Some games from TWIC.

Anton Guijarro,D-Banusz,T

Queen’s Gambit Accepted(D20) 3.e4 Nc6

3.e4 is Avurkh’s new recommendation for White in 1.d4 Vol1B(Quality Chess 2016) just published.

Black went for sharp counterplay but White was more than ready.

After 15..fe

Vovk-Ponizil

Grunfeld Exchange 8.Be3(D85)

After 16.a4!?(Diagram)

White ground out a win with some help from Black but the start was an interesting minority attack with 16.a4

After 16.a4

After 26..Rb5(Diagram)

Black is down a pawn and even after ..Rb2 keeping the rook active Black just could not generate any counterplay as f2 was secured very conveniently by White’s bishop.

After 26..Rb5

Cheparinov-Harikrishna

Queen’s Indian/Closed Catalan Hybrid(E15)

Black played a patient waiting game and defended against White’s typical queenside majority and was ultimately rewarded.

After 45.Kb4(Diagram)

The Q+B battery has been neutralised but the kingside pawn arrangement and now the Q+N tandem has a chance to be effective as Nc5 has a stable outpost.

After 45.Kb4

Malta Friends

Clarence and family stopped by for some chess.

The draw offer was declined.

Ocean played well but lost on time.

Ocean(left)

Clarence just played in the Olympiad for Malta and stopped over in Budapest on the way back to Malta.

All rook endings are drawn-someone

Example 9-158 Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual

White to Play(Diagram)

White has an extra pawn but Black’s rook is in an ideal defensive position, behind the passed pawn and targeting the f-pawn.

What does White do now? and what is the objective evaluation?

White to Play

Warning: You either know this or you don’t. This is very hard without prior knowledge.

4 Pawns vs 3 Pawns with All the Pawns on the Same Side

Most players know this is a theoretical draw.  Let’s have a closer look at the examples in Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual.

Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual

Korchnoi-Antoshin USSR ch 1954(Diagram)

If Black were on the move, the standard drawing plan is ..h5 followed by ..g6 and then trade off pawns whenever possible for the draw.

White to play

so anticipating the coming ..h5, White played 1.h5

White to Play

After 1.h5(diagram)

Black to play

So is this a draw? or can White squeeze out a win?

Black to Play

In order to grasp what is going on, knowledge of three other positions in needed

Position 1

Petrosian-Keres USSR ch 1951

Black to Play(Diagram)

This is a well-known standard draw type of position.

Black to Play

1..h5! is the key move and rear attacks by the black rook is the key defensive method.

Position 2

Botvinnik-Najdorf Moscow ol 1956

White to Play(Diagram)

This is a winning position for White.
The e4-e5 advance cannot be prevented and the weak light squares make it easy for the white king to infiltrate further and attack the backward g-pawn(with Kg6 to start with)

White to Play

1.Ra5 starts the winning process

Position 3

Capablanca-Yates Hastings 1930/31

White to Play(Diagram)

The winning plan is
-transfer the rook to the 8th rank
-f4-f5-f6+

White to Play

1.Rd6 is the optimal solution

And now back to the original question

Korchnoi-Antoshin USSR ch 1954

After 1.h5(Diagram)

Black to play and what result?

In the game after mutual errors, White eventually won. The analysis was quite confusing and I had to take quite a long time to get a better understanding.

Black to Play

1..Ra5! draws

The defensive method is
-provoke g3-g4(completely not obvious why)
-prevent e4-e5 with ..f6(key move)
-..Kg8-h7 to prevent Kg6 infiltration(also not obvious)
-side and rear attacks on the pawns.

All examples together

1.e4 vs The Sicilian III-Negi(Quality Chess 2016)

This is another must have book for 1.e4 players and Sicilian defenders.

Time to get to work

Work harder and work more.

• Ch 1-7 Taimanov(4..Nc6)
• Ch 8-14 Kan (4..e6)
• Ch 15-18 Scheveningen Keres Attack
• Ch 19-22 Sidelines

Here is sample line from Chapter 21 2..e6 Sidelines

After 8.ef(Diagram)

Negi gives 8..ab leading to a clear advantage for White, citing Hansen-Jiang Montreal 2012.

Theory has marched on as 8..Bxf2+ was played in Szabo,G-Mihok,O Hun Ch 2016 which was an improvement.

After 8.ef

After 14..gf(Diagram) of the Szabo-Mihok game

The game continued with 15.Bxb5+ and was eventually drawn but I propose 15.Qxd5N as an improvement(on the improvement) and White is slightly better

After 14..gf

It’s a nice book but I don’t play 1.e4 so that is all the work I feel like doing on this line.

The tedious task of creating and checking files continues with the new Avrukh repertoire book 1.d4 The Queen’s Gambit Volume 1B(Quality Chess 2016)

Better get busy

Avrukh has made to somewhere on my desk to be looked at sooner rather than later.

396 pages.

• Ch 1-6 QGA 3.e4
• Ch 7- 18 Slav 4.e3
• Ch 19-24 Minor Lines

Here is an example chapter

Ch 1 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 dc 4.e4 b5

Position 1

After 16.Bd2(diagram)

Avrukh’s sample line gives 16..Nc3?! leading to a clear advantage for White.

After 16.Bd2

I suggest 16..Rfc8= as an improvement.

Position 2

After 11.Bd4(Diagram)

Avrukh gives 11..f6 but 11..Nf6 bringing out a piece makes more sense to me.

After 11.Bd4

This is a must have book for 1.d4 players or if you just like books and have a lot of spare time.

My Avrukh diet is one chapter per day, more if I can manage it.

Chessbase Report

Nice Report by GM King

Almasi Games

Veteran GM Almasi,Z had a great Olympiad, seemingly winning game after game.

GM Almasi,Z(left) and two Polgars standing behind.

Almasi-Gelashivil

After 24..Nb6(Diagram)

The c-pawn looks like its just hanging but Black can reply ..Be4.

So should White take the pawn?

After 24..Nb6

L’Ami-Almasi

After 14.Rd1(Diagram)

White has not castled yet but has taken over the centre with his pawns. Black has a mobile queenside majority and an easy counterplay plan-just push the pawns.

How should Black play?

After 14.Rd1

Almasi-Kreisl

After 76..Kc2(Diagram)

How do you convert the extra pawn?

After 76..Kc2

Photos from Official Site

Iran

Botez,A(CAN)

Photos from Official Site

Open

Almasi had a great event while Rapport had a subpar performance.

Lithuania

Player info

Women

Hoang was solid on board one.

Player info

Photos from Official Site See also the Chessbase Report.

Ukraine-Bulgaira

The Hungarian teams became invisible-I can’t find any pictures of them.

Board Pairings – Women

Hungary lost by a wide margin to Poland.

Final Standings

The last round loss really hurt the Hungarian team who finished far below their 8th seed to finish at 16th on tiedbreaks.

China took the overall gold.

Board Pairings – Open

USA beat Canada by a narrow margin and won gold overall.

Almasi won again but only tied Greece.

GM Bareev(Can)

Final standings

Canada had an incredible result and finished 11th on tiebreaks.

Hungary was a slightly disappointing 15th on tiebreaks.

Barbados-Kenya