13th Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International
25 Sept - 3 Oct 2004
Last updated:
Saturday, October 9, 2004 10:06 AM
Round 1 - 25 September 2004 - "My Bath Runneth Over..."
John
Saunders reports: Round One is always packed with incident at
the Monarch Assurance, even before the chess starts. The fire alarm went
off around noon, and it turned out that the problem was that the no.2
seed Ilia Smirin had allowed his bath to overflow, causing the room to
flood, and the ceiling to fall in. Even more calamitous - Viktor Korchnoi's
computer malfunctioned and he couldn't even turn it off. But did it put
Viktor off his game? Not a chance. After all, he lived through the 'Great
Patriotic War', didn't he? He took out his frustration on his opponent,
wiped him off the board and then asked the controller "is there a
computer doctor in the house?" "Well, actually there isn't",
replied Stewart Reuben, "but will our webmaster do?" Thus, your
webmaster accompanied Korchnoi back to his room to try and fix the problem.
On the way there Viktor and I had a brief philosophical discussion as
to whether one should refer to a computer with the pronoun "he"
or "it". I rather ungallantly suggested "she" (I don't
think my wife reads this, so I should be OK). Anyway, by pushing a few
random buttons on Viktor's computer, Homer Simpson-style, I managed to
bring the thing back to life. Viktor's opponents should consider themselves
warned: he's back in business. Now I have to hide out somewhere, just
in case the hotel manager catches me and asks me to fix Ilia Smirin's
floor... (pictured right, Tea Bosboom-Lanchava, who beat GM Ian Rogers)
There were a number of surprise results. There was a chance of another
when new British champion Jonathan Rowson seemed in some danger of losing
to the promising young player from Manchester, Stephen Gordon, but managed
to draw. Dutch woman grandmaster Tea Bosboom-Lanchava scored a grandmaster
scalp, beating Ian Rogers of Australia. This was probably the game of
the day.
Bosboom-Lanchava,T (2370) - Rogers,I (2588) [E54]
Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Port Erin IOM (1.11), 25.09.2004
1 d4 e6 2 c4 c5 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 e3 cxd4 5 exd4 d5 6 Nc3 Bb4 7 Be2 0-0
8 Bg5 dxc4 9 Bxc4 b6 10 0-0 Bb7 11 Ne5 Nc6 12 Bxf6 Qxf6 (Giving up
the exchange for some positional pressure and a pawn. It has been played
before) 13 Nd7 Qh4 14 Nxf8 Rxf8 15 a3 Bd6 [15 ..Be7 16 d5 Bd6
17 f4 exd5 18 Nxd5 Ne5 19 Qe2 Ng4 20 h3 Bc5+ 21 Kh1 Ne3 22 b4 Bd4 ½-½
Krush-Wells, Hastings 2002] 16 h3 Qf4 17 g3 Qh6
18 Re1!? [18 Kh2 Rd8 is another way to play, but White decides to
let the h-pawn go in order to keep the initiative.] 18 ..Qxh3 19 Bf1
Qf5 20 Bg2 (Now the white bishop exerts pressure on the long diagonal
and keeps the knight tied down on c6) 20 ..h5 21 Qb1 Qg5 22 Ne4 Qe7 23
Nxd6 Qxd6 24 Qe4 (Strengthening the grip on the long diagonal) 24
..Rd8 25 Rad1 g6 26 Qh4
26 ..Rd7? [26 ..Na5 is necessary, though White would be clearly
better. Now White has a tactic] 27 d5! exd5 28 Rxd5 Qxd5 [28 ..Qc7
29 Re8+ Kg7 30 Rxh5! is crushing] 29 Bxd5 Rxd5 30 Qf6 Ne5 31 f3 1-0
This was a very good round for the English players. Simon Williams and
Andrew Greet started where they left off in Scarborough, and both beat
tough GM opposition. Simon has actually played one tournament in between,
in Austria - and he made a GM norm there as well as at Scarborough. So
he is now seeking his final norm.
Williams,S (2427) - Kotronias,V (2608) [E92]
Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Port Erin IOM (1.5), 25.09.2004
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 Nf3 0-0 6 Be2 e5 7 Be3 c6 8
d5 Na6 9 Nd2 Ne8 10 h4 f5 11 f3 f4 12 Bf2 c5 13 Nf1 Nf6 14 a3 Nh5 15 Rb1
Bd7 16 b4 b6 17 Bd3 Qe7 18 Bc2 Rfc8 19 Qd3 Qe8 20 Qe2 Bf6 21 Nb5 Be7 22
Bd3 Qd8 23 Kd1 (White offered a draw at this point) 23 ..Nc7 24
Nc3 Ne8 25 Qa2 Kh8 26 Rb3 Rab8 27 Qb2 a6 28 a4 b5 29 axb5 axb5 30 bxc5
bxc4 31 Bxc4 dxc5 32 Nd2 Nd6 33 Ke2 Rb4 34 Kd3 Rcb8 35 Rxb4 cxb4 36 Ncb1
Bf6 37 Rc1 Ng3 38 Ba7 Rb7 39 Bc5
(Fritz gives Black a big plus at this point) 39 ..Ndf5!? [39 ..Qc7!
is probably better. If then 40 Bxb4? Qb6! is a killer.] 40 Qa2 [I
must admit that I stared uncomprehendingly at this for a minute or two,
trying to work out what would happen after 40 exf5 Bxf5+ 41 Ne4 - until
the penny finally dropped. Black actually plays 40 ..e4+! and then takes
the queen on b2 with his bishop, of course.] 40 ..Nxh4 41 Nb3 (A
handy move. The queen now defends the g2 pawn, and Black's h4 knight cannot
retreat to f5 now because the white king has an escape square on d2 if the
black bishop checks from f5. Perhaps White's game is not as bad as Fritz
makes out.) 41 ..Rb8 42 Bd6 Rc8 43 Nc5 Bh3 (Suddenly Black's game
looks very strong again. If he can take the d6 bishop, he will be able to
commandeer the a7-g1 diagonal) 44 Qa6 Nxg2 [44 ..Bxg2 looks better.
If 45 Nb7 Qg8 46 Bxb4 Bg7 and now 47 d6 Black can coolly play 47 ..Bxf3!
and if 48 Bxg8?? Be2+ 49 Kd2 Nf3# is a rather surprising mate.] 45 Nb7
Qe8? [A blunder. 45 ..Qd7 or 45...Qg8 are much better.] 46 Bxb4
Bg7? [Black probably rejected 46 ..Be7 because of 47 Bc3 and a strong
threat against e5, but he can now play 47 ..Ne3! with some vicious threats
of his own, based on Bf1+] 47 Nd6 Qf8 48 Nxc8 Qxb4 49 Qb6 Qf8 50 Nd6
Ne3 51 Nd2 (Now White has the advantage, based on the potential of his
d5 pawn) 51 ..h5 52 Qc7 Qa8 53 Nb5 [53 Nf7+! Kg8 54 Ng5 wins quickly]
53 ..Kh7 54 d6 Nxc4 55 Rxc4 Qa1 [55 ..Qe8 56 Nc3 followed by Qe7
wins] 56 d7 Bf1+ 57 Nxf1 Qb1+ 58 Rc2 Qxb5+ 59 Kc3 Ne2+ 60 Rxe2 Qxe2 61
Nd2 Qe3+ 62 Kc2 1-0
Andrew Greet beat Joe Gallagher, who by his own admission is playing
more poker than he is chess these days. But despite that, Joe has won
his last four tournaments. Andrew Greet made an IM norm in Scarborough
and has started well here.
Greet,A (2310) - Gallagher,J (2541) [E68]
Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Port Erin IOM (1.17), 25.09.2004
1
d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 g3 Bg7 4 Bg2 0-0 5 Nf3 d6 6 0-0 Nbd7 7 Nc3 e5 8 e4 a6
9 Re1 exd4 10 Nxd4 Ng4 11 f4 c6 12 h3 Qb6 13 Nce2 Ngf6 14 Qc2 Re8 15 Be3
Qc7 [15 ..c5 16 Nb3 Nxe4! 17 Bxe4 Nf6 18 Nc3 Nxe4 19 Nxe4 Bf5 20
Bf2 Qc6 21 Nbd2 Bxh3 and Black had counterplay in Wojtkiewicz-Vogt, Altensteig
1995, which was later drawn.] 16 Nc3 Rb8 17 a4 c5 18 Nde2 b6 19 g4
h6 20 Ng3 Bb7 21 Rad1 Rbd8 22 Rd3 Nb8 23 Qd1 Nc6 24 h4 Qc8 25 Bf3 Nd4
26 g5 Nxf3+ 27 Qxf3 Ng4 28 Kg2 Nxe3+ 29 Rdxe3 Bd4 30 Rd3
(Black looks to be doing pretty well here) 30 ..hxg5 31 hxg5 Qe6 32 Nd5
f5?! [Too risky? 32 ..Bxd5 33 cxd5 Qd7] 33 gxf6 Bxd5 34 cxd5 Qxf6
35 Qg4 (Black's kingside is now a little vulnerable) 35 ..Qg7 36
Rb3 c4 [36 ..Rb8 looks safer] 37 Rb4 Rc8 38 Rc1 b5 39 axb5 axb5
40 Rxb5 Bxb2 41 Rc2 Ba3 [41 ..c3 42 Rb6! with the idea of e5, when
the rook exerts indirect pressure on g6.] 42 Ra5 Bc5 43 Rxc4 Rb8 44 Ra2
Rb1 45 e5! (White is not afraid of the threats against his king) 45
..Rg1+ 46 Kh2 Re1 [46 ..Qh8+ 47 Qh3 Qxh3+ 48 Kxh3 Kg7 49 Rb2 is very
good for White.] 47 Rg2 Qh6+ 48 Nh5 (Qh4! is the threat) 48 ..Bg1+
49 Rxg1 Rxg1 50 Kxg1 Qxh5 51 Qxh5 gxh5 52 e6! Rf8 53 Rc6 Kg7 [53 ..Rxf4
54 Rc8+! wins quickly] 54 Rxd6 Rxf4 55 Rd7+ Kf8 56 d6 Rd4 57 Rd8+ Kg7
58 e7 1-0
Round 1
Bd WHITE Result BLACK
1 SKRIPCHENKO,Almi 2453 (0) ½ - ½ MILOV,Vadim 2683 (0)
2 SMIRIN,Ilya 2671 (0) 1 - 0 ARAKHAMIA-GRANT, 2446 (0)
3 SARAKAUSKAS,Gedi 2442 (0) ½ - ½ IORDACHESCU,Vior 2633 (0)
4 VOLKOV,Sergey 2625 (0) 1 - 0 MCNAB,Colin 2427 (0)
5 WILLIAMS,Simon K 2427 (0) 1 - 0 KOTRONIAS,Vassil 2608 (0)
6 ZHONG,Zhang 2603 (0) 1 - 0 GRAFL,Florian 2411 (0)
7 RUOFAN,Li 2414 (0) ½ - ½ AGREST,Evgenij 2602 (0)
8 NAKAMURA,Hikaru 2601 (0) 1 - 0 PERT,Richard 2407 (0)
9 PEEK,Marcel 2406 (0) 0 - 1 BAKLAN,Vladimir 2595 (0)
10 KULAOTS,Kaido 2593 (0) 1 - 0 HOUSKA,Jovanka 2375 (0)
11 BOSBOOM-LANCHAVA 2370 (0) 1 - 0 ROGERS,Ian 2588 (0)
12 KORCHNOI,Viktor 2568 (0) 1 - 0 ARMBRUSTER,Alexa 2351 (0)
13 GORDON,Stephen 2338 (0) ½ - ½ ROWSON,Jonathan 2558 (0)
14 KIRIAKOV,Petr 2555 (0) 1 - 0 HOWELL,David W 2334 (0)
15 MANNION,Steve R. 2333 (0) 0 - 1 SPEELMAN,Jon 2555 (0)
16 GHAEM MAGHAMI,Eh 2552 (0) 1 - 0 GOTTSCHLICH,Cars 2382 (0)
17 GREET,Andrew N 2310 (0) 1 - 0 GALLAGHER,Joseph 2541 (0)
18 CHANDLER,Murray 2531 (0) ½ - ½ KOLBUS,Dietmar 2303 (0)
19 RAMSAWAMY,Aarthi 2299 (0) 0 - 1 PAVLOVIC,Milos 2498 (0)
20 WELLS,Peter 2494 (0) 1 - 0 BANNINK,Bernard 2280 (0)
21 BIGG,Andrew J 2275 (0) 0 - 1 HOLZKE,Frank 2492 (0)
22 CONQUEST,Stuart 2488 (0) ½ - ½ ZAWADZKA,Jolanta 2272 (0)
23 ASHTON,Adam 2270 (0) ½ - ½ RAMESH,Ramachadr 2484 (0)
24 SPRENGER,Jan Mic 2477 (0) 1 - 0 RENDLE,Thomas 2258 (0)
25 GROFFEN,Hans 2244 (0) 0 - 1 BERZINSH,Roland 2455 (0)
26 SCHNEIDER,Dmitry 2454 (0) 1 - 0 ALLEN,Keith 2241 (0)
27 COX,John 2314 (0) ½ - ½ HANDKE,Florian 2461 (0)
28 SPENCE,David 2236 (0) 1 - 0 HORTON,Justin 2091 (0)
29 WERNER,Gert 2085 (0) ½ - ½ HUTCHINSON,Paul 2216 (0)
30 WALTON,Alan J 2208 (0) ½ - ½ HENRICHSEN,Jens 2084 (0)
31 FRASER-MITCHELL, 2082 (0) 0 - 1 SMITH,Andrew P 2205 (0)
32 GRANT,Alan 2193 (0) 1 - 0 MILLIGAN,Helen 2077 (0)
33 CANNON,Richard 2060 (0) ½ - ½ DUNN,Andrew 2192 (0)
34 HUTCHINSON,Norma 2176 (0) 0 - 1 PYM,Thomas W 2059 (0)
35 FAIRBAIRN,Steve 2057 (0) 0 - 1 MCPHILLIPS,Karl 2172 (0)
36 COLLIER,David O. 2168 (0) ½ - ½ BENNION,David A. 2052 (0)
37 TRUMAN,Richard G 2023 (0) 1 - 0 ALMOND,Richard J 2158 (0)
38 GOODGER,Martyn 2136 (0) ½ - ½ WEBSTER,Richard 2008 (0)
39 SPANTON,Tim 2004 (0) 0 - 1 LUTTON,J Ezra 2134 (0)
40 ADAMS,Phil 2124 (0) 1 - 0 DE LAGONTRIE,Jea 1968 (0)
41 MARKS,Ian 1884 (0) 0 - 1 FOX,Anthony 2123 (0)
42 PIMMINGSTORFER,C 2116 (0) 1 - 0 PEMBERTON,Clive 1883 (0)
43 GORKA,Carl 1882 (0) 0 - 1 PLANT,Paul R 2107 (0)
44 HAGESAETHER,Arne 2101 (0) ½ - ½ GUINEY,James 1881 (0)
45 NICHOLSON,John 1880 (0) 0 - 1 NOORDHOEK,Henk 2095 (0)
46 AFEK,Yochanan 2325 (0) 1 - 0 VAN KEMENADE,Rud 2107 (0)
47 DOSSETT,Christop 1886 (0) ½ - ½ MURTAGH,Dermot 1889 (0)
48 JONKMAN,Harmen 2425 (0) 1 - 0 WAUGH,Jonathan C 1885 (0)
MOISEENKO,Alexan 2640 (0) ½ - ½ Bye
TWITCHELL,Nevill 2003 (0) ½ - ½ Bye
|