Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2015
Monday 26 January - Thursday 5 February 2015
Round 2 Report: 28 January
by John Saunders
Hou Yifan Eclipses Judit Polgar
Two leading contenders, former world champion Veselin Topalov and six times Russian champion Peter Svidler
were held to draws in round two of the 13th Tradewise Gibraltar Masters, played at the Caleta Hotel on 28
January. Women's world champion Hou Yifan is amongst those on a maximum 2/2 and in the process she
moved to first place on the women's world ranking list, ahead of Judit Polgar, thus becoming the first woman
to rank above the great Hungarian player in 25 years.
Such is the strength in depth of this year's Tradewise tournament that elite players are handed tough pairings
with aspiring professional players as early as round two. Veselin Topalov, 39, came up against the 21-year-old
Indian grandmaster Das Debashis, ranked 20th in his country and 729th in the world. It soon became
complicated, then it was very complicated and, just before the time control, extremely complicated. The
engine on your laptop works it all out in a trice, of course, but don't be fooled, this was a great game in which
the young Indian can be proud that he fought toe to toe with (and came close to beating) one of the world's
greatest ever players. And the former world champion played pretty well, too.
Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2015, Round 2
D.Debashis (2503) - V.Topalov
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 c5 6.Nf3 d5 7.0-0 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Nc6 9.a3 Bxc3 10.bxc3 Qc7 11.h3 e5 12.a4
White normally proceeds 12.Ba2 here, but the text is an analysis engine suggestion. 12...Bf5 13.Ba3 b6 14.Bb5
One small tactical point is that 14.dxc5?! (which is positional undesirable anyway) 14...bxc5 15.Bxc5? Rfd8
and now 16...Na5 attacks two white bishops simultaneously. 14...e4 15.Nd2 Na5 16.Qe2 Rfd8 17.Rfc1 Be6
18.Rab1
White seems to have done a reasonable job in the opening but now Topalov turns on a bit of his trademark
aggression. 18...Rd5!? 19.Qf1 Rg5 20.Kh1 Rd8 21.Be2 Rg6 An unusual post for a rook but Black wants to keep
it on standby for a kingside offensive at some point. He is also subtly trying to provoke White into action
since the lower rated player would be conscious that his position was in danger of becoming static. 22.f4 White
is duly provoked into action. 22...exf3 23.Bxf3 23...Qd7 Here engines were screaming for 23...Rh6!? threatening
a direct attack against the white king. If then 24.Kg1 Black has 24...g5!? but it is not so easy for a human
to see it through to a conclusion. 24.Ra1 Nd5 25.Qf2 Bxh3! Topalov cannot restrain his natural impulses for
long. 26.c4 After 26.gxh3 Qxh3+ 27.Qh2 Qe6 White has to try 28.Bxd5 Qxd5+ 29.e4 Qc6 30.d5 Qf6 31.e5
Qf5 32.Rg1! and White could still be hanging on, but few humans would want to defend it against Topalov.
26...Nf6 27.gxh3 cxd4 27...Qxh3+ 28.Qh2 Qe6 is nothing special. 28.e4 If 28.exd4 Black has 28...Qxh3+
29.Qh2 Qxh2+ 30.Kxh2 Rxd4 with the neat twin threat of Rh4 mate and Rxd2, leaving him three pawns up.
28...Nb3! An attractive deflection, attempting to draw the d2–knight away from the defence of the f3–bishop in
order to play Qxh3+ and Qxf3+. 29.Bg2! The only chance, though most watching spectators thought White's
chances of drawing were now slim. 29...Nxa1 30.Rxa1 Re8 30...Qc7 may be more accurate. 31.Bb2 Nh5 32.Ra3
d3 33.e5 Rg3 34.Kh2 Qc7? A miscalculation in a very complex position. 34...f6 may be better though the
outcome remains unclear. 35.Ne4! d2
Now White hasn't time to take the d-pawn as Black would play ...Rxa3 followed by snaffling the e5–pawn with
dire consequences. But he continues to find the best moves. 36.Rxg3! d1Q Two queens on the board is
usually terminal but not here. 37.Nf6+ Kh8! 37...Nxf6 38.Qxf6 is, remarkably, game over. 38.Nxe8! Qc5! The
only move. If 38...Qe7 39.e6 f6 40.Nxg7 and again the tactics work out in favour of White. 39.Qxc5 bxc5
40.e6 fxe6 White emerges from the complications with the better game but it turns out not to be enough for a
win. So White headed for multiple exchanges and a highly honourable draw with one of the world's greatest
players. 41.Bxg7+ Nxg7 42.Nxg7 Qxa4 43.Nxe6 Qxc4 44.Ng5 a5 45.Ne4 a4 46.Rc3 ½-½
Peter Svidler too met strong resistance from Dennis Wagner, a 17-year-old IM ranked 45th in Germany and
751st in the world. The young German had prepared well and carefully neutralised the Russia super-GM's
attempts to imbalance the game, reaching a draw in 31 moves.
Such draws in early rounds do not unduly affect the top seeds' chances of overall victory but early losses can
be more serious. Round two casualties included Israeli grandmaster Emil Sutovsky, president of the Association
of Chess Professionals, and Simen Agdestein. At the end of the round there were 39 players on the maximum
score of two points out of two, including number two seed Hikaru Nakamura, Hou Yifan, English players
Gawain Jones and Jovanka Houska.
Hikaru Nakamura is a more circumspect player than in his impulsive youth but he produced a quietly
impressive win against Indian grandmaster Harika Dronavalli.
Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2015, Round 2
H.Nakamura (2776) - H.Dronavalli (2496)
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.b3 d5 4.Bb2 Be7 5.e3 0-0 6.d4 b6 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.0-0 c5 9.Nbd2 Nc6 10.Rc1 Rc8 11.a3 Re8 12.Re1
Bf8 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.cxd5 exd5 15.Qc2 h6 16.Qb1 Nd7 17.Bh7+ Kh8 18.Bf5 Rb8 19.Qa1 Qe7
20.b4! Played as much to reroute the d2–knight as to threaten anything with the pawn itself. It is underpinned
by careful calculation. 20...cxb4 21.axb4 a6 21...Nxb4? 22.Rc7 would be very unpleasant for Black, while
21...Qxb4 would leave the d7–knight en prise. 22.Nb3 Nde5? This leaves White free to occupy the c5 square
with his knight. Black probably had the coming combination in mind when she played 22...Nde5 but Nakamura
had seen further. 23.Nxe5 Nxe5 24.Nc5! Nf3+? 24...Nc4 is the best bet but 25.Bd4 and White now enjoys a
stable positional advantage. 25.gxf3 Qg5+ 26.Bg4 h5 27.Nxb7 Rxb7 28.Qxa6 hxg4 29.f4 White defends adequately
and now has an extra pawn. Even so, many players would have been reluctant to live with a fractured
kingside but Nakamura has satisfied himself it is strong enough to withhold any counterattacks. 29...Qe7 30.b5
Now the b-pawn comes into its own. 30...Qd7 31.b6 Bb4 32.Red1 Re6 33.Bd4 Rh6 Black hopes for something
miraculous to happen on h2 but now White has his own kingside offensive via the back rank. 34.Qa8+ Kh7
35.Rc8 Kg6 36.Rg8 Rh7 37.Qc8 Qe7 White doesn't try to find anything flashy but settles for a routine win with a
massively advanced and supported passed pawn. 37...Qxc8 38.Rxc8 is very straightforward. Black falls on her
sword. 38.Qxg4+ 1-0
Leading English contender Gawain Jones made an unconvincing start to his game against woman grandmaster
Salome Melia of Georgia, but eventually recovered to produce a neat finish.
Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2015, Round 2
G.Jones (2671) - S.Melia (2473)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.0-0 Bg7 6.h3 Nf6 7.Re1 0-0 8.c3 Rb8 9.d4 cxd4 10.e5 Nd5 11.Qxd4 a5
12.c4?! This weakens some squares on the queenside. White's opening has been less than successful and it
gets worse. 12...Nb4 13.Re2 d6 14.a3 Na6 15.Nc3 Nc5 White now has another weak square on b3 to deal with
plus the pin along the long dark diagonal. With nothing convincing to offer in defence, Gawain goes on the
attack. 16.Qh4 Nb3 17.Rb1 Analysis engines decide this is a blunder, instead offering 17.Nd4 when one point is
that 17...Nxa1?? allows 18.Nxc6 Qc7 19.Nd5, winning the queen. 17...Bf5 18.Ng5 One is tempted to suggest
that this is a case of 'when all else fails, threaten mate in one'. But perhaps there is a bit more to it than
that. 18...h6 19.Nge4
19...d5? Here Houdini thinks Black should put the boot in with 19...g5! but a human is bound to be more
circumspect about moving a pawn in front of the king like that. Perhaps White's previous show of strength on
the kingside was designed to discourage this. Or perhaps it was to encourage it, and take his chances in the
ensuing tactical melee. However, it may not be that complicated. If 19...g5 had been played, the game might
have continued 20.Qh5 (20.Qg3 Bxe5 21.f4 Nxc1 22.Rxc1 Bxf4 is disastrous) 20...Bg6 21.Qg4 Bxe5
22.Bxg5 hxg5 23.Qxg5 Nd4 and White has zero counterplay for the material and the prospect of worse
problems to come. 20.cxd5 cxd5 21.Bxh6 Bxe4 22.Rd1 Black has duly won her piece but at the cost of a
pawn. Perhaps more importantly, Gawain Jones's pieces have been prematurely released back into the
community where they are renowned for the mayhem they can cause. 22...Qe8?! 23.f3 Bf5 24.Nxd5 Things are
starting to get hairy for Black. To swap on h6 and then play Rd8, or to play Rd8 immediately - that is the
question. 24...Bxh6?? And that's the wrong answer: 24...Rd8 is correct when there are no Nf6+ cheapoes and
25.Nxe7+ loses to 25...Qxe7 26.Qxe7 Rxd1+ 27.Kh2 Bxh6 and rook and three pieces is more than enough
compensation for a queen and three pawns. 25.Qxh6 Now there is no answer to a knight slamdunked on f6.
25...Rd8 25...f6 26.exf6 is hopeless. 26.Nf6+! exf6 27.exf6 Rxd1+ 28.Kh2 Qb8+ 29.g3 1-0
Richard Rapport of Hungary rarely fails to play eye-catching games. This game proved popular with the
commentary team, Simon Williams and Elisabeth Pähtz, probably because it featured such a violent attack on
the king. Club players will relate to it: for one thing, it featured the London System (according to Simon) or 'the
Pig' (according to Russians, or at least so Elisabeth said) or the Torre Attack (according to a voice emanating
from the commentary production team). Can someone get in touch with English GM Mark Hebden and ask
him? He deserves naming rights to it as he has been playing it for decades. But, anyway, what's in a name? The
game's the thing. I think William Shakespeare said both of those things. Or was it Bobby Fischer? I tell you
what – shall I bring this whole, silly discussion to a close and just concentrate on the game? Probably best...
Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2015
R.Rapport (2716) - A.Tari (2487)
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 I had a later chat with Simon Williams about the naming of openings. We decided that the
London was when you put the bishop on f4, and the Torre was when you wear your dark-squared bishop
inside your pawn chain. Rather like tucking your jumper into your trousers. A real fashion faux pas, that. Yes,
I'm digressing again... 2...d5 3.e3 Nbd7 4.Nf3 c5 5.c3 e6 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.Bd3 0-0 8.a4 Now here's a thing. Did
White run his eye down the ChessBase tree for this move and discover that there were four games at an
eye-watering 87%, as compared to 521 games with 8.0-0 for a measly 59.7%? No, I doubt it - I imagine
he already had in mind a bit of kingside aggro. 8...b6 9.Qb1 Bb7 10.h4!? Having played a4, White plays h4.
He's not looking for a long game. 10...h6 11.Bf4 Ng4 Also Houdini's first choice.
12.Ng5!? I swear even Houdini 4 Pro twitched slightly when it was introduced to this move. But it concluded
that Black's reply was the best. 12...Ngf6 12...hxg5 13.Bh7+ Kh8 14.hxg5 f5!? isn't all over. If 15.Bxf5+ Nh6
16.gxh6 g5! and there's still a game to play. 13.Rh3 White uses his free move to indulge in more threatening
behaviour. 13...Qc8 14.Ndf3 hxg5? Finally Black succumbs to the temptation. Instead he should perhaps just
keep calm and think of Magnus Carlsen, e.g. 14...cxd4 15.exd4 Bd8, although it is most unpleasant to
withstand a sustained attack of this sort. 15.hxg5 Ne4 16.Bxe4 dxe4 After 16...f5 White simply retreats the
bishop with 17.Bc2! as the b1-h7 diagonal doesn't form part of the winning plan.
17.Kd2! Clearing a path for the heavy brigade to join the action. It's all over. 17...g6 18.Qh1 f6 19.Rh7! 1-0
Stopping the king flight via f7 and making way for the queen to enter at h6.
Hou Yifan's result was highly significant in that the win allowed her to overtake Judit Polgar's final FIDE rating
on the live list (although, for all we know, Judit might return to play one day). This is a landmark achievement
for the young Chinese player who it will be remembered scored another stellar result here in Gibraltar a
couple of years ago, beating Judit on the way to a share of first place with Nigel Short (eventually settled in the
Englishman's favour). It doesn't automatically make Hou a better player than Judit yet, of course. She still has
to surpass Judit's peak rating as well as record a few more significant tournament successes to match her over
a couple of decades, but it is certainly a milestone on her journey. It is particularly fitting that it should have
happened here in Gibraltar, where women's chess is given a level of prestige that it tends to lack elsewhere in
the world.
____________________________________________________________________________
John Saunders
Press Reporter, Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Congress - Twitter @GibraltarChess
Official website: www.gibraltarchesscongress.com
Personal Twitter Account @johnchess