CHESS #639

The Russia China match ended with a 27-23 win for the PRC under a classic time control. This was an upset in terms of average ratings. But the Chinese were dominant and could have won by a higher margin. The Russians may regain some lost pride in the next set, of rapids.

Gata Kamsky took the Mainz Classic with an unbeaten 10 points from 11 games. This is styled the “Grenke Rapid World Championship”. The name is credible since over 700 players including Gashimov, Aronyan, Karjakin, etc, participated. Kamsky faced and beat most contenders, dropping draws only to Grischuk and Gashimov. As always in rapids, the luck went with Kamsky in a couple of crucial encounters, notably when Kasimdzhanov blundered serially in a winning position.

Despite a nominally lower score, Michael Adams had an easier time in clinching the 2010 British Championship with 9.5 from 11 games. Adams had a 150-Elo lead over the field and confirmed the class difference, never looking in trouble.

The Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator is hosting its first major tournament — one leg of the women’s Grand Prix. This is one reason why the Russia-China match was missing several of the strongest players in the national squads.

Top seed Koneru Humpy made the early running but she was pegged back by two losses to Zhao Xue and Mungultuul. With one round left at the time of writing, Hou Yifan and Antonietta Stepanova are well placed with 7.5 and 7 respectively. They meet in the last round in a crucial individual encounter. Humpy shares third-fourth with Zhao on 6.

It’s unusual for 2650-plus players to participate in mixed fields where they could face players ranked 300-400 points lower. The higher-rated person is on a hiding to nothing since they could lose a bushel of rating points if they drop a draw. Mainz, the British and the Politiken Cup in Copenhagen (where Pavel Eljanov won ahead of Suryasekhar Ganguly) are landmarks in that respect. It may be interesting for sponsors to work out what, apart from money (which was not exceptional in any of these events), induces top players to risk embarrassment.

The diagram WHITE TO PLAY, (Eljanov Vs Carlstedt, Copenhagen Politiken 2010) is a spectacular attack. It started with 27.Rxg7+!! Kxg7 28.Qe7+ Kg8 29.Bd3 An useful rule of thumb is “three pieces make a mate”. The justification for the initial sacrifice is not obvious until this Bishop comes into action.

Play is forced with 29.---Rd7 30.Bxf5 Rxe7 31.Bxc8 Kg7 White is now in a winning endgame and finished with 32.Bh3 Nb3 33.Bc3 Nc5 34.Rxd5 Nxa3 35.Bf1 Nc2 36.Rd2 Ne1 37.Rd1 Nf3+ 38. Kg2 Ng5 39.Rd5 Nge4 40.Bd4 Rc7 41.f3 Ng5 42.Rd6 Nce6 43.Bd3 (1-0).

Devangshu Datta is an internationally-rated chess and correspondence chess player