America’s Nakamura, fresh from his victories in the Internet Chess Club open event and in a match against former FIDE champ Ponomariov of Ukraine; Russia’s Karjakin, the youngest GM in history; and the host country’s leading player, Nisipeanu.
In Spain, world champ Anand of India crushed Latvian-Spanish GM Shirov in an active match, 4.5-1.5. In Sweden, young GMs Giri of Italy and So of the Philippines topped the six-man round-robin event while in the Philippines, Filipino GM Laylo won the Pichay Chess Cup, besting a strong field that included GMs from other countries.
Last month, the Philippines hosted an open chess championship which was won by Indonesia’s GM Susanto Megaranto. Sharing second to fourth places were GMs Mark Paragua of the Philippines, Zhang Zhong of Singapore and IM Richard Bitoon of the Philippines. Forty-eight competed in the event whose top two finishers will play in the 2011 World Cup this August in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. From this tournament, the top three will join five others in a candidates match-tournament to determine the next challenger to the world champion.
Game of the week. Here’s Paragua, who finished the tournament undefeated, against a compatriot. Bobby Ang annotates.
White: NM Edgar Reggie Olay (2343)
Black: GM M. Paragua (2542)
Gruenfeld Defense
Tagaytay City 2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Rb1 0-0 9.Be2 I have seen a lot of people play 9.Be3?! in this position. It looks natural but is actually a mistake, as White does not want to defend d4 — his plan is to play d4-d5. 9…b6 [9…cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Qxa2 12.0-0, which used to be one of the main lines, is no longer popular, as White’s pawn center and active pieces is too strong] 10.0-0 Qc7 11.Bg5 Bb7 12.Qd3 e6 Mark wants to play …Nd7, but has to get the pawn out of the way first. In her book on the Gruenfeld, Yelena Dembo recommends that the best plan for Black would be 12…h6! to take out the bishop from its active post. If white retreats it to h4 then Black has 13…cxd4 14.cxd4 Qf4! On the other hand if White retreats it to e3 then 13.Be3 Rd8 14.d5 e6 15.c4 Nd7 with chances for both sides. 13.d5 A recommendation of Korchnoi. White can also play 13.Qe3!? to get his queen out of the way of a potential …Ba6. 13…exd5 14.exd5 Qd6 It looks like Black has equalized already. 15.c4 Nd7 16.g3 The obvious plan is to play 16.Nd2 aiming for e4, but it is not so simple. Black has 16…Rfe8 17.Ne4 Qe5 1) 18.Bf3? f5 19.Nd2 (19.Ng3 f4 20.Ne4 h6 traps the bishop) 19…h6 20.Be3 f4 wins the bishop 2) 18.f3 18…f5 19.Ng3 Qd4+ Black is doing very well. 16…Nf6 17.Bf4 Qd8 18.Ne5 Re8 19.Nc6 Qd7 20.Rfe1 Ne4 21.Bg4 Qxg4 22.Rxe4 Qd7 23.Ne5 Qf5 24.g4 Typical Reggie Olay. 24…Qc8 25.h3 f5 26.Re2 fxg4 27.d6 Rf8 28.d7 Qd8 29.Bg3 At first glance it looks like White is winning, but now Mark’s forces rush into the void behind enemy lines and his two bishops in particular become very dangerous. 29…gxh3 30.Rbe1? Correct is 30.Qd6 so that if 30…Qg5 then 31.Qe6+ followed by Qxh3 30…Qg5! Threat: 31…h2+ 31.Kh2 Bxe5! 32.Rxe5 [32.Bxe5?? Qg2#] 32…Rxf2+ 33.Kxh3 [33.Bxf2 Qg2#] 33…Bg2+ 34.Kh2 Be4+ 0-1 Reggie resigns. A pity he didn’t allow the pretty finish 34…Be4+ 35.Kh3 Rh2+! 36.Bxh2 Bg2#
Puzzler.
White: Ka5, Nb5, Qc1, Bd3, pawn on d4
Black: Kd5, Ne5, pawns on a6 and f3
White to play and mate in three moves.
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