Chess (#1054)

When the Biel tournament started, it was notable that the rating spread between the six players was incredibly narrow with the top seed, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (MVL) at 2719 and the lowest rated, Richard Rapport at 2693. Well, Biel has ended in a four-way tie and there will be a blitz playoff.

This is according to the soccer-scoring system. Étienne Bacrot, MVL, Ding Liren and Alexander Moiseenko all managed to score 14 points in the 10-round double round robin. Under normal scoring, Bacrot (+2,=8) would have been clear champion with 6, ahead of MVL, Ding and Moiseenko, who would all have scored 5.5. Bacrot was the only unbeaten player.

Incidentally, soccer-scoring is relatively easily gamed in a double round-robin. If two players decide to each chuck one game, they will end up with 3 points each, instead of 2, and thereby both will gain. Of course, there has to be a certain amount of trust involved in such a deal, especially for the player who is offering the first chuck. One can safely assume no such deals occurred at Biel.

MVL and Ding were the only pair exchanging wins and Ding led going into the last round, where he lost to MVL. Meanwhile Bacrot and Moiseenko drew. The young Chinese GM was very impressive in his second major international tournament. He's not very stable but he is utterly fearless and has the ability to beat world class players effortlessly. He has an unusual penchant for strange ideas, coupled to extreme tactical competence.

Meanwhile in the Dortmund super GM, Michael Adams and Vladimir Kramnik are running clear of the pack. After six rounds, they share the lead with 5 each and rating performances close to 3,000. Georg Meier and Wang Hao trail far behind in 3rd-4th with 3 each. The two veterans have had their share of luck and both have cashed in with their customary blend of technical skills and alertness.

The diagram, WHITE TO PLAY, (Kramnik, Vladimir Vs Fridman Dortmund 2013) is a splendid illustration of Kramnik's vision. White sacrificed the exchange on move 20 for a slow build up of pressure.

Now things exploded with 29.Nd5!! exd5. The impact of the Kt offer is not apparent at first glance. It opens a1-h8 and threatens many Kt checks. A "null response" like 29.... b5 30. Bxf6 Rdc8 31. Ng7+ loses. So does 29...Rdc8 30.Bxf6 Nxf6 31.Nhxf6+ Kd8 32.Nh7 or 29...Ra7 30.Bxf6 exd5 31.Ng7+.

White finished the job with 30.Bxf6 Ne5. Desperate clearance to avoid 30...Nxf6 31.Nxf6+ and Qe5# However it's an easy win after 31.Qxe5+ Kd7 32.Bg7 Re8 [32...Qe8] 33.Nf6+ Kc7 34.Qa1. (1-0). A humorous finish - black's queen is trapped with Nxd5+ in the air.

Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player