Space

pace is one of the most important elements in chess in general. Pawn endgames are no exception. One of the conditions for a successful breakthrough is the advantage in territory.
However pure space advantage means more advanced and better enrgized pawns and might also be a key factor in the endgame:
Grigoriev
1927

[It seems as White is losing as the enemy king is more active. However, there is a deeper detail which decides the battle- space!]

1.Kc3! [White needs to win the opposition if they want to win!]

[1.Kd3? Kd5=]

1...Kd5 [1...Kf5 2.Kc4 Kg5 3.Kc5 Kxh5 4.Kb6 Kg4 5.Kxa6 h5 6.Kb6 h4 7.a6 h3 8.a7 h2 9.a8Q+–; 1...Ke6 2.Kc4 is winning for White, too.]

2.Kd3 Kc5 3.Ke4 Kb5 4.Kf5 Kxa5 5.Kg6 Kb4 6.Kxh6 a5 7.Kg6 a4 8.h6 a3 9.h7 a2 10.h8Q

Just in time! All of this was possible thanks to the space advantage of the white pawns!
1–0
The corner pawns proved faster thanks to their better energy and together with the geometrical motifs gave the win to white.
Surprisingly, a few days ago the same position could have occurred in the match between the "Snowdrops" and "Oldhands":
Uhlmann,Wolfgang (2319) - Tania,Sachdev (2400)
Snowdrops vs Oldhands Podebrady CZE (5.3), 13.12.2012

47.e3?? [One move too short. The legendary GM could have won with:]

[47.e4! dxe3 48.fxe3 Kf6 49.e4 fxe4 50.dxe4 c4 51.e5+! The pawns are swapped off and after: 51...Ke6 52.Ke4 c3 53.Kd3 Kxe5 54.Kxc3+– We suddenly reach the position from the Grigoriev's study! 54...Kd5 55.Kd3 Kc5 56.Ke4 Kb5 57.Kf5 Kxa5 58.Kg6 Kb4 59.Kxh6 a5 60.Kg6 a4 61.h6 a3 62.h7 a2 63.h8Q (a line given by chesstoday.com)]

47...c4!–+ [Breakthrough. It is now Black who suddenly wins!]

48.dxc4 d3 49.Kf3 Ke5

Chess is a cruel game sometimes...
0–1

At the European Capital of Culture (2)

In the second part of this article we continue the presentation of the new champions:
Without a clear rating favorite of the group (about whom you will read below), the girls under 14 championship was won by M. Mahalakshmi from India. She showed some very solid chess and shared the first place with N. Khomeriki from Georgia. The tiebreaks were favourable for Mahalakshmi though.
The Boys championship of the same age saw another American triumph. Chess.com's Kayden Troff recovered from his third round loss and with a breathtaking finish (3/3) snatched the gold in the last minute. His final game against the runner-up Ch. Aravindh was the most important one as the Indian player was a whole point ahead of the field and needed a draw to take gold. Alas, he could not stand the pressure in this game.
It is worth mentioning that both of the American gold medalists (Troff and Sevian) are part of Kasparov’s program for talented kids in USA. It must be most delightful to receive your medal by the former world champion who was also supporting you beforehand!
The under 16 group was Russian territory.
The ladies event was conquered by Anna Styazhkina who did not lose a single game and ended up with 9 points. The same number was achieved by another Russian player - Polina Rodionova.
Urii Eliseev took the gold in the open section. He was the rating favourite and allowed no surprises on the road for first place, edging out the competition by a half point.
The more mature age groups had fewer surprises. One could easily guess that the top seeds would dominate the event. The main reason for that is that they make less mistakes and their play is more stable.
The sensation of the girls’ eldest group became the triumph of Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia. She holds a respectable rating of 2378 and in the starting list was seeded second. So, where is the surprise then?
The thing is that Aleksandra was born on 1998 and still owns the right to play in the under 14 section. Instead, she decided to test her strength against the oldest girls and won the event more than convincingly, a clear point ahead of the pursuers. Thus, she added the World cup to her victories after also winning the European Girls U18 Championship.
In this tournament Lisa Schut of Netherlands almost lost her silver medal on the final day of the event when her taxi did not show up on time. Luckily, she made it just a few minutes before her allowed thirty minutes of tardiness were over.
This is a good moment to praise the organizers for their decision not to apply FIDE's Zero Tolerance rule (where players are forfeited even if they are just seconds late to the round). There were too many participants and many of them lived far away from the venue. It would be indeed unfair for these players to lose games just because of bad coincidences.
Last but not least, we have the under 18 boys ‘section. Poland had a real superstar in GM Dariusz Swiercz. The only surprise that he allowed was in round one when he drew. He then caught up to the leading group and managed to edge out the closest player, H. Gabuzian of Armenia, by a half point.
The most successful countries of the event were Russia and India. USA took third place.
It is obvious though that the chess map is widening and players from other countries have their chances for top prizes too. Especially in the younger age groups where the raw talent is most valuable.
The next WYCC will take place in Dubai, UAE. It promises superb conditions. The organizers have already launched their website and promise free accommodations to all the players and trainers at the event!
You can find nice pictures of the closing ceremony at the official site and here are selected fragments from the champions'games:
Chekmareva,Liya - Mahalakshmi,M
Maribor World U/14 Girls (5), 12.11.2012

25...Rxh3! 26.gxh3 [26.Qxb7 Qh2+ 27.Kf2 Rxc3–+; 26.Rxb7 Qh2+ 27.Kf2 Rg3 28.Rg1 Rxf3+ 29.Kxf3 Rf8+ 30.Ke2 Qxg1–+]

26...Qg3+ 27.Kh1 Qxh3+ 28.Kg1 Qg3+ 29.Kh1 Bxf3+ 30.Rxf3 Qxf3+ 31.Kg1 Qe3+ 32.Kf1 Rf8+ 33.Kg2 Qf2+

0–1

Goryachkina,Aleksandra - Baraeva,Irina (2173)
Maribor World U/18 Girls (3), 10.11.2012
How can White convert her indisputable advantage? Which maneuver does she need to perform?

40.Kd3! d4 41.Kxd4 Bd5 42.Ke5! Ra8 43.Kf6! Kh8 44.Rg6 Kh7 45.Rg7+ Kh8 46.Bg6

1–0


Styazhkina,Anna (2113) - Xiao,Yiyi (2136)
Maribor World U/16 Girls (10.1), 17.11.2012

Styazhkina starts a complex combination which leads to a favourable endgame:

24.Rxd5! Rxd5 [24...exd5 25.Nxc5]

25.Nf6+ gxf6 [25...Qxf6 26.Bxd5 exd5 27.Qe8+ Kh7 28.Qxc8+–]

26.Bxd5 Qd6! 27.Rd1! exd5 [27...Qxh2+ 28.Kf1 exd5 29.Qe8+ Kg7 30.Qxc8+–]

28.Qe8+ Qf8 29.Qxf8+ Kxf8 30.Rxd5±

White wins a second pawn and the rook and the pawns are better than the bishops in this particular situation.

30...Ke7 [30...Bb6 31.Rd6 Ba5 32.Rc6! Be6 33.Rxc5±]

31.Rxc5 Kd6 32.Rh5 h3 33.g3 Bg4 34.Rh4 Bd7 35.f3 Bb6+ 36.Kf1 Bf5 37.a3 Ke5 38.Ke2 Bg1 39.b4 Be6 40.c4 Bd4 41.Re4+

1–0

Some days ago while checking the exercises for my students I stumbled upon one that I saw in a practical game. The player with the White pieces, Julien Saada was my teammate of that time in my French team and the game that he played was decisive for the outcome of the match. If he had a chance to make a draw we would have won the match and qualify for Top 16 (the highest division of that time). Unfortunately, in the time trouble he could not find the correct solution.
Will you?
Saada,J - Alanic,J
National 1 Lilles, 07.05.2005

1.Nxg4! Rxg4 2.Bf3 Rag6

3.Rxg4! Rxg4 4.Kf6 h3 5.Kf5 h2 6.Bxg4+ Kh4 7.Bf3=

1/2
The general rule in endgames like that is to try and get rid of the opponent's pawns. They are the potential queens, thus the light pieces are not that valuable any more with less number of pawns on the board.
Fortresses like a light piece versus a rook (no pawns left!) should be searched for.
If Julien had remembered that the draw would be achievable.

At the European Capital of the Culture (1)

Maribor, the second largest city in Slovenia was the proud owner of this name at the year 2012. Many interesting activities took, and still take place in this beautiful town where the Drava river flows, and which is famous for its ski resorts. But the pearl in the crown of events without any doubt (at least for us) was the WYCC which was held at the middle of November.
A huge crowd of players (I am not sure about the exact number, but around 2000) plus an approximately the same number of entourage (parents, coaches, arbiters, etc.) flooded the quiet streets of Maribor and gave the start of many interesting battles.
The friendly Slovenians did their best to please the participants and succeeded in most of the things. Wonderful hotels, nature, air, badges for the players with which they could travel in the public transportation for free, warm attitude and understanding from the hosts-these were the main advantages of the event. The participants had also the chance to visit some more of the interesting cities in Europe like the Slovenian capital-Ljubljana, the famous chess town-Bled where the Olympiad from 2002 took place as well as the capital of Austria- Vienna.
Add to this all the presence of the almighty Garry Kasparov at the closing ceremony and you will know why this event was special.
When you gather together so many children and make them compete each other there are always many interesting stories to happen. One of my students who played under the group under eight had one of those. She played 1.e4 on the first move to see 1…Nc6 in reply. But just went the move was made her opponent started crying and explained that she meant to move first 1…c5 and only after that 2…Nc6. She even called the arbiter, explained the situation and demanded to take back the move in order to play properly what she meant to. When she did not receive the desired understanding the game continued 2.d4 Nc6-b8 and Black offered a draw. She did it twice more until my student who was at that time two pawns up blundered in piece at one. The draw offers then stopped…
It will probably take a month to tell all the interesting things that happened in Maribor, to describe all the emotions. But it is time now to have a look at the champions, those who will surely remember this championship all their lives.
Girls under eight section was won by Motahare Asadi from Iran with impressive 10.5/11. This girl is very tough; you will hardly find many mistakes in her games despite her age.
The rating favorite in the boys ‘section Nodirbek Abdusattorov from Uzbekistan scored 10/11 for a clear first. Sharp tactician, he played with noteworthy self-confidence and this gave him a chance to stay cool in the decisive games.
The gold at the 10 years and younger ladies went in India. N. Priyanka somewhat surprised the opposition as at her starting number was only thirty-three. But she became a champion with a spare round!
Boys under ten section saw the most merciless participant! Vietnamese Nguyen Anh Khoi did not allow even a draw to his opponents and scored eleven wins! Comment is not required here…
Most challenging were the groups under twelve. The young ladies got a princess from India again. Her name is R. Vaishali, she managed to edge out the competition by a half point after a tough and long battle in the final round.
Even more competitive was the boys ‘section. This group had one of the largest number of participants (192) and the tie for the first place of four players shows one small part of the suspense. While the kids were playing blitz in the foyer long after the end of the last game one could see parents playing for the tiebreaks to be the right ones.
Prayers were heard in USA and Samuel Sevian took home the most precious medal.
I suggest now that you try your tactics with the young world champs:

1) Asadi,Motahare - Ismayil,Malak
Maribor World U/8 Girls (10.1), 17.11.2012
[Bojkov,Dejan]

28.f5! Ne7 [28...exf5 29.Rxe8; 28...gxf5 29.Nxf5 Ra7 30.Nh6+ Bxh6 31.gxh6 followed by Re2–g2 when mate is coming soon.; 28...Bd7 29.f6 Bh8 30.Rh2 and next Bd3xg6 is coming- 30...Ra7 31.Bxg6!+–]

29.f6+– [White won a piece and the game later.]

1–0

2) Nguyen,Anh Khoi (1923) - Ram,Aravind L N (1983)
Maribor World U/10 Open (10.1), 17.11.2012
[Bojkov,Dejan]

23.Nf5+! Qxf5 [After: 23...gxf5 24.Rxd5 Rc6 25.Qd2 Rxc1+ 26.Qxc1 White is better due to the damaged pawn structure of the opponent.]

24.Rxd5 Rc6 [Otherwise White wins the pawn after- 24...f6 25.Qd4]

25.Rc5 Rxc5 26.Qxc5 [White wins a pawn:]

26...Nc6 [26...Ra8 27.Qd4]

27.Qc4 Re8 28.b5 Nb8 29.Qd4+ Kg8 30.Rc5+– [and White won later.]

1–0

3) Batjargal,Irmuuntulga - Abdusattorov,Nodirbek (1949)
Maribor World U/8 Open (10.1), 17.11.2012
[Bojkov,Dejan]

24...Bxa2+! 25.Kxa2 b1Q+! 26.Rxb1 Qa4+ 27.Kb2 Rxc2#

0–1

4) Sevian,Samuel (2347) - Xiong,Jeffrey (2252)
Maribor World U/12 Open (7.1), 14.11.2012
[Bojkov,Dejan]

16.Nf5! exf5 17.exf5 Bxf5 18.Rxe8+– Bg6 19.Rxf8+ Kxf8 20.Qxd6+ [and White won later.]

1–0

5) Vaishali,R (1970) - Abdumalik,Zhansaya (2173)
Maribor World U/12 Girls (8.1), 15.11.2012
[Dejan Bojkov]

31.Rxf6! Rxf6 32.Bxe5 Raf8 33.Rd8 Kg8 34.Bxf6

1–0

Facing the KID (2)

This is the second encounter of GM Andrey Sumets against the KID in which he chose a rare line to fight the defense.

Sumets,A (2618) - Naroditsky,D (2486)
Montreal 2012 (9)
[Sumets A]

[That game was played in the last round of Montreal open. After 8 rounds I had 5,5 points.L. Bruzon and W. So had 6,5 points and there were several players who had 5 points. So I understood well that if I had made draw I would have had an excelent chance at least to share 3–rd place. I didn't want to play strictly for draw but I wanted to play solid.]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.0–0 d6 6.Nc3 [Last round was played in the morning so I hadn't have much time to prepare well against my opponent. I saw my young opponent usualy plays Kings Indian Defense so I assumed that he should be a tactical player and it might be difficult for him to play such type of positions. So I was a little surprised when I was informed he wrote a book "Mastering Positional Chess".]

[6.a4!? It looks unusual so might be interesting]

6...Nbd7

[6...d5 I consider this move as the strongest one. I played this position several times and I can't say that I've got an opening advantage. 7.Re1 Bf5 I consider this move more logical than 7...c6 because white have to play Nh4 to push e4 then knight should go back. However, according to chessbase and my own experience black seems to be OK after 7..c6 as well. (7...c6 8.e4 dxe4 9.Nxe4 Nxe4 10.Rxe4 Bf5 11.Re1 Nd7 12.Bg5 perhaps not the best move (12.c3!? Nb6? (12...Re8 13.Bf4) 13.Qb3 Qd7 14.Ne5 Qc8 15.a4± Romanishin O - Stefansson H 1992 1–0 (42)) 12...Re8 13.c3 Qb6 14.Qb3 Be6?! Perhaps Bartosz wanted to play for winning but his decision was at least dubious. After 14...e5 it's hard to imagine white's or black's victory (14...e5! 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.dxe5 Bxe5=) 15.Qa3 Qd8?! (15...Bf6 16.Bf4 and White was slightly better (16.Rxe6!? fxe6 17.Bh3 Nf8 18.Bf4 is also interesting with ample compensation.) ) 16.b3? (16.Rxe6! fxe6 17.Qb3 Nf8 18.Qxb7 Rb8 19.Qxa7 Rxb2 20.Nd2 (20.a4 Qb8 21.Qxb8 Rexb8 22.Bf1©) 20...Qa8 21.Qxa8 Rxa8 22.a4) 16...a5 17.c4 a4 18.Qb4 c5 19.Qxb7 cxd4 20.Rad1 Rb8 21.Qa7 Ra8 1/2 Sumets A - Socko 2004 0.00/0) 8.Nh4 Be6 9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 c6 (11...Bd5!? 12.Bxd5 Qxd5 13.Rxe7 Bxd4 14.Be3 Nc6 15.Rxc7 Rad8 16.Nf3 Qa5 17.Rxc6 Bxe3 18.Rd6 Bb6) 12.c3 Nd7 13.Bg5 Nf6 14.Bg2 Bd5 15.Nf3 Re8 16.Qc2 Qb6 17.Re2 c5 (17...h6! 18.Be3 Rad8) 18.Rd1 cxd4?! 19.Rxd4 Rad8 20.c4 Bc6 21.Rxd8 Qxd8 22.b4 b6?! (22...Qc7) 23.b5 Bb7 24.Ne5± Sumets A - Fernandez Siles, L 2011, 1–0 (34)]

7.e4 [7.a4!? a5 8.e4 (8.b3!?) ]

7...e5 [7...c5 A rare move. White could play an expedient line of Dragon variation of Sicilian defense or try to give the game an unusual direction 8.e5 Ne8 9.exd6 Nxd6 10.Re1 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Re8 12.Ndb5 Ne5 13.h3 Nxb5 14.Nxb5 Bd7= Landa K - Varavin V 1996 1–0 (55)]

8.h3 Re8 9.Re1 c6 10.a4 a5 [10...Qc7 11.Be3 b6 12.Nh2!? (12.Qd2 Bb7 13.Rad1 Rad8 14.Bh6 a6) 12...Bb7 13.f4 a6 14.dxe5 dxe5 15.f5 b5 16.g4 Rad8 17.Qc1 Nb6 18.b3 b4 19.Ne2 c5 20.Ng3 Rd4 21.a5 Nc8 22.Bxd4 exd4 23.e5 Nd5 24.f6 Bf8 25.Bxd5 Bxd5 26.Qf4 Na7 Landa K - Sokolov A 1991 1/2 the game is a good reason for Sofia's rule supporters to talk about the necessity of this rule. It's hard hard to believe that the continuation of the game would have been dull for chess fans]

11.Be3 exd4 12.Bxd4 Rb8!?

During the game I considered this move as the dubious one. Somebody told me that my opponent will take a GM norm if he beats me. So I guessed that Daniel wants to complicate position in the risky way. However when I checked the game with chessbase I found 2 games of B. Gelfand.]

[12...Qc7 13.Nh2!?; 12...Nf8]

13.Qd2N [As I said before the draw was an acceptable result for me but I found it too cynical to repeat position by this way.]

[13.Ba7 Ra8 14.Bd4 Rb8 15.Ba7 1/2 Malaniuk V - Gelfand 1997 0.00/0; 13.Re2 Qc7 14.Qe1 Ne5 15.Nd2 b5 16.axb5 cxb5 17.f4 Nc6 18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.Nd5 Qa7+ 20.Kh2 Bg7= black is O K Lobron E - Gelfand B 1993 1/2 (30). You can see this game commented in the inf 58; 13.e5 dxe5 14.Nxe5]

13...b5?! [if somebody played 13...Ne5!? I would think that he is a very interesting positional player who appreciates so much black squared bishop but... a computer recommends it! It seems that black has a good contreplay everywhere. For exemple 14.Bxe5 dxe5 15.Qxd8 Rxd8 16.Nxe5 Be6! (16...Nd7 17.Nc4 Ne5 18.Nxa5 Rd2 (18...Ra8 19.Nb3 Nc4 20.Bf1 Nxb2 21.e5±) ) 17.Rad1 Rxd1 18.Nxd1 (18.Rxd1? Nxe4! 19.Nxe4 Bxe5) 18...Nd7 19.Nxd7 Bxd7 20.f4 Bd4+ 21.Kh1 Be6 with compensation; 13...Qc7 14.Rad1 Ne5 15.Qe3 b6 (15...Nc4 16.Qg5 h6 17.Qc1) 16.Nd2 Rd8 (16...c5? 17.Bxe5 dxe5 (17...Rxe5 18.Nc4 Re6 19.Nb5) 18.Nb5 Qe7 19.Nc4) 17.b3]

14.axb5 cxb5 15.Nd5

During the game I was happy with my position]

[15.Bxf6 I can't recommend it 15...Nxf6 16.e5 dxe5 17.Qxd8 Rxd8 18.Nxe5 b4 19.Nd1 Re8 20.Rxa5 Nd7 where Black has good compensation.]

15...a4! [15...Nxe4? 16.Rxe4! (16.Qxa5!?) 16...Rxe4 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Nd4 Rxd4 (18...Re5 19.Nc6 Qg5 20.Qd4 Rb7 white has many ways to win. I would prefer 21.Nxa5 Rb8 22.Nc6 Rb7 23.h4 Qf5 24.f4; 18...Re8?? 19.Nc6; 18...Re5 19.Nc6 Qe8 20.Nxb8 Nxb8 21.f4 Re2 22.Qc3+ Kh6 23.g4+–) 19.Qxd4+ Nf6 20.Nxf6 Qxf6 21.Qa7 Qxb2 22.Re1 Qc3 23.Re8+–; 15...b4 16.Nxf6+ Bxf6 17.Bxf6 Nxf6 18.e5 dxe5 19.Qxd8 Rxd8 20.Nxe5±; 15...Bb7 16.Qxa5 Qxa5 17.Rxa5 Nxd5 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.exd5 Rxe1+ (19...Bxd5 20.Rxe8 Rxe8 21.Rxb5±) 20.Nxe1±]

16.Qb4 [16.Rad1 Bb7! (16...Nxe4 17.Rxe4! (17.Qf4 f5) 17...Rxe4 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.Nd4 Rxd4 (19...Re5 20.Nc6 Qf8 21.Nxb8 Nxb8 22.f4 Re6 23.Nc7 Re7 24.Nxb5+–) 20.Qxd4+ f6 (20...Nf6 21.Nxf6 Qxf6 22.Qa7+–; 20...Kh6 21.Qf4+ Kg7 22.Qxd6+–) 21.Nf4 Qb6 22.Qb4!±) 17.Nxf6+ Nxf6 18.e5 Bxf3! 19.Bxf3 dxe5 20.Bxe5 Qxd2 21.Rxd2 Nd7 22.Rxd7 Rxe5=]

16...Bb7 17.Nxf6+ [17.Nc3!? maybe it is stronger than 17.Nf6. I didn't see this retreat because several moves ago I was so happy with my knight on d5. 17...Nc5!?

a) 17...Bf8?! 18.Qxb5 Bxe4 19.Qxa4;

b) 17...Ba8 18.Nxb5 Nc5 19.e5 Bxf3 20.Bxf3 Nfd7 21.Bg2 Nxe5 22.Red1!

(22.Rad1? Qd7 23.c4 Ncd3+–) 22...Qd7 23.c4 Ned3 (23...Nxc4 24.Qxc4 Rxb5 (24...Qxb5 25.Qxb5 Rxb5 26.Bc6) 25.Bf1 Bxd4 (25...Rbb8?? 26.Bxc5) 26.Qxb5±) 24.Qc3 Bxd4 25.Nxd4 Nxb2 (25...Ne5 26.f4 Ned3 27.Rxd3 Nxd3 28.Qxd3 Rxb2 29.Qa3 Reb8 (29...Rd2? 30.Qc3+–) 30.Qxa4 Qxa4 31.Rxa4 Rd2 32.Nb5 Re8 33.Bf1 Re3 34.Ra3±) 26.Rd2 a3 27.Bc6 Qxh3 28.Bxe8 Rxe8 29.Re2; 18.Nh2

a) 18.e5?! Nfd7! 19.exd6 Na6 20.Rxe8+ Qxe8 21.Qa5 (21.Qxb5?! Bxf3 22.Qxa4 Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Rb4 24.Qxa6 Bxd4 25.Qa8 Rb8 with large advantage for Black.) 21...Bxf3 22.Bxg7 Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Kxg7 24.Qxa6 Rb6 25.Qa5 b4 26.Nxa4 Qe4+ 27.Kg1 Rxd6‚;

b) 18.Ng5?! h6 19.e5 Nfd7 20.e6 fxe6 21.Bxb7 Rxb7 22.Nge4 Bf8; 18...Re6 19.Rad1 Qc8 20.Nf1 Ba8 21.f3 Bf8 22.Qa5]

17...Bxf6 18.Qxb5 Rxe4?? [a huge blunder]

[18...Bxd4! 19.Nxd4 Nc5 20.Qc4 Rc8 21.Rad1 Qf6 22.Qb4 Bxe4 with complicate position where white's chances seems to be a little better.; 18...Bxe4?! 19.Qxa4 d5 20.Bxf6 Nxf6 21.b4; 18...Nc5 19.Bxc5 (19.Qc4 Bxd4 20.Nxd4 the transposition to 18...Bd4 (20.Qxd4 Rxe4=) ) 19...dxc5 20.Qxa4 Bxb2 21.Rab1І I don't believe that black's enough compensation for a pawn]

19.Ba7!+–

19...Rxe1+ 20.Rxe1 Bxf3 21.Bxb8 Bxg2 22.Kxg2 Bxb2 23.Qxb2 Nxb8 24.Qb5 Nd7 25.Qxa4 h5 26.Qd4 Nc5 27.Rd1 Qe7 28.c3 Qb7+ 29.Qd5 Qb2 30.c4 Qe2 31.Rd2 Qe1 32.Ra2 Ne6 33.h4 g5 34.hxg5 h4 35.Qf5

1–0

Interview

The following interview was given in July this year for the chess.com site. The author is the free lance journalist Per Morten.

What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favorite movie?

It’s hard to mention only one. I love the movies of Pedro Almodovar and Guy Ritchie.

What kind of food and drink do you prefer?

Any food as long it is combined well with the drinks. I love to experiment and try new things, especially if there is a native who can advise me about what to choose.

What is your favorite book?

"One hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez

What music are you currently grooving to?

Rock, hard rock, but I can enjoy almost anything. The music I love are classical rock bands like Rainbow and Marillion (my favourite) but also Deep Purple, Def Leppard, Beatles, Pink Floyd, ACDC, whatever you can think of from the golden age of rock.

Tell me a chess secret?

I would keep it if I knew it.

What is your best chess memory?

Winning the individual Bulgarian title in 2009.

Which do you think is worse, failing or never trying?

Definitely the latter. I guess that the main reason for that is that you keep on coming back thinking over and over what would have happened if you don´t try, while if you fail, you have the consolation that you have at least tried.

What chess player have you ever wanted to be and why?

I always wanted to be Tal for his sparkling combinational genius, Petrosian for his untouchable style and Larsen for his immense creativity and self-confidence. Lasker ranks as well, for his fighting spirit and wisdom.

What do you do to get better at chess?

I work a lot or at least I used to when I had fewer students. There is no big secret; it is the usual stuff - analyses, solving chess combinations and studies, reading magazines, books, following the flow of the information on the internet.

How old were you when you began to play chess?

Six- six and a half years old. My father taught me and then brought me to the chess club when I was seven. My brother also played and we had these long family tournaments almost every night; the loser had to gather the chess pieces.

Do you have a family?

I have a wife, a son and am waiting for another one.

Is the Internet a big part of your life?

Of course. This interview is conducted on the internet…It is an amazing thing, to connect the people all over the world that easily.

What was your childhood like?

Happy, with a lot of play. We did not have computers and were enjoying the simple things in life - playing all sorts of children's games. I remember that it was a big thing when we bought a T.V. set…

What is chess to you – a game of combat or of art?

Why do we need to separate the two?

How much time do you devote to chess?

This is my profession so I try to devote as much time as I can. The more, the better. True, most of it is no longer dedicated to my development as a better player.

What is your inner being?

A thinker and sometimes a believer.

Who is your inspiration?

Bob Marley, Johnnie Walker? Those who keep on walking and never give up inspire me. The inventors are also inspiring.

What is your greatest fear?

That I might not find the sense.

Do you prefer blitz, otb tournaments or correspondence style chess?

Otb. I enjoy the tournament atmosphere, hanging around with people, analyzing, socializing.

Who is your most difficult opponent?

Myself.

Describe a perfect day.

The one where you have a choice what to do and the one in which the people that you love are around you. The day in which you can share your happiness with them. Any day can be perfect.

What is the best game you ever played?

One of my good games was chosen best game at the Metropolitan International in L.A. 2011. However, I cannot choose the best one for myself.

Is there any chess book that has had a deep and lasting influence on you?

"Zurich International Tournament, 1953" by David Bronstein. Also the selected games of almost all the world champions and their contenders.

If you could choose to live one day of any time in the history of mankind, which time would that be and why?

Today is a good day!

Do you have any favorite hobbies?

I love reading books and watching movies. It brings me a lot of pleasure to go out in nature, too. For example Mountain hiking.

What is your most treasured possession?

Last year my laptop was stolen. I thought for a while that this was a big loss until I realized that the things that I grieve for are the chess files that I have lost. Objects cannot be treasured possessions for me.

Are you a superstitious person?

In some comical way, yes. I used to have lucky pens. They were supposed to be used when I play, but what I would usually do is change pens until I find “the lucky one” and hide it in the wardrobe.

What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in chess?

To be organized, systematic and adaptive, and to trust myself.

What does your future hold as a chess player?

Right now I am not sure. I thought that I can combine coaching and chess journalism with playing. However, it gets harder and harder.

How would you describe yourself to an alien from another planet?

Show him my best game?

Do you have any thoughts on how chess.com can get even better?

We can make it a better place if we follow Pooh’s wisdom: “If you do not have anything good to say, better say nothing.” The content of the site is great, it's a rich source of information. It is only up to us to become better and behave politely with others.

The Color of the Olympiad

The offer to train the Papua New Guinea (PNG) team came as a surprise some months ago. This would be a completely new experience for me and I naturally did not want to miss the Olympiad. I have send my email to the members of the team and told them to write me whenever they have questions concerning their preparation. They did not, and I understood they would not once that I saw them in Istanbul.
All my teammates were colourful characters. A successful businessman, famous journalist, former teacher and member of the secretary of the commission for developing countries were united in the chess squad. They were also very experienced players with number of Olympiads but very busy with their own business.
“Our goal is to play some good games, and if you can help Craig win his first game that would be an enourmous achievement”, told me Shaun Press, our reserve player at the start of the event. Craig Skehan was playing his sixth Olympiad and the statistics showed that he holds the record for the most number of games without a win in the Olympiad. This is a record that stretches back to 1986 and extends over 6 Olympiads. In that time he played 59 games (defaults not counting) for a record of 10 draws and 49 losses. He also started poorly here, as well as the whole team.

“Do not worry, we usually start winning our matches at around eight-ninth round…”fellows tried to cheer me up. Still, the first win came in round four against the team of Burundi. A sad fact is that the African country had only two players as the remaining part of the team had problems with the viza. Some other countries have suffered similar problems. For instance the Bermuda’s second and third boards were stuck at the airport for more than a day and even missed the first round. The chaos of the opening round combined with (supposedly) language barrier caused a default of the Sierra Leone’s team at the start of the Olympiad. They just could not make it through the entry doors in time and lost due the “Zero Tolerance Rule”. This team was also having a shortage of a player till the end of the tournament.
Other teams tend to appear a bit late for the event. The Angola team is a bright example. People do not know what the reason is for that and they speculate between financial reasons (save of costs) of pure practicism- the Angolans avoided two strong teams in the first two rounds and started immediately with two wins in round three and four. The latter is a tricky tactic as the developing teams have special categories and also compete for special prices. Whatever the reason is though, FIDE should take this into consideration as in no other sport a team has the right to compete once that the tournament is in progress.
My teammate Rupert Jones told me a lot of the developing countries in chess. He used to live, work and compete for Botswana. Together with South Africa this country remains one of the best progressing countries in the continent. A good sign for their progress is that their national teams are now trained by two GMs- I. Glek and T. Abergel respectively.
It appears that more than the halves of the FIDE member countries are still developing. The things that FIDE do in this area are correct. They provided the countries free training during the Olympiad and will pay for the airfares for the next two. More than a million American dollars are offered by the hosts from Norway and Azerbaijan and this money is well spent for support of the countries in need.
Additional things that will help are training seminars for chess instructors, arbiters and organizers in each country which will provide an effective process of overall chess improvement. The sooner these countries become independent of FIDE, the better.
We also won in round five and good a good deal of optimism. Later on I discovered that the night blitz games are helping the team not only from social but from practical view too. Towards the end of the tournament the top board Stuart Fancy felt more confident and produced a streak of winning games. And when a leader is playing well the team is always good, too! We scored eight valuable points, which was a big success. And, in the last round the miracle had happened- Craig won his first game! His sixtieth Olympiad game was the lucky one, the one in which his distant passed pawns managed to stretch the opponent’s bishop and award him with the cherished win!

“The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.” Pierre de Coubertin
For some of the player in Istanbul this was right. But still, you need to see the desire and the flame in the eyes of those players heading for the games!