Javier

Strength is not at odds with simplicity. GM Peter Acs can give good evidence of this. In his game against Schneider, played in 1995 in Budapest, the following position was reached: Here Acs tried to get rid of the pin along the d6-h2 diagonal with 32.Qb4 Schneider countered this move impeccably. How would you?

Level: Easy. In the game Van Wely - Kramnik, From the Biel (Zonal) tournament of 1993, the players reached the following position: With black to move, he can: a) Play the sensible 1...Nb8, getting ready for the re-allocation of the Knight to c6, which is far more effective than it is at its current position on d7. Try and grab the initiative by means of 1...Rg4, attacking the pawn on e4. Which one would you choose? and, more importantly, why?

Position #3. White, a strong GM rated 2620, was rather short of time, and in the following position (see diagram below), with just 3 moves to make before the time control, he played: 38.Re4?? How can black take advantage of this blunder? Level: beginner.

And if Rxf2 then?

White has something much better than that!

The Greek Teams Championship was played between the 3rd and the 8th of July in Thessaloniki. Interestingly, it seems that the country's national debt, which has taken the first pages of the economy newspapers all around the world for the last 2 months, does not seem affect Greek chess teams, which continue to have international stars in their ranks. Take a look at the winning teams last year, PS Presiteri, which has Ivanchuck and Judith Polgar. Other GMs who participated are Navara (2722), Naiditsch (2706), PH Nielsen (2681), Bologan (2678), Kryvoruchko (2652), Ragged (2651), Atalik (2619), Em. Berg (2604), Kempinski (2600), etc. But there were no surprises. Presiteri won the tournament once morewith 6 wins and a draw. The final classification, under the annotated game below. In this game, Ivanchuk once again challenges traditional concepts about the true value of the pieces. Exchange sacrifices, we've seen many, but this game is a little bit special. Ivanchuck played 16 ... Bd7 as if it was the most natural move on the board! (it probably was... for him! ) [Event "39th TCh-GRE"] [site "Eretria GRE"] [Date "2011.07.05"] [Round "4"] [White "Mastrovasilis, Dimitrios"] [black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B09"] [WhiteElo "2604"] [blackElo "2768"] [Annotator "IM Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2011.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "ES Thessaloniki"] [blackTeam "SS Peristeri"] [pgn] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Bd3 Na6 7. O-O c5 8. d5 Rb8 9. f5 Nb4 (9... b5 {This is a standard idea, but the resulting position is, apparently, clearly better for white.} 10. Nxb5 (10. Bxb5 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 Rxb5) 10... c4 11. Bxc4 Rxb5 12. Bxb5 Qb6+ 13. Nd4 Nh5 14. c3 Bxd4+ 15. Qxd4 Qxb5 16. fxg6 hxg6 17. Qxa7 {With a better position for white. White has too many pawns. ..}) 10. fxg6 fxg6 11. Be2 Ng4 (11... b5 12. a3 Na6 13. Nxb5 Nxe4 14. Nxa7) ( 11... e6 12. a3 Na6 13. Ng5) 12. a3 Na6 13. h3 {This cant be a good move. It would have been interesting to see how Ivanchuck would have played against the main line, Qe1, transferring the Queen to h4, with excellent attacking chances. } Ne5 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. Bh6 Rf6 16. Bg5 Bd7 {This is where the game gets interesting. Black s dark squared bishop will have a dominating position, giving black excellent compensation for the exchange.} 17. Bxf6 exf6 18. Bg4 Be8 {Black needs to preserve more pieces on the board.} 19. Rb1 c4 20. Qf3 b5 21. Ne2 b4 {Black has the initiative on the Queenside.} 22. Nf4 Qb6+ 23. Kh1 Ba4 24. Be6+ Kg7 25. Qg4 {White attacks on the other side.} bxa3 26. Nh5+ Kh8 27. Nxf6 a2 28. Qh4 Qc7 29. Ra1 Qe7 (29... Qg7 30. Ng4 {Planning Rf7.}) 30. Rxa2 Nc5 31. Ra3 Bxc2 32. Rxa7 {A nice combination, but black still has everything under control.} Qxa7 33. Bd7 Qxd7 (33... Bxf6 {This is what Mastrovasilis was probably hoping that Ivanchuck would play} 34. Qxf6+ Kg8 35. Qf7+ Kh8 36. Qe7 {Threatening Rf8, with mate to follow.} Nxd7 (36... Kg8 37. Be6+ Nxe6 38. Qxa7 {Wins.}) 37. Rf7 {And white wins.}) 34. Nxd7 Nxd7 35. Qe7 ( 35. Rf7 Nf8 36. Qe7 Kg8) 35... Ba4 36. Rf7 Kg8 37. g3 Rf8 38. Rxh7 {Blunder.} ( 38. Rxf8+ Nxf8 39. Qc7 Bb3 40. Kg2) 38... Bf6 {And white resigned.} 0-1 [/pgn] Rk. SNo Team Games + = - TB1 TB2 TB3 1 1 Π.Σ. ΠΕΡΙΣΤΕΡΙΟΥ 7 6 1 0 13 323.5 42.0 2 2 Σ.Ο. ΚΑΒΑΛΑΣ 7 4 3 0 11 286.0 34.0 3 8 Ε.Ε.Σ. ΚΟΡΥΔΑΛΛΟΥ 7 5 1 1 11 237.5 32.0 4 7 Ε.Ο.Α.Ο. "Ο ΦΥΣΙΟΛΑΤΡΗΣ" ΝΙΚΑΙΑΣ 7 5 1 1 11 215.0 31.0 5 6 Ε.Σ. ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΗΣ 7 5 0 2 10 234.5 33.5 6 5 ΣΚΑΚΙΣΤΙΚΗ ΑΚΑΔΗΜΙΑ ΘΕΣ. "Ο ΓΑΛΑΞΙΑΣ" 7 4 1 2 9 217.0 32.0 7 13 Σ.Ο. ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟΥ 7 4 1 2 9 195.5 31.0 8 12 ΕΝΩΣΗ ΣΚΑΚΙΣΤΩΝ ΑΜΦΙΣΣΑΣ 7 4 1 2 9 192.0 30.5 9 10 ΠΑΝΙΩΝΙΟΣ Γ.Σ.Σ. 7 4 1 2 9 170.0 30.0 10 3 ΣΚΑΚΙΣΤΙΚΗ ΑΚΑΔΗΜΙΑ ΧΑΝΙΩΝ 7 4 0 3 8 213.0 31.0 11 4 Α.Ο. "ΚΥΔΩΝ" ΧΑΝΙΩΝ 7 4 0 3 8 212.0 30.5 12 24 Ν.Ο. ΚΑΛΑΜΑΤΑΣ "Ο ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝ" 7 3 2 2 8 177.5 29.5 13 19 ΛΕΣΧΗ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΜΟΥ ΦΛΩΡΙΝΑΣ 7 3 2 2 8 169.0 26.0 14 16 Σ.Ο. ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΪΔΑΣ "Ο ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΣ" 7 3 2 2 8 165.0 30.0 15 11 Α.Ε.Κ. 7 3 1 3 7 201.0 29.5 16 9 Ο.Σ. ΤΡΙΑΝΔΡΙΑΣ 7 3 1 3 7 196.5 29.0 17 22 Ο.Α.Α. "ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟ" 7 3 1 3 7 179.5 28.5 18 20 ΣΚ. ΑΚ. ΧΑΛΚΙΔΟΣ "ΠΑΛΑΜΗΔΗΣ Ο ΕΥΒΟΕΥΣ" 7 3 1 3 7 166.0 28.5 19 15 Φ.Ο.Ν. ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΟΥ ΑΤΤΙΚΗΣ - ΕΠΙΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΑ 7 3 1 3 7 149.0 27.5 20 28 ΠΕΙΡΑΙΚΟΣ Ο.Σ. 7 3 1 3 7 121.5 26.5 21 17 Σ.Ο. ΑΙΓΑΛΕΩ 7 2 2 3 6 157.0 31.5 22 25 Σ.Ο. ΗΛΙΟΥΠΟΛΗΣ 7 3 0 4 6 151.0 26.5 23 14 Σ.Α.Σ. ΚΟΡΩΠΙΟΥ 7 2 2 3 6 144.5 27.0 24 18 Σ.Ο. ΚΑΛΛΙΘΕΑΣ 7 2 2 3 6 125.0 24.0 25 29 Σ.Ο. ΠΑΤΡΩΝ 7 3 0 4 6 120.0 27.5 26 26 Α.Ο. ''ΖΗΝΩΝ'' ΓΛΥΦΑΔΑΣ 7 3 0 4 6 98.5 24.0 27 31 Σ.Ο. ΙΚΑΡΙΑΣ "Ι. ΤΖΕΛΕΠΗΣ" 7 2 1 4 5 130.0 26.0 28 23 Σ.Ο. ΠΟΛΙΧΝΗΣ 7 2 1 4 5 126.5 22.5 29 21 ΣΚΑΚΙΣΤΙΚΗ ΑΚΑΔΗΜΙΑ ΓΑΖΙΟΥ 7 2 0 5 4 140.5 29.5 30 32 Σ.Ο. ΑΜΦΙΣΣΑΣ 7 2 0 5 4 81.0 19.5 31 34 ΣΥΛΛΟΓΟΣ ΙΩΑΝΝΙΤΩΝ ΣΚΑΚΙΣΤΩΝ 7 2 0 5 4 69.0 21.0 32 27 Α.Σ. ΠΑΠΑΓΟΥ 7 2 0 5 4 67.5 19.0 33 33 ΟΜΙΛΟΣ ΣΚΑΚΙΣΤΩΝ ΚΑΛΑΜΑΤΑΣ 7 1 0 6 2 63.5 16.5 34 30 ΕΝΩΣΗ ΣΚΑΚΙΣΤΩΝ ΑΙΓΙΑΛΕΙΑΣ 7 0 0 7 0 96.0 22.0

Here's position number two from this series. It happened in 1988 in a game between Ivanchuck, then rated 2625, and Anand, then rated 2555. In this position, Ivanchuck now played 17.Kh1?? How did Anand punish the move? you tell me!

I'm starting a new series of chess articles about chess blunders (and mistakes) from the 20th century (which sounds so distant now!) I'll begin with the following book position, where the capture of the pawn on h4 (after white's h4) doesn't seem like such a bad move... White here plays h4!?, an interesting move whose purpose is to weaken black's pawn structure on the Kingside by means of h5. Is taking that pawn with ...Bxh4 really that bad? well, you tell me!! (solution: normally within the next 48 hours).

We've just had access to an X-Ray of the highest rated chess player in the World, Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen. The X-Ray shows his head. We'd like to present you with 2 images, the second one is an animation. Our thanks to Google Body!

GM Anish Giri, 2717. Only a few days ago, Dutch GM Anish Giri had a rating of 2687, but he's gone up 30 rating points and his current rating is now 2717, which makes him the 27th highest rated player in the World. Part of the "blame" for such a spectacular rise is his result in the 2011 Dutch Championship, which he won very comfortably with a score of 7.5, winning his last 5 games (!!). Here's the tournament table and an annotated game. [Event "ch-NED"] [site "Boxtel NED"] [Date "2011.07.03"] [Round "7"] [White "Giri, A."] [black "Swinkels, R."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D97"] [WhiteElo "2687"] [blackElo "2483"] [Annotator "I.M. Javier Gil"] [pgn]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Nc6 8. Be2 Bg4 9. d5 Na5 (9... Bxf3 10. gxf3 {And now both 10...Ne5 and 10...Na5 are well known lines.}) 10. Qb4 {This move is probably stronger than 10.Qa4.} Bxf3 (10... c6 11. e5 {And white is winning, as the Bishop on g4 is hanging. If 11.. .Bxf3, then 12.exf wins a piece.}) 11. Bxf3 c6 (11... c5 {This pawn sacrifice has been tried also, but with little success.}) 12. O-O Qb6 13. Qa4 {The black pieces lack coordination on the Queen side...} Nd7 14. Rd1 (14. Be3 Qxb2 15. Rfc1 Bxc3 16. Rab1 b5 17. Rxb2 bxa4 18. Rxc3 cxd5 19. exd5 Rfc8 {This was not so clear.}) 14... Rfd8 15. g3 Rac8 (15... Nc5 16. Qc2 Nc4 17. Be2 {Is a little better for white.}) 16. Bg4 Nc5 17. Qc2 e6 18. Bg5 Re8 (18... f6 19. Be3 f5 20. Na4) 19. Na4 Nxa4 20. Qxa4 cxd5 21. exd5 Nc4 22. dxe6 fxe6 (22... f5 23. Bf3 Nxb2 24. Qd7 Nxd1 25. Rxd1) 23. Rac1 Ne5 (23... Nxb2 24. Rxc8 Rxc8 25. Qd7) ( 23... Qc6 24. Qxc6 Rxc6 25. Bf3 Rc5 26. b4 Rxg5 27. Rxc4 {With a better endgame for white.}) 24. Be3 {Black resigned, as he is losing material.} (24. Be3 Qa6 (24... Qxb2 25. Rxc8 Rxc8 26. Bxe6+) 25. Qxa6 bxa6 26. Rxc8 Rxc8 27. Bxe6+) 1-0[/pgn]

The 2011 edition of the London classic is beginning to take shape and the field is the strongest of any previous editions: Carlsen, Anand, Aronian, Kramnik, Nakamura... and then the English players: Adams, Short and Howell. Unlike other tournaments in Europe, I like the fact that the British have a great respect for their national players. This year there will be nine players, I'm not sure who the nineth player will be. Having an odd number of players is actually a pretty good idea for a tournament of this level: apart from the official rest days, one player will get to an additional rest each round. Open tournaments where players are forced to play more than one round a day are very widespread at present, mainly to reduce costs. The organizers of these events don't really care much about the players nor the quality of the games, they just wanna get the whole thing done as soon as possible. I call them "Mcdonald´s tournaments".

I've been trying to compose a retroanalysis position for a few days and I have to say this: it's really hard! All I've been able to come up with so far is the following position. Level? beginner: This position was reached after 5 moves. Black made the last move. How did the game go?

The exhibition match between Nakamura and GM Ponomariov ended in victory for the American GM. The event went from the 16th to the 25th of May and it was held in Saitnt Louis, USA. Nakamura lost the first game, and there's some speculation as to why he didn't resign when he only had a King vs Ponomariov's Bishop and Knight. He actually resigned on move 93, which is kind of odd. Why wait till then? why not play till he got checkmated? Sore loser? plays all positions till the bitter end? your call! However, he went on to win the match by 3.5 to 2.5. Apart from the Standard Time Control games, there was also a blitz match, which Nakamura won also (3-1). Here's one of the blitz games showing that Ponomariov was not exactly in top form: [Event "Nakamura-Ponomariov Rapid Match"] [site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2011.05.25"] [Round "3"] [White "Ponomariov, Ruslan"] [black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "2754"] [blackElo "2774"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "2011.05.24"] [pgn] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Qb3 {Although this move is seen ocassionally at GM level, it gives black a pleasent choice of valid moves, such as 4...g6 and 4...dxc. In other words, I do not recommend it.} e6 5. Bf4 dxc4 6. Qxc4 b5 7. Qc2 Bb7 8. e4 Nbd7 9. Nbd2 a6 {Preparing ...c5.} 10. a4 Bb4 11. Bd3 c5 12. axb5 axb5 13. O-O (13. Rxa8 Qxa8 {And the white Pawn on e4 is under attack, and black threatens c4 also.}) 13... c4 14. Be2 Rc8 15. d5 Qb6 (15... exd5 16. e5 Ne4 17. Nxe4 dxe4 18. Nd4 {With some compensation for white.} (18. Ng5 Nxe5) ) 16. dxe6 fxe6 17. e5 {A rather dubious move, opening up the b7-h1 diagonal, and conceding the d5 square for the N. Black is already better} Nd5 18. Bg3 O-O 19. Ng5 Rf5 20. Nxe6 {White wants to play Bg4 next, but he has overlooked a tactical idea...} Qxe6 21. Bg4 Ne3 {Surprise!} 22. Bxf5 (22. fxe3 Rxf1+ 23. Rxf1 Qxg4 {Winning.}) 22... Nxf5 23. Nf3 Bxf3 24. gxf3 Nc5 25. Rfd1 h5 26. Ra7 h4 27. Bf4 Qg6+ {And Ponomariov resigned without waiting for 28.Kh1 Ng3, 29. hxg Qxc2.} 0-1 [/pgn]

Can we really appreciate something if we know very little about it? Probably not. Maybe that's why younger players are not particularly fond of endgames! Although I know the solution to this great endgame composition, it still makes me smile every time I see it. It could happen so easily in a game of ours! "White faces a rather difficult endgame, but with a couple of accurate moves, he was able to clear any doubts about whether he'd be able to draw the game or not." Actually, that's what I would have said if this had been a real game! To his credit, Lolli composed this back in 1763, nearly 250 years ago, in a very different planet...

I've been watching some more games from the Championship of China, and there's one in particular which I found most entertaining. There are a couple of moments in the game when I go: "hang on, what's going on??". Here it is, with my annotations: [Event "ch-CHN 2011"] [site "Xinghua Jiangsu CHN"] [Date "2011.04.08"] [Round "9"] [White "Zhao Jun"] [black "Xiu Deshun"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E26"] [WhiteElo "2580"] [blackElo "2508"] [Annotator "Microsoft"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2011.03.30"] [pgn] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 {A line which most GMs have given up, most of them preferring 4.Qc2.} Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 6. e3 b6 7. Bd3 Nc6 8. Ne2 Ba6 {Black will try to attack c4 as soon as possible. ...Na5 is on the list.} 9. e4 O-O (9... Na5 {But here this would be premature.} 10. e5 Ng8 11. Ng3 Bxc4 ( 11... Nxc4 12. Qa4) 12. Bxc4 Nxc4 13. Qa4 Na5 14. Ne4 {With good compensation for the pawn, as the knight is heading for d6.}) 10. Bg5 {Threat is now e5.} h6 11. Bh4 g5 {A very risky move, weakening his Kingside. A better alternative was 11...d6.} (11... d6 12. f4 e5 13. d5 (13. O-O {Maybe this...} exd4 14. cxd4 cxd4 15. Ng3 {With excellent compensation for the pawn.}) 13... Nb8 14. fxe5 dxe5 15. O-O Nbd7 16. Qc1 g5 17. Be1 Ne8 18. Ng3 Nd6 19. Qd1 f6 20. Qe2 Qe7 21. Bd2 Rae8 22. Rae1 Bc8 23. Rf2 Ba6 24. Rff1 Bc8 25. Rf2 Ba6 26. Rff1 {1/2-1/2 Koblencs,A-Kan,I/Riga 1952/EXT 2003}) 12. Bg3 d6 (12... Na5 13. h4 Bxc4 (13... g4 14. Nf4 Bxc4 15. e5) 14. hxg5 hxg5 15. e5 {White has a winning attack here.} ) 13. f4 {Very strong.} (13. h4 {This would not be so good here.} g4 14. Qd2 Kg7 15. Bf4 Rh8) 13... Na5 14. fxg5 hxg5 15. O-O Nh5 (15... Bxc4 16. Bxd6 Qxd6 17. e5) 16. Bxd6 {Im not entirely sure if this is sound, but in the game black was unable to find a defence...} Qxd6 17. e5 Qe7 18. Ng3 Nxg3 19. Rf6 { Wow!!} Kg7 (19... Rfd8 {This, providing the black King with the f8 scape square, seems more reasonable.} 20. Qg4 cxd4 (20... Bxc4 21. Qxg5+ Kf8 22. Bxc4 Nxc4 23. hxg3 cxd4 24. Raf1) (20... Nf5 21. Bxf5 exf5 22. Qxg5+ Kf8 23. e6 { seems to favour white}) 21. Qxg5+ Kf8 22. hxg3 dxc3 23. Bg6 {With a very complicated position, but white does seem to have a powerful attack...}) 20. Qg4 Rg8 21. hxg3 Nb7 22. Raf1 Nd8 (22... Kf8 23. Rxf7+ Qxf7 24. Rxf7+ Kxf7 25. Qh5+ Ke7 26. Qh7+ Kf8 27. Qh6+ {And white is winning. He will take the pawn on e6 with check...}) 23. Qe4 Qb7 24. d5 Rh8 {This mistakes allows for a beautiful checkmate combination, but blacks position was already very difficult...} 25. Qg6+ {The game is over.} fxg6 26. Rxg6+ Kh7 27. Rxg5+ Kh6 28. Rg6+ Kh7 29. Rg4+ Kh6 30. Rf6+ Kh5 31. Rh4+ {And black did not wait for 35... Kg5, 32.Rg6 mate.} 1-0[/pgn]

Yeap, that's a 2 points difference over the second player! GM Ding Liren has won the Championship of China thanks, in part, to a 100% score (3/3) against the Slav defence! There goes the reputation of what used to be a solid defence! Liren played some rather solid and technical chess in this event, not losing a single game throughout the event. I was going to annotate one of those 3 victories against the Slav, but frankly, they're a little bit boring! Here's a more interesting victory by the Champion. [Event "ch-CHN 2011"] [site "Xinghua Jiangsu CHN"] [Date "2011.04.09"] [Round "10"] [White "Xiu Deshun"] [black "Ding Liren"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E84"] [WhiteElo "2508"] [blackElo "2637"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2011.03.30"] [pgn]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 Nc6 7. Qd2 a6 8. Nge2 Rb8 9. h4 {9.Rb1 and 9.a3 are solid alternatives.} h5 10. Nd5 b5 11. O-O-O bxc4 12. Nxf6+ exf6 {Black will now attack the center by means of ...f5. This is all well known.} 13. Nf4 f5 14. Bxc4 Ne7 {Hard to call this an improvement, as a previous game had also concluded favourably for black after 14...fxe4.} ( 14... fxe4 15. fxe4 Re8 16. Rhf1 Rxe4 17. Bd5 Rxd4 18. Bxd4 Nxd4 19. Nxh5 gxh5 20. Bxf7+ Kh8 21. Rde1 Bd7 22. b3 Nf5 23. Qd1 Qxh4 24. g4 Qf6 25. Qd2 Bh6 {0-1 Hynes,K (2245)-Stull,N (2225) Manila 1992}) 15. Bb3 c6 16. Kb1 a5 {White is yet to create his first threat against black. There is obviously something very wrong with what white has played in this game...} 17. e5 {Black plays very accurately now.} Rb5 18. Bc4 Rb4 19. b3 d5 20. Be2 c5 {Now Liren does not let the initiative slip out of his hands...} 21. dxc5 Qc7 22. Bd4 Rxd4 { Thematic.} 23. Qxd4 Bxe5 24. Nxd5 Nxd5 25. Qxd5 Be6 {The 2 black bishops are 2 daggers.} 26. Qd2 Qxc5 27. Rc1 Qb6 28. Bc4 Rd8 {White resigned. ...Qd4 is next. } 0-1[/pgn]

True, Gashimov won the Reggio Emilia tournament on Tie break from Vallejo, but I don't think he played as interesting a game as the following one: [Event "53rd Masters"] [site "Reggio Emilia ITA"] [Date "2011.01.05"] [Round "8"] [White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"] [black "Onischuk, Alexander"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "2698"] [blackElo "2683"] [Annotator "Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2010.12.28"] [pgn] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2 Nd5 8. Nd2 Bb7 9. Nf3 {Perhaps this is better than the main lines with 8.c4, but I still find it a little hard to believe.} Qb4+ 10. Qd2 Qe4+ 11. Be2 {I ve tried to find games with this move on my database and have only been able to come up with one, but not particularly relevant as black went wrong with 11.Qe2 and after 11...Bb4 he was in serious trouble as Nd2 or Bd2 are met by ...Qxc2, and 12.c3 is met by 12...Bxc3. So white had to play 12.Kd1, which obviously can t be a good move.} Ba6 12. Kf1 {Modern chess, I suppose. But seriously now, this could be one of the opening discoveries of the year...} Bxe2+ 13. Qxe2 Qf5 ( 13... Qxe2+ 14. Kxe2 {With a slight advantage to white.}) 14. c4 Nb4 15. Bd2 Bc5 16. Bxb4 Bxb4 {From now onwards Vallejo shows a superb understending of the position. Black s bishop on b4 is completely out of play...} 17. Rd1 O-O 18. Qd3 {Once again, the ending would be better for white.} Qe6 19. Ng5 Qh6 20. h4 Rad8 21. Rh3 {Activating the Rook.} d5 22. Qf5 {The white pieces are now becoming very active. It is not easy for black to defend...} Rde8 23. Rf3 Qxh4 {Paco will now show some classy attacking chess. Watch} (23... Qh5 24. g4 { Black cant take on h4 because of Rh3.} Qh6 25. Kg2 f6 (25... g6 26. Qf6 Be7 27. Nxf7) 26. exf6 Rxf6 27. Qd7 Ref8 28. Rxf6 Qxf6 29. Qe6+ Qxe6 30. Nxe6 {You guessed it, this ending favours white. Perhaps black s position is just bad from the early stages of the game?}) 24. Rh3 Qxc4+ 25. Kg1 g6 26. Qf6 Be7 { This loses, but the alternatives were not much better.} (26... Re6 27. Nxe6 fxe6 28. Qxe6+) (26... Qc2 27. Rxh7 Qxd1+ 28. Kh2 Qh5+ 29. Rxh5 gxh5 30. Qh6) ( 26... h5 27. Rxh5 gxh5 28. Qf5 {With a winning advantage for white.}) 27. Nxh7 Qg4 28. Qxe7 {Nasty attack... Black resigned.} (28. Qxe7 Qxd1+ (28... Rxe7 29. Nf6+ Kg7 30. Rh7#) 29. Kh2 Kg7 (29... Rxe7 30. Nf6+ {And mate on h7 to follow}) 30. Qf6+ Kg8 31. Ng5) 1-0[/pgn]

Today I came accross a most interesting endgame puzzle which I'd like to share with you. White to play here. Result? The answer to the puzzle, in a copule of days

Sorry for the title, it's hard to grab attention nowadays... Anyway, the game speaks for itself: [Event "53° Tornei di Capodanno"] [site "Reggio Emilia/Italy"] [Date "2011.01.03"] [Round "6"] [White "Short, Nigel D"] [black "Movsesian, Sergei"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B40"] [WhiteElo "2690"] [blackElo "2723"] [Annotator "Javier Gil"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "2011.??.??"] [TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"] [pgn] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. Qe2 d6 6. d4 {Taking on d4 is normal now. Sergei s move is a bit risky.} Nf6 7. e5 Nfd7 8. Bg5 Qc8 {A bit odd.} ( 8... Be7) 9. d5 {A very interesting pawn sacrifice by Short!} Bxd5 10. Nc3 Bc6 11. exd6 h6 {Black has played some odd moves, but not particularly bad ones.} ( 11... Bxd6 12. O-O-O Bc7 13. Nb5 {Was probably what Short had in mind. If black takes on b5, then white s bishop on g2 becomes very powerful.}) 12. O-O-O {A very creative move by Nigel!} (12. Be7 Bxe7 13. dxe7 Kxe7 14. O-O-O Rd8) ( 12. Bf4 g5 13. Be5 Nxe5 (13... f6 {This would be much worse.} 14. Nb5 Bxb5 15. Qxb5 fxe5 16. Nxe5 a6 17. Qe2 {And white is winning.}) 14. Qxe5 Rg8 15. O-O-O Qb7 16. Qe2 {And now if...} g4 17. Ne5 {And white is better.}) 12... Qa6 {It was easy to predict that black wouldn t take that bishop. However, Nigel should switch to reasonable mode now and do something about his bishop!} (12... hxg5 13. Nxg5 Bxg2 14. Nb5 {This is the whole point of the sacrifice. The threat is Nc7.} Na6 15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. Qxe6+ Kd8 17. Rhe1 {And white wins.}) 13. Qe3 {Unfortunately, I dont think this works...} hxg5 14. Nxg5 Bxg2 15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. Qxe6+ Kd8 {Unlike the variation that we saw earlier on, the big difference here is that now c8 is available for black s King. BIG.} 17. Rhe1 Kc8 18. Nd5 (18. Qe8+ {Maybe this.} Kb7 19. Qd8 Qc4 20. Qc7+ Ka6 21. Rd3 {But its hard to believe.}) 18... Kb7 (18... Bxd5 19. Qxd5 {And now Qb7 would fail to Re8 mate.}) 19. Nc7 Rh6 20. Qg8 Qa4 {And Short resigned. His attack has run out of steam and he doesnt have too many pieces left...} 0-1 [/pgn]

Maybe it's because I'm getting older, or I guess it's the melancholy of the year just gone, but 2011 is the 40th anniversary of the First ever published FIDE ELO Rating List! As a small homage, here's the top 100 list of 1971. There were a total of 593 players in it... : Fischer, Robert James 2760 g USA Spassky, Boris V 2690 g URS Korchnoi, Viktor 2670 g URS Larsen, Bent 2660 g DEN Petrosian, Tigran 2640 g URS Polugaevsky, Lev 2640 g URS Botvinnik, Mikhail 2630 g URS Portisch, Lajos 2630 g HUN Smyslov, Vassily 2620 g URS Tal, Mihail N 2620 g URS Geller, Efim 2615 g URS Keres, Paul 2615 g URS Stein, Leonid 2605 g URS Hort, Vlastimil 2605 g CZE Gligoric, Svetozar 2600 g YUG Taimanov, Mark E 2600 g URS Bronstein, David I 2590 g URS Huebner, Robert 2590 g BRD Gipslis, Aivars 2580 g URS Krogius, Nikolai V 2575 g URS Balashov, Yuri 2570 m URS Savon, Vladimir A 2570 m URS Vasiukov, Eugeni 2570 g URS Olafsson, Fridrik 2570 g ISL Uhlmann, Wolfgang 2570 g DDR Panno, Oscar 2570 g ARG Tukmakov, Vladimir B 2565 g URS Ivkov, Borislav 2560 g YUG Boleslavsky, Isaac 2560 g URS Kuzmin, Gennadi P 2560 URS Suetin, Alexey S 2560 g URS Evans, Larry Melvyn 2550 g USA Kavalek, Lubomir 2550 g USA Reshevsky, Samuel H 2550 g USA Averbakh, Yuri 2550 g URS Kholmov, Ratmir D 2550 g URS Schmid, Lothar 2550 g BRD Unzicker, Wolfgang 2545 g BRD Furman, Semyen A 2540 g URS Gurgenidze, Bukhuti I 2540 g URS Karpov, Anatoly 2540 g URS Liberzon, Vladimir M 2540 g URS Lutikov, Anatoly S 2540 m URS Osnos, Viatcheslav 2540 m URS Darga, Klaus 2540 g BRD Mecking, Henrique 2540 m BRA Matulovic, Milan 2530 g YUG Parma, Bruno 2530 g YUG Podgaets, Mikhail 2530 URS Zaitsev, Alexander 2530 g URS Gheorghiu, Florin 2530 g ROM Najdorf, Miguel 2530 g ARG Sanguinetti, Raul 2530 m ARG Szabo, Laszlo 2525 g HUN Matanovic, Aleksandar 2520 g YUG Benko, Pal C 2520 g USA Lombardy, William J 2520 g USA Gufeld, Eduard Y 2520 g URS Shamkovich, Leonid 2520 g URS Zaitsev, Igor 2520 m URS Smejkal, Jan 2515 m CZE Pfleger, Helmunt 2515 m BRD Ljubojevic, Ljubomir 2510 m YUG Planinc, Albin 2510 m YUG Byrne, Robert E 2510 g USA Antoshin, Vladimir 2510 g URS Bagirov, Vladimir 2510 m URS Kotov, Alexander 2510 g URS Lein, Anatoly 2510 g URS Vaganian, Rafael A 2510 URS Andersson, Ulf 2510 m SWE Ozsvath, Andras 2510 HUN Pomar Salamanca, Arturo 2510 g ESP Markland, Peter R. 2510 ENG Filip, Miroslav 2510 g CZE Pachman, Ludek 2510 g CZE Kupreichik, Viktor D 2500 URS Donner, Jan-Hein 2500 g NED Sigurjonsson, Gudmundur 2500 m ISL Browne, Walter S. 2500 g AUS Bolbochan,Julio 2500 m ARG Nei, Iivo 2495 m URS Ciric, Dragoljub M 2490 g YUG Damjanovic, Mato 2490 g YUG Karaklajic, Nikola 2490 m YUG Kurajica, Bojan 2490 m YUG Minic, Dragoljub 2490 m YUG Velimirovic, Dragoljub 2490 m YUG Addison, William 2490 m USA Nikolaevsky, Yuri V 2490 URS Sakharov, Yuri N 2490 URS Barcza, Gedeon 2490 g HUN Bilek, Istvan 2490 g HUN Hamann, Svend 2490 m DEN Tringov, Georgi P 2490 g BUL Forintos, Gyozo V 2485 m HUN Lengyel, Levente 2485 g HUN Bobotsov, Milko G 2485 g BUL Radulov, Ivan 2485 m BUL Yes, there was a big gap between Fischer and everyone else!

Vallejo is now a full point ahead of everyone else at Reggio Emilia after beating Short, whose play so far has not caused a good impression, despite his 2/2 in the first 2 rounds. [pgn][Event "53° Tornei di Capodanno"] [site "Reggio Emilia"] [Date "2010.12.31"] [Round "4"] [White "Short, Nigel D"] [black "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C11"] [WhiteElo "2690"] [blackElo "2697"] [Annotator "Robot 3"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 {It s not so much that Short does not believe that the Tarrasch variation is good for white, it is probably more a case of him thinking that he has better chances of unbalancing the game with 3.Nc3.} Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Ne2 Be7 8. c3 a5 9. h4 O-O 10. Rh3 f6 11. a3 Rf7 {Stricly speaking, a novelty. There is one obscure game played back in 1965 where black chose ...b5 instead.} (11... b5 12. Ng3 Ba6 13. Bd3 Qe8 14. Qe2 c4 15. Bc2 Nd8 16. f5 Qf7 17. Ng5 fxg5 18. hxg5 Nxe5 19. dxe5 Bc5 20. Rxh7 exf5 21. Bxf5 Nc6 22. Qg4 Rfe8 23. g6 Rxe5+ 24. Kd1 Qe8 25. Bg5 {1-0 Grecuccio, N-Mattheys,E (1965)/Bilzen 2004/CBM 100 ext}) 12. Be3 Nb6 13. b3 Qf8 14. Qb1 a4 15. dxc5 Bxc5 16. Bxc5 Qxc5 17. b4 Qf8 18. Ned4 {White seems to have secured control of important central squares.} fxe5 19. Nxc6 {But now comes a little surprise...} e4 {!!} (19... bxc6 20. fxe5 (20. Nxe5 Rxf4 21. Bd3 g6)) 20. Nce5 Rxf4 21. Nh2 Qf5 22. Neg4 Rxf1+ 23. Nxf1 Qxg4 {The exchange sacrifice has lead to a position which favours black without any doubt. c4 square, central pawns, but more important of all, the bishop on c8, normally a nightmare for black in the French, can now be activated easily...} 24. Ne3 Qg6 25. Kf2 {Nigel, you cant do that in every game and get away with it! lol.} e5 {The problem with this is not just that the c8-h3 diagonal gets opened, but the fact that d5-d4 is gonna be pretty hard to stop} 26. Rg3 Qf6+ 27. Kg1 Be6 (27... d4 {But this would be premature!} 28. cxd4 exd4 29. Qxe4 dxe3 30. Rf1 {And black is in very serious trouble. For example:} Qd8 31. Rxg7+ {!! it works.} Kxg7 32. Qe5+ Kg6 ( 32... Kg8 33. Qg3+ Kh8 34. Rf7) 33. Qg3+ Kh6 (33... Kh5 34. Rf7) 34. Rf8 {!! with a winning attack for white.}) 28. Qe1 Rf8 29. Rd1 Kh8 {Threatening to take on h4, which was not possible now due to the discovered check Rxg7.} 30. h5 Qh4 31. c4 {White was running out of moves} d4 32. c5 Nc4 33. Nf1 Qxh5 { Black is winning now. Those central pawns are just too strong.} 34. Rc1 e3 35. b5 e4 36. Qb4 e2 37. Nh2 Qf5 38. Nf3 Qf4 39. Qe1 Qe3+ {And Short resigned.} 0-1[/pgn] There was one other victory today. Godena was struggling with the black pieces against Gashimov's incisive Ruy Lopez. This is how it ended: 30. Ne7+! and black resigned.

Take a look at the following position, with white to play: Is white winning? if so, work out a couple of variations in your mind and then check the answer below:

Spanish GM Paco Vallejo is leading at Reggio Emilia. His game against Navara was quite nice. Meanwhile Nigel Short lost his game against Caruana, who ended the Englishman's short lived 100% score. The other games ended in draws. [pgn][Event "53° Tornei di Capodanno"] [site "Reggio Emilia/Italy"] [Date "2010.12.30"] [Round "3"] [White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"] [black "Navara, David"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C69"] [WhiteElo "2697"] [blackElo "2731"] [Annotator "Robot 4"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O f6 6. d4 Bg4 7. c3 Bd6 8. Be3 Ne7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Qb3+ Kh8 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qxb7 Bf7 13. dxe5 fxe5 14. Nb3 Bc4 15. Rfd1 Rb8 16. Qa7 Ra8 17. Qb7 {Vallejo probably wanted to gain some valuable clock time. David still has to decide whether he s happy with a draw or not, and those decissions take time. White doesn t have to settle for a draw though, he has an interesting exchange sac. This is what might have happpened if Navara had decided to repeat the position} (17. Qc5 Bxb3 (17... Bxc5 18. Rxd8 Rfxd8 19. Nxc5 Ng6 20. b3 Be2 21. Ng5) 18. axb3 Bxc5 19. Rxd8 Rfxd8 20. Bxc5 Ng6 21. Ra5 {With compensation for the exchange. black has a lot of weak pawns...}) 17... Be2 {Complications now seem to favour white.} 18. Nxe5 Qe8 (18... Bxd1 19. Rxd1 Qe8 20. Nc4 {With a good game for white.}) 19. Rxd6 cxd6 20. Re1 dxe5 (20... Bb5 {This might have been an improvement.}) 21. Rxe2 Ng6 22. Rd2 {With piece and 2 pawns for the rook and those weak black pawns, white is on top.} Qe6 23. Nc5 Qxa2 24. Kh2 {No hurry to win back the pawn.} Qc4 25. Rd7 Rab8 26. Qxc6 Rxb2 (26... Rfc8 27. Qd6) 27. Rxg7 Rfxf2 ( 27... Kxg7 28. Ne6+ {Discovered check on the black Queen.} Qxe6 29. Qxe6 { White is winning.}) 28. Bxf2 Rxf2 29. Qc8+ Kxg7 30. Ne6+ Qxe6 31. Qxe6 Rxg2+ 32. Kh1 {The problem for black here is that c pawn...} Rg3 33. c4 Rc3 34. Qd7+ Kh8 35. h4 h5 (35... Rxc4 36. h5 Nf4 37. h6 Rc1+ 38. Kh2 Rc2+ 39. Kg1 Rg2+ 40. Kh1 Rg8 41. Qf7 {And black is getting mated.}) 36. Qc8+ Kg7 37. Qd7+ Kh8 38. Qd6 Kg7 39. c5 Rh3+ 40. Kg1 Rxh4 41. c6 Rg4+ 42. Kf2 Rf4+ 43. Ke3 Rf6 44. Qd8 Rf7 45. c7 Ne7 46. Qd6 {Very nice. Winning e5 before playing c8. Black resigned.} 1-0 [/pgn]

I'm not trying to make fun of a GM making a blunder. Godena is a strong Italian GM wich a fantastic chess career. But like all other GMs, he's human, and he too makes mistakes... Unfortunately, chess Godess Caissa was not on his side in this game: Black to play, Godena went... (try to guess, then click "spoiler" to check the answer)

GM Alexander Morozevich. Everyone was hoping that the Super Tournament at Reggio Emilia (Italy) which is being held these days would see a recharged (you know, like the batteries) Alexandar Morozevic, after his bad result at the Olympiad this year and a few other tournaments over the last 2 years (he's actually lost nearly 100 points, he was 2788 back in 2008). Unfortunately, it didn't happen in the first game of this event. Alexandaer went down against England's (or is it Greece´s?) excentric Nigel Short. Morozevich had a winning position but short is a "natural surviver" and he proved it again: [pgn][Event "53° Tornei di Capodanno"] [site "Reggio Emilia/Italy"] [Date "2010.12.29"] [Round "2"] [White "Short, Nigel D"] [black "Morozevich, Alexander"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C11"] [WhiteElo "2690"] [blackElo "2715"] [Annotator "Robot 4"] [PlyCount "87"] [EventDate "2010.??.??"] [TimeControl "40/5400+30:1800+30"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 {2 world experts on the French defence. This should be an interesting game!} 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. dxc5 Nc6 7. a3 Bxc5 8. Qg4 O-O 9. Bd3 Qe7 10. Bd2 f6 11. Qh4 h6 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. O-O-O {Intending a quick g4-g5, but Alex is not gonna wait...} e5 14. fxe5 Nxe5 15. Nf3 { Development is more important than preserving that bishop...} Nxd3+ 16. cxd3 b5 {Black has the initiative now...} 17. Rhe1 (17. Nxb5 Rb8 18. Nbd4 Bxa3) 17... Qb7 18. Be3 Bxe3+ 19. Rxe3 a5 20. Rde1 b4 21. Re7 Qb6 22. axb4 axb4 23. Nd1 Bg4 {Things are beginning to look pretty bad for white at this point. Few people believed that Nigel could survive black s attack, except himself, but I even doubt that!} 24. Kd2 b3 25. Ke2 {It s not the first time Short has used his King in such a way. One of his best games is his famous victory over Jan Timman in 1991. Log off facebook, which is bloody waste of time, and take a look at it!} Ra4 26. Qg3 Nh5 27. Qe5 Rf5 (27... Bxf3+ 28. gxf3 Nf4+ 29. Kd2 ( 29. Kf1 Qg6) 29... Qg6 {And white is still under enormous pressure...}) 28. Qc3 Bxf3+ 29. gxf3 d4 {A mistake, cutting off the diagonal of his own queen.} 30. Re8+ Kh7 31. Qc8 {Rh8 was a better try.} (31. Rh8+ Kxh8 32. Qc8+ Kh7 33. Qxf5+) 31... Nf4+ 32. Kf1 Qb5 33. Nf2 {White is still in trouble. 33...Ra2 would have been good now. Instead, Morozevich blunders...} Nxd3 34. Rh8+ Kg6 35. Qe6+ Kh5 (35... Rf6 36. Qe4+ {Picking up the knight on d3.}) 36. Rb8 {This was probably the move that Morozevich overlooked. The tables have turned now, the knight on d3 is lost.} Qe5 {Best chance} 37. Rxe5 Ra1+ 38. Re1 Rxe1+ 39. Qxe1 Nxe1 40. Kxe1 Rxf3 41. Rd8 Re3+ 42. Kf1 Rc3 {A desperate try, but it was lost anyway.} 43. bxc3 dxc3 44. Nd3 {And black resigned.} 1-0 [/pgn] You can follow the Reggio Emilia tournament HERE