Tata Steel Wijk aan Zee 2011 (13)
McShane's fine form
IM Malcolm Pein - Tuesday 8th February 2011
Malcolm Pein looks at Luke McShane's fine form recently that culminated in him qualifying for next year's Wijk aan Zee A-Group.
Navara and McShane drew in the final round of Wijk aan Zee. Photo © Michiel Abeln. | http://www.chess.co.uk/twic
Luke McShane's wonderful form at the London Chess Classic continued at Wijk aan Zee as he triumphed in Group B and secured an invitation to the Elite Group A next year. After a brilliant 5/6 start, the England international lost a little momentum but thanks to a swashbuckling win over former world junior champion Wesley So, given below, he went into the last round as co-leader with David Navara and played black against the Czech number one to decide the tournament.
McShane stayed true to his beloved King's Indian Defence and managed to withstand strong positional pressure and secure the draw he needed to win the tournament on tie break. Navara was also rewarded with a place in Group A at next year's Tata Steel tournament.
McShane gambits a pawn in the opening, 7.cxd5 cxd5 8.Bg5 is standard. In Group A Nakamura played 6...Ne7 7.Nge2 Bg4!? and scored a vital win.
L McShane - W So
Caro Kann Advance
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.c4 e6 6.Nc3 Nd7 7.Nge2 dxc4 8.Ng3 Nb6 9.Be2 Bg6 10.Bg5 Be7 11.Nge4 f6
(11...Bxg5 12.Nd6+)
12.Bf4 Nd5 13.Bg3 Qb6! 14.0-0 Nxc3 15.Nxc3 Qxb2
Wesley So
 |  | | |  | |  | |
 | | | |  | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | |  | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| |  | | | |  | |
|  | | | | | | |
 | | |  | | |  | |
Luke McShane
Position after 15...Qxb2
16.Bxc4!?
(Boldly offering a piece but 16.Rc1 Ba3 was pretty grim)
16...Qxc3 17.Rc1 Qb2 18.Bxe6 Rd8 19.d5 fxe5 20.Re1 Bf6 21.Re2 Qa3 22.Bxe5 Bxe5 23.Rxe5
(White has decent practical chances as Black cannot castle and will have to defend for a long time)
23...Kf8 24.Qe1 Qd6?
(Returning the piece 24...Nf6 25.dxc6 bxc6 26.Rxc6 Qa4 is far from clear)
25.Bxg8 Kxg8 26.Re6 Qxd5 27.Rxg6 Rh6 28.Rxh6 gxh6 29.Qe3 Rd7 30.Qxh6 Rg7
Black's king is too exposed to survive long
31.g3 Qd4 32.Qe6+ Rf7 33.Qe2 Kg7 34.Rf1 Kg6 35.Rd1 Qf6
(35...Rxf2?? 36.Qe8+)
36.Qe3 b6 37.Rd4 Re7 38.Qd3+ Kg7 39.Rf4 Qe6 40.Rf5 Rf7 1-0
In view of40...Rf7 41.Rg5+ Kh6 42.Qd1; 40...Rf7 41.Rg5+ Kf8 42.Qd8+ Qe8 43.Rg8+
Wesley So
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
Luke McShane
Position after 40...Rf7
The Vietnamese GM ever fully recovered from a poor start but I liked this game. Black plays Kasparov's 10...Re8 and then Bd7-c8, Nf6-d7-f6 an Rd8-c8 but soon stands very well. 20.Na4 was the culprit losing control of d5. Black makes the break d6-d5 and his rooks are perfectly placed.
F Nijboer - L Le Quang
Sicilian Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e6 7.0-0 Be7 8.f4 0-0 9.Kh1 Qc7 10.a4 Nc6 11.Be3 Re8 12.Qd2 Bd7 13.Nf3 Rad8 14.Bd3 Bc8 15.Qe2 Nd7 16.f5 Nf6 17.fxe6 Bxe6 18.Ng5 Ne5 19.a5 Rc8 20.Na4 Bg4 21.Qe1 d5 22.Nb6 Rcd8 23.Bf4 Bd6 24.Qf2 h6 25.Bxe5 Bxe5 26.Nf3 dxe4 27.Nxe5 Qxe5 28.Bc4 e3 29.Qh4 e2 0-1
