Chess (#1098)
The Asian Nations Cup, currently in play in Tabriz, Iran, is an unevenly contested event. China, India, Kazakhstan, etc.
 "Chess (#1098)")
The Asian Nations Cup, currently in play in Tabriz, Iran, is an unevenly contested event. China, India, Kazakhstan, etc., are all-GM outfits and there are 2700 players on top boards. But teams like Oman and Jordan don't possess a single GM. The women's event is even more lopsided, with China and India way ahead of the others and China ahead of India. Six rounds in, the Indian men won a key match against the PRC to lead the Open section. In the Women's section, the PRC leads with India in second place.
Filipino GM, Wesley So, won the Capablanca Memorial in Havana. So, who has just crossed 20, has been showing very consistent results since he moved to Webster University, USA. Webster are US Uni champions with a strong all-GM team and Susan Polgar as coach.
So won the top Elite Group which featured Lenier Dominguez, Vassily Ivanchuk, Francisco Vallejo, Zoltan Almasi and Lazaro Bruzon in a Double RR. He distanced this field (average 2721) scoring 6.5 from 9 games with Bruzon second on 5.5 and Dominguez third on 5. The Capa Premier (average 2567) was an RR with 10 players. It ended in a four-way tie on 6 points by Yunsel Bacallao, Emilio Cordova, Sebastian Bogner and Ortiz-Suarez. Bacallao had the best tie-breaker.
The third section is a very competitive Open. Even though the prize money is modest, this is a popular event because of sun, sand, senoritas and of course, rum. Most Cubans are under-rated because they cannot travel freely and this is one event where they can gun for norms. No local entries below 2200 are accepted. Local GM, Juan Carlos Obregion Revero, won with 8.5 from 10.
The Tromse Olympiad, Norway, is still touch-and-go on financials with an estimated cost of Euro 16-17 million. The Norwegian Federation claims to be about Euro 1.8 million short.
The diagram, WHITE TO PLAY, (Velimirovic,Dragoljub Vs Sofrevski,Jovan YUG-ch 1965) is now standard in the Sozin Sicilian. This was the stem game. Play continued 14.Nf5!? The engines call this equal. If so, it's a very complex equality.
Black can try 14.- b4 15. Nxg7+ Kf8 16. Qh5 Kxg7 17. Bd4+ Kg8 (or 17.- e5 18. Nd5 or 17. - Ne5 18. f4) 18. Rhg1 when white has a raging attack.
Play continued with 14. - exf5 15.Nd5 Qd8 16.exf5 0-0 (the modern line is 16. -Bb7) 17.f6 gxf6 18.Bd4 Ne5 19.gxf6 Bxf6 20.Rhg1+ Bg7 21.Bxe5 dxe5 22.Qxe5 f6 23.Ne7+ Kf7 24.Qh5+ (1-0). There have been multiple improvements for both sides but the line is still in play. This is the most famous contribution Velimirovic (1942-2014) made to opening theory. The Serbian GM, who died on May 22, was a feared tactician.
Filipino GM, Wesley So, won the Capablanca Memorial in Havana. So, who has just crossed 20, has been showing very consistent results since he moved to Webster University, USA. Webster are US Uni champions with a strong all-GM team and Susan Polgar as coach.
So won the top Elite Group which featured Lenier Dominguez, Vassily Ivanchuk, Francisco Vallejo, Zoltan Almasi and Lazaro Bruzon in a Double RR. He distanced this field (average 2721) scoring 6.5 from 9 games with Bruzon second on 5.5 and Dominguez third on 5. The Capa Premier (average 2567) was an RR with 10 players. It ended in a four-way tie on 6 points by Yunsel Bacallao, Emilio Cordova, Sebastian Bogner and Ortiz-Suarez. Bacallao had the best tie-breaker.
The third section is a very competitive Open. Even though the prize money is modest, this is a popular event because of sun, sand, senoritas and of course, rum. Most Cubans are under-rated because they cannot travel freely and this is one event where they can gun for norms. No local entries below 2200 are accepted. Local GM, Juan Carlos Obregion Revero, won with 8.5 from 10.
The Tromse Olympiad, Norway, is still touch-and-go on financials with an estimated cost of Euro 16-17 million. The Norwegian Federation claims to be about Euro 1.8 million short.
The diagram, WHITE TO PLAY, (Velimirovic,Dragoljub Vs Sofrevski,Jovan YUG-ch 1965) is now standard in the Sozin Sicilian. This was the stem game. Play continued 14.Nf5!? The engines call this equal. If so, it's a very complex equality.
Black can try 14.- b4 15. Nxg7+ Kf8 16. Qh5 Kxg7 17. Bd4+ Kg8 (or 17.- e5 18. Nd5 or 17. - Ne5 18. f4) 18. Rhg1 when white has a raging attack.
Play continued with 14. - exf5 15.Nd5 Qd8 16.exf5 0-0 (the modern line is 16. -Bb7) 17.f6 gxf6 18.Bd4 Ne5 19.gxf6 Bxf6 20.Rhg1+ Bg7 21.Bxe5 dxe5 22.Qxe5 f6 23.Ne7+ Kf7 24.Qh5+ (1-0). There have been multiple improvements for both sides but the line is still in play. This is the most famous contribution Velimirovic (1942-2014) made to opening theory. The Serbian GM, who died on May 22, was a feared tactician.
Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player