British Chess Magazine April 2018 PDF

Volume 138
APRIL
2018
CARUANA
IS COMING
THE LINES AND EVALUATIONS
CARUANA WAS GIVING IN BERLIN
WERE ALMOST ALWAYS
IDENTICAL TO THE ENGINE’S
THE MAGNIFICENT 8
BCM TAKES A LOOK AT THE PLAY
AND STRENGTH OF EACH OF
THE CANDIDATES IN BERLIN
AEROFLOT 2018:
AN UNEXPECTED
WIN IN MOSCOW,
AMONG 60 GMs
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BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE, the World’s Oldest Chess Journal
BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 195

IMPRESSUM
Contents
BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

Founded 1881
www.britishchessmagazine.co.uk
Chairman Shaun Taulbut

Director Stephen Lowe
Editors
221
Milan Dinic and Shaun Taulbut AEROFLOT 2018:
An unexpected
Photo editor win in Moscow
David Llada
197 World Chess Championship
Prepress Specialist
Milica Mitic Fabulous Caruana
wins the Candidates
Photography By GM Aleksandar Colovic
World Chess Oicial, Forest Hall Chess Club,
218 Echo of The Berlin Candidates
Gerry Graham, Bunratty 2018 oicial,
Barry Barnes Why we should always
look out for Aronian
Advertising By Theo Slade
Stephen Lowe
231 Northumbria Chess Masters
Enquiries 19-year-old GM Alexander
editor@britishchessmagazine.co.uk Donchenko triumphs in Newcastle
By IM Shaun Taulbut
ISSN 0007-0440
© The British Chess Magazine Limited
236 Chess in Britain and Ireland
Company Limited by Shares Sergei Tiviakov wins Bunratty
Registered in England No 00334968 for the second time
By IM Shaun Taulbut
Postal correspondence:
Albany House, 14 Shute End 241 The 136th Varsity Chess Match
Wokingham, Berkshire RG40 1BJ Oxford beats Cambridge
By IM Shaun Taulbut
Subscription
support@britishchessmagazine.co.uk
12 monthly issues 245 Openings for Amateurs
UK: £55 | RoW: £85 How to play isolated Queen
pawn openings (part III)
Printed in the UK: by Lavenham Press Ltd By Pete Tamburro
Cover photography: 252 The British Chess Solving Championship

Fabiano Caruana's Facebook page Showdown at Eton College
By Ian Watson

April 2018
World Chess Championship: Showdown in Berlin
Fabulous
Fabiano
wins the Candidates
Caruana won with a
score of 9/ 14 (+5; -1; =8),
the highest score in
the modern history
of the Candidates
tournament!
By GM Aleksandar Colovic
Photos: World Chess Official
The most important individual tournament of the year took place in Berlin from 10−27
March. The 14−round double round robin was won by Fabiano Caruana.
In order to analyse the event I will take a look at each of the 8 candidates, starting in
reverse order from how they finished.
LEVON ARONIAN, one of the main favourites to win the tournament finished in last
place. He scored an abysmal 4.5/14 with 1 win, 6 (!) losses and 7 draws (+1−6=7).
Things went wrong from the start for Aronian. In an objectively winning, though very
complex position, he took a draw by repetition in Round 1 against Ding Liren. This was
a bad sign because it showed bad form and low confidence - Aronian couldn’t calculate
through the complications and lacked the confidence to go into them, preferring to play
it safe. The first shock for him was his devastating loss with White against Kramnik in
Round 3. He quickly bounced back by beating Karjakin in Round 4, but what ruined his
tournament was his missed win against Grischuk in Round 5 after a superb preparation and
strong play. To make it worse, the win wasn’t even a complicated one. The win would have
brought him to +1 and chase for first place. The disappointment resulted in two losses in a
row, to So and Caruana, and this spelled the end of his tournament ambitions.
In spite of all this it was surprising to see Aronian continue to play the same aggressive
chess in the remainder of his games. Coupled with his bad form and dwindling confidence,
it led him to 3 more losses. Aronian’s psychology has been cited as the reason for his
failure at the Candidates. This year it showed in his inability to overcome the second shock
in the tournament, the missed win against Grischuk. Instead of +1 he soon found himself
on −2 and in all his further efforts to forcefully change his luck were only detrimental.

04/138
WESLEY SO finished in 7th place. Like Aronian his tournament finished very early – he
lost his starting two games, both with Black, to Caruana and Grischuk. Unlike Aronian,
So showed his pragmatic side and quickly abandoned all ambition. He started to play for
a draw and seemed content to just get back into the tournament. This even resulted in his
only win, against Aronian in Round 6, an excellent performance. However, his return was
short-lived as he lost a completely drawn endgame to Karjakin in the next round, one that
‘only a child can lose’ as he said in one of his press conferences. After this it was all draws
for So, most of them theoretical and quite dull. His final score was +1-3=10.
By making all these draws So conserved his energy and theoretical ideas for future events
while having fun at the press conferences after the games. The early losses showed that
So was unprepared psychologically for a tournament with such high stakes as he played
actively and lost twice. They also showed that he wasn’t in his best form and it was wise
of him to quickly switch to damage-control mode. Not a good tournament for So, but
definitely a valuable learning experience for his future attempts.
Shared 5th and 6th were Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk with 6.5/14.
VLADIMIR KRAMNIK was perhaps the most dominant figure of the tournament
when it came to creativity and excitement. His final score was +3-4=7. He started with
explosive 2.5/3, demolishing Aronian with Black after introducing an innovation as early
as move 7(!) in the Spanish. It was one of the best games in Berlin.
Levon Aronian – Vladimir Kramnik

FIDE Candidates 2018 Berlin GER (3.4)
1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 ¤f6 4.d3 ¥c5 This has in fact been played before in
5.¥xc6 dxc6 6.0–0 £e7 7.h3 Preventing some correspondence games, so it is quite
...¥g4, but inviting Black’s next. surprising that Aronian missed it.
7.¤bd2 ¥g4 0–1 (54) Anand, V (2786) - 8.¢h1 ¤h5 This is actually the novelty.
Carlsen, M (2832) Leuven 2017
8...h6 was played before, with Black
7...¦g8!! scoring 2 out of 3.
XIIIIIIIIY 9.c3 Aronian knows the classical principles
9r+l+k+r+0 and reacts with a strike in the centre against
9zppzp-wqpzpp0 a wing attack, just that here the attack is
too fast!
9-+p+-sn-+0
9+-vl-zp-+-0 9...g5! 10.¤xe5 An attempt to simplify
9-+-+P+-+0 the position and weaken Black’s attacking
potential.
9+-+P+N+P0
9PzPP+-zPP+0 10.d4 exd4 11.cxd4 ¥b6 g4 12.¤h2 ¤f6
again threatening ...g4. 13.f3? (13.e5 ¤d5
9tRNvLQ+RmK-0 14.¤c3 ¥e6 with long castle to come and
xiiiiiiiiy Black has an advantage. The attack on the
Not your typical play in the anti-Berlin. kingside is looming constantly.) 13...¤h5.

April 2018
10...g4! But Kramnik would have none of it!
11.d4 ¥d6 It’s notable that all Black’s

pieces, including the undeveloped ¥c8 are
looking towards the kingside.
12.g3 ¥xe5 13.dxe5 £xe5 14.£d4 £e7!

Playing for an attack.
14...£xd4 15.cxd4 gxh3 may objectively

be better, and what Aronian was hoping
for, but Kramnik understandably chooses
the more aggressive way.
15.h4?! Aronian’s psychology has been cited as the reason

for his failure at the Candidates
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+k+r+0
9zppzp-wqp+p0 development anymore: 21.¤d2 £xg5
22.£c2 fxg3 23.fxg3 ¤xg3+ 24.¢g2 0–0–0.
9-+p+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+n0 21...¦d8 Inviting everybody to the party.
9-+-wQP+pzP0 Compare the ¦a1 and ¤b1 with Black’s
pieces and you’ll see that it is actually
9+-zP-+-zP-0 Black with a material advantage here!
9PzP-+-zP-+0
22.£c1 fxg3 Everything wins, all that
9tRNvL-+R+K0 remains is to admire the aesthetic of
xiiiiiiiiy Kramnik’s solution.
It is understandable that White wants to
close down the gates leading to his king, 23.¤a3 ¦d3 24.¦d1
but it was better to continue developing. XIIIIIIIIY
15.¥e3 gxh3 16.¤d2 ¥e6³. 9-+-+k+-+0
9zpp+-wq-+p0
15...c5! Now White gets no respite until the
end. 9-+p+l+-+0
9+-zp-+-zPn0
16.£c4 This aims to prevent the bishop 9-+-+P+p+0
from coming to the long diagonal. Aronian
was highly critical of this move, but it’s not 9sN-zPr+-zp-0
that White had a pleasant choice here. 9PzP-+-zP-+0
16.£e3 b6! ¥b7. 9tR-wQR+-+K0
xiiiiiiiiy
16...¥e6 17.£b5+ c6 18.£a4 f5! Now the 24...¥d5!! A move for the future books.
long diagonal is accessed from d5.
25.f3 gxf3 26.exd5 26.¦xd3 £xe4 27.¦e3
19.¥g5 ¦xg5! What else! f2+ 28.¦xe4+ ¥xe4# would have been
very sweet. This was the line that tempted
20.hxg5 f4 21.£d1 There is no time for Kramnik to play 24...¥d5.

04/138
26...£e2 27.¦e1 g2+ The mates are pretty

so are worth showing.
27...g2+
A) 28.¢h2 g1£+ 29.¢xg1 f2+ 30.¢h1

(30.¢h2 fxe1£#) 30...¦h3+ 31.¢g2
f1£#;
B) 28.¢g1 f2+ 29.¢h2 g1£+ 30.¦xg1

f1£+ 31.¢h1 ¤g3# is quite picturesque.
0–1
Vladimir Kramnik was perhaps the most

Then the following game was played. dominant figure of the tournament when
Against Caruana’s Petroff, Kramnik chose it came to creativity and excitement
the line with early exchange of queens, as
if showing his desire to make a draw. And the game. 39...¢e7 40.a6 ¦xd7 41.¦c8
a draw would have been great, it would ¦a7 42.¦e8+ ¢d6 43.¦xe3.
have cemented his lead and calmed him
down. But here Kramnik’s main problem 39...¦g4 40.¦e1 f4 41.a6 h5 41...f3 is the
in the tournament surfaced for the first most direct move, but it loses after the forced
time. He couldn’t seem to be able to control line 42.a7 f2 43.¦xe3 ¦g1+ 44.¢c2 ¥xe3
his ambitions and over-confidence and 45.¦b8 ¥xa7 46.¦xd8 f1£ 47.¥xf1 ¦xf1
started to play for a win when there were 48.¦a8 ¥b6 49.d8£+ ¥xd8 50.¦xd8+
no objective reasons to do so. He sacrificed with an easy win for White.
a piece and was lost, but then Caruana
erred and then Kramnik was winning. What 42.a7 ¦a8
followed next was pure drama. XIIIIIIIIY
Vladimir Kramnik – Fabiano Caruana 9r+-+-+-+0
FIDE Candidates 2018 Berlin GER (4)
9zPR+P+-+-0
XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-mk-+-+0
9-+-tr-+-+0 9+L+-+-vlp0
9+-tRPmk-+-0 9-+-+-zpr+0
9-+-+-+-zp0 9+-zP-sn-+-0
9zPL+-+pvl-0 9-zP-+-+-+0
9-+-+-tr-+0 9+K+-tR-+-0
9+-zP-sn-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy
43.b4 43.c4! was suggested by Caruana and
9-zP-+-+-+0 it is indeed the strongest move. The c-pawn
9+K+-+-tR-0 doesn’t need the support of the b-pawn
as it cannot be taken in view of ¦c1–c8.
xiiiiiiiiy 43...¢c5 44.b4+ ¢d4 Kramnik said he
38...¢d6 39.¦b7 This also wins. didn’t want to allow this counterplay,
when in fact White keeps everything under
39.¦c6+ was suggested by Kramnik after control after (44...¢xb4 45.¥c6+ ¢c5

April 2018
46.¥f3 ¦g3 47.¦b5+) 45.¥c6! 53.¦c1 ¤d4 54.¥d3?
43...h4 44.c4 44.d8£+! was a more direct

XIIIIIIIIY
and forced way. 44...¥xd8 45.¦d7+ ¢e5 9-+-+-+-+0
46.¥c6 ¦xa7 47.¦xa7 the ¥c6 effectively 9+-+-+-+-0
stops Black’s passed pawns.
9-+-+-vlR+0
44...h3 45.c5+ ¢e5 46.¦b8? 9+-zP-mk-+-0
XIIIIIIIIY 9-tr-sn-zp-+0
9rtR-+-+-+0 9+-+L+-+p0
9zP-+P+-+-0 9K+-+-+-+0
9-+-+-+-+0 9+-tR-+-+-0
9+LzP-mk-vl-0 xiiiiiiiiy
9-zP-+-zpr+0 54.¥g4! was better, when White again
has winning chances. The variation
9+-+-sn-+p0 that follows is impossible to find
9-+-+-+-+0 over the board. 54...¦a4+ 55.¢b2 h2
(55...¦b4+ 56.¢c3 ¦b3+ 57.¢c4
9+K+-tR-+-0 and the king escapes the dangerous
xiiiiiiiiy zone.) 56.¦e1+ ¢d5 57.¦xf6 ¦b4+
Missing the win. Kramnik missed Black’s 58.¢c1 ¦c4+ 59.¢d1 ¦a4 and amazing
47th move. position, White is a rook up, but things
are not clear! 60.¦h6 ¢c4! wonderful
46.¥c6! was a natural move, just domination by Black’s pieces. 61.c6 ¢d3
controlling Black’s passed pawns. It wins 62.¦h3+ f3 63.¥f5+ ¤xf5 64.¦xf3+
for White without much trouble. 46...h2 ¢c4 65.c7 ¤d6 66.¢c2 ¢c5 67.¦ef1
47.¦h1 and Black is devoid of counterplay. ¦h4 68.¦f6 ¤c8 69.¦h1 ¦h7 and Black
should draw.
46...¦xa7 47.¦g8 ¥f6! This was missed
by Kramnik, the point being that White 54...¦a4+ 55.¢b1 ¤b3 56.¦e1+ ¢d5
cannot take on g4 immediately. 57.¢c2 57.¦xf6 leads to a draw after
57...¦a1+ 58.¢b2 ¦xe1 59.¢xb3 h2
48.d8£ Sad necessity. Now it should 60.¥c4+ ¢xc5 61.¦f5+ ¢d6 62.¥d5.
be a draw.
57...¤d4+ 58.¢b1? This makes it more
48.¦xg4? ¢f5 and mate is threatened on difficult for White on the next move.
a1 and Black wins.
58.¢c1 ¤b3+ 59.¢c2 ¤d4+ 60.¢c1
48...¥xd8 49.¦xg4 ¥f6 50.¦g6 ¦b7 ¦a1+ 61.¥b1 is a draw.
50...¢f5 51.¥d3+ ¢e6 52.¥c4+ ¢f5 is
a repetition. 58...¤f3 59.¦d1?? Kramnik admitted that
with a few seconds left he panicked.
51.¥e2 ¦xb4+ 52.¢a2 ¤c2? Giving
White another chance. Curiously enough, 59.¦xf6 ¤xe1 60.¥f1 h2 61.¦h6 ¢xc5
Caruana offered a draw here. 62.¦xh2 is a draw.
52...¥e7 should draw, aiming to eliminate 59...¦a1+ And now Black wins, with no
White’s last pawn. 53.¦c1 ¢d4 54.c6 more turn-arounds.
¦a4+ 55.¢b3 ¦b4+ with perpetual check.

04/138
60.¢c2 ¦xd1 61.¥a6 ¦d2+ 62.¢c1

¥b2+ 63.¢b1 ¢xc5 64.¥b7 ¤e5 65.¦f6
f3 66.¦f5 f2
0–1
This was the decisive game in the

tournament for Kramnik. It wasn’t only the
lost point, the damage was much worse and
more covert. In spite of losing it, this game
convinced Kramnik that his way of playing
for a win in any situation and under any
circumstances was correct – after all he did
obtain a winning position from a lost one
Wesley So showed his pragmatic side and
after pushing hard. quickly abandoned all ambition
Kramnik continued in this style and

scored 1 out of the next 5 games. His 5...¥b4+ has been considered as the only
press conferences after these games were serious move in this position.
even more shocking, as he continuously
claimed he was winning even in positions 6.¤xc5 ¤c6 7.¤f3 For the time being
where the engine showed +3 for his Caruana chooses the best moves.
opponents! Being out of contention
Kramnik abandoned his ambition and 7.¤b3 a5! 8.a4 ¥b4+ 9.¥d2 ¤xd4
over-confidence and immediately won a 10.¥xb4 ¤xb3 11.£xb3 £b6! is a nice
very nice game against Aronian. It hasn’t tactic; 7.¥e3 e5!
been said for nothing that objectivity
is one of the most important traits for a 7...¤xd4 8.£xd4 £xd4 9.¤xd4 ¥xc5
chess player. Kramnik drew the remaining 10.¤b5 ¢e7 11.¥d2?!
4 games, introducing valuable novelties in XIIIIIIIIY
his games against Caruana and So. 9r+l+-+ntr0
Fabiano Caruana - Vladimir Kramnik 9zpp+-mkpzpp0
FIDE Candidates 2018 Berlin GER (11.1) 9-+-+p+-+0
9+Nvl-+-+-0
1.c4 e6 2.¤c3 d5 3.d4 c6 After 3 9-+P+-+-+0
consecutive losses in the Semi-Tarrasch
Kramnik changes his opening, but he 9+-+-+-+-0
has never played this before. Even in the 9PzP-vL-zPPzP0
90s when the Semi-Slav was his main
defence against 1 d4 he never played it 9tR-+-mKL+R0
via the Triangle. xiiiiiiiiy
But here he allows Kramnik to equalise
4.e4 Caruana accepts the challenge. comfortably.
4...dxe4 5.¤xe4 c5!? A very surprising 11.¤c7 should give White an

innovation in a position where the check with advantage, as pointed out by Kramnik.
the bishop is considered more or less the only After the more or less forced 11...¦b8
move. Kramnik admitted that it probably isn’t 12.¥f4 ¥b4+ 13.¢e2 ¥d6 14.¥xd6+
100% correct, but the bluff paid off. ¢xd6 15.¤b5+ ¢e7 16.¤xa7 White is

April 2018
a pawn up but Black may have some 14...f5 was suggested as an improvement.
compensation.
15.h4 f5 16.¤h3! So probably missed this
11...¥d7 and Black is fine already. idea to sacrifice a piece for a pawn mass.
½–½ 16...f4 17.exf4 ¥xh3 18.fxg5 ¥d7 19.¢f2

and soon enough White was winning, but
the game ended in a draw after a good
Vladimir Kramnik - Wesley So defence from So.
FIDE Candidates 2018 Berlin GER (12.4) ½–½
1.c4 e6 2.¤c3 d5 3.d4 ¥e7 4.cxd5 exd5

5.¥f4 c6 6.e3 ¥f5 7.g4 ¥e6 8.£b3!? Apart from the loss of objectivity in the
XIIIIIIIIY first half, Kramnik’s other major problem
was his inability to keep the level of
9rsn-wqk+ntr0 his play constant. This became apparent
9zpp+-vlpzpp0 at the end of the tournament when he
couldn’t convert winning advantages in
9-+p+l+-+0 the last 3 rounds against So, Ding Liren
9+-+p+-+-0 and Mamedyarov.
9-+-zP-vLP+0 It may sound strange, but this attitude
9+QsN-zP-+-0 by a former World Champion looks
9PzP-+-zP-zP0 rather unprofessional. Looking from the
sidelines and seeing him go for win at
9tR-+-mKLsNR0 all costs seemed as if he wasn’t really
xiiiiiiiiy interested in winning the tournament.
A very important idea, according to There was no flexibility in his
Kramnik. tournament strategy and ‘forward only’
can get you wins but even more losses
8.h4 has been the main move for a very in a field as tough as the one in Berlin.
long time, but So showed that Black It is a pity that he couldn’t combine his
can actually take the pawn 8...¥xh4! daring with his second’s (Giri) solidity.
9.£b3 g5 10.¥e5 f6 11.¥h2 ¥xg4 The likelihood of this being Kramnik’s
12.£xb7 £e7 13.£xe7+?! (13.£xa8 is last attempt for the world title is high,
better and should lead to a draw after in which case we can be grateful for his
13...£xe3+ 14.¥e2 ¥xf2+ 15.¢f1 ideas and valiance in Berlin.
¥h4 16.£xb8+ ¢f7 17.¤d1 ¥xe2+
18.¤xe2 £f3+ 19.¢g1 £xe2 20.¥d6 ALEXANDER GRISCHUK eventually
£e1+ 21.¢g2 £e2+ with perpetual had the same score as Kramnik, but
check.) 13...¤xe7 and Black is better in quite a different path to there. His
this endgame: 0–1 (47) Giri,A (2785)- final score was +2-3=9. After losing
So,W (2815) chess.com INT 2017. to his compatriot in the first round he
immediately bounced back by beating
8...£b6 9.f3 With the queen on b6 White So in a beautiful attacking game.
now wants to push h4.
9...g5 10.¥e5 f6 11.¥g3 £xb3 12.axb3 h5

13.gxh5 ¦xh5 14.¥d3 ¢f7?! Criticised
by Kramnik.

04/138
Alexander Grischuk - Wesley So directed against Black’s kingside he knew

there had to be one. The engine already
FIDE Candidates 2018 Berlin GER (2.1) gives White a decisive advantage here
XIIIIIIIIY (somewhere around +3).
9r+-+-trk+0 22...¦ad8
9+lzpqvlpzp-0 XIIIIIIIIY
9p+n+-+-zp0 9-+-trr+-mk0
9+p+n+-sN-0 9+lzpq+pzp-0
9-+-zP-+-+0 9p+n+-vl-zp0
9+L+-+N+P0 9+ptR-+-+-0
9PzP-+-zPP+0 9-+-zP-+R+0
9tR-vLQtR-mK-0 9+L+-+N+P0
xiiiiiiiiy 9PzP-vL-zPP+0
17.¤e4 Black is fine here, but now he
moves the wrong rook. 9+-+Q+-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
17...¦fe8? A bit too vague. It was more 23.£c1! ¤xd4 24.¤xd4 ¦e4 24...¥xd4
important to put pressure on d4 as soon as 25.¥xh6!
possible.
25.¦xc7 £xd4 26.¥e3 White wins a piece
17...¦ad8! 18.¥d2 ¤f6. and the rest is just So wanting to see if
Grischuk makes it out of the time-trouble.
18.¥d2! Now White is faster in getting the
rook on c1, controlling the c-file and the 26...¦xg4 27.hxg4 27.¥xd4 ¦xg2+
c5–square. 28.¢f1 ¥xd4 29.¦xf7 also wins, but the
game move is simpler.
18...¤f6 19.¦c1 ¤xe4 20.¦xe4 ¥f6
21.¦g4! ¢h8 22.¦c5! Powerful play by 27...£e4 28.f3 The queen cannot continue
Grischuk. He admitted that he didn’t see to defend the ¥b7.
a direct win, but with all White’s pieces
28...£b4 29.¦xb7 ¥xb2 30.£f1 f6
Grischuk who was always up there, but 31.£f2 ¥e5 32.f4 ¥d6 33.g5 £e4 34.£f3
never quite making it to the leading group
£b1+ 35.£f1 £e4 36.£f3 £b1+ 37.¢f2
¥b4 38.£e2 £e4 39.£f3 £b1 40.¢g3
fxg5 41.¢h2 £f5 42.¦f7 £g6 43.fxg5
¥d6+ 44.¢h3
1–0
After coming back to 50% Grischuk made 5

draws in a row. His games saw wild fluctuations
from completely winning (against Ding Liren
in Round 4) to completely lost (against Aronian
in Round 5). He was also quite innovative in the
openings: he re-invented Topalov’s sacrifice in
the Anti-Moscow Gambit against Ding Liren
by improving upon Topalov’s play.

April 2018
Alexander Grischuk - Ding Liren Grischuk’s games saw

wild fluctuations from
FIDE Candidates 2018 Berlin GER (4)
completely winning
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 d5 4.¤c3 c6 Ding (against Ding Liren in
Liren stays true to his usual repertoire. Round 4) to completely
Soon he is hit with a major novelty.
lost (against Aronian
5.¥g5 h6 6.¥h4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.¥g3 b5 in Round 5). He was also
9.¥e2 ¥b7 10.0–0 ¤bd7 11.¤e5 ¥g7 quite innovative in the
12.¤xf7 Famously introduced by Topalov.
openings: he re-invented
12...¢xf7 13.e5 ¤d5 14.¤e4 £b6 Topalov’s sacrifice
15.¤d6+ ¢e7 16.a4! in the Anti-Moscow
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+-+-tr0 Gambit against Ding
Liren by improving upon
9zpl+nmk-vl-0
Topalov’s play
9-wqpsNp+-zp0
9+p+nzP-zp-0 unfortunately he automatically thought that
9P+pzP-+-+0 Black was OK in the game too.) 23.¦fe1
cxb2 24.¦a4 ¦xf4÷ has already been
9+-+-+-vL-0 played in a game between chess engines.
9-zP-+LzPPzP0
21.f4 gxf4??
9tR-+Q+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy XIIIIIIIIY
Here is the strong improvement. 9-+-+-tr-tr0
9+-+nmk-vl-0
16.¥g4 was played by Topalov, but
according to Grischuk White is losing here 9-wqlsNp+-zp0
as shown by Karjakin 16...h5! (16...¦af8 9+p+pzP-+-0
17.£c2 £xd4 18.£g6 1–0 (45) Topalov,V 9-+pzP-zp-+0
(2780) -Kramnik,V (2795) Wijk aan Zee
2008) 17.¥xh5 ¦af8 ½–½ (36) Shirov,A 9+-+-+-vL-0
(2740) -Karjakin,S (2732) Foros 2008. 9-zP-+-+PzP0
16...¦af8 17.¥f3 a6 18.¥xd5! The knight 9tR-+Q+R+K0
was Black’s only active piece. xiiiiiiiiy
21...h5! was the good move here.
18...cxd5 19.axb5 axb5 20.¢h1 White’s
compensation is positional: Black’s king is A) 22.f5 h4 23.fxe6 hxg3 24.¦xf8 ¦xf8
unsafe, the bishops are passive, the knight (24...¦xh2+ 25.¢g1 ¤xe5„ 26.¤c8+
doesn’t have a good square while White has ¢xf8 27.¤xb6 ¤d3 is such a mess!)
a monster knight on d6 with the clear plan 25.exd7 ¥xd7÷ with totally unclear
to push f4. position;
20...¥c6 20...¥a6 21.f4 was Grischuk’s B) 22.¥e1 b4 23.£c2 ¤xe5 24.dxe5 ¥xe5
analysis 21...b4 22.£c2 c3 (22...gxf4 25.¤c8+ ¦xc8 26.fxe5 ¦cf8 27.¦f6 ¦xf6
23.¥h4+ ¥f6 is the culprit for Grischuk’s 28.exf6+ ¢xf6 29.¥g3° and White has
missed win. Here Black is OK, so compensation for the 3(!) pawns.

04/138
22.¦xf4? Now Black has winning chances. In Round 8 he beat Kramnik after introducing
a rare idea in his opponent’s beloved Semi-
2.¥h4+ wins relatively easily 22...¥f6 Tarrasch. Kramnik defended well and the
23.£g4! This is the move missed by game should have ended in a draw, but once
Grischuk. 23...¦hg8 (What Ding missed again Kramnik’s loss of objectivity helped
was that after 23...£xd4 24.¥xf6+ ¤xf6 his opponent. After reaching +1 Grischuk
25.£g7+ ¢d8 26.exf6 £xf6 27.¤b7+! continued to walk the fine line between
White has this move and he mates. enterprising play and keeping control. He still
27...¥xb7 28.£xb7+– ¦a8) 24.exf6+ couldn’t avoid the wild fluctuations though.
¢xd6 25.£xf4+ e5 26.dxe5+ ¢c7 27.e6+
¢b7 28.f7+–. Against Ding Liren he messed up his
preparation and would have resigned had
22...¦xf4 23.¥xf4 ¢d8?! Ding Liren found the best move.
XIIIIIIIIY Ding Liren - Alexander Grischuk
9-+-mk-+-tr0
FIDE Candidates 2018 Berlin GER (11.3)
9+-+n+-vl-0 XIIIIIIIIY
9-wqlsNp+-zp0 9-+r+-+ktr0
9+p+pzP-+-0 9+l+q+-zp-0
9-+pzP-vL-+0 9pvL-+NvlLsn0
9+-+-+-+-0 9+p+N+-+p0
9-zP-+-+PzP0 9-+p+-+-+0
9tR-+Q+-+K0 9zPn+-+-+P0
xiiiiiiiiy 9-zP-+QzPP+0
23...¦f8! should win for Black. For
example: 9+-+RtR-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
A) 24.£g4 £xd4! 25.£xg7+ (25.¥g5+ 28...¥xd5 Black is apparently busted.
hxg5 26.£xd4 ¥xe5 wins for Black, the
three pieces with the pawn mass dominate 29.¤f4 This still wins, but it also prolongs
the queen.) 25...¢d8 26.¥xh6 £xb2 the game.
27.¦g1 ¢c7–+;
29.¤d8 would have been the end as the
B) 24.¥g3 ¢d8 25.£g4 b4! 26.£xg7 mate by £e8 is unstoppable. Here are a
£xd4–+ as is typical in the Anti-Moscow few illustrative lines. 29...¦xd8 (29...£e7
Gambit, the centralised pawn mass often 30.£xh5 £d7 31.£xd5+ £xd5 32.¦e8#)
wins the game for Black. 30.¦xd5 £xd5 31.£e8+ ¦xe8 32.¦xe8#.
24.£g4?! Complicating matters. 29...¤c1 An amazing move! Black is still lost

objectively, but here at least he’s fighting...
24.¤f7+! ¢c8 25.¤xh8 ¥xh8 26.¥xh6
with £g4 to come and White is better here. 30.£xh5 The position still remains
winning for White, but not immediately, so
24...¦f8 25.¥d2 ¢c7 And after many the longer the game went the bigger Black’s
adventures the game finished in a draw. chances of survival were. Eventually Ding
Liren had to concede the draw.
½–½ ½–½

April 2018
Ding Liren finished

in fourth place with a
score of 7.5/14 (+1=13).
He proved to be the most
resilient player, the only
one not to lose a game.
Apart from the wild
games against Grischuk,
he had winning chances
against Kramnik and
Aronian in Round 7 and
8 respectively, before
saving a lost position
against Caruana
In Round 12 against Aronian Grischuk 7 and 8 respectively, before saving a lost
had the last chance to catch up with the position against Caruana in Round 9. His
leaders. Against Aronian’s Spanish he only win came as a result of Mamedyarov’s
introduced yet another very interesting unfounded winning attempt in an equal
opening idea and obtained an advantage. position. After reaching +1 with two
But in the crucial moment he hesitated and rounds to go he returned to his gruelling
had to concede a draw. Already in the next, defensive tasks to save a lost position
penultimate, round, playing Mamedyarov, against Kramnik and set up an impregnable
who was half a point ahead, he kept the fortress against Karjakin. I suppose he
tension for too long and the moment he was just following his strategy to try to
wanted to force a draw he blundered and win from the counterattack and rarely go
lost. In the last round he was already out of forward himself, but perhaps he could have
contention and lost to Caruana. adjusted to the needs of the last rounds
when he was in a position to fight for first
A bitter disappointment in the end for place. Ding Liren’s main characteristic was
Grischuk who was always up there, but his excellent defence based on extremely
never quite making it to the leading group. good calculation. He was also very much
He had his missed wins and great escapes, in control of his nerves - even though
but for a successful tournament of this kind extremely nervous he never let that affect
a little more solidity would have done him his play. In the openings he was mostly
a lot of good. His strategy was to play at inferior, as he never caused problems with
every possibility that was given to him and White (except when Grischuk messed up
his chances to fight for first place were his preparation) while with Black he was
spoiled in his game against Aronian. often suffering. Definitely a successful first
attempt for the Chinese player, but he will
DING LIREN finished in fourth place with need more edge in the openings if he is to
a score of 7.5/14 (+1=13). He proved to be fight for first place.
the most resilient player, the only one not
to lose a game. Apart from the wild games Shared 2nd and 3rd were Sergey Karjakin
against Grischuk, he had winning chances (+4−2=8) and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
against Kramnik and Aronian in Round (+3−1=10) with 8/14.

04/138
SHAKHRIYAR MAMEDYAROV arrived Shakhriyar Mamedyarov -

in Berlin as a rating favourite. He was the Alexander Grischuk
only player to follow Caruana all the way,
from start to finish. After beating Karjakin FIDE Candidates 2018 Berlin GER (13.1)
as early as Round 1, he set out to calmly XIIIIIIIIY
play his games and be patient. Together
with So, he was the most pragmatic player
9-+-+-+-+0
in the field. He didn’t mind draws and didn’t 9+-+-zpp+k0
mind playing for them. His strategy can be 9-+Lsn-+p+0
summed up by his often used ‘draw is good’
in the press conferences. He also came with 9wqPwQ-+-+p0
Alexey Dreev as his second, a player known 9-+-+P+-zP0
for solidity, deep opening knowledge of the 9+-zp-+-zP-0
lines he plays and good technique. All these
qualities and the adopted strategy blended 9-+-+-zPK+0
well with Shakhriyar’s innate aggression and 9+-+-+-+-0
striving for initiative, no doubt after some
serious preparatory work. Mamedyarov xiiiiiiiiy
patiently waited for his second win, which 34.e5 Black could have drawn earlier had
came in Round 6, in the middle of Kramnik’s he wanted to, but here already some caution
meltdown phase. These two wins allowed was required.
him to stay within half a point of Caruana and
keep the pressure. Unfortunately he couldn’t 34...¤xb5?? 34...¤f5 35.¥e4 e6 would
pose any serious problems to the leader when still be a draw as the passed pawns cancel
they met in Round 10 and as the tournament each other out.
neared its end it seemed he lost his patience
in the game against Ding Liren in Round 12. 35.e6! Mamedyarov never fails to spot such
An abrupt change of strategy in a crucial opportunities! White wins now.
moment of the tournament rarely bodes well
and Mamedyarov suffered his only loss. He 35.¥xb5 c2 would be a draw.
bounced back immediately when Grischuk
missed a strong zwischenzug in his attempt 35...£a3 36.£xb5 c2 37.exf7 White is
to force a draw. faster here.
37...¢g7 38.¥e4 c1£ 39.£e8

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was the only
player to follow Caruana all the way, from 1–0
start to finish
In the last round however, even though

he did try to play in a more risky fashion
against Kramnik, he was never in a chance
for something more than a draw.
From the press conferences I had

the impression that Mamedyarov
wasn’t determined enough to win the
tournament. Maybe it was his way of
dealing with the tension, but his ‘draw
is good’ and the explanations that this
was not the tournament of his life
indicated that he lacked the inner resolve

April 2018
From the press conferences I had the impression that

Mamedyarov wasn’t determined enough to win the
tournament. Maybe it was his way of dealing with the
tension, but his ‘draw is good’ and the explanations
that this was not the tournament of his life indicated
that he lacked the inner resolve necessary to win it
necessary to win it. The newly-found b6 9.¤bd2 ¥b7 10.¤xc4 c5 ½–½
balance in his play makes him more (30) Mamedyarov,S (2809)-Karjakin,S
dangerous than ever, but in order to win (2763) Berlin GER 2018.
a Candidates tournament you must play
for first place and decide when draw is 6...c6 7.0–0 dxc4! 8.£xc4 b5 Black plays
good and when it isn’t. in the same vein as in the Semi-Slav.
9.£c2 ¥b7 10.¤bd2
SERGEY KARJAKIN had quite a XIIIIIIIIY
tournament. Starting with two losses with
White and 1/4 he was quickly relegated to 9rsn-wq-trk+0
the outsiders of the tournament. He wasn’t 9zpl+-vlpzpp0
playing well and he wasn’t showing
anything in the openings. Unlike Kramnik 9-+p+psn-+0
and Aronian, who tried to force their way 9+p+-+-+-0
back into the tournament, Karjakin took 9-+-zP-+-+0
a more gradual approach. He first made
sure he stopped losing games. Then he 9+-+-+NzP-0
tried to get his preparation in. One of the 9PzPQsNPzPLzP0
most important opening revelations in
Berlin was the following line in the ever- 9tR-vL-+RmK-0
popular main line of the Catalan. xiiiiiiiiy
10.¤c3 was So’s attempt in Round 11.
Fabiano Caruana – Sergey Karjakin Black didn’t have problems after 10...¤bd7
11.¦d1 £b6 12.¤e5 ¦fd8 13.¥e3 ¤d5
FIDE Candidates 2018 Berlin GER (5.2) 14.¤xd5 cxd5 15.¦ac1 ¦ac8 ½–½ (41)
So,W (2799)-Mamedyarov,S (2809) Berlin
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 The Catalan was GER 2018.
very popular in Berlin. It featured in 12
games. 10...c5! Black liberates his game with this
typical push that works tactically. Now the
3...d5 4.¥g2 ¥e7 5.¤f3 0–0 6.£b3 This play is forced.
was what Caruana prepared against the
main line in the Catalan. He won a very 11.dxc5 ¤a6 12.¤b3 ¥e4 13.£c3 ¦c8
good game against So in Round 1, but after 14.¥e3 ¤d5 White tries to defend the c5–
the way Karjakin plays it doesn’t really pawn but Black manages to take it.
matter where does White put his queen.
15.£d2 ¥xf3 16.¥xf3 ¤xe3 17.£xe3
6.0–0 dxc4 7.£c2 c6! is the other move- ¤xc5! This was still part of Karjakin’s
order that can reach the same position. preparation!
This is what both Mamedyarov and
Karjakin played in subsequent rounds. 18.¤xc5 ¥xc5 19.£b3 £b6
8.a4 was Mamedyarov’s attempt from
Round 8. Black equalised after 8...

04/138
really have no problems here. Yet Karjakin

XIIIIIIIIY somehow managed to win this!
9-+r+-trk+0
26...¦e8 The first sign that So wasn’t very
9zp-+-+pzpp0 precise.
9-wq-+p+-+0
9+pvl-+-+-0 26...¦b6 is better, as pointed out by
Karjakin. Black had to foresee what to do
9-+-+-+-+0 after 27.¤d4 ¤c4 28.¦e7 when White is
9+Q+-+LzP-0 attacking the e6–pawn. This must have
bothered So. 28...¤e5! is the engine’s
9PzP-+PzP-zP0 solution, forcing a perpetual after 29.¦xe6
9tR-+-+RmK-0 ¦b2+ 30.¢f1 ¦b1+.
xiiiiiiiiy 27.e4 ¤c4 28.¢d3 This is still a draw, but
With completely equal position that ended
in a draw on move 31. the difference in the activity of the pieces
½–½ gives White the initiative. What’s worse for
Black is that there is no straight-forward
way to make a draw and the game must be
In the next round Karjakin got a second Black played on.
in a row but again he got his preparation in
and neutralised Ding Liren easily. 28...¤d6 29.f4 ¢f8 30.e5 fxe5 31.fxe5
White continues to play on domination.
The turning point of his tournament was
his game against Wesley So in Round 7. 31.¤xe5 ¦c8 Black can easily deal with
By this time he accomplished his first two the single weakness on e6.
objectives: he stopped losing by improving
the quality of his play and he started to 31...¤f5 32.g4 ¤h4
get his preparation in. The third, and final, XIIIIIIIIY
objective was to take the chances when 9-+-+rmk-+0
they appear.
9tR-+-+-zpp0
Sergey Karjakin - Wesley So 9-+N+p+-+0
FIDE Candidates 2018 Berlin GER (7.1) 9+-+-zP-+-0
XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+-+Psn0
9-tr-+-+k+0 9+-+K+-+-0
9tR-+-+-zpp0 9-+-+-+-zP0
9-+l+pzp-+0 9+-+-+-+-0
9sN-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy
9-+-+-+-+0 Slowly, by making these small imprecisions,
Black’s position becomes more and more
9+-+-zP-+-0 difficult to play. Objectively it is a draw,
9-sn-+KzPPzP0 but the problems Black needs to solve
become more complex.
9+-+-+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy 32...¦c8! was more direct, not wanting to put
26.¤xc6 The position is of course a draw the knight on the rim as in the game. 33.¦a6
and a technical player like So should ¤h6 34.h3 ¤f7 and Black consolidated.

April 2018
Unlike Kramnik and

Aronian, who tried to
force their way back into
the tournament, Karjakin
took a more gradual
approach. He first made
sure he stopped losing
games. Then he tried to
get his preparation in
33.¢c4 ¤f3 34.¦a2 ¦c8 35.¢b5 ¢e8? 38.¤xe5 ¦c3 39.¦h2 ¢e7 40.¢b5 ¦e3
Here comes the real mistake. And here So lost on time but the position is
easily winning for White.
35...¦c7! still kept the balance. 36.¦a8+ 1–0
(…36.¦f2 ¦f7) 36...¢f7 37.¤d8+ ¢e7
38.¢b6 ¦d7 39.¤c6+ ¢f7
After taking such a miniscule chance
36.¢b6 Karjakin’s confidence soared and
XIIIIIIIIY he scored 4 points out of his next 5
9-+r+k+-+0 games! The culmination was his game
with Caruana. Trailing by a full point
9+-+-+-zpp0 Karjakin had to win in order to catch
9-mKN+p+-+0 the leader.
9+-+-zP-+-0 Sergey Karjakin - Fabiano Caruana
9-+-+-+P+0 FIDE Candidates 2018 Berlin GER (12.3)
9+-+-+n+-0
9R+-+-+-zP0 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤f6 Karjakin allows the
notoriously difficult to crack Petroff, but
9+-+-+-+-0 soon his game plan became obvious.
xiiiiiiiiy
Now White is winning. He is completely 3.¤xe5 d6 4.¤f3 ¤xe4 5.¤c3 ¤xc3
dominating as the ¦c8 has no squares and 6.dxc3 ¤c6 7.¥e3 ¥e7 8.£d2 ¥e6
the threat of ¢b7 is hanging in the air. 9.0–0–0 £d7 10.a3 Here we can see
what Karjakin’s game plan was. His
36...g5 37.h3 Black is practically in a intention is to play a long game with
zugzwang. constant pressure on his opponent. White
doesn’t have much in this position, but
37.¢b7 ¢d7. his position is slightly more pleasant and
easier to play.
37...¤xe5 37...h6 38.¦a1 ¢b7, ¦d1
38...¤d2 39.¦d1 ¤f3 40.¢b7 10...h6

04/138
XIIIIIIIIY are exposed and with the game move White

intends to advance on the kingside.
9r+-+k+-tr0
9zppzpqvlpzp-0 15...0–0–0 16.¥f3 ¥g4?
9-+nzpl+-zp0 XIIIIIIIIY
9+-+-+-+-0 9-+ktr-+r+0
9-+-+-+-+0 9zpp+qvlpzp-0
9zP-zP-vLN+-0 9-+-+-+-zp0
9-zPPwQ-zPPzP0 9+-zpp+-+-0
9+-mKR+L+R0 9-+-+-zPl+0
xiiiiiiiiy 9zP-zP-vLL+-0
10...a6 is an alternative and Karjakin 9-zPPwQ-+PzP0
suggested that perhaps Caruana mixed up
the move-orders here. 9+-mKR+-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
11.¤d4! Not fearing further simplifications Objectively not a bad move, but practically
White increases the pressure. it is a very bad decision. Caruana said he
understood that only after he made the
11...¤xd4 12.¥xd4 ¦g8 13.¥e2 Black move, took a walk, and saw the position on
still needs to spend a tempo in order to the screen from the White side!
vacate the king and he had to make the
move ...¦g8. These little things accumulate 16...f5 was a move Caruana suggested as an
and White keeps the pressure in the position. improvement.
13...c5 The most-straight-forward way to 17.¥xd5! Not a very difficult decision for a
solve the problem with the king. player needing to win. White obtains a risk-
free position that he can improve at ease
13...£a4 was a move Karjakin mentioned while it is not clear what Black should do.
as preferable.
17...¥xd1 18.¦xd1 £c7 19.c4 ¦ge8
14.¥e3 d5 15.f4 Black’s advanced pawns 20.£f2 b6 Caruana said that he lost the
The winner is always a game because for a very long time he
couldn’t make a decision. But when you
deserved one and look at the position it is very difficult to
in Caruana’s case suggest something constructive for Black
even more so. while White can improve on both sides of
the board: hide the king to a2 and advance
He was in the lead from on the kingside. The centralised ¥d5 is by
start to finish and no means weaker than a rook here.
except for the game with
21.g4 ¥f6 22.¢b1 ¦d7?! Objectively
Karjakin he didn’t have speaking, Black’s problems start from this
a moment of weakness. moment.
Caruana was excellently
22...£e7 was a better try ‘to do something’.
prepared, having done If the bishop moves the queen can penetrate
a lot of work on his on e2. 23.¦d3 (23.¥c1 £e2) 23...b5! of
White repertoire course, only an engine can play like this,

April 2018
Unlike Karjakin, XIIIIIIIIY

Caruana is not afraid 9-+k+-+-+0
of the World Champion 9zp-wqrtrp+-0
and will not adopt a 9-zp-+-+-+0
defensive mindset. He
9+-zpL+-wQ-0
will go into that match
to win it
9-+P+-+P+0
but the point is to dislodge the anchor on
9zP-+R+-+-0
d5. 24.¢a2 (24.¥xc5 £e1+ forces the 9KzPP+-+-zP0
exchange of queens.) 24...bxc4 25.¥xc5 9+-+-+-+-0
(25.¥xc4? ¦xd3) 25...£e2 26.¥xc4 £xf2
27.¥xf2 ¦xd3 28.¥xd3 ¢b8 and this xiiiiiiiiy
should be a draw. The position is winning for White now. The
h-pawn marches on and will force further
23.¦d3 Protecting the ¥e3 in advance. concessions by Black.
23...g5 24.¢a2 ¦ee7 25.£f3 ¢d8 31...£e5 32.£h6 ¢d8 33.g5 £d6
34.£h8+ ¦e8 35.£h4 £g6 36.£g4 ¦e5
XIIIIIIIIY 37.h4 ¢e7 38.¦d2 38.¥xf7 also wins:
9-+-mk-+-+0 38...£f5 39.¦xd7+ £xd7 40.£g3
9zp-wqrtrp+-0 38...b5 39.¥xf7 £f5 40.¦xd7+ ¢xd7
9-zp-+-vl-zp0 41.£xf5+ ¦xf5 42.g6 ¢e7 43.cxb5 ¦h5
9+-zpL+-zp-0 44.c4 ¦xh4 45.a4 ¦g4 46.a5 ¢d6 47.a6
¢c7 48.¢b3
9-+P+-zPP+0 1–0
9zP-+RvLQ+-0
9KzPP+-+-zP0 An incredible and exemplary must-win
9+-+-+-+-0 game.
xiiiiiiiiy Before the final two rounds Karjakin was in
A cunning move, covering the e8–square
and threatening to take on e3 and f4. But the lead with Caruana but with a better tie-
Karjakin is careful. break than the American. In the penultimate
round he couldn’t do much against So’s
26.¥d2! Avoiding the trick. chosen drawing line in the Nimzo-Indian
and in the last he tried to replicate his
26.h4? ¦xe3! 27.¦xe3 £xf4 would give successful must-win strategy against Ding
Black some drawing chances. Liren. Alas, this time he wasn’t that precise
and missed an important move that even
26...¢c8 27.£f1 ¦h3. Karjakin was very put him in some danger. The position was
pleased with this maneuver. closed enough so he made the draw, but that
meant that he couldn’t win the tournament.
27...¦d6 This drops a pawn. Caruana saw
that, but he couldn’t see anything better! After a long period when he was mediocre at
What a depressing situation to find oneself in! best, Karjakin showed his true character when
it mattered most. Eventually his early losses
28.fxg5 ¥xg5 29.¥xg5 hxg5 30.£f5+ cost him too much, but the determination and,
¦dd7 31.£xg5 for me even more importantly, the manner

04/138
in which he made the comeback – by not Fabiano Caruana - Levon Aronian

forcing matters and staying patient, make his
performance one of the most impressive ones FIDE Candidates 2018 Berlin GER (13.4),
in the whole tournament.
1.e4 For only a second time in the tournament
FABIANO CARUANA won the Berlin Caruana switches to the open games. He had
Candidates with a score of 9/14 (+5-1=8), a specific idea in mind for this game.
the highest score in the modern history of
the Candidates tournament. 1...e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 ¤f6
5.0–0 ¥e7 6.¦e1 b5 7.¥b3 0–0 8.d3 d6
The winner is always a deserved one 9.¥d2!? This is Grischuk’s idea from his
and in Caruana’s case even more so. game with Aronian from the previous round.
He was in the lead from start to finish Caruana was full of praise of its quality.
and except for the game with Karjakin
he didn’t have a moment of weakness. 9...¥g4 Aronian changes the line but
Caruana was excellently prepared, obviously Caruana’s camp had done their
having done a lot of work on his White homework.
repertoire and playing 1.d4 in 5 of his
7 white games (against Kramnik he 9...¢h8 10.h3 ¤d7 11.¤c3 ¤a5 12.¤d5
played 1.c4 but it quickly transposed to ¤xb3 13.axb3 ¥b7 14.c4 f5 15.¥a5
the Triangle, see the game above). With with pressure for White in: 1/2–1/2 (54)
Black his Petroff was solid as a rock (in Grischuk, A (2767) - Aronian, L (2794)
spite of the loss to Karjakin) and he even Berlin GER 2018.
scored 2 wins in it! His main strength
compared to the other players was his 10.c3 d5 10...¤a5 11.¥c2 c5 12.h3 ¥d7 can be
absolute precision when it came to an alternative as the ¥d2 is somewhat awkward
calculation. I was amazed to follow the blocking the square for the knight on b1.
lines and evaluations he was giving in
the press conferences and compare it to 11.h3 ¥h5 12.£e2 ¦b8 Getting away from
the engine’s – they were almost always possible pins along the h1–a8 diagonal.
identical! It is therefore no surprise
that he came out on top from insanely 13.¥g5
complex games such as the one against XIIIIIIIIY
Kramnik (see above), Mamedyarov and 9-tr-wq-trk+0
both his games with Aronian.
9+-zp-vlpzpp0
Apart from the fantastic calculation 9p+n+-sn-+0
throughout the tournament Caruana also 9+p+pzp-vLl0
showed amazing self-control after losing
the lead. His response of two wins in the 9-+-+P+-+0
last two rounds speaks for itself. The first 9+LzPP+N+P0
win was critical, as it put him again in the
sole lead. 9PzP-+QzPP+0
9tRN+-tR-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
I was amazed to follow the lines and evaluations
Caruana was giving in the press conferences and
compare it to the engine’s – they were almost always
identical! It is therefore no surprise that he came out
on top from insanely complex games
April 2018
13.exd5 ¤xd5 14.g4 ¥g6 15.¤xe5 ¤xe5 XIIIIIIIIY

16.£xe5 c6 gives Black a typical Marshall play.
9-tr-tr-+-+0
13...dxe4 14.dxe4 h6 15.¥c1 White 9+-zp-+p+k0
provoked ...h6, which would make the ¥g6
less stable, and now retreats the bishop to
9pvln+q+pzp0
c1 in order to develop the ¤b1 via d2. 9+p+-zpN+-0
15...¥g6 16.¤bd2 ¤h5 17.¤f1 ¥c5
9PzP-+P+-+0
Aronian activated his pieces but White can 9+-zP-sN-+-0
easily control the kingside with his next 9-+L+QsnK+0
two moves.
9tR-vL-tR-+-0
18.g3 ¢h7 Removing the king from the xiiiiiiiiy
sensitive diagonal and perhaps aiming to This is a mistake that allows Black to
play ...f5. get back into the game, but the refutation
required quite a bit of imagination. It’s not
19.¢g2 White’s kingside is now safe. surprising that both players missed it.
19...£e7 19...f5? doesn’t work in view of 29.¤5e3! was the winning move, but it looks
20.exf5 ¦xf5 (20...¥xf5 21.¤g5+) 21.¥c2 so unnatural to remove the beautiful knight.
¦f6 22.¥e3 and Black has a strategically 29...¤h3 (29...£h3+ 30.¢xf2) 30.¤d5! The
lost position. knight is even more beautiful here! 30...¤f4+
31.¤xf4 exf4 32.¥xf4 wins for White.
20.¥c2 Defending e4 in advance and
liberating the path for the b-pawn. 29...gxf5 30.exf5 £f6 31.£xf2 e4? Black
misses his only chance here.
20...¦fd8 Since ...f5 isn’t realistic, Black
centralises the rook. But his kingside pieces 31...¤xb4!! a completely unexpected shot
are stranded and White begins an attack on on the other side of the board. The point
the queenside. is to obtain the d4–square for the rook.
32.cxb4 ¦d4 and this is a mess that the
21.b4 ¥b6 22.a4 Black finds it difficult to engine evaluates as 0.00. With Black being
defend his queenside. two pieces down it means that White must
be very careful here!
22...¤f6 The knight was useless on h5.
32.¦h1
23.¤h4 £e6 Preparing ...¥h5 and XIIIIIIIIY
surprisingly Caruana allows it. He simply
thought the sacrifice on g4 was good for 9-tr-tr-+-+0
him. Objectively he is right, but from a 9+-zp-+p+k0
practical perspective it would have been
better not to allow it. 9pvln+-wq-zp0
9+p+-+P+-0
23...¥h5 24.g4. 9PzP-+p+-+0
24.¥d3 24.¤xg6 fxg6 25.¥d3 leaves 9+-zP-sN-+-0
Black without counterplay. 9-+L+-wQK+0
24...¥h5 25.g4 ¥xg4 26.hxg4 ¤xg4 9tR-vL-+-+R0
27.¤f5 ¤xf2 28.¥c2 g6 29.¤1e3? xiiiiiiiiy
04/138
Now it’s winning for White as Black has 4...d5 5.¤bd2 ¤xd2 The most direct way.
nothing and White simply centralises his pieces. Black has the option to leave the knight on
e4 or move it to c5.
32...¦d6 33.¥xe4 ¦g8+ 34.¢f1 ¤e5
35.£f4 c6 36.axb5 36.¦xh6+ was 6.¥xd2 ¥e7 7.¥d3 c5 8.c3 ¤c6 9.0–0
more forcing 36...£xh6 37.f6+ ¤g6 9.h3 is an alternative, not to allow the pin.
(37...¦g6 38.£xh6+ ¢xh6 39.¤c4+
¢h5 40.¥xg6+ ¤xg6 41.¤xd6 with a full 9...¥g4 10.¦e1 £d7 11.h3 ¥h5 A novelty.
rook up.) 38.£xh6+ ¢xh6 39.¤f5+ ¢h7
40.¤xd6 and White is a piece up. The only previous game saw 11...¥f5
12.£c2 ¥xd3 13.£xd3 0–0 and Black
36...¦g5 37.bxa6 £d8 38.f6+ ¤g6 is OK even though he lost the game 1–0
39.¦xh6+ (47) Vallejo Pons,F (2696)-Perez Garcia,R
1–0 (2426) Lugo 2009.
12.¥f4 £e6 In view of various e6 ideas

In spite of the slight hiccup on move Black is forced to use the queen as a
29, a wonderfully controlled game by blockading piece. This is usually not ideal,
Caruana, especially taking into account the but the queen cannot be attacked on e6.
tournament standings at that point.
13.a3
In the last round everybody counted on XIIIIIIIIY
the others making a draw. Karjakin and
Ding Liren were both super-solid, while 9r+-+k+-tr0
Mamedyarov couldn’t do much against 9zpp+-vlpzpp0
Kramnik. Caruana also kept it solid, but
also playable. 9-+n+q+-+0
9+-zppzP-+l0
Alexander Grischuk - Fabiano Caruana 9-+-+-vL-+0
FIDE Candidates 2018 Berlin GER (14.4) 9zP-zPL+N+P0
1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤f6 The Petroff served 9-zP-+-zPP+0
Caruana extremely well in Berlin and he 9tR-+QtR-mK-0
stays true to his trusted weapon in the last xiiiiiiiiy
round. 13.¥e2!? …¤d4, but we will see in the
game that this is not a serious threat. 13...0–0
3.d4 Grischuk goes his own way. Caruana’s
other opponents all went for 3 ¤e5. A) 14.¤d4 is harmless. After the forcing
line 14...¥xe2 15.¤xe6 ¥xd1 16.¤xf8
3.¤xe5 d6 4.¤f3 ¤xe4 5.£e2 (5.¤c3 ¥a4 17.b3 (17.¤d7? ¤d8 and the ¤d7
was Karjakin’s choice.) 5...£e7 6.¤c3 is lost.) 17...¥b5 18.a4 ¥d3 19.¤d7 ¦d8
(6.d3 ¤f6 7.¤c3 £xe2+ 8.¥xe2 g6 20.e6 fxe6 21.¤e5 ¤xe5 22.¥xe5 ¥c2
9.¥g5 ¥g7 10.0–0–0 0–0 ½–½ (65) So, Black has no problems whatsoever.;
W (2799)-Caruana, F (2784) Berlin GER
2018) 6...¤xc3 7.dxc3 £xe2+ 8.¥xe2 B) 14.£d2!? is a better try. 14...¦fe8 (14...
¤c6 9.¥e3 ¥e7 10.0–0–0 0–0 0–1 (66) h6 15.¤d4 cxd4 16.¥xh5 dxc3 17.bxc3
Kramnik, V (2800)-Caruana, F (2784) d4 is unclear.) 15.¤d4 cxd4 16.¥xh5
Berlin GER 2018. dxc3 17.bxc3 d4 18.¦ab1 (18.cxd4 ¥b4
19.d5 £f5 is very double-edged.) 18...dxc3
3...¤xe4 4.dxe5 4.¥d3 is the main move. 19.£xc3 £f5 with another messy position.

April 2018
The fabulous 8
13...0–0 14.b4 Fighting for the d4–square 21...¤xb4 may be stronger, but it also
and introducing tension on the queenside. involves more risk for Black. 22.cxb4 ¥xb4
23.¦e2 ¥e7 and the pawns are rolling.
14...h6 15.¥g3 b6 16.¤d4?! This wins the
bishop pair, but the ensuing position doesn’t 22.¥f2 ¥f4 23.¥c5 ¦fd8 24.¥d6 ¥g3
favour the bishops! Quite a surprising 25.¦e2 g5! Fixing White’s kingside.
mistaken evaluation by Grischuk.
26.¢f1 ¢f7 27.¥c7 ¦e8 28.¥d6 ¦ac8
16.¥e2 kept the tension. Caruana refuses the repetition. He went on to
show excellent technique and won in 69 moves.
16...¥xd1 17.¤xe6 fxe6 18.¦axd1 c4! 0–1
19.¥c2 b5 Black is better here as the
bishops are ineffective while Black has
the straight-forward plan of play on the A perfect last-round game by Caruana –
queenside. he was never in danger of losing, kept his
position safe and took over the initiative
20.a4 a6 21.f3 ¥g5! when Grischuk misevaluated the position.
XIIIIIIIIY I would like to draw attention to Caruana’s
9r+-+-trk+0 decision not to offer a draw when he
9+-+-+-zp-0 already knew that all the other games
had been drawn. Just like Carlsen in the
9p+n+p+-zp0 last game of his match with Anand in
9+p+pzP-vl-0 2013, when a draw gave him the title, he
9PzPp+-+-+0 continued to play from a position he was
confident he couldn’t possibly mess up.
9+-zP-+PvLP0 Carlsen eventually drew that game and
9-+L+-+P+0 won the title. Caruana went one better and
won his. It is this type of confidence that
9+-+RtR-mK-0 makes Caruana a very dangerous opponent
xiiiiiiiiy for Carlsen. Unlike Karjakin, he is not
The moment when the practical needs of afraid of the World Champion and will not
the last round show in the choice of the adopt a defensive mindset. He will go into
move. Luckily for Caruana, the move is that match to win it. I am already looking
also objectively very good. forward to London in November!

04/138
Why we
should
ALWAYS
LOOK OUT
FOR ARONIAN By Theo Slade
The favourite for the Candidates’ Tournament in Berlin, according to the bookies, was GM
Levon Aronian. The second most likely player to triumph, according to the bookmakers,
was GM and former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. Even the bookies make mistakes,
and that’s how they win or lose money, depending on how much you trust their predictions.
It makes a lot of sense why Aronian is favoured by the bookies: he is +8 combined against
the rest of the field in classical games. Additionally, he first broke into the 2750+ class
back in January 2006, and 2800+ in November 2010, showing that he has been around at
the highest level for a very long time. The Armenian is thirty-five now, so he may feel that,
if he is going to become World Champion, the time is now.
Although the Armenian did not do well at the event, he is always able to produce amazing
surprises and virtuous play, outperforming his competitors. From a chess point of view,
Aronian is very good at generating initiatives when he is Black in his narrow repertoire
that he understands incredibly deeply. This attribute is so strong, in fact, that GMs
Jan Gustafsson and Artur Jussupow dedicated a video series on chess24 to it, entitled,
‘Aronian: Fighting for the initiative with Black.’ We will see that quality in this game.
Vladimir Kramnik (2801) –
Levon Aronian (2820)
Zürich (1), 21.04.2012
1.¤f3 d5 2.d4 ¤f6 3.c4 c6 4.¤c3 e6 5.¥g5 6...£xf6 7.e3 ¤d7 Stockfish 9 suggests a
h6 6.¥xf6 Kramnik decides to avoid the myriad of waiting moves for White in this
main line with 6.¥h4, but I do not think position when the idea is that after ...dxc4
this is a very good decision in principle ¥xc4 White is a tempo up on the game.
because it gives away the bishop pair. However, I am always suspicious of such a
However, this game was played in a match strategy since it is dubious how much value
in preparation for the 2013 Candidates’ in a move like h3 can really have, especially
London, so perhaps Kramnik was trying to when Black can meet it with potentially
hide his preparation. more helpful replies.

April 2018
8.¥d3 dxc4 9.¥xc4 g6 Aronian recognises XIIIIIIIIY

that the best square for his dark-squared 9-+-+r+k+0
bishop is g7, so he is prepared to spend an
extra tempo getting it there. 9zp-+-+pvl-0
9-+-+-+pzp0
10.0–0 ¥g7 11.¦e1 0–0 12.e4 e5 It is
very typical to meet e4 with ...e5 in the 9+-+rzp-+-0
Semi-Slav. 9-+-+-+-+0
13.d5 ¦d8 As a general rule, putting
9+-+-tRN+-0
your rook opposite your opponent’s 9PzP-+-zPPzP0
queen is a good idea! You never know 9+-+-tR-mK-0
what may happen!
xiiiiiiiiy
14.¦e3 Now the dust has settled and I prefer
XIIIIIIIIY Black given that he has the bishop, which
is the better minor piece due to the rival
9r+ltr-+k+0 majorities and open position.
9zpp+n+pvl-0
23.g4 ¢h7 24.g5 This looks a bit impatient.
9-+p+-wqpzp0
9+-+Pzp-+-0 The calm 24.¢f1!³ was better, just
9-+L+P+-+0 playing cautiously. This is the usual way
of defending such positions, so perhaps
9+-sN-tRN+-0 Kramnik had a bad day at the office.
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
24...hxg5 25.¤xg5+ ¢g8 This must
9tR-+Q+-mK-0 have been what Kramnik was expecting
xiiiiiiiiy when he went for 24.g5, but now he
This strikes me as a very odd move. The just implodes.
Slovakian GM Igor Stohl commented that
this, ‘Takes the sting out of the future 26.f4 exploiting the pin on the e-file, but...
¥g4’, but this seems a bit overkill on the
prophylactic thinking. 26.¦a3! was better. 26...¦e7 27.h4 ¦d4
28.¦e4 ¦d1+ 29.¢g2 f6 30.¤h3µ
14.£c2! is a much simpler option. I
suspect Kramnik may still have been in 26...¦b8!
book when playing 14.¦e3 as, just over a XIIIIIIIIY
month before this game was played, GM
Valentina Gunina won with it. Possible 9-tr-+-+k+0
explanations for this lapse include 9zp-+-+pvl-0
Kramnik saving his best for the 2013
Candidates’ or maybe his engine was 9-+-+-+p+0
not quite as good as the 2018 computers 9+-+rzp-sN-0
are now at evaluating the sharp line after 9-+-+-zP-+0
14.¦e3. 14...¤b6 15.¥b3=
9+-+-tR-+-0
14...b5 15.dxc6 bxc4 16.¤d5 £e6!¤ 9PzP-+-+-zP0
17.cxd7 ¦xd7 18.£a4 ¥b7 19.£xc4
¥xd5 20.exd5 £xd5 21.£xd5 ¦xd5 9+-+-tR-mK-0
22.¦ae1 ¦e8 xiiiiiiiiy
04/138
Escapes the pin and threatens the b2–pawn. XIIIIIIIIY

27.fxe5 ¦xb2 Now Aronian has a rook on 9-+-mk-+-+0
the seventh rank, threatening ...¦xa2 and 9zp-+-+-+R0
all of White’s pawns are isolated.
9-+-+-trpvl0
28.¤f3 ¦xa2 29.e6 This makes sense; 9+-+-+-+-0
White is trying to exchange his weak, 9-+-+R+-sN0
isolated e-pawn.
9+-+-+-+-0
29...fxe6 30.¦xe6 ¦f5! However, it is 9r+-+-+-zP0
becoming clear that Black’s advantage
is becoming too big for Kramnik to
9+-+-+-mK-0
handle. White has to be careful about xiiiiiiiiy
allowing Black’s f5–rook to double on This is the final mistake, but this sortie is
the seventh rank. understandable in time trouble.
31.¤h4 ¦f4 32.¦6e4 If 32.¤xg6?? ¥d4+ 37.¦cc4! was the most precise, aiming to
33.¢h1 then 33...¦ff2–+. defend along the fourth rank!
32...¦f6 This is unnecessarily passive. 37...¥f8 38.¦d4+ ¢c8 39.¦c4+ ¢b8

40.¦d7 g5 41.¤g6 41.¤g2 ¦a1+ 42.¤e1
32...¦xe4! is the simplest win. 33.¦xe4 ¦xe1+–+.
¢f7: Black can combine his outside passed
pawn, better minor piece, and safer king to 41...¥d6 41...¥d6 The only way for
bring home the bacon. White to save the knight is 42.¦d8+ ¢b7
43.¦g8 , but then the weakness of White’s
33.¦g4 ¢f7 34.¦c1 ¥h6! 35.¦c7+ ¢e8 king rears its ugly head after 43...¥xh2+
44.¢h1 ¦f1# .
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+k+-+0 0–1
9zp-tR-+-+-0
This game is an example why bookies
9-+-+-trpvl0 considered Aronian the favourite to
9+-+-+-+-0 win the Candidates’ this year: he scores
well against his competitors and can
9-+-+-+RsN0 win with Black, which is extremely
9+-+-+-+-0 difficult at such a high level of play!
9r+-+-+-zP0 Of course, events showed the bookies
were wrong (the favourite – Aronian -
9+-+-+-mK-0 finished last) and that those who put
xiiiiiiiiy their money on Caruana had a smile on
Black would like to play 35...¢e6? their face at the end of the day.
36.¦c6+ ¢e5 37.¦xf6 ¥e3+
(37...¢xf6??, but that runs into
38.¦xg6+ ¢e5 39.¦xh6+–) 38.¢f1
¢xf6 39.¦xg6+ ¢e5 40.¤g2 ¢f5
41.¦g3 ¥d2 42.¤e3+ ¥xe3 43.¦xe3
¦xh2 44.¦e7 a5 45.¦a7 ¦a2 46.¢e1=.
36.¦e4+ ¢d8 37.¦h7

April 2018
AEROFLOT 2018
An unexpected
win in Moscow
By GM Aleksandar Colovic
It is very rare that a 16th seed wins an His wins were mostly in a controlled
exceptionally strong open tournament (92 positional manner. For example, he avoided
players, 60 Grandmasters, 5 above 2700 main line Sicilians and aimed for a Maroczy
and 28 above 2600), but that is exactly structure after 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 cd
what happened in Moscow at the Aeroflot 4.£d4. With black he surprisingly (as
Open (20−28 February). opposed to his positional white repertoire)
stuck to the King’s Indian and wasn’t afraid
The unexpected winner was Vladislav to use it in the last round against Sargissian
Kovalev, a 24−year old Grandmaster from when a draw secured him a clear first.
Belarus. The way he won the tournament
and secured a place for the traditional The crucial game for the tournament victory
Dortmund super−tournament later this year, was played in Round 8 when the two players
was very professional: he won all his white had 5.5/7 and shared the lead. But the game
games (5) and drew the other 4. was already decided on move 9!

04/138
The way Kovalev won

the tournament and
secured a place for the
traditional Dortmund
super-tournament later
this year, was very
professional: he won
all his white games (5)
and drew the other 4
Vladimir Kovalev, Source: Wikipedia
Vladislav Kovalev - M.amin Tabatabaei

Aerolot Open A 2018 Moscow RUS (8.1)
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¥d3 This has become 8.¥xd5! £xd5 9.¤bc3 £xg2
very popular lately. It appears Black was XIIIIIIIIY
taken by surprise as he chooses a well-
known refuted line. 9r+l+kvl-tr0
9zpp+-+pzpp0
3...dxe4 4.¥xe4 ¤f6 5.¥f3 c5 6.¤e2 9-+n+p+-+0
¤c6 7.¥e3 All theory so far, but now
Black errs. 9+-zp-+-+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
7...¤d5?
9+-sN-vL-+-0
XIIIIIIIIY 9PzPP+NzPqzP0
9r+lwqkvl-tr0 9tR-+QmK-+R0
9zpp+-+pzpp0
9-+n+p+-+0 xiiiiiiiiy
Greed is not good here. After this Black is
9+-zpn+-+-0 objectively lost.
9-+-zP-+-+0 9...£c4 is better, though White is still
9+-+-vLL+-0 better after 10.b3 £a6 11.dxc5.
9PzPP+NzPPzP0
10.¦g1 £f3 10...£xh2 11.¥f4 £h3
9tRN+QmK-+R0 12.¤b5 f6.
xiiiiiiiiy
If it’s any comfort to Tabatabaei, he’s 11.¤b5 ¦b8 12.dxc5 f6 12...¥d7
in good company here. Players like was Caruana’s choice. 13.¤c7+ ¢d8
Caruana, Duda and Jussupow chose this 14.¤b5 and White is winning. The fact
move, which of course doesn’t make it that he actually lost can be accepted
any better. more easily if we know that this was
a blitz game. 0–1 (54) Kramnik,V
7...cxd4 8.¤xd4 ¤e5 is considered best for (2808)-Caruana,F (2808) Stavanger
Black. NOR 2017.

April 2018
13.¤d6+ ¥xd6 14.£xd6 g6 15.¦d1 ¦f8 The move is still a viable option today. 6.c3
16.¤d4 (6.h5 c5 7.c3 ¤c6 8.¥h3 e6 9.¥e3?! £b6
XIIIIIIIIY 0–1 (42) Tal, M - Botvinnik,M Moscow m/10
9-trl+ktr-+0 1961) 6...c5 7.¥g2 e6 8.¤e2 ¥b5 0–1 (41)
Tal, M - Botvinnik, M Moscow m/18 1961.
9zpp+-+-+p0
9-+nwQpzpp+0 6.f3 ¥h7 7.e6
9+-zP-+-+-0 XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-sN-+-+0 9rsn-wqkvlntr0
9+-+-vLq+-0 9zpp+-zppzpl0
9PzPP+-zP-zP0 9-+p+P+-zp0
9+-+RmK-tR-0 9+-+p+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy 9-+-zP-+PzP0
Kovalev admitted that he forgot his 9+-+-+P+-0
preparation here. Even though this is not the 9PzPP+-+-+0
best, it is still good enough to win the game.
9tRNvLQmKLsNR0
16.b4! is the most forcing way. 16...a6 17.a4 xiiiiiiiiy
¦f7 18.¤d4! here’s the same move as in the 7...£d6! This solves Black’s problems.
game. Perhaps Kovalev remembered the move,
but not the exact moment when it should be 7...fxe6?! 8.¥d3 shows White’s main idea.
played? 18...£d5 19.¤b5! and White wins. The bishop on f8 is never getting out.
16...£d5 17.£xd5 exd5 18.¥f4 ¤xd4 8.exf7+ ¢xf7 9.¥d3 White’s first
19.¦xd4 ¦a8 20.¦xd5 and White developing move. The second one (not
converted his advantage. counting the recapture with the queen on
1–0 the next move) will be on move 17.
9.f4 preventing ...e5 is the theoretical move.

The 17-year old Iranian was the revelation I have the impression Fedoseev was already
of the tournament. After losing in Round 1 improvising here.
to Eesha Karavade of India, he won 4 games
in a row against strong Grandmasters and 9...¥xd3 9...e5 is probably better.
secured a GM norm with 2 rounds to spare!
He also played the game of the tournament. 10.£xd3 ¤d7 11.h5?!
XIIIIIIIIY
Vladimir Fedoseev - M.amin Tabatabaei
9r+-+-vlntr0
Aerolot Open A 2018 Moscow RUS (6.3) 9zpp+nzpkzp-0
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 ¥f5 4.h4 This line, 9-+pwq-+-zp0
first played by Paul Keres but made popular 9+-+p+-+P0
by Mikhail Tal, is experiencing something
of a revival nowadays.
9-+-zP-+P+0
9+-+Q+P+-0
4...h6 4...h5 is more solid and popular. 9PzPP+-+-+0
5.g4 ¥e4 5...¥d7 was Botvinnik’s cautious 9tRNvL-mK-sNR0
retreat in his return-match with Tal in 1961. xiiiiiiiiy
04/138
Who cares about development! 14...hxg5 15.fxg5 £g3+ 16.¢f1 ¦e8

17.¤f3 Here is White’s second developing
11.f4 is preferable. White sacrifices the move. The third is on move 28.
pawn on g4 for good compensation.
11...£e6+ 12.¤e2 £xg4 13.¤d2 with 17...¦e2
compensation. XIIIIIIIIY
11...e5! Black is taking over the initiative. 9-+-+-vl-tr0
9zpp+n+kzp-0
12.f4? The engine’s verdict - Black has a
winning advantage now. 9-+p+-sn-+0
9+-+p+QzPP0
12.¤e2 is the engine’s choice, still with an 9-+-zp-+-+0
acceptable position for White.
9+-+-+Nwq-0
12...exd4 13.£f5+ ¤gf6 14.g5 9PzPP+r+-+0
XIIIIIIIIY 9tRNvL-+K+R0
9r+-+-vl-tr0 xiiiiiiiiy
9zpp+n+kzp-0 A spectacular move! Too bad it misses
the win. Black could win with two
9-+pwq-sn-zp0 other moves:
9+-+p+QzPP0
9-+-zp-zP-+0 17...¤e5; 17...£g4.
9+-+-+-+-0 18.¢xe2 £g2+ 19.¢d3 £f2 Threatening
9PzPP+-+-+0 mate in 1 by ...¤c5.
9tRNvL-mK-sNR0 20.¤xd4 ¤c5+ Now the game should end
xiiiiiiiiy in a perpetual check.
Forward only! The game resembles
a XIX century brilliancy, where the 21.¢c3 ¤ce4+ 22.¢d3 ¤c5+ 23.¢c3
master obliterates the Duke and Count’s ¤ce4+ 24.¢b3 Fedoseev doesn’t want a
consultations at the opera. Just that here the draw. Did he really think he could win with
Duke and the Count have a rating of 2724. his queenside intact?
If he is to establish
himself among the
world’s best, Fedoseev
needs to seriously work
on his psychology
Vladimir Fedoseev,Source: Wikipedia

April 2018
24...£xd4! 24...¤c5+ would in fact have Last year’s winner

forced the draw, but the young Iranian,
born 2001, is happy to continue and
Fedoseev had a
rightly so! spectacular 2017 and
before the tournament
25.c3 £d3 The game should still end in a he boldly stated that
draw, but it is still White who needs to be
careful. he intended to win
Aeroflot for a second
26.£f1? time in a row, something
XIIIIIIIIY that only Le Quang
9-+-+-vl-tr0 Liem has managed to
9zpp+-+kzp-0 do before. He failed
9-+p+-sn-+0 miserably
9+-+p+-zPP0 XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+n+-+0 9-+-+-vl-+0
9+KzPq+-+-0 9+p+-+kzp-0
9PzP-+-+-+0 9-+p+-zP-+0
9tRNvL-+Q+R0 9+-snp+r+-0
xiiiiiiiiy 9-+-+q+-+0
The losing mistake.
9+-+-+-+-0
26.g6+! was the only move, the point 9P+-+-+-+0
being that after 26...¢e7 27.£f1 the black 9tRNvLK+QtR-0
king blocks the a3–f8 diagonal. Compare
to the game when after 27...¤c5+ 28.¢a3 xiiiiiiiiy
¦xh5 29.£xd3 ¤xd3 this is with a check, Quite a picturesque position.
while here after 30.¦xh5 ¢e6+ 31.¢b3
¤xc1+ 32.¢c2 ¤xh5 33.¢xc1 it should 37.£g2 £a4+ 38.¢e2 £c2+ 39.¤d2
end in a draw. Here it is, White’s last developing move.
His 4th in this game.
26...¤c5+ 27.¢a3 ¦xh5 28.¦g1 The third
developing move. White will get one more 39...¦e5+ 40.¢f2 ¤e4+
before he gets mated. 0–1
28.£xd3 ¤xd3+ is the whole difference.;

28.gxf6 ¦xh1 29.£xh1 £a6+ 30.¢b4 A shocking game. Last year’s winner
£a4#. Fedoseev had a spectacular 2017 and
before the tournament he boldly stated
28...£c2 29.b4 a5! After a brief that he intended to win Aeroflot for a
intermezzo when a draw was possible, second time in a row, something that
the game continues in XIX century only Le Quang Liem has managed to do
style! before. He failed miserably, but what I
find bewildering is the way he played.
30.gxf6 axb4+ 31.cxb4 £a4+ 32.¢b2 It seemed as if he thought he could play
£xb4+ 33.¢c2 £a4+ 34.¢b2 £d4+ whatever he wanted and still win.
35.¢c2 £e4+ 36.¢d1 ¦f5

04/138
After the humiliation against Tabatabaei Kirill Shevchenko - Gata Kamsky

he continued in the same vein against GM
Romanov. Here’s how that game began: Aerolot Open A 2018 Moscow RUS (1.9)
XIIIIIIIIY
Evgeny Romanov - Vladimir Fedoseev 9r+ltr-+k+0
Aerolot Open A 2018 Moscow RUS (7.9) 9zpp+-+p+p0
1.c4 ¤c6 2.¤c3 e6 3.g3 g5 ?!?!!?! 9-+p+-vl-+0
XIIIIIIIIY 9+-+-+p+q0
9r+lwqkvlntr0 9-+P+-+-+0
9zppzpp+p+p0 9+QsN-+-zP-0
9-+n+p+-+0 9PzP-+-zPLzP0
9+-+-+-zp-0 9+-+R+RmK-0
9-+P+-+-+0 xiiiiiiiiy
18...¥e6 The position is dynamically
9+-sN-+-zP-0 balanced, White’s better structure is
9PzP-zPPzP-zP0 compensated with Black’s bishop pair.
9tR-vLQmKLsNR0 19.£xb7 Entering complications. The
xiiiiiiiiy position remains balanced, but it is easier
Let’s just say this this is not very good. to play with White as Black has too many
pawn weaknesses.
1–0
19...¥xc3 20.¦xd8+ ¦xd8 21.bxc3 £e2?!
21...¥xc4 was simpler. Black mustn’t waste
How can a player who clearly vies for time not taking pawns because his own are
the elite allow himself such frivolities very weak and White is taking one almost
and embarrassment? I think his self- on every move. 22.¦e1 (22.£e7 ¦d1) 22...
confidence inflated to over-confidence f4! 23.£xc6 (23.£xa7 ¦d1 24.£e7 ¥e6!
and arrogance. In any case, if he is to is a nice disruptive move. 25.¦f1 ¥c4)
establish himself among the world’s 23...¦d1 24.£e4 fxg3 25.hxg3 ¥xa2 with
best, Fedoseev needs to seriously work equality.
on his psychology.
22.£e7?!
A good tournament XIIIIIIIIY
for young talent 9-+-tr-+k+0
There was a plethora of young talent in 9zp-+-wQp+p0
Moscow: Praggnanandhaa, Nihal, Esipenko, 9-+p+l+-+0
Firouzja, Shevchenko, Abdusattorov, all 9+-+-+p+-0
15 or younger. As expected, they proved
very difficult to beat and had a very good 9-+P+-+-+0
showing. 9+-zP-+-zP-0
Have a look at how collected Shevchenko 9P+-+qzPLzP0
was in his Round 1 win against none other 9+-+-+RmK-0
but former World Championship challenger xiiiiiiiiy
Gata Kamsky.

April 2018
22.£xa7 was better, as Black’s activity 26...¦e2 26...¦xa2 27.¦xa2 £xa2

isn’t concrete enough, so White has time 28.¥xc6.
to take more pawns. 22...¥xc4 ¦d1 23.h4
£xa2 24.£e7! (24.£xa2 is possible, 27.¥f1!
White wins a pawn but it leads to a drawn XIIIIIIIIY
endgame after 24...¥xa2 25.¥xc6 ¦c8
26.¥d7 ¦xc3 27.¥xf5 ¥d5) 24...£d2 9-+-+-+k+0
25.¦b1 and Black is still suffering due to 9+-+-+p+-0
his weak pawns and king.
9-+p+l+-zp0
22...¦d1 Black is fine now. 9+-+-+p+-0
23.h4 h6? Preventing the check from g5,
9-+q+-+-zP0
but the situation required more urgency 9+-zP-wQ-zP-0
from Black. 9P+-+rzP-+0
23...¦xf1+! 24.¥xf1 £xa2 25.£g5+ 9tR-+-+LmK-0
¢f8 26.h5 perhaps Kamsky was defending xiiiiiiiiy
against this, but here Black has (26.£f6 a5 Forcing further simplifications.
gives Black counterplay) 26...£b1! with
the threat of ...¥c4 27.h6 ¢e8 28.£g8+ 27...¦xe3 28.¥xc4 ¦e5 28...¦xc3
(28.¢g2 £e4+ 29.¢h2 £e1 30.¢g2 29.¥xe6 fxe6 30.a4 is winning for White
£e4+ is a repetition.) 28...¢d7 and there and here we see the importance of White’s
is no time for 29.£xh7? ¥xc4. 25th move. 30...¦b3 31.a5 ¦b7 32.a6 ¦a7
33.f4! and the king marches to the centre.
24.£xa7
XIIIIIIIIY 29.¥xe6 fxe6 30.a4 ¦a5 Black managed
to stop the pawn on the 4th rank, but he is
9-+-+-+k+0 still a pawn down.
9wQ-+-+p+-0
31.f3 ¢f7 32.g4 With the idea to create a
9-+p+l+-zp0 second passed pawn on the kingside.
9+-+-+p+-0
9-+P+-+-zP0 32...¢f6 33.¢f2 ¢e5 34.¢e3 f4+ 34...¢f6
35.¢d3 ¢e5 36.¢c4 c5 37.g5 and White
9+-zP-+-zP-0 should win.
9P+-+qzPL+0
35.¢d3 ¢d5 36.¦a2 Black will soon be
9+-+r+RmK-0 in a zugzwang.
xiiiiiiiiy
Now White has a dangerous passed a-pawn 36...e5 37.¦a1 c5 38.c4+ ¢e6 39.¦a2 ¦a8
and it will decide the game.
The crucial game for the
24...¦d2 25.¦a1! Not allowing a rook
behind the passed pawn. This will become
tournament victory was
very important later on. played in Round 8 when
the two players had 5.5/7
25...£xc4 26.£e3 White brought the and shared the lead. But
queen back and consolidated his position.
The game enters a technical phase now. the game was already
decided on move 9!

04/138
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+-+-+0 Exceptional
9+-+-+-+-0 beauties and blunders
9-+-+k+-zp0 To conclude, here are a few beautiful
9+-zp-zp-+-0 excerpts and a horrendous blunder.
9P+P+-zpPzP0 Andrey Esipenko - Johan Salomon
9+-+K+P+-0 Aerolot Open A 2018 Moscow RUS (6.34)
9R+-+-+-+0 XIIIIIIIIY
9+-+-+-+-0 9l+r+k+-tr0
xiiiiiiiiy 9zp-+R+p+-0
39...¢d6 40.¢e4 ¢e6 41.¦a3.
9-zpn+pzp-+0
40.a5 ¦d8+ 41.¢e2 e4 Desperation, but 9+-+-+-+q0
Black is lost anyway.
9-+-+P+-+0
41...¦a8 42.a6. 9wQNzP-+-zP-0
42.a6 ¢e5 42...e3 43.a7 ¦a8 44.¦a6+ 9P+-+-zPL+0
¢e5 45.g5. 9+-+R+-mK-0
43.a7 ¦a8 44.¦a6 ¢d4 45.g5 hxg5
xiiiiiiiiy
46.hxg5 ¢xc4 47.g6 exf3+ 48.¢xf3 ¢b5 25...¦d8 26.£e7+! A satisfying finish.
49.¦a1 c4 50.g7 c3 51.¦b1+
1–0 1–0

April 2018
Dmitry Gordievsky - Evgeny Romanov M.amin Tabatabaei - Krishnan Sasikiran

Aerolot Open A 2018 Moscow RUS (8.8) Aerolot Open A 2018 Moscow RUS (7.3)
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-tr-+0 9k+-+-tr-+0
9+-+-+-sN-0 9+p+-tR-+-0
9-+P+-+-mk0 9p+-+-zp-zp0
9zp-zp-+-+p0 9+-wQl+-+-0
9-+P+Pzp-zP0 9-+-+-+-+0
9+P+-vl-+-0 9zP-+L+-zP-0
9P+-+-+R+0 9-zPK+-zP-wq0
9+-+-+-+K0 9+-+-+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy
42...f3 It seems White is in trouble, but 35...£h5 White is better coordinated, but
a pretty combination elegantly solves all it’s not easy to make progress. The Iranian
problems. player remembers Nigel Short.
43.¤f5+! ¦xf5 43...¢h7 44.¦g7+ ¢h8 36.¢c3!! I am of course referring to the

45.c7 famous game Short-Timman from Tilburg
1991 where the Englishman came up with the
44.¦g6+!! and the c-pawn will promote. king march ¢h2–g3–f4–g5–h6 on a board full
of pieces to mate the helpless colleague on g8.
1–0
36...£h1 37.¢b4! Continuing with the plan.
37.¢d2 is the engine’s preference, keeping

a considerable advantage, but it makes no
sense from a human perspective.
37...¦b8 38.¢a5 £f3 39.¥e2 £b3 Black

The 17-year old Iranian managed to prevent the king from coming
M.amin Tabatabaei was to b6, but now enters the queen.
the revelation of the
40.£b6 £xb6+?
tournament. After XIIIIIIIIY
losing in Round 1 to 9ktr-+-+-+0
Eesha Karavade of India, 9+p+-tR-+-0
he won 4 games in a
9pwq-+-zp-zp0
row against strong
Grandmasters and
9mK-+l+-+-0
secured a GM norm with
9-+-+-+-+0
2 rounds to spare 9zP-+-+-zP-0
9-zP-+LzP-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy
04/138
Panic on move 40. 54...h5 55.¢d6
40...£c2 was the only move, but allowing

XIIIIIIIIY
41.¥xa6 must have looked scary to 9-+-+-+-+0
Sasikiran. Black has at least two satisfactory 9mkp+-+-+-0
defences, though these were not easy to
calculate on move 40 with little time on the 9-+-mK-zp-+0
clock. 41...¥c6 (41...£d2+ 42.b4 ¥c6 is 9+P+-+P+p0
the alternative.) 42.¥b5 £xb2 (42...¥xb5 9-+-+L+-+0
is no less pretty 43.£xb5 b6+! 44.¢b4
£xb2+ 45.¢a4 £c2+ 46.£b3 £c6+ with 9+-+-+-zP-0
perpetual check.) 43.£a6+! very nice, even 9-+-+-+-+0
though it is White’s only move. 43...bxa6
44.¥xc6+ ¦b7 45.¦xb7 £xa3+ 46.¢b6 9+-+-+l+-0
£b4+ 47.¢c7 £e7+ with perpetual check. xiiiiiiiiy
The rest is easy. White will win the bishop for
41.¢xb6 The king finally arrives on b6, the f-pawn and Black doesn’t even come close
having exchanged the queens in the process. with his counterplay based on the b-pawn.
The difference in the activity of the pieces
easily decides the game in White’s favour. 55...¥xb5 56.¢e7 ¥c4 57.¢xf6 b5
58.¢e7 ¢b6 59.f6 ¢c5 60.f7 ¥xf7
41...¦c8 42.¦c7 ¦d8 The bishop endgame 61.¢xf7 ¢d4 62.¥g6 b4 63.¢f6 ¢e3
after 42...¦xc7 43.¢xc7 ¢a7 44.¢d6 is an 64.¢g5 ¢f2 65.¢f4
elementary win for White, who will pick up 1–0
Black’s kingside pawns.
43.¥g4 ¢b8 44.¦d7 Forcing a winning S.P Sethuraman - Chopra Aryan

bishop endgame.
Aerolot Open A 2018 Moscow RUS (6.14)
44...¦xd7 45.¥xd7 ¥f3 46.b4
XIIIIIIIIY
XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+R+-+0
9-mk-+-+-+0 9zpp+-+-mk-0
9+p+L+-+-0 9-+ntr-+p+0
9pmK-+-zp-zp0 9+-zpN+psN-0
9+-+-+-+-0 9-+Pvl-zP-+0
9-zP-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0
9zP-+-+lzP-0 9PzP-mKR+-zP0
9-+-+-zP-+0 9+r+-+-+-0
9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy
36.¤e6+ A complicated position.
xiiiiiiiiy
White will first improve his queenside 36...¢f7?? Quite unexpected.
before marching his king to the kingside.
36...¢h6; 36...¢h7
46...¥e4 47.a4 ¥f3 48.¥f5 ¥g2 49.f4
¥f3 50.b5 axb5 51.axb5 ¥e2 52.¥e4 37.¦f8#
¥f1 53.¢c5 Time to switch. 1–0
53...¢a7 54.f5 Fixing f6.

April 2018
Northumbria Chess Masters Feb 14-18th 2018
19-year-old
GM Alexander
Donchenko
triumphs
in Newcastle
By IM Shaun Taulbut
Photo: Forest Hall Chess Club
The Northumbria Chess Masters was who lives just 30 miles from Newcastle
held between the 14th and 18th February in the town of Alnwick, Ravi Haria
in Newcastle. (England), Martin Percivaldi (Denmark),
and Alexander Raetsky (Russia) − at 58
After a break of almost 22 years, the event years old the top veteran player in what was
was hosted once again in the Chillingham a punishing schedule of 2 rounds a day.
pub, thanks to the Forest Hall Chess Club
and sponsorship by Capital Bridging The tournament was aimed at doing 2
Finance Solutions. There was a first prize things: to provide opportunities for norms,
of £1,200 and a total prize fund of £3,150. and to give players in the North of England
a chance to play international chess without
This 9−round open tournament attracted having to travel large distances. It was run
a strong entry of titled players. The event alongside other events in the Newcastle
was won by the 19−year−old German GM Chess Festival, including the Northern Junior
Alexander Donchenko, with 7/9. However, Championships at Excelsior Academy, a
nothing was clear until the very last round public simul in Newcastle City Library by
where Donchenko had to win against GM Danny Gormally, and a GM coaching
Scottish FM Neil Berry to secure being session at Forest Hall Chess Club by Russian
alone in first place. GM and author Alexander Raetsky.
The closest English player to narrowly miss
Second place went to 22−year−old Jakhongir an IM norm was Paul Macklin, of Chorlton,
Vakhidov of Uzbekistan. On 6/9 were who scored 5.5/9 and qualified for the 2018
Northumberland GM Danny Gormally, British Championship in Hull.

04/138
The Northumbria Masters benefited from The Samisch Panno! Black has the option
sponsorship from the ECF and Capital of expanding on the queenside with ...b5
Finance Bridging Solutions, a Liverpool- and White normally plays on the kingside.
based company keen to support chess
around the UK, as well as various 9.h4 White launches an attack and is able
donations from chess charities. The John to do so because of his grip on the centre.
Robinson Youth Chess Trust sponsored
the entry fees and pre-tournament 9..e5 Black stakes his claim in the centre: a
training for 5 local juniors, while Friends necessary step, otherwise the white kingside
of Chess and Northumberland Chess play will be too strong. Now White decides
Association also made donations. to keep the centre closed.
It is planned to make the tournament 10.d5 ¤a5 The knight attacks c4 but is
an annual event, to be held again in the not well placed here; White must attend
February half-term school holidays, to the threat against the c-pawn before
and to build the Newcastle Chess proceeding.
Festival to develop chess in the North
East of England. 11.¤g3 b5 Black cannot block on the
kingside with 11...h5 as 12.b4 wins a piece.
Tournament winner Alexander Donchenko
was born in Moscow in 1998. He earned 12.cxb5 axb5 Black now has the threat of
his international master title in 2012 ...¤b3 so the pawn on b5 cannot be taken
and his grandmaster title in 2015. Chess by White.
is strong in the Donchenko family, as
Alexander’s father - Anatoly – is an 13.¦c1 Now White has a slight edge
international master. because of pressure down the c-file and the
game becomes more positional in nature.
Donchenko played steady chess, as in the
following game against Alan Merry, one 13...¤c4 The alternative line 13...£b8
of England’s strongest young players. 14.h5 b4 15.¤d1 is slightly better for White.
Alexander Donchenko - Alan B Merry 14.¥xc4 bxc4 15.h5 White has the
initiative with his kingside play and Black
Northumbria Masters Newcastle (3.1) has to defend precisely to avoid getting a
much worse position.
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 ¥g7 4.e4 d6 5.f3
a6 6.¥e3 ¤c6 7.¤ge2 0–0 8.£d2 ¥d7 15...c6 The alternative 15...¤xh5 16.¤xh5
XIIIIIIIIY gxh5 17.¦xh5 f5 may be the best try for
9r+-wq-trk+0 Black although White retains an edge.
9+pzplzppvlp0 16.dxc6 ¥xc6 17.hxg6 17.¦d1 £b8
9p+nzp-snp+0 18.¥h6 is better for White as well.
9+-+-+-+-0 17...fxg6 An important decision; Black
9-+PzPP+-+0 plays this capture in order to defend h7.
9+-sN-vLP+-0 18.¦d1 £b8 19.£e2 19.£xd6 £xb2
9PzP-wQN+PzP0 20.¤ge2 is also good as the black bishop is
9tR-+-mKL+R0 not well placed, but White opts for a slight
edge and plays to attack the black pawns
xiiiiiiiiy on c4 and d6.

April 2018
19...¥e8 Playable is19...¦c8 and, if Mark L Hebden - Jakhongir Vakhidov

20.£xc4+ d5 21.exd5, ¥a4 is very good
for Black. Northumbria Masters Newcastle (5.3)
20.0–0 After 20.£xc4+ ¥f7 21.£e2 ¦c8, 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5
with compensation for the pawn, so White XIIIIIIIIY
opts for continuing pressure.
9r+lwqkvlntr0
20...¥f7 21.¦d2 ¦c8 22.¦fd1 ¦c6 23.a3 9zpp+pzppzpp0
£f8 24.¥g5. 24.¤a2 with the idea of ¤b4, 9-+n+-+-+0
driving the rook from c6, is slightly better
for White; Black cannot then easily defend 9+Lzp-+-+-0
the pawn on d6. 9-+-+P+-+0
24...¤d7 25.¥e3 ¦b8 26.¤a2 White spots
9+-+-+N+-0
the plan to reposition the knight. 9PzPPzP-zPPzP0
9tRNvLQmK-+R0
26...¥f6 27.¤b4 ¦xb4 28.axb4 ¥e7
29.¦c2 £b8 30.£d2 ¦a6 31.¤e2 ¤f6 xiiiiiiiiy
32.¢h1 Removing the king from a possible Popular as a way of avoiding the main line
check is sensible. theory of the Sicilian.
32...d5 33.b5 £xb5 33...¦a8 34.exd5 3...g6 4.0–0 ¥g7 5.¦e1 ¤f6 6.c3 0–0 7.d4
¤xd5 35.¤c3 with advantage to White. White stakes his claim in the centre and, if
unopposed, White would be better.
34.¤c3 £d7 35.exd5 e4 36.¤xe4 ¤xe4
37.fxe4 £g4 38.e5 38.¦xc4 ¥d6 39.¢g1 £h4 7...d5 The key move for Black, securing a
40.¦c8+ wins but this is also good enough. foothold on the light squares.
38...£h5+ 39.¢g1 £xe5 40.¦xc4 ¦a8 8.e5 8.exd5 £xd5 9.c4 £d6 10.dxc5 £xd1
41.£d4 £h5 42.£g4 £e5 43.¦c8+ 11.¦xd1 ¤e4 is better for Black since
After the rooks are exchanged, Black must White cannot defend the pawn on c5 and
play ...Bf8 when Bc5 is decisive so Black the black bishop on g7 has strong pressure
resigned against the white queenside.
1–0
8...¤e4 The knight is well placed so White
plays to exchange it off.
Vakhidov took second prize, including this
win against Mark Hebden. 9.¥xc6 bxc6 10.¤bd2 ¤xd2 11.¥xd2
£b6 Black has good play down the b-file
The tournament was and pressure against d4.
aimed at doing 2 things:
12.£a4 12.dxc5 £xc5 (12...£xb2 13.£a4
to provide opportunities with play for White sufficient for equality)
for norms, and to give 13.¥e3 looks best for White as he is more
players in the North of active.
England a chance to 12...cxd4 13.cxd4 ¥g4 A strong move
play international chess threatening to double the pawns by ...¥xf3,
without having to travel which rather forces White to defend.
large distances
04/138
14.¥a5 £a6 Not 14...£xb2, when The top players from the
15.¦ab1 traps the queen. British Isles were Danny
15.¤d2 ¦fb8 16.b4 White chooses to lock Gormally and Ravi Haria
his bishop on a5 but the position is in other on 6/9 with Scottish
respects rather uncomfortable. players also well
16...¥h6 17.¤b3 £c4 The attack on the represented
pawn on d4 ties White down to the defence.
25...a4 26.¤c5 ¥xd1 27.¦xd1 £xa2
18.£a3 ¥f5 19.£b2 28.h5 £c2 29.hxg6 hxg6
XIIIIIIIIY The passed a-pawn is decisive and White
9rtr-+-+k+0 has no alternative but to resign.
9zp-+-zpp+p0 0–1
9-+p+-+pvl0 Danny Gormally scored this quick win with
9vL-+pzPl+-0 a direct attack.
9-zPqzP-+-+0 Daniel W Gormally - Paul Macklin
9+N+-+-+-0 Northumbria Masters Newcastle (7.6)
9PwQ-+-zPPzP0
9tR-+-tR-mK-0 1.e4 ¤c6 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 ¤f6 4.¤c3 g6
Transposing to a Pirc Defence where Black
xiiiiiiiiy has played an early ..¤c6
The critical position; White has removed
his queen from the a-file and threatens ¤c5 5.h3 5.d5 ¤b8 6.¥e3 ¥g7 is also better for
with good play. White but White is happy just to develop.
19...¦xb4 Sacrificing the exchange for a 5...¥g7 6.¥e3 0–0 7.¥d3 7.£d2 is a good
pawn is a good practical chance. alternative.
20.¥xb4 £xb4 21.£e2 a5 22.¦ad1 The 7...e5 8.dxe5 ¤xe5 Black offers the
alternative is 22.g4; this anti-positional exchange of knights, which would leave
move is best, driving back the bishop and if him with an equal position, but White does
22...¥e6 (22...¥c8 23.¦ad1 ¥a6 24.£c2 not accept this.
¥c4 25.h4) 23.¦ad1 a4 24.¤c5 White is
much better. 9.0–0 ¤xd3 Although Black obtains the
bishop pair, White’s centre is strengthened,
22...£c4 23.£f3 23.¤c5 ¥c2 24.¦a1 which allows him to attack on the kingside.
keeps a slight edge for White; now Black
is better. 10.cxd3 b6 Perhaps too slow in view of the
impending attack.
23...¥c2 24.e6 f6 25.h4
11.£d2 ¦e8 12.¥h6 ¥h8 Black keeps his
25.¦c1 ¥xc1 26.¦xc1 £b4 27.g3 a4 king’s bishop but now White goes for the
28.¦xc2 £e1+ 29.¢g2 axb3 30.£xb3 kill with a pawn advance
£xe6 and Black is better;
13.¤g5 ¥b7 14.f4 d5 15.e5 d4 16.¤ce4
Or, 25.¦a1 a4 26.¤c5 £xd4. ¤xe4 17.dxe4

April 2018
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wqr+kvl0 18...¦xe5 Best is 18...d3 19.e6 £d4+
20.¦f2 f6 21.¤f7 ¥xe4 22.¥e3 £d5
9zplzp-+p+p0 23.¤xh8 ¢xh8 24.£c3 ¦f8 25.e7 ¦f7
9-zp-+-+pvL0 26.fxg6 ¥xg6 27.¦xf6 and White is much
better but now the game is decided quickly.
9+-+-zP-sN-0
9-+-zpPzP-+0 19.fxg6 fxg6 20.£b4 With the threat of a
9+-+-+-+P0 deadly check on c4 or b3
9PzP-wQ-+P+0 20...¥g7 Unfortunately for Black
9tR-+-+RmK-0 20...¥xe4 21.£f8+ ¦xf8 22.¦xf8# is
Whitexiiiiiiiiy
has a ready-made attack based on pressure mate so he must play this move.
down the f-file. Black should now advance with
17..d3 to put his queen on d4 if possible. 21.¦f7 £xf7 22.¤xf7 ¢xf7
17...£d7 18.f5 White goes straight for Black resigned because £c4 + is winning,
the black king; the position demands this followed by taking on g7 and c7.
thrust, taking advantage of the absence of 1–0
the black rook from f8.
FINAL STANDINGS (TOP 25)

Rk. SNo. Name FED TB Pts
1 1 GM Donchenko Alexander GER 2583 7,5
2 3 GM Vakhidov Jakhongir UYB 2532 6,5
3 4 GM Gormally Daniel W ENG 2483 6,0
12 IM Percivaldi Martin DEN 2395 6,0
14 IM Haria Ravi ENG 2376 6,0
16 GM Raetsky Alexander RUS 2362 6,0
7 2 GM Plat Vojtech CZE 2560 5,5
6 IM Greet Andrew N SCO 2458 5,5
8 IM Nasuta Grzegorz POL 2454 5,5
11 IM Eggleston David J ENG 2409 5,5
20 Macklin Paul ENG 2307 5,5
23 FM Neil Berry SCO 2267 5,5
27 WFM Kanakova Natalie CZE 2245 5,5
14 7 GM Hebden Mark L ENG 2454 5,0
9 IM Merry Alan B ENG 2438 5,0
10 IM Hunt Adam C ENG 2416 5,0
12 GM Lalic Bogdan CRO 2401 5,0
15 FM Gourlay Iain SCO 2371 5,0
17 IM Welling Gerard NED 2320 5,0
19 FM Longson Alexander ENG 2307 5,0
22 IM Pritchett Craig W SCO 2275 5,0
25 FM Abdulla Murad SCO 2262 5,0
04/138
Chess in Britain and Ireland
Sergei Tiviakov
wins Bunratty
for the second time
By IM Shaun Taulbut
Photo: Gerry Graham / Bunratty 2018 official
According to the organisers, The 2018 seed was Luke McShane GM, who won the
Bunratty Chess Festival was a record event in 1997 when he was just 14 year’s
breaking event in having the highest old! All in all, eight past champions were
number of players across the 4 events in its playing in the total field of 55 players in
history. Almost 360 players battled for the the Masters. Also - Jon Speelman, the 1997
4 titles at stake. Bunratty Masters champion.
The Masters event saw many past champions The event was again sponsored by
playing, they included this year’s top seed Blackthorne International Transport and
and defending champion, Nigel Short as attracted several strong grandmasters and
well as the second seed (and the 2011 and previous winners. The top places of the
2014 champion) Gawain Jones. The third Open Section went to Sergei Tiviakov and

April 2018
Gawain Jones scoring 5/6. Sergei Tiviakov the f-file, a natural break to increase the
took the Trophy on tie-break. Tiviakov won pressure on f7.
the tournament once before – in 1999.
10.¤xb6 axb6 11.c3 ¥e6 is slightly better
Here is one of Tiviakov’s wins featuring a for White.
Closed Sicilian.
10...exf4 After 10...¤xc4 11.dxc4 ¥h4
Sergei Tiviakov - Richard Bates 12.£d3 ¤b4 13.¤xb4 cxb4 14.f5 keeps a
slight edge for White.
Bunratty Masters 2018, Bunratty, Ireland (5)
11.¥xf4 ¥g5 12.£h5 Now White has
1.e4 c5 2.¤c3 ¤c6 3.¤ge2 gained some time to build up a kingside
XIIIIIIIIY attack even though Black is able to
9r+lwqkvlntr0 exchange off the bishops.
9zpp+pzppzpp0 12...¥xf4 13.¦xf4 ¤xd5 After 13...¤xc4
9-+n+-+-+0 14.dxc4 f6 15.¦h4 h6 16.a3 and White has
9+-zp-+-+-0 the edge because of his strong knight on d5.
9-+-+P+-+0 14.¥xd5 ¥e6 15.¦af1 £e7
9+-sN-+-+-0 XIIIIIIIIY
9PzPPzPNzPPzP0 9r+-+-trk+0
9tR-vLQmKL+R0 9zpp+-wqpzpp0
xiiiiiiiiy 9-+nzpl+-+0
A versatile move which retains the option
of transposing back into lines where White 9+-zpL+-+Q0
plays d4. 9-+-+PtR-+0
3...e5 Black decides to restrict White and 9+-+P+-sNP0
blocks the centre but leaves a hole on d5 9PzPP+-+P+0
which White can play to exploit.
9+-+-+RmK-0
4.¤g3 d6 5.¥c4 A good square for the xiiiiiiiiy
bishop, controlling d5 and aiming at f7. After 15...¥xd5 16.£xd5 ¤e7 17.£b3
is awkward for Black: he cannot easily
5...¤f6 6.d3 ¥e7 7.0–0 0–0 8.h3White defend f7. If then 17...£b6 18.¦xf7 £xb3
prevents Black from using the g4 square 19.¦xf8+ ¦xf8 20.axb3 g6 21.¦xf8+
and waits to see how Black is going to ¢xf8 22.¢f2 ¤c6 23.¢e3 ¤d4 24.¢d2
develop. ¢f7 25.¤e2 ¤c6 26.¤f4 and White has
good chances of converting his material
8...¤d7 8...¤a5 going after the bishop is advantage.
playable, but Black wishes to exchange the
dark squared bishops with ...¥g5. 16.¥xc6 White decides to give up the
bishop to double Black’s pawns.
9.¤d5 Occupying the weak square. The alternative was 16.¤f5 ¥xf5 17.¦xf5
when 17.. g6 (17...¤e5 18.£d1 g6 19.¦f6
Alternatively, 9.a4 ¤b6 10.¥a2 ¥g5 is ¢g7 20.c3 £xf6 21.¦xf6 ¢xf6 22.d4 ¤c6
slightly better for White. 23.¥xc6 bxc6 24.dxc5 dxc5 25.£d6+ ¢g7
26.£xc5 with advantage to White) loses to
9...¤b6 10.f4 White chooses to open 18.¦xf7.

04/138
16...bxc6 17.e5 d5 Gawain Jones - Alexandre Vuilleumier

If 17...¥xa2 18.¤f5 £xe5 19.¦h4 h6 Bunratty Masters 2018, Bunratty, (2)
20.¤xh6+ gxh6 21.£xh6 winning.
1.c4 e5 2.g3 ¤f6 3.¥g2 h6 A waiting
Alternatively, 17...dxe5 18.£xe5 ¦fe8 move but perhaps too slow 3...c6 is perhaps
19.¤e4 c4 20.dxc4 ¥xc4 21.¤f6+ £xf6 best aiming for a quick d5.
22.£xf6 gxf6 23.¦xc4 ¦e6 24.¦d1 with
the better ending for White. 4.¤c3 ¥b4 5.e4
18.¦h4 h6
XIIIIIIIIY
XIIIIIIIIY 9rsnlwqk+-tr0
9r+-+-trk+0 9zppzpp+pzp-0
9zp-+-wqpzp-0 9-+-+-sn-zp0
9-+p+l+-zp0 9+-+-zp-+-0
9+-zppzP-+Q0 9-vlP+P+-+0
9-+-+-+-tR0 9+-sN-+-zP-0
9+-+P+-sNP0 9PzP-zP-zPLzP0
9PzPP+-+P+0 9tR-vLQmK-sNR0
9+-+-+RmK-0 xiiiiiiiiy
Favoured by Botvinnik. White establishes
xiiiiiiiiy a grip on the centre so Black decides to
19.¦f6! The winning move, aiming to exchange his kingsbishop before White
sacrifice the rook for the pawn on h6. plays ¤ge2.
19...¦ab8 Black cannot capture 19...gxf6 5...¥xc3 6.bxc3 0–0 7.d3 d6 8.¤e2 White
20.£xh6 and mates. has the two bishops and can expand on
the kingside with f4; an easier position for
Or 19...¦fe8 20.¦xh6 gxh6 21.£xh6 £xh4 White to play.
22.£xh4 ¢f8 23.¤h5 ¦ab8 24.b3 c4 25.£f6
cxd3 26.cxd3 ¦b4 27.¤g7 is winning. 8...a6 Black hopes to expand on the
queenside with ...b5 but White prevents this.
20.¦xh6 gxh6 21.£xh6 f6 Giving up the
queen with 21...£xh4 22.£xh4 ¦xb2 loses 9.a4 ¤bd7 10.0–0 10.a5 is a useful move
to 23.£g5+ ¢h7 24.¤h5 mating. to tie down Black’s queenside but White
concentrates on building up his kingside attack.
22.exf6 ¦xf6 23.£h8+ ¢f7 24.¦h7+ ¢g6
25.¦g7+ After 25 ...£xg7 26 £h5 is mate. 10...¤c5 11.h3 b6 11...¥d7 12.f4 ¦e8 is
more combative; the fianchetto does not put
1–0 pressure on White.
Gawain Jones also played well to reach 5/6 12.f4 ¥b7 13.g4 White prepares his
including the following win: kingside pawn storm.
According to the organisers, The 2018 Bunratty
Chess Festival was a record breaking event in
having the highest number of players across the
4 events in its history
April 2018
13...£d7 14.¥e3 ¥c6 24.d5 £d7 25.¥xh6 ¤c5 26.¥xg7 ¤xe4

XIIIIIIIIY 27.¥xe4 ¦xe4 28.¥f6
9r+-+-trk+0 White has many threats and capturing the
9+-zpq+pzp-0 bishop is met by £g5+ so Black resigned.
9pzplzp-sn-zp0 1–0
9+-sn-zp-+-0
9P+P+PzPP+0 Nigel Short started slowly and won this
9+-zPPvL-+P0 positional squeeze to share third place.
9-+-+N+L+0
Nigel Short - Thomas Rendle
9tR-+Q+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy Bunratty Masters 2018, Bunratty, Ireland (5)
Black has placed his pieces to win the White
a-pawn but White has a very dangerous 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤d2 ¥e7 4.e5 c5 5.c3
attack on the kingside. ¤c6 6.¥d3
XIIIIIIIIY
15.¤g3 15.a5 ¥a4 16.£b1 ¤b3 17.¦a3 9r+lwqk+ntr0
¤xa5 18.¤g3 is slightly better for White
because of the kingside pressure. 9zpp+-vlpzpp0
9-+n+p+-+0
15...¥xa4 16.£e2 With the threat of d4
driving away the knight on c5. 9+-zppzP-+-0
9-+-zP-+-+0
16...exf4 17.¦xf4 With the threat of ¦xf6 9+-zPL+-+-0
destroying the Black kingside. 17.¥xf4 is
also good with the threat of ¥xh6. 9PzP-sN-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmK-sNR0
17...¤h7 18.d4 ¤e6 18...¤b3 19.¦b1 b5
20.¤f5 leads to a position where White has xiiiiiiiiy
strong attacking chances. An interesting move order from White.
19.¦f2 b5 20.c5 ¥b3 After 20...dxc5 21.d5 6...¤h6 Black must not play 6...cxd4 7.cxd4
¤d8 22.¥xc5 ¦e8 23.¤f5 ¤b7 24.¥d4 f6 ¤xd4 when 8.£g4 is winning for White.
with an edge for White.
7.¤e2 ¤f5 8.¤f3 cxd4 9.¥xf5 exf5
21.¤f5 ¥c4 22.£d2 White aims at the 10.¤exd4
XIIIIIIIIY
Black king and the defence is difficult.
9r+lwqk+-tr0
22...¦fe8 22...f6 is sensible to stop White 9zpp+-vlpzpp0
breaking through.
9-+n+-+-+0
23.c6 23.¥xh6 gxh6 24.¤xh6+ is winning 9+-+pzPp+-0
with an invasion on f7. 9-+-sN-+-+0
23...£xc6 23...£d8 24.¥xh6 g6 is the best 9+-zP-+N+-0
defensive try. Now Black loses a piece as 9PzP-+-zPPzP0
well as his kingside.
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
04/138
White has a positional edge to compensate 35...£d7 36.g4 f4

for the loss of the two bishops and the
scope of the Black queen bishop is limited After 36...fxg4 37.hxg6 £e8 38.gxf7+
by the pawn on f5. £xf7 39.¦h1 h5 (39...b5 40.axb5 axb5
41.¦h4 ¥f8 42.£g3 and the Black
10...¥e6 11.0–0 0–0 12.£d3 £d7 13.¦e1 pawn on g4 will be lost) 40.¤xe6 £xe6
¦ac8 14.¥e3 h6 15.¦ad1 ¦fd8 41.¦xh5 wins.
Both sides have developed their forces 37.hxg6 ¥xg4 38.f3 ¥h5
but it is difficult to find an active plan for
Black. Black can play to put his knight on 38...¥h3+ 39.¢h2 followed by ¦g1 is
c4 but White can prevent this by b3. very good.
16.h3 ¥f8 17.¤e2 g6 18.b3 White plays 39.e6 fxe6 40.¤xe6 ¦c6 41.¤xf4 Winning
this move to control c4; he can defend the the bishop.
pawn on c3 with his bishop.
41...¥g4 42.fxg4 £xg4+ 43.¢h1 ¦f8
18...¥g7 19.¤ed4 a6 44.¦g1 £h4+ 45.¦h2 £f6 46.£xd5+
¢h8 47.¤h5
After 19...¤xe5 20.¤xe5 ¥xe5 21.¥xh6
¥f6 22.¥f4 ¦e8 23.£g3 is to White’s 1–0
advantage as the Black Bishop on e6 has
no scope.
20.¤xc6 £xc6 20...bxc6 21.£xa6 ¦a8

22.£e2 keeps the pawn taken so Black BUNRATTY CHESS FESTIVAL
cannot play this line.
Rk. Name SCORE
21.¥d2 £c7 22.h4 White prepares a 1 GM Tiviakov, Sergei 5.0
kingside thrust with h5. 2 GM Jones, Gawain 5.0
22...£a5 23.£b1 £c7 24.¦e2 £e7 3 GM Short, Nigel 4.5
25.£d3 £a3 26.¥f4 £c5 27.¦c1 £e7 4 GM Hebden, Mark 4.5
28.g3 ¦d7
5 GM Baburin, Alexander 4.5
Alternatively, 28...¥d7 is worth 6 WGM L'Ami, Alina 4.5
considering trying to disrupt the White play 7 IM Bates, Richard 4.0
by the threat of ...¥b5.
8 GM Speelman, Jonathan 4.0
29.£e3 ¢h7 30.a4 ¦dc7 31.¤d4 9 GM Williams, Simon 4.0
White has retained control of g5 and
continues playing to advance on the 10 GM McShane, Luke 4.0
kingside with h5. 11 IM Collins, Sam 4.0
31...£d8 32.£d3 £d7 33.¥d2 ¢g8
12 IM Heidenfeld, Mark 4.0
34.¢g2 £e7 Black could block with
34...h5 but after 35.¥g5 White retains
his edge
35.h5 Now White is much better as Black

cannot capture on h5 without f5 falling.

April 2018
The 136th Varsity Chess Match
The Roayl Automobile Club in London’s Pall Mall has been a host to the match for
some time, thanks to its chess circle
s
Oxford Cambridge
at
be
Overall, Cambridge is leading 59-55, with 22 draws

By IM Shaun Taulbut
The 136th Varsity Chess Match between rating of 2099 for Cambridge. Oxford
Oxford University and Cambridge won 5−3 in the end, the match was hard
University (organised annually since fought but Oxford were much higher
1873) was held at the Royal Automobile rated on Boards 5−8 and this rating
Club in Pall Mall on Saturday 3rd difference told.
March 2018 and sponsored by the RAC
Chess Circle. The RAC Chess Circle Overall, Cambridge is leading 59−55, with
Committee organised the event, notably 22 draws.
Henry Mutkin, Stephen Meyler, Robert
Matthews and Henry McWatters. We have selected some of the most
interesting games from the event.
The Oxford team had an average FIDE
rating of 2263 against an average FIDE The following game was the first Oxford win.

04/138
Aleksandar Monev - James Cole Black has to concede a slight weakness

to maintain his pawn centre; it would
Varsity Oxford-Cambridge, London, (1.7) be satisfactory if Black was simply
able to castle.
1.c4 c5 2.¤c3 ¤f6 3.g3 d5 Black decides
to open the centre to free his pieces; this 11.f4 White plays to undermine the Black
should be playable. pawn centre so Black decides to chase
away the knight.
4.cxd5 ¤xd5 5.¥g2
XIIIIIIIIY 11...b5 12.¤e3 ¦c8 This is a natural move
unpinning the knight on c6 but White is
9rsnlwqkvl-tr0 able to pose difficulties.
9zpp+-zppzpp0
9-+-+-+-+0 12...exf4 is safest allowing Black time
to castle eg 13.¦xf4 0–0 14.¤f5 with an
9+-zpn+-+-0 edge for White but Black does not have
9-+-+-+-+0 the problems of the game.
9+-sN-+-zP-0 13.a4 White strikes on the queenside
9PzP-zPPzPLzP0 breaking up the pawns if Black captures
9tR-vLQmK-sNR0 on a4.
xiiiiiiiiy 13..b4 This move allows White to penetrate
The Kings Fianchetto exerts pressure down on b5 even though it mains the pawn chain.
the long diagonal and the position is easier for 14.¤b5 With the threat of capturing on c6
White to play as he aims at the Black queenside. and then a7 winning material.
5...¤c7 6.d3 e5 Black stakes his claim in
the centre but is behind in development and 14...¤xb5?! Not the best choice. The opening
White plays to attack this pawn. of the a-file allows White a strong attack
7.¤f3 ¤c6 8.0–0 ¥e7 9.¤d2 White 15.axb5 ¤d4 16.fxe5 fxe5?
threatens to capture on c6 doubling Black’s
pawns and also plans to bring the knight to XIIIIIIIIY
c4 eyeing the Black pawn on e5. 9-+rwqk+-tr0
9...¥d7 10.¤c4 White is attacking e5 by
9zp-+lvl-zpp0
threatening to exchange on c6. 9-+-+-+-+0
10...f6
9+Pzp-zp-+-0
XIIIIIIIIY 9-zp-sn-+-+0
9r+-wqk+-tr0 9+-+PsN-zP-0
9zppsnlvl-zpp0 9-zP-+P+LzP0
9-+n+-zp-+0 9tR-vLQ+RmK-0
9+-zp-zp-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy
The losing mistake. In this position 16...0–0
9-+N+-+-+0 was necessary to rush the king to safety.
9+-sNP+-zP-0
9PzP-+PzPLzP0 17.¤c4 Aiming at e5 again is simple
and good.
9tR-vLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
April 2018
17...¥xb5 The sharp 17...¥g4 is well met by 9.¥d3 ¤gf6 Black develops simply .Also
18.£a4 ¤xe2+ 19.¢h1 ¦f8 20.b6+ £d7 playable was 9...¤h6 10.c3 ¤f5 11.£e2
21.¦xf8+ ¥xf8 22.£xd7+ ¥xd7 23.bxa7 £a5 with a slight edge for White.
and the a-pawn costs Black his rook.
10.c3
Also, after 17...£c7 18.e3 ¤xb5 19.¦a6
and the Black king is stuck in the centre. White protects the d-pawn and also gives
himself the possibility of castling queenside.
18.e3 ¤c6 19.£h5+ g6 20.¥xc6+
¥xc6 21.£xe5 Black resigned as after 10...¥d6
21...¦g8 22.¦xa7 is winning since
Black cannot unravel his pieces without XIIIIIIIIY
material loss. 9r+-wqk+-tr0
1–0 9zpp+n+pzp-0
9-+pvlpsnp+0
Cambridge equalised with the following
9+-+-+-+-0
win before Oxford went ahead. 9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-zPL+-sN-0
Benjamin Foo Rong - Yita Choong
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
Varsity Oxford-Cambridge, London, (1.3) 9tR-vLQmK-+R0
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.¤c3 dxe4 4.¤xe4 ¥f5 xiiiiiiiiy
5.¤g3 ¥g6 6.¤f3 ¤d7 Black lines up against the White knight on
g3 and pawn on h2.
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wqkvlntr0 11.£f3 £c7 Black has equalised due to his
9zpp+nzppzpp0 quick development and pressure down the
open h-file
9-+p+-+l+0
9+-+-+-+-0 12.¤e4 ¤xe4 13.¥xe4 ¤f6 13...f5 14.¥c2
e5 is also worth consideration.
9-+-zP-+-+0
9+-+-+NsN-0 14.¥c2 c5 14...£a5 is good preventing
9PzPP+-zPPzP0 White playing ¥g5 and then castling
queenside when Black has a slight edge.
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy 15.dxc5 15.¥a4+ ¢f8 16.dxc5 ¥xc5
7.¤h4 White spends a tempo to capture the 17.¥f4 ¥d6 with equality is similar to
bishop pair; this is played rarely as Black the game.
has a solid position after the exchange.
15...¥xc5 16.¥a4+ ¢f8 17.¥f4 e5
7...e6 A good choice forcing the exchange, 17...¥d6 18.¥g5 £c5 with equality is best.
unless White wants to lose two tempi by
retreating the knight. 18.¥e3 Not the best move. 18.¥g3 is better
preventing ...e4.
8.¤xg6 hxg6 Black has the half-open h-file
to compensate for the loss of the bishop 18...e4 Black gains time by attacking the
pair and has the easier development. White queen.

04/138
19.¥xc5+ £xc5 20.£e2 ¦d8 Preventing Also, 30.¦xf3 ¦xh3+ 31.gxh3 ¦xf3
White from castling queenside is important. 32.¦xf3 £xf3+ 33.¢h2 £f2+ 34.¢h1
£f1+ 35.¢h2 £c1 36.£d5 £f4+ 37.¢g2
21.0–0 ¦h5 Now the Black rook can come ¤d6 should be winning for Black in the
to the d-file and the Black king can go to g8 end now White is lost.
and h7 if needed.
30...fxg2+ 31.¦xg2 £xh3+ 32.¢g1 £h1+
22.¥b3 £e5 23.h3 ¦d3 24.f3 Weakening 33.¢f2 ¦e2+ 34.¢xe2 £xg2+ 35.¢e3
the kingside. XIIIIIIIIY
24.¦fd1 is best. 9-+-wQnmk-+0
9zpp+-+Lzp-0
24...£c5+ 25.¢h1 ¦e3 This attack on the
queen is awkward for White as he cannot 9-+-+-+p+0
easily defend f3. 9+-+-+-+r0
26.£d1 After 26.£f2 exf3 is winning; or
9-+-+-+-+0
26.£d2 exf3 is winning. 9+-zP-mK-+-0
9PzP-+-+q+0
26...£c7 Preventing checks on d8 and
aiming at h2 and the White king. 9+-+-+R+-0
xiiiiiiiiy
27.¦f2 Also 35.¦f2 ¦e5+ wins the rook on f2 and
defends the Black knight on e8.
Not 27.fxe4 ¦hxh3+ 28.gxh3 ¦xh3+
29.¢g2 £g3#; or 27.£d4 ¦xf3 28.gxf3 35...¦e5+ 36.¢f4 ¦e4#
(28.¦xf3 exf3 29.¦e1 ¢g8) 28...¦xh3+
29.¢g2 £g3# 0–1
27...£g3 28.£d8+ ¤e8 29.¦af1 exf3 30.¥xf7
Bd Oxford University Rating Nat 5-3 Cambridge University Rating Nat

1w David Pires Tavares 2395m POR 1-0 Conor Murphy 2312f IRL
Martins (Worcester) (Christ's)
2b Isaac Sanders 2338f ENG 0-1 Rafe Martyn 2242f ENG
(Christ Church) (Corpus Christi)
3w Benjamin Foo Zhi 2254c SGP 0-1 Yita Choong 2211f AUS
Rong (Magdalen) (Hughes Hall)
4b Lisa Schut 2259wm NED ½-½ Adam Scibior 2229 POL
(Kellogg) (Trinity)
5w Gordon Scott 2237 ENG ½-½ Gustavo Leon Cazares 2059 MEX
(Merton) (Selwyn)
6b Jamie Horton 2217 NED 1-0 James Walsh 2065 ENG
(Christ Church) (Clare, capt)
7w Aleksandar 2224 BUL 1-0 James Cole 1899 ENG
Monev (Keble) (Downing)
8b Jamie Horton 2189 ENG 1-0 Anna York-Andersen 1775 ENG
(Christ Church) (St John's)

April 2018
Openings
for Amateurs
How to
understand and
play isolated
Queen pawn
openings
(Part III)
Patterns for
successful attacking
by Pete Tamburro,
ptamburro@aol.com
A master friend of mine related a tale the Nimzo−Indian and the Caro−Kann and
about his going over a current game with a some others, it is a very good idea to learn
fellow at his chess club. At one point in the all the possibilities of this thematic position.
game, my friend casually mentioned that
this reminded him of a Smyslov game. The What do you learn? There are a plethora
young man looked at him and said, ‘Who’s of ideas: the strong knight posted on e5,
Smyslov?’ I have had similar things happen the knight sacrifice threat on f7, how to
to me, and this is one reason I like to use place the two rooks, the indirect pressure
older classic games to communicate ideas of the bishop on b3, the threats against h7
to students. with a queen on d3 or h3, a properly timed
kingside pawn storm, the rook lifts to d3,
One of my favourite things to do is to give e3 and a3, etc.. It’s a good idea because you
my advanced students a dozen or so games pick up patterns for successful attacking.
with one line to have them play them over There are club players that are unaware of
and then tell me what they have learned. these possibilities, much to my surprise,
As we go over this month’s classic game, and some even have a fear of getting an
you will see whole games in the notes that isolated d−pawn!
I have used to have the students learn about
attacking with the isolated queen pawn For the main game, we have Botvinnik−
structures. Since the key position Vidmar from Nottingham, 1936 - one of the
that arises can be reached through the strongest tournaments ever played. Please
English Opening, the Queen’s Gambit take the time to go through the games in the
Declined, the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, notes as they are quite instructive as well.

04/138
Mikhail Botvinnik – Milan Vidmar Alekhine, in the tournament book called

¥d7 a ‘risky move’ and suggested going
Nottingham, 1936 for exchanges with ¤fd5.
1.c4 e6 2.¤f3 d5 3.d4 ¤f6 4.¥g5 ¥e7 11...¥d7 Mikhail Botvinnik-Andrey M.

5.¤c3 0–0 6.e3 ¤bd7 7.¥d3 c5 8.0–0 Batuyev, Leningrad, 1930: 11...¤bd5
cxd4 9.exd4 dxc4 10.¥xc4 Here is the 12.¤e5 ¤d7 13.¥xe7 ¤xe7 14.£e2
key position. White’s pieces are actively ¤f6 15.¦fd1 b6 16.¦ac1 ¥b7 17.f3
placed. The queen will move to e2 or d3 (It fascinating to me that Botvinnik, of
and the rooks will find a home on the all people, would miss: 17.¤xf7! ¦xf7
central squares - c1 and d1, e1 and d1, 18.¥xe6 £e8 19.£c4 ¥c8 20.¥xf7+
c1 and e1. The rooks may even stay on £xf7 21.£xf7+ ¢xf7 22.¤b5 ¥d7
their current squares to help with f4 or 23.¤d6+ ¢e6 24.¤c4) 17...¦c8 18.¤xf7
to gain a rook lift with a3 and ¦a3, as in ¦xf7 19.£xe6 £f8 20.¤e4 ¦xc1
Browne’s brilliancy against Zuckerman in 21.¦xc1 ¤fd5 22.¤d6 ¥a8 23.¦e1
1973. Black, on the other hand, has to get g6 24.¤xf7 £xf7 25.£xe7; Victor
untangled. Because of the lock on e5 by Korchnoi-Alexander Zaitsev, Yerevan,
White, Black has to either do ¤b6, ¥d7 1962: 11...¤fd5 12.¥xe7 (12.¤xd5
and possibly ¥c6 or try b6 and ¥b7. As ¤xd5 13.¥xd5 ¥xg5 14.¤xg5 £xd5³)
the games show, Black cannot be slow 12...£xe7 13.¦e1 ¦d8 14.¦c1 ¤f6
about this. The knights generally try to (14...¤xc3 15.¦xc3 is effectively a rook
get to d5 to block the indirect threats of lift and an option to double on the c-file.)
the White king bishop. A tempo here or 15.£e2 £b4 16.¤e4 ¤bd5 17.¤c5!?
there can decide the game. Botvinnik (17.¤e5) 17...£a5? (17...b6 18.¦c4 £b5
once, against Budo at Leningrad, 1938, 19.¤d3) 18.¤e5 £b6 19.£f3 ¦f8 20.g4
reached this position on move nine in a £d8 21.g5 ¤e8 22.h4 f6 23.g6!! h6
Panov-Botvinnik Attack because he held 24.¤f7 ¦xf7 25.gxf7+ ¢xf7 26.¤xe6
his ¥d3 move back and then, after dxc4, ¥xe6 27.¦xe6 ¢xe6 28.£e4+ ¢f7
played ¥xc4 in one move. So, he got 29.¥xd5+ 1–0. The pawn storm and the
a free move and played £e2.This can role the f7 square plays is very instructive.
also happen in a Nimzo-Indian. See A. A conclusion that can be drawn is that
Peskov-A.Kostin, Elets, 2014. Alekhine was right -¤fd5 is better,
although it is not without its pitfalls.
10...¤b6 These ideas go back several
centuries. The great British champion 12.£d3 Another path was D. Bronstein-B.
of yore created this miniature: Henry Berger, Amsterdam, 1964: 12.¤e5 ¦c8
E. Atkins-Jan W. TeKolste, Amsterdam, 13.£d3 ¤bd5 14.¦fe1 ¥c6 (C.J.S. Purdy
1899: 10...b6 11.£e2 ¥b7 12.¦ad1 pointed out that attempting to chase the
¦e8 13.¦fe1 ¦c8 14.¥b3 a6 15.¤e5 king bishop would not work. He preferred
¤d5?? (clearly - 15...¤xe5 16.dxe5 it earlier - on move ten, because after
¤d7 17.¥xe7 £xe7 was better, though Bh4 it took away one of White’s attacking
White is a bit freer.) 16.¤xf7! ¢xf7 tools, a sacrifice on h6. 14...h6 15.¤xd5
17.£xe6+ ¢f8 18.¤xd5 ¥xg5 19.¤e7 ¤xd5 16.¥c2) 15.£h3 a6? 16.¦ad1 b5
Black’s 12th through 14th moves were 17.¥c2 £d6 18.¤xc6 ¦xc6 19.¥xf6
OK, but not precise. He might have ¤xf6 20.¤e4 1–0.
played h6 to challenge the bishop to see
where it goes. 12...¤bd5 12...¤fd5 13.¥xe7 (13.¥c2 g6
14.¥xe7 £xe7 15.¥b3 ¥c6 16.¤e5 ¦fd8
11.¥b3 This is a decision point for Black. 17.¦fe1 a5 18.£g3 a4 19.¥xd5 ¤xd5
You should play through all three White 20.¦ac1) 13...£xe7 14.¤e5 ¥c6 15.¤xc6
responses to those decisions. bxc6 16.¦ac1 ¦ac8 17.¤e4 leads to a

April 2018
more positional game with the backward c6

pawn. Black can defend, but it’s difficult.
13.¤e5 ¥c6 14.¦ad1 ¤b4 15.£h3 ¥d5

15...¤fd5 16.¥c1 - Alekhine.
16.¤xd5 ¤bxd5 17.f4 A real lesson

in attacking. The White bishop is still
crucial on the a2–g8 diagonal. The
pressure on Black’s e6 and f7 pawns is
coming from everywhere. The e6 pawn is
going to be hit by the f-pawn, the queen
and the king bishop. The f7 pawn has the
rook and bishop indirectly attacking it
along with the knight ever threatening to
take that pawn.
17...¦c8 And for excitement’s sake, and

not too little enjoyment, check out the
very natural ‘amateur‘ move of g6: 17...
g6 18.¥h6 ¦e8 19.f5 exf5 20.¦xf5 £c8
21.¥xd5 ¤xd5 (21...£xf5 22.g4 ¤xg4
Milan Vidmar, circa 1930
23.¥xf7+ ¢h8 24.£xg4 £xg4+ 25.¤xg4
¦ec8 26.¥d5) 22.¦xf7 £xh3 23.¦g7+
¢f8 (23...¢h8 24.¤f7#) 24.gxh3 ¦ec8 XIIIIIIIIY
25.¦xh7+ ¢g8 26.¦g7+ ¢f8 27.¦f1+ 9-+r+q+k+0
¥f6 28.¤d7+.
9zpp+R+rzpp0
18.f5 exf5 19.¦xf5 £d6 9-+-+-vl-+0
XIIIIIIIIY 9+-+-+-+-0
9-+r+-trk+0 9-+-zP-+-+0
9zpp+-vlpzpp0 9+L+-+-+Q0
9-+-wq-sn-+0 9PzP-+-+PzP0
9+-+nsNRvL-0 9+-+R+-mK-0
9-+-zP-+-+0 xiiiiiiiiy
1–0
9+L+-+-+Q0
9PzP-+-+PzP0 Brutal and direct. The bishop’s unleashed
power is on display. We can see that
9+-+R+-mK-0 structure with the ¤bd7 is defendable, but
xiiiiiiiiy you really have to know what White’s got
This next flurry of moves is quite a in mind for you. For White, look at all the
combination that might very well be missed wonderful games that fill you with ideas
if a player had not played over games in that you can remember during a game rather
this theme. than have to come up with them yourself.
20.¤xf7 ¦xf7 21.¥xf6 ¥xf6 22.¦xd5 There is another set of positions that come
£c6 23.¦d6 £e8 24.¦d7 from Black having the knight on c6 rather
than d7. We’ll go over that next time.

04/138
Endgame Studies
by Ian Watson
1 XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-zP-+-+-0
9L+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+K0
2
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-+-zP0
9+-+-+p+-0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-zpKzp-0
9-+-+-+-+0 9-+-+-+-+0
9+-sn-sn-+k0 9+-+-+k+-0
P. Byway P. Byway
Original 2018 Original 2018
win
3 4
Win
9-+-+-+L+0 9-+-+-sn-sn0
9+-+n+-+-0 9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-+-+-+0 9-vL-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0 9+-+-+-+-0
9-+K+-+-+0 9-+-+p+-+0
9+-+-zp-+-0 9+K+-+-+-0
9-+-+-+-+0 9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+k+-+-0 9+-mk-+-+-0
P. Byway G. Kasparian
Original 2018 1970
Draw Draw

April 2018
ian@irwatson.demon.co.uk
Miniatures
‘Miniature’, when used to describe a automatically trawl the databases for
chess game, means it’s very short; not interesting positions and for positions
so for studies and problems. In the chess with lengthy sequences of only moves.
composers’ vocabulary, a ‘miniature’ is Some composers work backwards from
a position with seven men or less. That’s those seven−men−or−less positions,
been its meaning for over a century - it was adding front ends (introductions) to
first so used by Oscar Blumenthal in 1902. the solutions, involving extra pieces,
but others prefer their compositions to
That seven piece limit for a miniature remain miniatures from the first move.
coincides conveniently with the maximum
number of pieces that can be dealt with Perhaps Britain’s leading composer
by the EGTBs (Endgame Tablebases). of miniature endgame studies is Paul
The Lomonosov tablebases were created Byway. I showed two of his studies in
in 2012 at the Moscow State University, the January edition; as this month’s
using a supercomputer called Lomonosov; topic is miniature studies, I’ll show
they contain the exact evaluation of all you three more, and also one by
chess positions with no more than seven Kasparian, which has a related idea to
pieces on the board. That’s a lot of data - the third one of Paul’s. The Kasparian
even when reflected and rotated positions study is from his book ‘888 Miniature
are ignored, there are still over 500 trillion Studies’, which contains miniature
positions. Having access to the Lomonosov studies by many of the greatest study
tablebases allows every miniature problem composers; the book was incomplete
or study to be checked instantly. I do it on when Kasparian died and was finished
my Android mobile phone − there’s a free by his son and published in 2010.
Lomonosov app available.
Of course, you could solve all these with
The databases also help composers: your phone app, but where’s the fun in
some just use them for checking the that? They aren’t difficult to solve, but if
soundness of their compositions, you want the solutions (and don’t have
while others write programs that the app), they are given on page 255.

04/138
QUOTES AND QUERIES

From Keres to the
Two Knights variation
of the Caro Kann By Alan Smith
6119 The Candidates tournament which 19.¥c4 ¤f4 20.¥f1 c5 21.dxe5 ¤xe5? This
held in Berlin in March was the latest in slip costs a pawn. 21...dxe5 was correct.
an illustrious series of 8 player double
round tournaments. The acknowledged 22.¤xe5 dxe5 23.¤c4! ¦c6 24.g3 ¤h5
master of such events was Paul Keres 25.¤xe5 ¦d6 If black had tried to regain
who played in three such tournaments: his pawn with 25...¦e6 white has 26.¤g4!
Semmering Baden 1937, AVRO 1938 with the threat of 27.¤h6#
and Los Angeles 1963. He won the first
outright and tied for first place in the 26.¤c4 ¦e6 27.e5 f6 28.exf6 qxf6 29.£xf6
other two. ¦exf6 30.¦e2 a5 31.¥g2 ¥a6 Black was
reluctant to exchange more material.
All three events were of stellar quality,
witness the players who finished last - 32.¥d5+ ¢h8 33.¦ae1 ¦f5 34.¥e6
Petrov, Flohr and Benko tied with Panno. ¦5f6 35.b3 ¤g7 36.¥d5 ¤f5 37.¦e6
¤d4 38.¦xf6 ¦xf6 39.¦e8+ ¢g7
Paul KERES – Vladimir PETROV 40.¤e5 h5 There is no time for
40...¤xc2 because of 41.¦g8+ ¢h6
Semmering Baden 1937 42.¤g4+.
1.d4 e6 2.¤f3 ¤f6 3.¥g5 b6 4.e3 ¥b7 41.¦e7 ¢h8 42.¤f7+ ¢g7 43.¤g5+ ¢f8
5.¥d3 ¥e7 6.¤bd2 d6 7.0-0 ¤bd7 8.e4 44.¦a7
e5 This is by no means obligatory. 8...0-0 1-0
is fine when white should settle for 9.¦e1.
44...¦f5 is refuted by 45.¤h7+ after
9.¦e1 A matter of taste 9.h3 0-0 10.¦e1 45...¢f8 white can choose between
¤e8 11.¥e3 ¥f6 12.c3 c6 13.a4 £e7 14. 46.¦xa6 and 46.¥e4.
a5 also favoured white in Smyslov-Phillips
Hastings 1954-55. Paul Keres Photographs and
Games page 102
9...¤g4 10.¥xe7 £xe7 11.¤c4 0-0
12.£d2 ¦ae8 A clumsy move, 12...¦fe8 This win gave Keres a two point lead
is surely correct. over Reuben Fine, but he lost his next
two games, before a last round draw with
13.h3 ¤gf6 14.a4 a6 15 £c3 g6 16.¤cd2 Capablanca secured first prize.
¦c8 17.¥c4 ¤h5 17...exd4 is best met
by 18.£xd4 c5 19.£d3 instead 18...¤e5
looks like a better try. 6120 The Two Knights variation of the
Caro Kann requires careful handling by
18.¥d5 c6? Black should have exchanged black, in particular black should avoid 1.e4
bishops. The text creates another pawn c6 2.¤c3 d5 3.¤f3 dxe4 4.¤xe4 ¥f5?
weakness. 5.¤g3 ¥g6 6.h4 h6 7.¤e5 when black

April 2018
already has an unenviable position. This 3...¤f6 are both better.

trap has caught many unwary players.
4.¤xe4 ¥f5? 5.¤g3 ¥g6 6.h4 h6
Eim D. BOGOLJUBOW - Dr Oscar ANTZE Tartakower and du Mont recommended 6...
Barmen 1927 f6 here.
1.e4 c6 2.¤c3 d5 3.¤f3 dxe4?! 4.¤xe4 7.¤e5 ¥h7 Surrendering the bishop pair
¥g4 5.h3 ¥h5? 5...¥xf3 is correct. with 7...£d6 is an admission of defeat.
6.¤g3 ¥g6 7.h4 h6 8.¤e5 ¥h7 9.£h5 8.£h5 g6 9.¥c4 e6 10.£e2 £e7 A sign
g6 White has a choice between two strong than black had started to appreciate his
moves here. problems, a couple of examples of those
who did not:
10.£f3 10.¥c4 is also good.
10...¤f6? 11.¤xf7 ¢xf7 12.£xe6+ 1-0
10...¤f6 10...£d5? does not work 11.£xd5 Alekhine-Bruce Plymouth 1938.
cxd5 12.¥b5+.
10...¤d7? 11.¤xf7 ¢xf7 12.£xe6+ ¢g7
11.£b3 £d5 12.£xb7 £xe5+ 13.¥e2 13.£f7# Dr Learner - Niebergs Melbourne
There is a case for regrouping with 13.¤e2. CC 1952.
13...¢d8 Seven years later Lasker-H. 11.b3! ¥g7 12.¥b2 Threatening 13.¤xc6.
Mueller Zurich 1934 reached the same
position but after a move fewer. That game 12...¤f6 13.a4 ¤bd7 14.¥a3 c5 15.d4 0-0
continued 13...£d6 14.£xa8 and 1-0 32. 16.¤e4 ¤xe4 17.£xe4 b6 18.£b7 ¥xe5
19.dxe5 ¦fb8 20.£e4 ¦d8 Gundersen
14.£xa8 £c7 15.a4 e6 16.a5 ¥d6 17.d3! points out 20...g5 can be met by 21.£e2
¢e7 17...¥xg3 18.fxg3 £xg3+ 19.¢f1 gxh4 22.¥c1 threatening 23.£g4+.
£c7 20.¥xh6 van Trotsenburg.
21.¥c1 £f8 22.£e2 £g7 23.¥f4 ¦e8
18.¥e3 c5 19.¤e4 ¦d8 20.¤xd6 ¢xd6 24.0-0-0 ¤f8 25.£e3 g5 26.hxg5 h5
21.£f3 ¢e7 22.¥xh6 ¦d5 23.¥g5 ¦f5 27.¥e2 Avoiding black’s trap 27.¦xh5??
24.£a8 ¤bd7 25.a6! ¥xc2 Gundersen.
1-0
27...¦ed8 28.¥xh5 ¤g6 29.¥f3 ¦ac8
Black has seen enough 25...¤b6 26.£b7 30.¥e4 £f8 31.¦xd8 ¦xd8 32.£h3 £g7
¢d7 27.g4! 33.¥e3 ¦d7
Algemeen Handelsblad 30th July 1927 Gundersen points out that the attempt to
break out with 33...£xe5 is refuted by
This is not the last word on the exchange 34.£xh7+ ¢f8 35.¥d3.
grab: 13...e6 14.£xa8 ¥c5 15.c3 £c7 16.d4
¥d6 led to a win for black in M.Agopov 34.f4 ¦d8 35.£h2 a6 36.¥d3 a5 37.g4
- O.Salmensuu Helsinki 2001. Instead ¦d5 38.¥e4 ¦d8 39.¢b1 ¦d7 40.¢a2
15.£b7 0-0 16.d3 is a tougher nut to crack. ¦c7 41.¥d3 ¦d7 42.f5
1-0
Gunnar GUNDERSEN – Alan E. NIELD
Australasian 2nd July 1932
Victoria, New South Wales 1932
There is another possibility for black 10...¥e7
1.e4 c6 2.¤c3 d5 3.¤f3 dxe4?! 3...¥g4 or 11.¤xf7 ¢xf7 12.£xe6+ ¢e8 13.¤e4.

04/138
The British Chess Solving Championship
Showdown at Eton College

By Ian Watson, Photo: Barry Barnes
Did you know that the UK has two former
world chess champions? No? You don’t follow
chess solving championships then! There’s a
parallel chess universe to the one of over−the−
board chess, that of solving chess problems;
this universe has its own Elo ratings, FM/
IM/GM titles, and World Championships.
Britain’s two best solvers, John Nunn and
Jonathan Mestel, have both held the World
title, and are currently ranked sixth and tenth
in the world on the solving Elo list. In mid−
February this year, they both took part in the
British Chess Solving Championship, this
time with Nunn winning the British title by
the narrowest of margins, on tie−break.
The annual British Championship is held in John Nunn, setting up a problem

the splendid venue of the great school hall at
Eton College, thanks to generous sponsorship
from Winton Capital. Competitors have
qualified through a two−stage competition,
and have to solve chess problems and
endgame studies against the clock. Foreign
solvers are also able to take part, although they
are not able to win the British Championship
title. The overall winner was Piotr Murdzia
of Poland, probably the strongest−ever chess
solver and many−times World Chess Solving
Champion. Murdzia is so good, however, that
it is a surprise whenever he doesn’t win a
solving event he takes part in, so the major
interest was in who would win the British
Champion title.
The contestants are given the positions they Jonathan Mestel, analysing a four-mover
have to solve, printed out on paper, and
have to write down their solutions to each winning the title he last won in 2016. (Your
one, with points being awarded according correspondent, who won the title last year,
to how much of the solution they find. sadly finished well down the field this year!)
When two competitors finish on the same
number of points, the tie is broken by how Here are four of the problems the
much time they have taken in total, and competitors faced. These weren’t the
Nunn was slightly quicker than Mestel, so hardest ones; indeed, Murdzia, Nunn

April 2018
and Mestel all scored full points on each solving events are given sets to use.
of these. So, have a go before you look Give yourself 7 minutes for the two−
at the solutions at the end of this article. mover, 20 minutes for the 3−mover, 30
You can set up the positions on a board minutes for the 5−mover and 15 minutes
and move the pieces − competitors in for the 3−move selfmate.
9-+R+-wQ-+0 9-+-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0 9+p+Kvl-+-0
9K+Ptr-+N+0 9ptR-+-zp-+0
9+pmkp+-vL-0 9wqp+k+P+-0
9-+-+-+-tR0 9r+-zpNzpN+0
9vlP+-+-+-0 9+-zpP+L+-0
9-zpL+-+-+0 9-+-+-+-tR0
9+N+-+-+-0 9+-+-vL-+-0
Mate in 2 Mate in 5
9-+-tR-+-+0 9-+-sN-wQ-+0
9snl+-zp-vL-0 9+L+-+-+p0
9p+p+-+N+0 9-+ptR-+-+0
9wQpmkpzp-zp-0 9+p+-mk-+-0
9-tR-+-zpr+0 9-zP-zp-wq-+0
9+-+-+Lvl-0 9+p+K+pvL-0
9-mK-+-+-+0 9-tr-+-+-+0
9+-+-+-+n0 9+-+-+-+-0
Mate in 3 Selfmate in 3
In case you’re not familiar with selfmates, − all the pieces on the board are relevant to
they are sort of the reverse of normal the problem (there are no pieces that have
problems, in that White’s aim is to force no function in the problem) so you can
Black to checkmate White and Black tries ask yourself what the reason is for that
to avoid mating White. So in this position, piece being there.
if there were no White bishop on g3, and − the first move is unlikely to be any of the
White had a second queen on g6, then obvious moves, and is unlikely to be a
White could play 1.£e4+ forcing 1...£xe4 checking move.
mating White. − the mates are likely to be unusual and
elegant.
Solving problems needs different − there’s usually a theme to the problem,
techniques to solving positions from over− meaning that the White responses to
the−board games. A few useful tricks: the Black defences may use similar
mechanisms to each other.

04/138
Solving in the great hall at Eton
Mate in 2 (composed by E Bogdanov, 2000)

1.¦h5
(waiting move: no threat) 1...b4 2.¥e3; 1...¥b4 2.¥e3; 1...¢d4 2.£f2; 1...¢b4
2.£xd6; 1...d4 2.¥d2
Solutions to the BCSC problems:
Mate in 3 (composed by V Kirillov & V Udarcev, 1992)

1.¢b3
Threat: 2.£c7 (threat 3.¦xd5; 2...e4 3.¥d4; 2...e6 3.¥f8)
1...¤f2 2.¥xe5 (3.¥d4)
1...¥f2 2.¤xe5 (3.¤d3)
1...¤c8 2.¤f8 (3.¤e6)
1...¥c8 2.¥f8 (3.¥xe7)
There are multiple tries: 1.¥xe5? ¥f2; 1.¥f8? ¤c8; 1.¤xe5? ¤f2; 1.¤f8? ¥c8;
1.¢a3? ¥e1.
Mate in 5 (composed by A Postnikov, 1999)

1.¦h6
Threat: 2.¦d6+ ¥xd6 3.¤gxf6+ ¢e5 4.¤g4+ (4...¢xf5 5.¦f6; 4...¢d5 5.¦xd6)
1...£b4 2.¤exf6+ ¢c5 3.¤e4+ ¢d5 4.¤d6+ (4...¢c5 5.¤xb7)
1...£xb6 2.¤xc3+ ¢c5 3.¤e4+ ¢d5 4.¤d2+ (4...¢c5 5.¤b3)
Selfmate in 3 (composed by Z Janevski, 2009)

1.¦h6
Threat: 2.£f6+ ¢d5 3.£xd4+ (forcing 3...£xd4)
1...£xg3 2.¤xc6+ ¢d5 3.£xf3+ (3...£xf3)
1...¢d5 2.£f5+ £e5 3.£e4+ (3...£xe4)
1...c5 2.£g7+ ¢f5 3.¥e4+ (3...£xe4)
YOU CAN FIND ALL THE PROBLEMS USED IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP, AND THEIR
SOLUTIONS, AT WWW.THE PROBLEMIST.ORG/NEWSITE, UNDER WBCSC.

April 2018
Endgame Studies (See page 248)
Miniatures
Byway, two Black knights study
1.c6 ¤cd3 2.c7 ¤f2+ 3.¢h4 ¤g2+ 4.¢h5 ¤f4+ 5.¢h6 ¤g4+ 6.¢h7 ¤f6+ 7.¢h8
¤g6+ 8.¢g7 ¤e7 9.¥c6+ ¤xc6 10.c8£ wins. 9…¢h2 10.¢xf6 ¤c8 11.¥d7 ¤a7
12.¢e6 ¢g3 13.¢d6 ¢f4 14.¢c5 ¢e5 15.¥h3. White’s king plays h3-h4-h5-h6-h7-h8,
driven by the two Black knights.
Byway, pawns-only study
1.h7 e2/g2 2.h8£ g2/e2 3.£h3 e1¤+ 4.¢g3 f4+ 5.¢h2 f3 6.£g4 f2 7.£c4+ wins.
2…e1£ 3.£h1 mate or 2…g1£ 3.£a1 mate. 4.¢e3? f4+ 5.¢d2 f3. 4…¢e2 5.£h5+
¢d2 6.£h6+ ¢d3 7.£b6. 5…¢e2 6.£e6+ or 5…¢f2 6.£h4+. 6…¢f2 7.£h4+ ¢f1
8.£d4.
This study is an enhancement by Paul of a 1938 study by Richard Guy (who is a former
writer of this study column in BCM, now aged 101!)
Byway, one Black knight study
1.¢d3 e2 2.¥b3+ ¢e1 3.¢e3 ¤e5 4.¥e6 ¢f1 5.¥h3+ ¢e1 6.¥e6 ¢d1 7.¥b3+ ¢e1
8.¥e6 draw.
1.¥f7? ¤f6 2.¢d3 e2 3.¥b3+ ¢e1 4.¢e3 ¤g4+ or 1.¥e6/d5? e2 2. ¥g4/f3 ¤e5+.
3.¢e3 is necessary to prevent 3…¢f2. 3…¤b6 4.¥e6 ¢d/f1 5.¥g4/h3+. The position
after 4.¥e6 is mutual zugzwang, and if 4…¤f3/d3, then 5.¥c4/g4; the symmetry of this
position is very pleasing.
Kasparian
1.¢c4 ¢d2 2.¢d4 e3 3.¥a5+ ¢e2 4.¢e4 ¤d7 5.¥d8 ¤f7 6.¥e7 ¢d2 7.¥b4+ ¢e2
8.¥e7 ¢f2 9.¥h4+ ¢e2 10.¥e7 with a positional draw. White brings his king across via
c4 so he can play ¢d5 if Black defends with …¤e6. Notice how the critical position is
related to the critical position in the Byway study, with the same type of symmetry of the
pieces, but in this case with two Black knights not one.

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Volume 138

19-year-old GM triumphs in Newcastle SUBSCRIBE

How Oxford beat Cambridge in the Varsity Match

Report from The British Chess Solving Championship

The Chess Public Deserves The Best

194 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

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BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 195

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

Chairman Shaun Taulbut

Cover photography: 252 The British Chess Solving Championship

196 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

World Chess Championship: Showdown in Berlin

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 197

Levon Aronian – Vladimir Kramnik

198 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

10...g4! But Kramnik would have none of it!

11.d4 ¥d6 It’s notable that all Black’s

12.g3 ¥xe5 13.dxe5 £xe5 14.£d4 £e7!

14...£xd4 15.cxd4 gxh3 may objectively

15.h4?! Aronian’s psychology has been cited as the reason

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 199

26...£e2 27.¦e1 g2+ The mates are pretty

A) 28.¢h2 g1£+ 29.¢xg1 f2+ 30.¢h1

B) 28.¢g1 f2+ 29.¢h2 g1£+ 30.¦xg1

Vladimir Kramnik was perhaps the most

200 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

46.¥f3 ¦g3 47.¦b5+) 45.¥c6! 53.¦c1 ¤d4 54.¥d3?

43...h4 44.c4 44.d8£+! was a more direct

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 201

60.¢c2 ¦xd1 61.¥a6 ¦d2+ 62.¢c1

This was the decisive game in the

Kramnik continued in this style and

4...dxe4 5.¤xe4 c5!? A very surprising 11.¤c7 should give White an

202 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

½–½ 16...f4 17.exf4 ¥xh3 18.fxg5 ¥d7 19.¢f2

1.c4 e6 2.¤c3 d5 3.d4 ¥e7 4.cxd5 exd5

9...g5 10.¥e5 f6 11.¥g3 £xb3 12.axb3 h5

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 203

Alexander Grischuk - Wesley So directed against Black’s kingside he knew

After coming back to 50% Grischuk made 5

204 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

Alexander Grischuk - Ding Liren Grischuk’s games saw

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 205

24.£g4?! Complicating matters. 29...¤c1 An amazing move! Black is still lost

206 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

Ding Liren finished

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 207

SHAKHRIYAR MAMEDYAROV arrived Shakhriyar Mamedyarov -

37...¢g7 38.¥e4 c1£ 39.£e8

In the last round however, even though

From the press conferences I had

208 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE

From the press conferences I had the impression that

BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 209

really have no problems here. Yet Karjakin

210 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE