Hat-trick hero marches on

Steve Giddins reports on round 2 of the Hastings Masters

This year's Official Programme for the Hastings Congress includes a list of all the past winners of the Premier/Masters, starting with the legendary Harry Nelson Pillsbury in 1895. Looking through the list, which includes almost all of the greats of 20th century chess, only three players have ever won the event in three successive years. Salo Flohr did it in 1931-33, a fact no chess writer ever mentions without also quoting his joke about believing he was supposed to win all three prizes one year, after he heard a lift attendant announce "First floor, second floor, third floor". Some sixty years later, Flohr's hat-trick was matched by Russian GM Evgeny Bareev, who triumphed in 1990-1992. The tournament's triptych of hat-trick heroes is completed by Valery Neverov of the Ukraine, who has won the Hastings Masters, either outright or shared, in each of the last three years. He clearly has his sights set on eclipsing his two famous rivals, and establishing a fourth successive win, and yesterday he claimed his place on top board for today's third round, after beating David Eggleston.

Neverov,Valery (2571) - Eggleston,David (2368) [E25]

Hastings Masters 2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3

Currently a trendy way to meet the Nimzoindian, after Anand used it to establish a near-winning advantage against Kramnik in game 2 of their recent world championship match.

4...d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qd2

The most common move here is 8.dxc5, which looks ugly, but does most to open lines and expose Black's potential dark-square weaknesses. Neverov prefers to retain his mobile pawn centre, although Black is not supposed to have serious problems in this line.

8...f5 9.Nh3 0-0 10.e3 Nc6 11.Rb1 cxd4 12.cxd4 b6 13.Bb5 Bb7 14.0-0 Nc7

Black plays to hold back the advance e3-e4, and also prepares to exchange bishops by Ba6. However, the black knight loses rather a lot of time, and it may be that the straightforward 14...Rc8 was preferable.

 15.Be2 Ba6 16.Bxa6 Nxa6 17.Bb2 Nc7 18.Nf4 Ne7?!

Rather passive. 18...e5 looks normal, when White cannot have more than a very small advantage.

19.Rbc1 Ned5 20.Nd3 Na6  21.e4

 

White has now achieved all his strategical objectives, and holds a clear advantage. It is typical of this 4.f3 variation, that if White manages to complete his development and get his central pawns rolling, he stands better, so Black needs to find more effective counterplay than Eggleston has managed here.

21...fxe4 22.fxe4 Nf6 23.Qe2 Nc7 24.Nf4 Nfe8 25.d5 exd5 26.exd5 Qd7 27.Ne6 Nxe6 28.dxe6 Qe7 29.Rxf8+ Qxf8 30.Qe4 Rb8 31.Qe5?!

He could win material immediately by means of 31.e7 Qf7 32.Be5 Qxe7 33.Qc4+. Neverov's choice is less incisive, but his advantage is so great, that it does not change the outcome of the game.

32...Qd6 32.Qe4 Qe7 33.Rf1 Nd6 34.Qe5 Rf8 35.Rxf8+ Kxf8 36.Bc3 a5 37.Bd4 Qc7 38.h3 Ne8 39.Qe3 Nd6

39...b5 40.Bb6 is no better.

40.Bxb6 Qc6 41.Bxa5 1-0

The top two games were both drawn, as was the board three encounter between Hunt and Howell. In the latter, David Howell avoided a couple of potential move-repetitions early on, but later over-pressed and was close to losing at one point.  Jones and Conquest joined the lead on 2/2, both with easy wins, whilst Stephen Gordon achieved the same score, with a longer and tougher grind against Chris Briscoe. Mark Hebden also maintained his 100% score, in a wild game, which attracted a large crowd of spectators.

Bergez,Luc (2356) - Hebden,Mark (2515) [C56]

Hastings Masters Hastings (2.9), 29.12.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 d5 6.Bb5 Ne4 7.Nxd4 Bc5 8.Nxc6!?

Until quite recently, the only time one saw this move played was in games involving unknown amateurs, usually playing against Paul Morphy around the middle of the 19th century. However, in recent years, there has been a flurry of computer analysis, which seems to show that the move is not only playable, but also very dangerous - for both sides!

8...Bxf2+ 9.Ke2 Qd7!

Hebden's improvement on 9...Bg4+ 10.Kf1 Qh4?, which he played against Jonathan Arnott, in the British QP a few years ago. After 11.Qxd5, Black is completely lost, and Mark duly went under in that game.

10.e6! fxe6 11.Nxa7 c6 12.Nxc8 cxb5 13.Nd2 Ra4 14.Nxe4 Rxe4+ 15.Kxf2 0-0+ 16.Kg3

 

Not a position you see every day in GM games! Black has sacrificed a piece, for which he has compensation in the form of the a large lead in development and the exposed white king. Precisely what is happening in this position can be determined only after much detailed computer analysis, but my silicon friend's first impression is that Black is better.

16...Qxc8 17.Kh3 Qc4?!

This looks like a misstep. The computer likes 17...Qc7, with ideas of Qe7 or Qf7, and with the additional point that 18.Rf1? loses to 18...Rh4+! 19.Kxh4 Qxh2+, etc.

18.g3 Rf2 19.Re1 Rd4?!

And here 19...Rxe1 is better. Now the advantage swings over to White.

20.Qh5 Re4 21.Be3 Rf5 22.Qe8+ Rf8 23.Qe7 Qc8 24.c3 d4 25.cxd4?!

By now, both players were getting short of time, and the position remains highly complex. 25.Bg1 seems better, but I would emphasise that only deep analysis will yield reliable conclusions about the position.

25...e5+ 26.Kg2 Qc2+ 27.Kh1 exd4

28.Bxd4??

White finally cracks under the pressure. 28.Qxb7 Rxe3 29.Qd5+ Kh8 30.Qxd4 should lead to a draw. After the text, White is seriously worse at least, and the French IM was unable to hold the position, in time-trouble.

28...Rxe7 29.Rxe7 Qc6+ 30.Kg1 Rf7 31.Rxf7 Kxf7 32.a3 Qd5 33.Rf1+ Kg8 34.Bc3 g5 35.g4 Qd3 36.Re1 Qf3 37.Re5 Qxg4+ 38.Kh1 h6 39.Re1 Kf7 40.Re3 Qf4 41.Re1 Qf2 42.Rg1 Kg6 43.Rg2 Qf1+ 44.Rg1 Qf3+ 45.Rg2 h5 46.Bd2? Qd1+ 0-1

As if that game was not enough for one day's entertainment, the pairings also threw up the offering Rudd-Williams. Between the two of them, this pair have provided many of the most entertaining moments of the congress over the past few years, and fireworks were naturally expected on this occasion too. They did not disappoint us, an extremely sharp game eventually ending in a draw. This encounter is presented below, with notes by Jack Rudd.,

Rudd,Jack (2344) - Williams,Simon Kim (2494) [B72]

Hastings Masters 2008

[Rudd,Jack]

1.e4 c5 A surprise; I had been expecting a French. 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 a6!?

The "Dragdorf" variation, much favoured by Gawain Jones, and once used by him to draw with Nigel Short in the EU Championships.7.f3 b5 8.Qd2 Bb7 9.0-0-0 I wasn't really up on Dragdorf theory, but the English Attack works well enough against both the Dragon and the Najdorf, so it would seem reasonable to assume it works with their hybrid. 9...Nbd7 10.Kb1 Rc8 [10...h5 11.a3 Bg7 12.Bd3 Rc8 13.Rhe1 Ne5 ½-½ Saravanan,V (2420)-Murugan,K (2410)/India 1994] 11.Nb3 Bg7 12.Ne2 0-0 13.Bh6 Nb6 14.Bxg7 Maybe somewhat inaccurate: [My experience with Soltis variations meant I wanted to play an immediate 14.h4 , but I was worried by 14...Nc4 15.Qc1 - I'd missed that 15...Nxe4?? is just answered by (15...Bh8!?) 16.Bxg7] 14...Kxg7 15.h4 Nc4 16.Qc1 h5 [16...a5 is another possibility, daring me to prove that my kingside attack can actually inflict some damage.] 17.Nbd4 e5

18.Nf5+! gxf5 19.Ng3! [The obvious 19.Qg5+? Kh8 20.Ng3 Nh7 leads nowhere for white.] 19...Ne8 [19...f4 is the critical response, and it may just stand up: 20.Nf5+ Kg6! (20...Kg8? 21.Bxc4 Rxc4 22.Rxd6 Nd7 23.Rhd1 Rc7 24.g3 and black is tied up and I can break open the king in short order.) 21.Bxc4 Rxc4 22.Rxd6 Qc7 23.g4 (23.g3 Bxe4 24.fxe4 Rxe4) 23...Rc6 24.gxh5+ Kh7 25.Rhd1] 20.Nxf5+ Kg8 21.Rh3 Qf6 22.Rg3+ Kh7 23.Rg5 Rh8 24.g4 I'd missed black's 28th when I played this, and thought I was just winning. [Fritz here prefers to go into the ending with 24.Bxc4! Rxc4 25.Nxd6 Nxd6 26.Rxd6 Qxd6 27.Rxh5+ Kg7 28.Qg5+ Qg6 29.Qxe5+ f6 30.Qe7+ Qf7 31.Qxf7+ Kxf7 32.Rxh8 , after which I have four pawns for the piece, with a probably winning position.] 24...hxg4 25.Bxc4 Rxc4 26.Rg1 Bxe4 27.R1xg4? [27.fxe4 Rxe4 28.Ne3 is surprisingly hard for black to deal with: the idea of bringing the knight backwards hadn't occurred to me.] 27...Bxc2+ 28.Qxc2 Qxg5 29.Rxg5 [29.hxg5 Rxc2 30.Rh4+ Kg6 31.Ne7+ Kxg5 (31...Kg7 forces perpetual) 32.Rxh8 Rf2 33.Rxe8 Rxf3 is unclear, but black's passed pawns probably give him the better winning chances.] 29...Rxc2 30.Kxc2 Rg8 [30...Rf8 is black's best option if he wants to win this: 31.Kd3 f6 32.Rg2 d5 33.Rc2 and white has some play for the pawn.] 31.Rh5+ ½-½

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