[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: The Daily Update: ECC, Essent

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
The Daily Update: ECC, Essent
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1224784938.shtml


   We start with the [1]European Club Cup. Games (you can download them
   through [2]TWIC) that caught my eye from today's round are:
   Bologan-Naiditsch, not so much for the majority of the game but for
   Black's defense in the rook and pawn ending starting from move 30 or
   so.
   Shirov-Fridman saw Shirov win his third quick game with White. Black
   was fine out of the opening, but 20...Qa6 was, surprisingly, a big
   mistake and gave White some neat tactical possibilities. His next
   move, 21...Nc5, actually loses the game, but it might take a minute or
   two to figure out why Black resigned. (I'll provide the explanation at
   the end of the post - click on "Show" only when you're ready to see
   the answer.)
   Karjakin-Ivanchuk was a super-sharp English Attack won by Ivanchuk in
   terrific style (and probably with terrific prep as well). How does he
   do it?
   Tregubov-Wang Yue and Pelletier-Ni Hua weren't scintillating like the
   two previous games, but they are fine examples of high level technical
   chess.
   Huzman-Carlsen was entertaining thanks to Huzman's sacrificial play;
   unfortunately for the Israeli GM, Carlsen's very cool defense
   prevailed. White might have had sufficient compensation (but not more)
   for the original exchange sac with 25.Qe3, but the subsequent knight
   sac was a bridge too far.
   In another tussle between a super-GM and an "ordinary" Israeli GM
   (though the 19 year old Rodshtein is still young enough to make
   serious progress to still higher levels), it was the super-GM who took
   the fall: Aronian lost with White to Rodshtein in a Meran Variation
   with 10.d5 (as opposed to the 10.e5 line we've seen twice from Kramnik
   against Anand). It was a very exciting game and possibly of
   theoretical significance as well, so add that one to your to-do list.
   In yet another interesting game featuring an Israeli player, young IM
   Nabaty played the Evans Gambit against Petrosian, and won, though it
   can't be said that he had anything special out of the opening.
   Moving on to [3]Essent: In the Crown Group, Sokolov finally slowed
   down, drawing (with Black) against tailender Sebag, while Adly
   defeated Smeets and thereby leapfrogged him into second. Current
   standings: Sokolov 3.5 (out of 4), Adly 2, Smeets 1.5, Sebag 1.
   Alexander Fier, who defeated Robson in round 5, continues to lead the
   Open outright with 6/7, but Robson has bounced back nicely with a draw
   in round 6 and a win today against Ulibin; he has 5 points and must be
   in the running for a GM norm.
   As for [4]Chicago, there's still no news, so if anyone in the area (or
   any of the players, for that matter) has something to report, please
   let me know!

   ([5]show)

   (Shirov-Movsesian question:) The answer, surprisingly, isn't that
   Black's queen gets trapped. Or at least, that's not the whole story.
   Black can save the queen, but not without losing the rook on a8 or
   getting mated. (It's remarkable that units in three different
   quadrants of the board can be interrelated in the same tactical line.)
   Black must play 25...Qb4 if he wants to save the queen, and after
   26.Nc6 Q-any reasonable square - let's say 26...Qc5 White has 27.Ne7+
   Kh8 28.Qxa8!, when 28...Rxa8 29.Nxf7 is mate. Nice!
   ([6]hide)

References

   1. http://ecc2008.chessdom.com/
   2. http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html
   3. http://www.essentchess.nl/
   4. http://nachess.org/fide/
   5. file://localhost/var/www/powerblogs/chessmind/posts/1224784938.html
   6. file://localhost/var/www/powerblogs/chessmind/posts/1224784938.html