(Not) Keeping Up with the Joneses

FM Steve Giddins reports on round 3 of the Hastings Masters

Gawain Jones seized the sole lead after round 3 of the 2008 Hastings Masters, as he became the only player still on 100%. In his meeting with rival young England talent Stephen Gordon, it was Jones who secured temporary bragging rights, after Gordon erred in a relatively balanced middlegame:

In this typical Queen's Indian middlegame, Black could secure comfortable equality with 18...Rc8. However, Gordon instead went for the trickier 18...Ba6?, which must have been based on a miscalculation. Play continued 19.Nc7 Bxf1 20.Nxe8 Qxe8 The obvious 20...Bxg2 loses to 21.Qc8. 21.Bxf1 f6 This is presumably the position Gordon had foreseen at move 18. Black looks to be fine, but Jones now found the nice tactical blow 22.Bb5!, which I assume Gordon had missed. Black's bank rank problems mean that he is now quite lost, and he resigned after the further moves 22...Qd8 23.axb4 fxe5 24.dxe5 d4 25.Bd3 Nc3 26.Qf4 Qd5 27.e6 1-0

Hebden and Neverov drew a steady game on top board, as did Berg and Conquest. Russian GM Igor Kurnosov his opponent, to join the leaders, whilst David Howell did likewise in a controlled positional game against Thomas Rendle. Amongst the other players to move onto 2.5 was Simon Williams, who won the sort of game that gives King's Indian players nightmares:

Williams,Simon (2494) - Poobalasingam,Peter (2235) [E60]

Hastings Masters.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.h4!??

Fans of Simon's play are rarely surprised to him play an early h4, but even I have never seen it quite this early! However, aggressive though the move's intentions may appear, it proves in reality to be the basis of a classic positional squeeze! Don't believe me? Read on...

3...d6 4.Nc3 Nbd7

Black's opening play seems rather cooperative. A more active approach might be better suited to exposing the downside of 3.h4. I, for example, would have been very tempted by 3...c5, intending a Benko-style gambit after 4.d5 b5.

5.e4 e5 6.d5 Nc5 7.Qc2 a5 8.Be2 h6 9.h5 g5 10.Be3 b6 11.Bd1 Bd7 12.Nge2 c6 13.Bxc5!

Initiating a plan to seize control of the light squares, notably f5. To that end, White removes one of the black minor pieces capable of controlling those squares. In the resulting structure, Black's KID bishop will be the worst piece on the board.

13...bxc5 14.Ng3 cxd5 15.cxd5 Be7 16.Be2 Kf8 17.Bb5

Naturally, White would love to exchange light-squared bishops. Equally naturally, Black declines.

17...Bc8 18.Nd1 Ne8 19.Ne3 Ng7 20.Be2 Rb8 21.0-0

This is the sort of KID nightmare every black player dreads. The late Tigran Petrosian, in particular, had a habit of obtaining similar positions as White - see the game Petrosian-Schweber, Stockholm Interzonal 1962, for a typical example. White's task is to break through on the queenside, which Simon duly does.

21...Kg8 22.b3 Kh7 23.Bg4 Ba6 24.Rfb1 Rf8 25.Qc3 Bb5 26.a3 Be8 27.b4 axb4 28.axb4 Rb5 29.Ra7 cxb4 30.Rxb4 Qb8 31.Rxb5 Qxa7 32.Rb1 f5?

Making things easier, but Poobalasingam's desire to hit out is quite understandable.

33.Nexf5 Bd7 34.Qe3 Qc7 35.Qb6 Qxb6 36.Rxb6 Bxf5 37.Bxf5+ Kg8 38.Rb7 Bf6 39.Be6+ Kh8 40.Rd7 Ne8 41.Nf5 Bg7 42.Ne7 1-0

Lower down the tournament, there were several excellent games. I was impressed by the elan with which the white player in the following game dispatched his opponent. Vladimir Prosviriakov, a Russian who now lives in the USA, has been a regular visitor to Hastings in recent years, and here he punishes his opponent's opening errors in emphatic style:

Prosviriakov,Vladimir (2327) - Knight,Simon (2148) [C13]

Hastings Masters (3.39), 30.12.2008

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.Bg5 d5 4.Nbd2 b6 5.e4 dxe4 6.Nxe4 Be7 7.Bxf6 Bxf6 8.c3 0-0 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.h4 Re8 11.Nfg5!

The slightly unusual move-order has tricked Black into a poor variation of the Burn French, which is an accident-prone line at the best of times. Prosviriakov loses no time in taking advantage.

11...g6 12.Qf3 Kg7?

12...Bxe4 was the only way to stay on the board, but Black is still in dire trouble.

13.Nxh7 Bxh4 14.g3 Be7 15.Nhg5 Bxg5

16.Rh7+!

Applying the wellie boot in no-nonsense fashion.

16...Kxh7 17.Qxf7+ Kh6 18.Ke2 Ba6 19.Rh1+ Bh4 20.Rxh4+

20.Nf6 forces mate more quickly, but few human players would refrain from taking the queen!

20...Qxh4 21.gxh4 Bxd3+ 22.Kxd3 Nc6 23.Qf4+ Kg7 24.Qxc7+ 1-0

It was also a very good day for a couple of the local Hastings Chess Club members. A few months ago, Rasa Norinceviciute won the prestigious internal championship of the Hastings Club, the first woman to do so since Vera Menchik in 1930! Yesterday she scored an excellent point against Dave Ledger. However, pride of place amongst the Hastings players must go to club stalwart Richard Almond, who won a superb game against Bob Eames. For reasons that will become clear, it is especially close to my heart:

Almond,Richard (2139) - Eames,Robert (2329) [E99]

Hastings Masters (3.38), 30.12.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.f3 f5 11.g4

Originally popularised by Pal Benko, this line has long been a favourite of Richard's.

11...Kh8 12.h4 Ng8 13.g5 h6 14.Kg2 f4 15.Rh1 Rf7 16.Nd3 Bf8 17.Qg1 Rh7

Richard's play in this game was based very closely on the game Cheparinov-Stellwagen, Amsterdam Open 2005. That game had appeared, with deep notes, in a truly  magnificent book entitled 50 Ways to Win at Chess. The author of the said book, clearly a man of taste, discernment and exceptional generosity, had given Richard an advance copy of the relevant chapter, during the previous Hastings tournament, and Richard had duly studied the game in some detail. Until now, he had not had the chance to employ the line, but today Bob Eames unwittingly walked into the variation. His last move is the first deviation from the predecessor encounter, which had continued as follows: 17...Kg7 18.Kf1 Be7 19.Bd2 hxg5 20.hxg5 Bxg5 21.Nb5 Bh6 22.c5 a6 23.Na3 Ndf6 24.Nc4 Ne8 25.Ncxe5 dxe5 26.Nxe5 Rf6 27.Bc3 Kh7 28.Qg5 Qe7 29.Bd4 Qf8 30.Kf2 Ng7 31.Rag1 Nh5 32.Rxh5 gxh5 33.Qxh5 Ne7 34.Bd3 Bf5 35.exf5 Rd8 36.Ng4 1-0. A beautiful effort by Topalov's youthful second, and one which supplied almost all of the main ideas seen in the present encounter.

18.Kf1 hxg5 19.hxg5 Rxh1 20.Qxh1+ Kg7 21.Qh4 Be7

22.Nxf4!

As the Cheparinov game above shows, such piece sacrifices are entirely thematic in this variation. Black's hopelessly cramped log-jam of pieces on the queenside will be unable to come to the aid of their beleaguered monarch.

22...exf4 23.Bxf4 Ne5 24.Bd2 Nf7 25.f4 Kf8 26.Kg2 c5 27.Rh1

White systematically brings up the reinforcements, and takes aim at the enemy king.

 27...Bd7 28.Qh7 Be8 29.Bg4 a6 30.Be6 b5 31.Qxg6 Ra7 32.Rh8 1-0

A great game by Richard. As for 50 Ways to Win at Chess, it must surely be not merely the greatest chess book ever written, but one of the greatest contributions to world literature since the invention of the printing press...

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