Saturday, June 28, 2008

Queenstown Chess Classic


13 grandmasters already confirmed for $50,000 Queenstown Chess Classic Several months before the event begins, the Queenstown Classic (main event January 15th-24th 2009) has had entries from a remarkable tally of overseas Grandmasters. Entrants include GM Eduardas Rozentalis (Lithuania), and English GMs Gawain Jones and Peter Wells. The top-ranked entry to date is GM Victor Mikhalevski (Israel )Pictured, rated 2597. Also playing is the former German blitz champion GM Klaus Bischoff , while creating added interest is the entry of several young wgms (Women Grandmasters). Queenstown will incorporate the 116th New Zealand Championship, and is an event open to all players. A list of entrants to date is now being posted to the Queenstown Classic website.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Tactical Puzzle

This is the position I had against GM Ronen Har-Zvi in a Simul.

Black to play and gain a winning position


I missed the strongest continuation but somehow still managed to Win!

K+P Endgame

The following position is from Staunton-Williams 1851 London. It is white to move can he hold the draw or is it just dead lost.



Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Tal the Great


Palmerston North Club Rapid

Justin Davis the current Palmerston North Club Champion has taken a one point lead in the Palmy club rapid after defeating Wanganui Club Champion Charles Ker in round 4.

Full results to follow.

Ker,C (2002) - Davis,J (1911) [B01]Palmerston North Club Rapid (4.1), 06.2008

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.c4 An extremely sharp opening has arisen white is choosing to cling to his extra pawn for good and try and prove black's opening to be faulty. Black is relying on his superior development and the fact that white will have a hard time finding decent squares for his pieces.
3...e6 4.dxe6 Bxe6 5.d4 [5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Be2 Bc5 7.0-0 Qd7 8.d3 0-0-0 9.Nbd2 Bf5 10.Nb3 Bd4 11.Nbxd4 Nxd4 12.Nxd4 Qxd4 13.Be3 Qxb2 14.Rb1 Qa3 15.Qb3 Qxb3 16.Rxb3 Rhe8 17.h3 Nd7 18.d4 Nb6 19.Rc1 Kb8 20.Rb4 Be4 21.a4 Nc8 22.a5 Ne7 23.d5 Nf5 24.Bf4 Rd7 25.Bf1 ½-½ Onischuk,A-Minasian,A/Batumi GEO 1999 (25)]
5...Bb4+ White's development is non-existant and now black is forcing pieces out by his own choosing.
6.Bd2 Qe7 NZ's next possible GM chose a different move here [6...Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 Qe7 8.Qe2 Nc6 9.Nf3 0-0-0 10.d5 Rhe8 11.Nc3 Bxd5 12.cxd5 Qb4 13.dxc6 Qxb2 14.cxb7+ Kb8 15.Rd1 Qxc3+ 16.Nd2 Rxe2+ 17.Bxe2 Rxd2 18.Rxd2 Ne4 19.0-0 Qxd2 20.Bf3 f5 0-1 Mc Laren,L-Wang,P/Auckland NZL 2004/]
7.Bxb4 Qxb4+ 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Nc3 [9.Qxb4 Nxb4 Swapping queens to avoid an attack just helps black create more threats.]
9...0-0-0 10.d5 Rhe8 11.0-0-0 Bf5 12.Qg5 White now plays what appears to be a winning move removing the queen from the pin with tempo so black must loose a piece.




12...Bg6 Problem is taking the knight will lead to complete disaster as the following analysis shows.
13.Nf3 [13.dxc6? Rxd1+ 14.Nxd1 Qa4 15.cxb7+ Kb8 16.Bd3 (16.a3 Qc2#) 16...Bxd3 17.Qd2 Qxc4+ 18.Qc3 Qxc3+ 19.Nxc3 Bf1 20.h3 Bxg2 21.Rh2 Re1+ 22.Kd2 Rxg1-+]

13...Na5 14.Rd4 c5


15.dxc6? This is a serious blunder. White is a pawn ahead and should be trying to consolidate and keep the position closed. The kingside is still only partially developed and all of black's pieces are developed and ready all that was left was open lines for attack.

15.Rh4!? Perhaps surprisingly white holds his position together with this move. 15...h6 (15...Rd6 16.Qd2 Rb6 17.Be2 Bh5 18.Rd1 White is seeming to untangle and black is still a pawn down black does have some compensation but I am unsure if it is enough. 18...Bxf3 19.gxf3) 16.Qd2 Kb8 17.Be2 It is hard to suggest any move for either side, probably the position is evenly balanced but a thorough study would be needed.
15...Rxd4 16.cxb7+ Nxb7 16...Kxb7 Was also a possibility 17.Qb5+ (17.Nxd4 Re1+ 18.Nd1 Rxf1 19.Rxf1 Qxc4+ 20.Nc3 Qxf1+ 21.Nd1 Qc4+ 22.Nc3 Qxd4 23.Qxa5) 17...Qxb5 18.cxb5 Rb4] 17.Nxd4 Re1+ 18.Nd1 [18.Kd2 Rxf1! Before the knight check ensures white has even more material loss. 19.Rxf1 (19.Qb5 Qxb5 20.Ndxb5 Rxh1) 19...Ne4+]
18...Ne4 [18...Rxf1! 19.Rxf1 Qxc4+ 20.Nc3 Qxf1+ 21.Kd2 Qd3+ 22.Ke1 Qxd4]
19.Qb5?! [19.Nc2 Qd6 White cannot avoid the loss of the queen due to mate threat on d1.] 19...Qd2+
[20.Kb1 Rxd1#]
0-1

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Tactical Puzzle

The follwoing position is from the game between Justin, Davis-Teh Gyu, Kim at the recent Gordon Hoskyn Memorial Rapid chess tournament. White found an interesting way to end the game quickly.

White to play and win


Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Gordon Hoskyn Memorial Rapid

One game I found interesting from the GH Memorial Rapid showing the top seed didn't have it all his own way.

McDonald,J - Dive,R [A11] (4.1), 14.06.2008

1.c4
Both players are devotees to 1.c4
1...c6 2.g3 White decides to keep the position more in the spirit of the English opening
[2.e4 is what dive played against Spain at the NZ Congress 08 winning a nice game. 2...d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.cxd5 Nf6 5.Bb5+ Nbd7 6.Nc3 a6 7.Qa4 g6 8.Nf3 Bg7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bxd7 Nxd7 11.d4 b5 12.Qb3 Nb6 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bh4 g5 15.Bg3 Bb7 16.h4 gxh4 17.Nxh4 Bxd5 18.Nxd5 Qxd5 19.Qb4 Qxd4 20.Qxe7 Qxb2 21.Rad1 Nc4 22.Nf5 Qf6 23.Qc5 Kh8 24.Bh4 Qb6 25.Qd5 Qe6 26.Qf3 Rae8 27.Qh3 Qe4 28.Bf6 Bxf6 29.Qxh6+ Kg8 30.Qxf6 Qe5 31.Qg5+ Kh7 32.Rd3 1-0 Dive,R-Spain,G/Auckland 2008 (32)]
2...d5 3.cxd5 [3.Bg2 This can lead to a Catalan type position 3...Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.0-0 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Nb6 7.a4 a5 8.Na3 Qd5 9.Ne1 Qd6 10.Nxc4 Nxc4 11.Qxc4 e5 12.Nf3 Be7 13.Qc3 e4 14.Ng5 Bf5 15.d3 Qb4 16.Nxe4 Bxe4 17.dxe4 Qxc3 18.bxc3 Nd7 19.Rd1 Nc5 20.Be3 0-0 21.Rdb1 Rab8 22.e5 Rfc8 23.Kf1 Rd8 24.f4 g6 25.Bf3 Bf8 26.Ra2 Rdc8 27.Kg2 Be7 28.g4 Bf8 29.Kg3 Be7 30.h4 Bf8 31.h5 Re8 32.hxg6 hxg6 33.g5 Rec8 34.Bd4 b6 35.e4 Rd8 36.f5 Nd7 37.Rh2 c5 38.Rbh1 Bg7 39.f6 cxd4 40.Rh7 Ra8 1-0 Matamoros Franco,C-Miljkovic,M/Predeal ROM 2007]
3...cxd5 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.0-0 h6 Setting up a possible retreat square for the white squared bishop. 7.b3 Bf5 8.Ba3


Qb6?! Black has strong control over the centre but white has given black some tricky problems of how to extradite his King to a safe place, black chooses an inferior plan and soon finds himself at a disadvantage. [8...g6!? 9.d3 Bg7 10.Bb2 0-0 Black is better in this position]
9.d3 Nb4 This idea of Qb6 and Nb4 just gets black into trouble.
10.Qd2 e6 11.Nc3 Be7 Black is lagging a bit in development but is hoping his central square control will counter act this.


12.Na4! The only move to put black under pressure.
12...Qa5 13.Bb2 b5 14.Bc3 [White had an interesting option in... 14.Nc3!? Nc6 (14...0-0? 15.Nd4 Qb6 16.Nxf5 exf5 17.a3 Nc6 18.Nxd5+-) 15.e4 dxe4 16.dxe4 A) 16...Nxe4 17.Nxe4 Bxe4 18.Qf4 Bd5 19.Bxg7 Rh7 20.Ne5! A1) 20...Nxe5 21.Bxd5 exd5 (21...Rd8 22.Bxe5 Rxd5 23.Qe4 f5 24.Qe2 Kf8 25.Bf4 Qa6) 22.Qxe5; A2) 20...Rxg7 21.Nxc6 Bxc6 22.Bxc6+; B) 16...Rd8 17.Qe2 Bh7 18.Rfc1 0-0 19.e5 Bd3 20.Qe1 Nd7 21.Qe3 Bg6 22.Ne2²]
14...bxa4 15.a3 axb3 16.Rfb1 0-0 17.axb4 Qb6 18.Rxb3 White has a definite advantage but black's next move is a critical mistake.

18...a5? Clearly better is 18...a6 To stop white from playing b5 freeing his bishop on c3. 19.h3 Stopping Ng4 when queen and Knight hit f2. 19...Rfc8 20.Ra5 White has the better play in this position.

19.Rba3 Suddenly the pin on the b3 rook is now gone and white will win a pawn due to the pin on the a-file.
19...Rfc8 20.Rxa5 Rxa5 21.bxa5 Qa6 22.h3 Ne8?! 22...Nd7 This is a better square for the knight covering the b6 square from a rook invasion, and stalling the pawn's advance atleast for the moment.
23.Rb1 Nd6 24.Rb6 Qa7 White is now winning comfortably the a pawn is extremely powerful. 25.Bd4 Qc7 26.a6 Ra8 27.Ne5! White is now threatening e4 to open up his beautiful bishop on g2 which will also cover the queening square of the a pawn.
27...Nc8 Another option is 27...f6 28.Nc6 Bf8 29.Qc3 but Black is just helpless and can do nothing but wait for white to find the winning continuation.]
28.Rb7 Qd6 29.a7 f6 30.Nd7 Qc6 31.Rb8 Bd6 White has played a excellent game. After the opening Black just never seemed to equalise white's play can hardly be improved on and you would think he is the one with the International Master title. Black made a rash pawn move (18...a5) and in doing so gave white a strong outside passed pawn and was unable to come up with a good defence. Perhaps white was heavily influenced by the rating difference of over 300 points and was happy with a draw and just didn't consider the possibility of actually winning! Time must have been a factor but how often is Russell Dive one of the best players in NZ in a losing position against anyone? let alone someone 300 points lower rated!
32.Rxa8 The game was agreed drawn here.




The winning line goes 32.... Qxa8 33.Qa5 Kf7 34.Qd8 Be7 35.Qc7+- The threat is Qb8 forcing the pawn forward so black must give up a piece and the game!
1/2-1/2










Saturday, June 14, 2008

Gordon Hoskyn Memorial Rapid Chess Tournament

Standings

Place Name Grade Score
1

Dive, Russell 2296 A Grade
2-3

Wastney, Scott 2222 A Grade 5
Nyberg, Michael 1949 A Grade 5
4-7
Burns, Chris 1948 A Grade 4.5
McDonald, John 1981 A Grade 4.5
Ker, Charles 2002 A Grade 4.5
Freeman, Michael 2094 A Grade 4.5
8-14
Capper, Dave 1631 B Grade/Senior 4
King, Mathew 1676 B Grade 4
Smith, Chris 1841 B Grade 4
Taylor, Stephen 1592 B Grade 4
du Plessis, Megan 1441 Junior/Female 4
Cooze, Brent 1533 C Grade 4
Aldridge, Alan 1769 B Grade 4
15-18
Lee, Edward est 1931 A Grade 3.5
Jackson, Ross 1765 B Grade 3.5
Forster, Bill 1833 B Grade 3.5
Davis, Justin 1911 A Grade 3.5
19-29
du Plessis, Neels 1411 C Grade 3
Holdaway, Stewart 1580 B Grade 3
White, Damon est 1500 C Grade 3
Brockway, Andrew 1521 C Grade 3
Hill, Ryan est 1150 Junior 3
Chen, Dylan 1445 Junior 3
Kim, Teh Gyu est 1250 Junior 3
Yuan, Daniel est 1175 Junior 3
Stafford, Martin est 1320 C Grade 3
Young, John est 1300 C Grade 3
Davey, Dennis 1304 C Grade/Senior 3
30
Reweti, Savern est 1415 C Grade 2.5
31-42
Kim, Ju Young est 1000 Junior 2
Yuan, Michael est 1180 Junior 2
Atkins, Andrew est 1100 Junior 2
Imtiaz, Yamin 1309 Junior 2
Peck, Garth est 1050 Junior 2
Sivakumaran, Shivan est 1120 Junior 2
Judd, Rhys est 960 Junior 2
Lee, Ryan est 1000 Junior 2
Sunathvanichkul, Tawan est 1305 Junior 2
Howe, Matthew est 1350 Junior 2
Shierlaw, Hamish 1215 Junior 2
Kimber, George est 1200 Junior 2
43-45
Lee, Terry est 900 Junior 1
du Plessis, Vickey 639 Junior/Female 1

Gordon Hoskyn Memorial Rapid Chess Tournament

Top Seed Russell Dive Triumphs.

With an excellent turnout of 45 players, Russell Dive showed his class by only dropping a half point to take first place with 5.5/6, even with an obvious cold. The tournament can only be described as a complete success.

A complete list of prize winners, score table and games to follow.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Palmerston North Club Rapid Tournament



The Palmerston North Club is holding a Rapid Tournament this Thursday. Time control is 25+5 2 rounds a night 6 rounds in total. Stewart Holdaway (pictured) is organising this event and must be congratulated on his initiative's he has put in place for the Palmy Club.

The Palmy Club meets every Thursday night (7:30pm) at the Intermediate Normal School on Ferguson Street. All are Welcome.

Friday, June 6, 2008

King's Tournament

Pictured below is a young Henrique Mecking former child prodigy and one of the participants of the King's Tournament. Nigel Short was the overall winner 1.5 points ahead of a legendary field of chess kings. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4679 has all the details.


Monday, June 2, 2008

Chess Tournament

Gordon Hoskyn Memorial Rapid
14th June 2008
Palmerston North
One Day Event

Format: 6 round Swiss, each player having 25 minutes plus 5 seconds added per move.

Venue: Palmerston North Boys’ High School, on Featherston Street, between the intersections of Rangitikei Street and North Street.

Prize fund: Grade Prizes A, B, C, Junior. Plus best Senior and best Female prizes. Upset prize for each round.
All entry fees go straight into the prize fund, in this non-profit event. All running/admin costs covered by sponsors. Grade prizes will be increased based on number of entries.

Timetable: Saturday 14th June 2008
Entries close 9:20am sharp. Players Meeting 9:45am. Round 1 – 10:00am
Prize-giving will follow asap after completion of the last round six game.

Entry Fees: $35 adults, $25 Junior (under 20 years on 1st Jan 2008)
FREE ENTRY to all GM's, IM's and Female FIDE titled players
Players must be NZCF-registered. Players can be NZCF registered at tournament
2008 NZCF registration fee $13, Junior $6.50
Director of Play: Martin Sims
Enquires: gordonrapid@hotmail.com
Drop us a email to confirm you spot in this exciting event, late entries may miss out in event of big turn out!!

Post entries to : The Secretary, C\- 276 Nikau Road, R.D.3, Pahiatua
Cheques payable to the Palmerston North Chess Club.

115th Congress Review

Dive,R - Chandler,M [A21]New Zealand Championship Auckland (8.1), 20.01.2008


Picture taken at the Nelson International Open 2007




1.c4 The scene was set for what could only be a critical match-up, if either player was to win he would have excellent chances to Win the tournament.
1...e5 2.g3 d6 A round earlier Dive defeated Ker with a similar setup to the game continuation. With this in mind Chandler had an excellent source for his preparation and must have been feeling good after the opening. Dive's Dogmatic approach to his seemingly favourite line of the English cannot easily be faulted. He only really made one error to lose the game, to forsee the power of black's 21st move is by no means easy. 2...f5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Rb1 Nc6 6.a3 a5 7.d3 0-0 8.e3 Kh8 9.Nge2 Qe8 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.Bxd5 Qh5 12.Bg2 Nd8 13.0-0 Ne6 14.b4 g5 15.Bb2 Bf6 16.d4 e4 17.d5 Ng7 18.d6 axb4 19.axb4 Bxb2 20.Rxb2 Rf6 21.c5 cxd6 22.cxd6 Qg6 23.Rd2 Ne8 24.Qc2 Rxd6 25.Nd4 g4 26.Qb2 Ng7 27.Ra1 Rda6 28.Rc1 Rc6 29.Nxc6 bxc6 30.b5 cxb5 31.Qxb5 Qa6 32.Qxa6 Bxa6 33.Ra2 Ne8 34.Bf1 Rc8 35.Rxc8 Bxc8 36.Ra8 Nd6 37.Ba6 1-0 Dive,R-Ker,A/Auckland 2008.
3.Bg2 f5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Rb1!? Be7 6.b4 In my opinion It is debatable wheather white's approach can guarantee any advantage but Dive's experience in the line would count for alot more than a theoritical frown. [6.d3 0-0 7.Nf3 Qe8 8.b4 Qh5 9.b5 Nbd7 10.a4 Nc5 11.Be3 e4 12.Bxc5 dxc5 13.Nd2 exd3 14.e3 Qxd1+ 15.Rxd1 a6 16.0-0 axb5 17.axb5 Rd8 18.Ra1 Rxa1 19.Rxa1 b6 20.Nd5 Nxd5 21.Bxd5+ Kf8 22.Kf1 Bd7 23.Ke1 Bxb5 24.Ra7 Rxd5 25.cxd5 c4 26.Ra8+ Kf7 27.Nf3 Bb4+ 28.Kd1 Ba5 29.Ra7 Ke7 0-1 Zhu Chen-Rotstein,A/Cannes 1997.
6...0-0 7.d3 Kh8 8.Nf3 c6 9.0-0 Qe8 So far I believe both players are deep in preparation. 10.Qc2 Qh5 11.c5?! Perhps white is a little too eager to break black's center down. [11.b5!? Why not continue with prying open black's Q-side.11...cxb5 (11...f4?! 12.gxf4 Bh3 13.Bxh3 Qxh3 14.bxc6 bxc6 15.Bd2 Nbd7 16.Qa4 White has the better of it but not by alot. 16...Nc5 17.Qxc6 Rac8 18.Qb5 e4 19.dxe4 Nfxe4 20.Nxe4 Nxe4 21.Kh1 Nxd2 22.Nxd2 Rxf4 23.Rb3) 12.Nxb5 Nc6 13.Ba3 e4 14.Nfd4 Nxd4 15.Nxd4 e3 16.f4 Ng4 17.h3 Nf2 18.Kh2 Rf6 19.Rxf2 The position is dynamically balanced according to my PC)
11...f4?!
[11...dxc5 12.bxc5 Nbd7 13.Na4 Black has to be better in this position, he has a nice K-side attack in the making where white is stuck to defence on both side's of the board and cannot easily break through on the Q-side 12.gxf4 Bh3 13.Bxh3 Qxh3 14.bxc6 bxc6 15.Bd2 Nbd7 16.Qa4 White has the better of it but not by alot. 16...Nc5 17.Qxc6 Rac8 18.Qb5 e4 19.dxe4 Nfxe4 20.Nxe4 Nxe4 21.Kh1 Nxd2 22.Nxd2 Rxf4 23.Rb3] 12.cxd6 Bxd6 13.Rd1 fxg3 14.hxg3 Ng4 15.Ne4 Be7 16.Bg5 Bxg5 17.Nexg5 Bf5 18.Ne4 Nd7 19.Nd6 Be6 20.Nxb7 Bd5





21.Rb2? This is the losing move
[21.Nc5! After this move Black is just a pawn down with insufficient Compensation. It makes sense to bring a loose piece back to safety and it proves to be a valuable piece in defence all with tempo as black's knight on d7 must make a decision. 21...Nxc5 (21...Rxf3 22.exf3 Nh2 23.Ne4+-) 22.Qxc5 Rxf3 (22...Nf6 23.e4 Bxa2 24.Ra1 Be6 25.Nxe5+-) 23.Bxf3 Qh2+ 24.Kf1 The queen protects the mate on f2]
21...Rxf3!! This exchange sac is just crushing.
22.exf3 [22.Bxf3 Qh2+ 23.Kf1 Qxf2#]
22...Nh2 23.g4 [23.Rdb1 Nxf3+ 24.Kf1 Rf8-+ 25.Bxf3 Qxf3 26.Ke1 Qh1+ 27.Ke2 Qh2 28.Rf1 Bg2 29.Qb1 Nf6 30.Nc5 Nd5 31.Qe1 Qh5+ 32.Kd2 Bxf1 33.Qxf1 Qh6+ 34.f4 (34.Kc2 Ne3+) 34...exf4 35.gxf4 Rxf4-+]
23...Qh4 24.Qe2 Rf8 25.f4 Rxf4 26.f3 Nxf3+ 27.Bxf3 Bxf3
0-1