First was the Moscow Open, which was described by ChessBase as “nine rounds of brutal competition without rest, facing grizzled grandmasters and platoons of underrated masters coming from the Russian chess school…where only the strongest survive, as its prestigious list of past winners attests to. When a foreigner comes to it, the plan is more a matter of vini, vidi… I lived to tell the tale. So when nine rounds later a Vietnamese player had come through with 7.0 in 9 and a tie for first place with a near 2800 performance, he had earned rare bragging rights indeed.”
Without even a day’s rest, GM Le Quang Liem, a little-known 18-year-old — not anymore — then joined the Aeroflot Open, also in the Russian capital. This event is considered the strongest of its type, but Le topped it again, scoring 7 points in 9 rounds.
And so, after sacking Moscow by winning two open tournaments there in quick succession, Le is now “the fastest improver among the world top 50 and is…close to the 2700-rated grandmaster elite.”
According to our annotator, Albert Silver, Le’s Aeroflot “performance of 2870, not to mention his classy last round win, make it clear that not only will he be the first player from his country to break the 2700 barrier, but that this 18-year-old is a star on the ascension. Winning both the Moscow Open and the Aeroflot Open, 18 non-stop rounds against the fearsome Russian school, on their own turf? That’s a story his grandchildren will be bragging about.”
Game of the week. In the last round, Le had 6.0 in 8, followed by the 25-year-old Ukrainian Korobov, and the rising Russian star, 19-year-old Ian Nepomniachtchi. A blood battle was expected. “After a mere 10 moves in a Symmetrical English, the databases drew a blank, though the game remained quite balanced until move 15, when Nepomniachtchi took off his gloves.”
White: Le Quang Liem (2647)
Black I. Nepomniachtchi (2658)
English Opening
9th Aeroflot Open, Moscow 2010
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Qb6 6.Nb3 e6 7.e4 Bb4 8.Bd3 Ne5 9.0-0 Qd6 10.Bf4 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Qxd3 12.Bxe5 Qxc4 13.Re1 b6 14.Qf3 Bb7 15.Nd4 0-0-0. This proved to be unwise, and after 16.a4 Qc5 17.Bg3 e5? the various concessions combined with his vulnerable king made Black’s position fatally weak. The Russian’s fellow prodigy played with precision and panache, continuing with 18.a5!, after which the knight cannot be taken, since 18…exd4?? loses to 19.cxd4 Qxd4 20.axb6, and the end is imminent. Nepomniachtchi struggled, lost the exchange, and arrived in an endgame. 18…Rhe8 19.axb6 axb6 20.Nf5 g6 21.Ng7 Nxe4 22.Nxe8 Rxe8 23.Qxf7 Rf8 24.Qa2 Qc6 25.f3 Qc5+ 26.Bf2 Nxf2 27.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 28.Kxf2 e4 29.Re3 Kc7 30.Kg3 exf3 31.gxf3 Bd5 32.Ra4 Be6 33.Rh4 h5 34.Rf4 Ra8 35.h4 Ra5 36.Rf6 Bf5 37.Kf4 Rc5 Nepomniachtchi is hoping to hold, thanks to his extra queenside pawn, and perhaps a little help from his opponent. It wasn’t to be. 38.Kg5 Bc2+ 39.Kh6 Rc4 40.f4 b5 41.Re5 Rc6 42.Rf7 Kb6 43.Rxd7 Rxc3 44.Rd8 Ka5 45.Rb8 Rb3 46.Rc8 Bb1 47.Rb8 Ka4 48.Rb6 Rb4 49.Ra6+ Kb3 with Black’s king inexorably stuck on the other side of the board, the inevitable exchanges took place with 50.Rxg6 Bxg6 51.Kxg6 Rxf4 52.Rxb5+ Kc4 53.Rxh5 and Black was helpless to defend 53…Rg4+ 54.Kf5 Rg8 55.Rg5 Rh8 56.h5 Kd5 57.Kg6+ Ke6 58.Kg7 Re8 59.h6 Re7+ 60.Kg6 and 1-0.
Puzzler.
White — Ka4, Ba6, Nb8, Nc6, Qc1, pawns on e3 and h4
Black — Kd5, Nd6, Rf7, Bh7, Rh3, pawns on b3, c4, c7, d4, e6 and f3
White to play and mate in four.
Send your answers to “64” c/o Marianas Variety, P.O. Box 500231, Saipan MP 96950. Our fax no. is 670-234-9271. You can also e-mail idlasts @lycos.com or [email protected].
