NH Experience vs Youth 2010 (3)
2nd win for Howell in a row at the NH tournament
IM Malcolm Pein - Tuesday 17th August 2010
David Howell beat Loek van Wely in Round 3 of the NH tournament in Amsterdam making it his second win in a row.
The stakes are high for the young players at the NH Hotels Rising Stars v Veterans tournament at Amsterdam. Not only are the Risting Stars taking on the opposing team, there is an internal battle of even greater magnitude. The highest-scoring Rising Star will be invited to the 2011 Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament in Nice supported by one of the most generous benefactors in the chess world, Mr Joop Van Oosterom.
After an unfortunate defeat in the first round which we examined yesterday, David Howell hit back with two wins. In round two Howell overcame Ljubomir Ljubojevic who is running desperately short of time in his games and in round three he defeated Loek Van Wely in a well played game.
D Howell - L Van Wely
4th NH Tournament Amsterdam
Sicilian Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nde2 h5
(Preventing White's intended g2-g4 so a change of plan is required)
8.Bg5 Be7 9.Ng3 h4 10.Nf5 Bxf5 11.exf5
(White must do everything in is power to prevent d6-d5 and to that end he gives up the pawn on f5)
11...Nc6 12.Bc4 Nd4 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.Bd5 Nxf5 15.Ne4 Qc7
(15...Qd7 defends the knight and supports d5)
16.c3 Be7 17.Qf3 g6 18.0-0-0 Kf8 19.g4 Nh6 20.Qe3
(Black's lack of coordination assures White of the advantage despite the pawn deficit.)
20...Kg7 21.Rhg1 Raf8 22.f4 exf4 23.Qd4+ Kh7 24.Nf6+ Bxf6 25.Qxf6 Re8
(Howell had 6 minutes for 15 moves and Val Wely 8 but Black is lost)
Loek van Wely
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David Howell
Position after 25...Re8
26.g5 Qe7
(26...Ng8 27.Qxf4 is lost for Black who plays without rook and knight)
27.Qxe7 Rxe7 28.gxh6 Kxh6 29.Rde1 Rhe8 30.Kd2 f5 31.Bxb7
(Calculating correctly Black's pawn mass can be halted)
31...Re3 32.b4 g5 33.Bf3! Rxf3
(Desperation but a4 and b5 were next and White wins)
34.Rxe8 Rxh3 35.Rh8+ Kg7 36.Rh5 Rg3 37.Rxg5+ Kf6 38.Rg8 Ke5 39.Re8+ Kd5 40.Rf1 h3 1-0
Loek van Wely
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David Howell
Final position after 40...h3
After falling behind, the Veterans won 4-1 in round 4. Black plays quite optimistically here, denuding his king, putting his queen offside and sending his knights on a time consuming errand. Ljubo finishes with little fuss and traps the queen.
L Ljubojevic - W So
4th NH Tournament Amsterdam
Gruenfeld Defence g3
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 Nc6 7.0-0 0-0 8.d4 Nb6 9.e3 Re8 10.Re1 a5 11.Qe2 a4 12.Rd1 Bd7 13.d5 Na5 14.Nd4 Qc8 15.Bd2 Bxd4 16.exd4 Bg4 17.f3 Bh3 18.Bxh3 Qxh3 19.g4 h5 20.Rac1 Red8 21.Qe4 Nac4 22.Bg5 Nxb2 23.Rd2 a3 24.Rg2 hxg4 25.Rxg4 Re8 26.Rc2! c6?!
(26...Qh5 27.Rcg2)
27.dxc6 bxc6 28.Rcg2 Nd5 29.Bh4 Qxg4
(29...Qxg2+ 30.Kxg2 Nxc3 31.Qxc6 Nxa2 32.Bxe7)
30.Rxg4 Nxc3 31.Qxc6 Nxa2
(31...Rec8 32.Qb7 Nd3 33.Qxe7 is good for White)
32.Bxe7 1-0
Rxg6+ follows with a mating attack
