The premier at Reggio Emilia has seen high drama with a situation where any of four out of six participants could win going into the last round. There's been an incredible decision ratio; a nervous collapse by a certain Ukrainian; a big breakthrough performance by a teenager.
After the ninth and penultimate round, Anish Giri, Alexander Morozevich and Hikaru Nakamura are tied for the lead with 15 points each (soccer-scoring). All have 5.5 (normal scoring) with +4,-2, =3 results. Naka has two consecutive losses to Moro and Giri, pulled him back from a clear lead. "Homeboy" Fabiano Caruana, ( who is Brooklyn-born and bred) is on 14. A last round win for Caruana against Giri could see him leapfrog to first, if Nakamura-Ivanchuk and Moro-Vituigov don't go well for the other co-leaders.
The aforementioned nervous collapse came from Ivanchuk, who lost a winning position against Naka, followed with a piece blunder against Vituigov and proceeded to give away all his pieces in a losing position against Caruana. In typically Chukky fashion, he then played solidly against Moro holding one of the just eight draws so far registered in 27 games. The Basque town of Donostia, (Spain) has unveiled a new experimental format holding a knockout mini-match event where the mini-matches are played simultaneously with alternating colours on adjoining boards! (Mirroring moves to guarantee 50-50 results is banned.) Andrei Voloitkin won, ahead of Viktor Laznicka, Ponomariov, Dominguez, Moiseenko, etc. The games were unrated. The Basque format certainly ratchets up the tension since players have to split attention spans. Also, it halves the duration of an event and that has potentially positive financial implications for sponsors.
The Diagram, BLACK TO PLAY, (Nakamura Vs Giri, Reggio Emilia 2011-12) is the sort of position that engines consistently misjudge when they rate black with a small edge. Black has a clear permanent advantage on structure and king-safety - in fact, he's close to winning.
Giri continued 21. --- Nc5?! The sac with 21...Nxc3! 22.Bd2 d4! (22.bxc3 Bxc3 23.Kd1 d4 is winning) is crushing. The Kt on c3 is a giant squid and it can't be taken, ever. 22.Qd1 Qb5 23.Qe2 Qa4 24.Qd1 Ne4 25.Bxe4 Rxe4. Black's better due to light square domination, scattered white pawns and the d4-lever.
Naka continued 26.Rhg1 Rae8 27.Rg3 Kh8 28.Reg1 Qc4 29.Kb1 c5 30.Qd3 b6 31.Qxc4 Rxc4 32.Rd1 d4 33.cxd4 cxd4 34.b3? After 34. Bd2 Re2 or Rc5 the pawns crumble. This allows a clincher 34. - dxe3! 35.bxc4 exf2 36.Rf3 Re1 37.Kc1 Bd4 38.c3 Be3+ 39.Kc2 f5 40.a4 a5 41.c5 Bxc5. (0-1) Zugwang - 42. Kd2 Be3+ 43. Rxe3 Rxd1+ or 42. Rd8+ Kh7 43. Rd1 g6 44. Rd7+ Kg8 45. Rd1 gxh5 are both clear.
Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player
