performance and +29 Elo points. Congratulations !
Now Fargere only has to improve his extra-chess behavior. It would be really good for organizers and for chess in general.

Final results

Chess tactic

Black to play.
(not so easy, not so hard)

ZHU Chen - ZHAO Xue

This game was played in the 3rd round of 5th FIDE women's Grand Prix. It was a crazy game with mistakes from both sides. Mistakes are common but here they were really big. Former Women World Champion sacrificed her Queen with 27.Qxc6?? and black answered with 27...Rg6??. During the press conference both players admitted they totally forgot that black could have taken the Queen not being mated ! Both are Grand Master, how is that possible ? Well, 2 moves before white sacrificed a whole Rook in g7, having probably already planned to sacrifice the Queen after. I guess black could not imagine that such a player could give a Rook followed by a Queen for free. However every chess player should know that you must never trust your opponent, even if he is very strong :-) Then the (end)game was interesting because white ended with B+N+p against Q. Finally after a long battle, the classic endgame Queen against pawn in 7th appeared on the board. Cases of c and f pawns are the most interesting, like here. As pointed out by commentators, including Susan Polgar here, black missed a somehow basic draw at move 64. That's not very good for a former Women World Champion but ok, she had to be tired with the game and obviously it wasn't her day. I'm not sure she can regret anything because she could have resign at move 27 :-) Mistakes are part of the game.

Cannes

Location : Cannes, France.

3 GM on first 3 places, Sengupta, Sanchez and top seed Sumets.
French under 16 hope Jules Moussard made his 3^rd IM norm and gets the title ! And 2^nd IM norm for another u16 hope, Christophe Sochacki.
This comes after third u16 French hope Maxime Lagarde 2^nd IM norm in Creon yesterday.

Cannes final standing

Pamplona

Location : Pamplona, Spain.

Strong closed tournament with an average rating of 2637.
It was the small come back of Russian genius Alexander Morozevich, because his last rated game was played in January. Unfortunately for him (and for chess fans), though beginning with 2,5/3 he had a very difficult tournament, scoring only 4/9 while being top seed, losing some 15,5 points in the process.

Co-winners of the tournament with 6,5/9 (+4 =5) are Polish Radoslaw Wojtaszek, one of Anand's seconds, and French Laurent Fressinet (former Kramnik's second !), who is now rated over the 2700 mark for the first time.
(http://chess.liverating.org/ will probably be updated soon)

Results and games