canchess.ca blog

Canadian Open Survey Results

2007-11-07T21:06:00.000-05:00

The quantitative results of the 2007 Canadian Open Player Survey can be found here.

A total of 150 players, including 32 elite players, completed the survey (or portions thereof) after the last round of the Canadian Open. This represents over 50% of the total players who participated (approx 280). Over the coming weeks, I hope to have all of the qualitative comments posted as well. Thanks to everyone who filled out the survey.

Tim Bouma on behalf of the 2007 Organizing Committee.

Chessbase: Chinese dragon wins Canadian Open

2007-07-17T11:19:00.000-04:00

Chessbase.com has published an illustrated article on GM Bu's victory in the 2007 Canadian Open and his adventures in Ottawa. Read the full article here.

Photo: GM Bu on Parliament Hill (Ottawa River and Musueum of Civilization in background)

Round 10: Final Standings and Wrap-up

2007-07-16T01:25:00.000-04:00

Final Standings in the 2007 Canadian Open Chess Championship are available from the Chief Arbiter, Jonathan Berry, at: http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/asO.htm

At the top, we had 1. Bu, 8/10, 2-6. Tomas Krnan (Canada), Kamil Miton (Poland), Chanda Sandipan (India), Bator Sambuev (Russia), and Nigel Short (England). All are Grandmasters (GM's) except Krnan (International Master). These five were half a point off the pace with 7.5/10 scores, worth $1,500 CAD each.

The group at 7 points had no fewer than 15 players in it, all titled (8 GM's, 3 IM's and 4 FM's). This should provide the reader with an idea of the depth of the field!

Class prize winners and complete tournament listings should be available at the above link or at www.canchess.blogspot.com before too long.

I should also mention that the event produced one additional IM norm for a Canadian (other than Noritsyn, whose IM norm (his 4th apparently, and so a bonus one actually) was reported in the Round 9 blog entries. British Columbia Junior Bindi Cheng garnered his 1st IM norm by virtue of his last round win over Montreal's FM Lefong Hua - congratulations!

It's been a long week for many people (myself included), but I hope that you have found the blog entertaining and informative - I tried to capture the flavour of the live commentary as much as possible (less humour perhaps, but next time you may simply have to make the trip to Ottawa!). You'll have to forgive my early formatting woes and inadequacies....as I promised it improved a bit as things went on. Next time I'll make it even better!

Any comments/questions can be directed to dhergott@sympatico.ca. That's it for now - have a great summer!

Round 10: Full Circle

2007-07-16T00:51:00.001-04:00

In the end, it was pre-tournament favourite, GM Xiangzhi Bu of China, (who outrated England's Nigel Short by a mere 2 FIDE rating points on the new July 2007 list), who made it to the winner's podium in clear and undefeated first place. With a final score of 8/10, and a $5,000 CAD first prize, he began the event with a win on Board 1, and finished it the same way this morning against uncompromising Swiss GM Vadim Milov:

Milov - Bu: Slav Defence, 4.e3

This was Bu's 4th consecutive Slav, playing with either colour, although here Milov played a solid line which dissuades an early ...dxc4.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4!?

An attempt to provoke f2-f3, after which White's N/h4 will lack a natural retreat square. It is likely to take on g6 in any case, as planned, so it is worth mentioning that f2-f3 also softens up White's K-side, and the dark squares in particular.

7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7 9.Bd2 Be7 10.cxd5 cxd5

Not fearing the open c-file, Black plays to provide a more active post for his N/b8, reserving d7 for the King's knight if needed.

11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.0–0–0 Nc6 13.Kb1 a6 14.Rc1 Nd7

15.h4!?

Now that Black's knight has left the K-side, White offers a pawn. Bu was not likely tempted, but 15...Rxh4?! (15...Bxh4? 16.Be1! wins) 16.Rxh4 Bxh4 17.e4!, and 17...Nxd4?! 18.Qa4! x-rays along the 4th rank hitting N/d4 and B/h4 (after a subsequenct exd5). With Black's bishop and King position so loose, I am certain Bu did not consider capturing for very long.

15...Rc8 16.g4 Rxh4 17.Rxh4 Bxh4

With a White pawn on g4 blocking the 4th rank, and an extra move in development, Bu now decided to test Milov's idea.

18.f4 Bf6 19.f5!?

Consistent. White is trying to open lines while Black's King is still uncastled.

19...Na5 20.Qc2 gxf5 21.gxf5 Nc4 22.Bxc4 Qxc4 23.fxe6 fxe6 24.b3!?

Move order is important here. 24.Qg6+ Kd8 25.b3 is also possible, but White's choice keeps some flexibility with the White Queen's choice of entry. Black is under a bit of pressure, but the pawn sac still has a specualative look to it.

24...Qb4!? 25.Qh7 Rc6! 26.Qh5+ Kd8 27.Be1 Nb6 28.Qh2

28...Na4!

Sometimes the best defence is liquidation. Black's last forces a series of exchanges while trying to make the most of that extra pawn.

29.Qb8+ Kd7 30.Nxa4 Rxc1+ 31.Kxc1 Qxe1+ 32.Kc2 Qe2+ 33.Kb1 Qd3+ 34.Kb2 Qb5!

Bravely playing for the win. Many players would succumb to nerves and acquiesce to a draw by perpetual, but Black still wants to be shown why his pawn shouldn't count for something.

35.Qf8

My initial suggestion of 35.Nc5+!, (which looks pretty crushing), is met by the mundane 35...Qxc5, winning. Oops, guess I better change that to 35.Nc5+?? I did mention that this game was played (and analyzed) at 10 am, after a week long of 6 pm starts. Well, I need some excuse for hanging pieces, right?

35...Be7! 36.Qxg7 Qe2+ 37.Kb1 Qd3+ 38.Kb2 Qxe3 39.Nc5+ Kc6 40.Nxb7?!

This turns out poorly, but Black is already quite a bit better if this doesn't work. 40.Qxe7 Qxd4+, and 41...Qxc5 certainly looks like no picnic for White.

40...Qf2+ 41.Kb1?

It appears that 41.Kc3! may be a better try, but Black can always try 41...Qe1+ and 42...Qb4, leading to a Queen endgame with an extra pawn, and perhaps more importantly two central passers. White may find a draw, but it looks to be a very depressing task.

41...Qf5+! 42.Kb2 Qf6! 43.Na5+ Kb5 0–1.

At least another pawn is dropping, and Queens are coming off. Another fine and controlled win by the 2007 Canadian Open Chess Champion.

Canadian Open: Group Photo of Invited Players

2007-07-15T22:14:00.000-04:00

Group Photo of 2007 Canadian Open Invited Players

Back Row (l-r): GM Victor Mikhalevski, GM Suat Atalik, GM David Howell, GM Valeriy Aveskulov, GM Tomas Likavsky, GM Xiangzhi Bu, GM Nigel D. Short, GM Mark Bluvshtein, GM Frank De La Paz Perdomo

Front Row (l-r):GM Vadim Milov,GM Arkady Vul, IM Ekaterina Atalik, GM Sergey Tiviakov, GM Abhijit Kunte, GM Chanda Sandipan

Absent: GM Kamil Miton, GM Bator Sambuev, GM Andrey V. Rychagov, GM Alex Yermolinsky, GM Hoang Thong Tu, GM Anton Shomoev, GM Sipke Ernst, GM Borislav Ivkov

GM Xiangzhi Bu wins the Canadian Open

2007-07-15T18:55:00.000-04:00

GM Xiangzhi Bu (8.0 points) claims first prize in the Canadian Open.

Photo: Bu (left) is presented with the Maurice Smith Trophy by Hal Bond, President of the Chess Federation of Canada.

In second with 7.5 points: IM Tomas Krnan of Canada, GM Kamil Miton of Poland, GM Chanda Sandipan of India , GM Bator Sambuev of Russia, and GM Nigel Short of England

Final standings are available here.

Round 10 games can be viewed at Monroi or Junior Chess (DGT Chesstheatre).

PGN files, courtesy Monroi, can be downloaded here.

Photos after Round 10 and the closing ceremony are available here.

Round 10 underway

2007-07-15T13:18:00.001-04:00

Round 10 of the Canadian Open is underway. Live games from Monroi are available here. Photos taken shortly before and at the beginning of Round 10 are available here:

Photo: GM Kamil Miton and GM Chanda Sandipan on Board 2

Round 9: Other Key Results and Comments

2007-07-15T01:04:00.000-04:00

The Board 1 matchup between GM's Bu and Miton featured the identical opening to Bu's win over Atalik from Round 8. Miton played 13...Bxc3, capturing what looked like a "hot pawn", instead of Atalik's 13...Ba3+, but this may have been a case where using Fritz, Rybka, or some other silicon oracle, came in handy. Indeed after the cool 16...a5!, it was tough to find anything convincing for White, despite the risky-looking position of Black's King. Bu tried a couple of different discovered check sequences, but ultimately settled for a threefold repetition.

Bu - Miton: Slav Defence

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.f3 c5 8.e4 cxd4 9.exf5 Bb4 10.Be3!? dxc3 11.Qxd8+ Kxd8 12.0–0–0+ Ke7 13.bxc3 Bxc3!? 14.Bc5+ Ke8 15.Nxc4 Nbd7 16.Ba3 a5! 17.Nd6+ Ke7 18.Nc8+ Ke8 19.Nd6+ Ke7 20.fxe6 fxe6 21.Nf5+ Kf7 22.Nd6+ Ke7 23.Nc8+ Kf7 24.Nd6+ Ke7 25.Nf5+ Kf7 26.Nd6+ Ke7 27.Nf5+ Kf7 ½–½.

If this defensive idea holds for Black, I will have to downgrade 10.Be3! to 10.Be3!?, but I suspect we may not have seen the end of this line yet (well, probably in this tournament). Regardless, it is still a pretty cool move!

******

GM Milov scored an important win with Black against former leader GM Suat Atalik of Turkey, so he faces top seed, GM Bu, tomorrow on Board 1:

Atalik - Milov: King's Indian

1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.e4 d6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nge2 0–0 7.0–0 Nh5 8.Bc2 e5 9.d5 Ne7 10.a4 c5 11.f4 exf4 12.Nxf4 Nf6 13.Nd3 Ng4 14.h3 Bd4+ 15.Kh1 Ne3 16.Bxe3 Bxe3 17.Qf3 Bh6 18.Qg3 f5 19.e5 dxe5 20.Qxe5 Bg7 21.Qe2 b6 22.Rae1 Bf6 23.Nf4 Kh8 24.Rf3 Bd7 25.Re3 Nc8 26.Ne6 Bxe6 27.dxe6 Ne7 28.Rd3 Qb8 29.Rd7 Qg3 30.Nd5 Rae8 31.Qd1 Nxd5 32.cxd5 Re7 33.Rxe7 Bxe7 34.Qd2 Rd8 35.Re3 Qf4 36.g3 Qf1+ 37.Kh2 f4 38.gxf4 Qxf4+ 39.Kg2 Rxd5 40.Qxd5 Qxe3 41.Qd7 Qe2+ 42.Kg3 Qe3+ 43.Kg2 Qg5+ 44.Kf3 Kg7 45.Qxa7 Qf6+ 46.Ke2 Qxe6+ 47.Kd1 Kh6 48.Qc7 Qd5+ 49.Ke2 Bg5 0–1.

*********

The other big win on the top boards went to English GM Nigel Short, who took the full point with Black against Ottawa's IM Tom O'Donnell. Short was apparently quite pleased to not make it "six in a row", referring to his long drawing streak since starting the event with 3-0. With a win in the final round, he will cinch a minimum of equal-3rd, depending on the results on the top two boards between the four players on 7 points.

O'Donnell - Short: Nimzo-Indian

1.d4!? Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 b6 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 Bb7 7.Nf3

Not the sharpest line. 7.Bg5 is the hot theory here, but Tom has only recently made the switch from a lifetime of 1.e4 to 1.d4. I joked with him after this game, pointing out that his e-pawn stayed on e2 for nearly the entire game, and he actually ended the game with 35.e3 - so the e-pawn has gone from a star with top billing to a completely minor side show! :-)

7...d6 8.g3 c5 9.dxc5 bxc5 10.Bg2 a5 11.0–0 a4

Gaining space on the Q-side. Initially I thought that White should not have allowed Black to clamp down like this, but it turns out that Tom has a specific idea in mind.

12.Rd1 Ra6!? 13.b4 axb3 14.Qxb3 Bc6 15.a4 Qc7 16.Bd2!? 0–0 17.Be1 Nbd7 18.a5

So White is simply playing to pester Black with the passed a-pawn, and use its annoying presence as a (hopeful) distraction to certain Black plans of action. I wasn't fully convinced that Black couldn't eventually round it up (by playing ...N/d7-b8-c6, say), but that will take some time, which may in turn give White time to make counterplay elsewhere. My intuition sensed a small plus for Black, with his central pawn advantage.

18...Rfa8 19.Ra3 h6 20.h3 R8a7!? 21.g4?!

This seemed out of character for Tom's style, and I speculated if a time shortage may have been responsible for his decision to "do something active". Nigel had spoken briefly to me on one of my errands to the playing room for .pgn updates, and suggested that "winning on time" might figure into his plans for winning today's game.
It turns out that Tom was, in fact, somewhat short of time, but that his real reason for playing actively had more to do with the book, Chess for Tigers, which advocates randomizing positions against significantly higher-rated opponents if you feel that playing your own game is going to simply be bound to failure. Interesting idea!?
Both Tom and Nigel were present in the commentary room after the end of their game, and we were fortunate to share some opinions on these matters. Nigel was actually most concerned about Tom finding a way to "do nothing" in a constructive fashion, and leave it to Black to find a convincing plan to improve his position and play for a win. He was also very quick to point out that there are very few players in the world who can do nothing constuctively, so to speak, and that it was a real talent! He also made the witty observation that contrary to what has been written in several chess books, he felt that "Having no plan is far superior to having a bad plan!" Several books (and I agree that I have seen them as well) advocate the opposite, saying that a bad plan is better than no plan at all. In Nigel's opinion, no plan will not necessarily worsen one's position, whereas a bad plan is usually labelled bad because it creates some kind of damage. In this sense, it was unfortunate that Tom decided upon the plan (ultimately bad) of advancing his g-pawn. Now Nigel had something concrete to focus on!

21...Nf8 22.Qe3 e5 23.g5 hxg5 24.Nxg5 Bxg2 25.Kxg2 Ng6

All foreseen since move 21. Black aims to exploit the weakened f4 and h4 squares.

26.Rb3 Ra8 27.Rdb1 R6a7 28.f3 Nf4+ 29.Kh2 Re8!?

Another interesting psychological moment. Black could immediately bear down on the weak h3-pawn with 29...Qc8, say, but as Nigel pointed out, White would undoubtedly be quite prepared for such a direct threat. Instead, Black feints with a useful move - for example, on the reasonable try, 30.Bg3, Black simply takes on a5, and now 31.Bxf4, eliminating the powerful N/f4, loses the e2-pawn after 31...exf4 opens up the e-file. With time ticking, Nigel's move is a much tougher one to meet, and Tom admitted to running out of ideas here. He wasn't particularly satisfied with the move he chose.

30.Rb6 Qd7 31.Rb8 Ra8 32.Rxa8 Rxa8

So the h3-pawn is targeted after all, and with serious consequences.

33.h4 Nh7! 34.Qg1?

34.Qf2 is only slightly better, but Black wins minimum of a pawn, with a vastly superior position.

34...f6 35.e3

35...Nxg5! 0–1.

Unfortunately for White, only one Black knight can be taken at a time, so White is getting mated on h3.

**********

According to Chief Arbiter, Jonathan Berry, Toronto teen, Nikolay Noritsyn of Canada has made a 9-game IM norm at this event, holding three GM's to draws (Miton, Milov and Rychagov, and losing only to GM Tiviakov). Congratulations on a great result!

Tomorrow's final round is at the ungodly hour of 10 am (those inconsiderate out-of-towners who have planes to catch, etc....I tell ya! :-))

It's been a great event, but like the players, I am going to need some sleep to have sufficient energy to wrap things up nicely....see you soon.

Pairings for Round 10

2007-07-15T00:10:00.000-04:00

Pairings for Round 10 of the Canadian Open are now available. Alphabetical pairings are also available.

Round 10 begins at 10AM EDT on Sunday, July 15th.

The top 10 boards:

GM Vadim Milov, GM Xiangzhi Bu
GM Kamil Miton,GM Chanda Sandipan
GM Nigel D. Short, GM Tomas Likavsky
GM Valeriy Aveskulov,IM Tomas Krnan
GM Mark Bluvshtein, GM Hoang Thong Tu
GM Bator Sambuev, GM David Howell
FM Anton Kovalyov, GM Frank De La Paz Perdomo
IM Leonid Gerzhoy, GM Suat Atalik
GM Sergey Tiviakov, Rick Lahaye
GM Andrey V. Rychagov,Raja Panjwani

A brief closing ceremony will be held at 4PM EDT, after the completion of the round.

Round 9: More Gold for India

2007-07-14T23:55:00.000-04:00

My last post relating to Round 8 gave a spectacular finish to Indian GM Kunte's win of that round, with the apochryphal shower of gold coins to memorialize the moment. Round 9's Game of the Day was another golden moment for India: GM Chanda Sandipan's fantastic attacking masterpiece vs. Dutch GM Sergey Tiviakov. It seemed to me that Black made one suspicious move (15...Qd7?!) and paid very dearly for it.

First, the overall standings at the top going into the final round:

With 7 points: GM Xiangzhi Bu (China), GM Sandipan , GM Kamil Miton (Poland), and GM Vadim Milov (Switzerland) With 6.5 points: GM's Nigel Short and David Howell (England), GM Mark Bluvshtein and IM Tomas Krnan (Canada), GM Frank De La Paz Perdomo (Cuba), GM Hoang Thong Tu (Vietnam), GM Tomas Likavsky (Slovakia), GM Bator Sambuev (Russia), FM Anton Kovalyov (Argentina, recently moved to Montreal), GM Valery Aveskulov (Ukraine), and IM Leonid Gerzhoy (Israel, now living in Toronto).

So four with 7, and 11 with 6.5. Still quite a horse race! The group with 6 points has 21 players.

*******
So, back to my pick for game of the round:

Sandipan - Tiviakov: Queen's Indian, Pomar Gambit

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0–0 0–0 7.d5!? exd5 8.Nh4 c6 9.cxd5 Nxd5

The more ambitious recapture. 9...cxd5 has also been played, but leads to more sterile positions.

10.Nf5 Nc7 11.e4 d5 12.Nc3 Bf6

The starting point for some important games. I had mentioned in the analysis room that this variation had been featured in one of the K-K matches, and after the actual Sandipan game was finished, FIDE Master (FM) Gordon Taylor, who was good enough to join me today in the commentary room, mentioned his recollection of a Marjanovic game (playing Black) that had a very similarly unfortunate result.

Well, it turns out that neither of us is getting any younger, but that our memories are still reasonably intact!

First of all, Kasparov - Karpov, Game 6, Moscow 1984/85. White played 13.Bf4 (before exchanging on d5), and after 13...Bc8 14.g4!? Nba6 15.Rc1 Bd7 16.Qd2 Nc5, and here White may have overplayed his hand with 17.e5 and after a few excellent defensive moves by Karpov, Black was very close to winning. The game ended in an exciting draw in 47 moves, but it was generally thought that Kasparov was a bit lucky to escape with a half point. On move 17. Bxc7 Qxc7 18.exd5 a5!? 19.dxc6 Bxc6 20.g5! looks a more interesting continuation.

So much for the K-K snippet, but where does Marjanovic come into this? Well, it turns out that a somewhat younger Gary Kasparov played 13.exd5 cxd5, and only then 14.Bf4 against GM Marjanov at the 1980 Malta Chess Olympiad. That game continued 14...Nba6 15.Re1 Qd7? (look familiar!) 16.Bh3 Kh8 (instead of Tiviakov's 16...Ne6).

After 17.Ne4 Bxb2 18.Ng5 Qc6 19.Ne7 Qf6 20.Nxh7! Qd4 21.Qh5 g6 22.Qh4 Bxa1 23.Nf6+ 1-0.

Gamescore and punctuation from Moscow Marathon, World Chess Championship 1984/85, Jonathan Speelman and Jon Tisdall. The authors also point out that both 15...Bc8 and 15...Nc5!? are improvements for Black. All this leads us to ask a few questions about what actually happened in the 9th round game today...

13.exd5 cxd5 14.Bf4 Nba6 15.Re1

So, not only was I correct in questioning 15...Qd7 here, but this is a key position of a stem Kasparov game from 27 years ago. I find it hard to believe that Tiviakov was unaware of the Marjanovic game, as he is a renowned expert on the Queen's Indian. Could it be that he simply thought 16...Ne6 was a strong and adequate improvement? Or maybe he really did forget this early theory? 15...Bc8 and 15...Nc5 both return the pawn advantage to White, but as the actual game demonstrated, it may simply be too dangerous to try to hold onto all the material.

15...Qd7?! 16.Bh3 Ne6 17.Ne4!

Using the same theme as in the Kasparov-Marjanovic game above, and undoubtedly Sandipan was aware of it. I made the comment as the game was unfolding the White was using an attacking mechanism that I once read Mikhail Tal referred to as "launching" - simply throw a bunch of units at the enemy King and try to build up a substantial numerical superiority. White's pieces are all headed at Black's King, while Black's defenders are either too far away or diverted elsewhere (in this case, one is busy capturing P/b2).

17...Bxb2 18.Rb1 Bc8 19.Ng5 Bf6 20.Qh5!

Five to three: White's forces are massing.

20...Bxg5 21.Bxg5 Re8

Pretty much forced to stop a nasty N/f5-e7+ in many lines.

22.Bf6!! gxf6 23.Qh6

Fantastic. White throws a bishop into the works simply to gain access to h6 and tie down the N/e6. The threat now is R/b1-d1-d4-g4+ and Qxf6 mate. Remarkably there seems to be very little for Black to do about this despite being up a piece and two pawns!

23...Nac5 24.Rbd1 Qb7

Tiviakov steps off the d-line, hoping to make ...N/c5-e4 work, but that defensive idea proves to have a beautiful refutation.

25.Rd4! Ne4

26.Rexe4!!

Everything is working for White. Knowing the Kasparov game undoubtedly gave White some confidence, but it has been Sandipan all the way since 15...Ne6, and the ? on Black's 15th ...Qd7 may be fully warranted. I haven't seen much in the way for improvements for Black along the way.

26...dxe4 27.Qxf6 Qc7

Sad, but there appears to be no way to even prevent checkmate! If 27...Bd7, blocking the d-file and hoping to escape with the King to d8, the bishop interferes with Black's defence of f7 and Black is mated with 28.Nh6+ and 29.Qxf7#. Likewise, the hopeless 27...h5 just loses differently: 28.Nh6+ Kh7 29.Bf5#.

28.Nh6+ Kf8 29.Qh8+ Ke7 30.Nf5# 1–0.

A painful loss for Tiviakov, but I would be curious to know whether he willingly entered this, expecting 16...Ne6 to be an improvement, and miscalculated something, or whether he simply forgot about the old Kasparov game. This gambit line, 7.d5!?, is not played that often, so either possibility is quite plausible.

2007 Canadian Open Bughouse Championship

2007-07-14T22:49:00.000-04:00

The 2007 Canadian Open Bughouse Championship just concluded.

Tied for 1st were the teams of Nikita Kraiouchkine and Victor Plotkin;and Josh Guo and Tyler Longo

Tied for 3rd were the teams of Evan and Elliot Raymer;and Artem Samsonkin and Ahmad Abou-Nassif

Thanks to all the players who turned out.

Round 9 Standings

2007-07-14T22:32:00.000-04:00

After Round 9 of the Canadian Open, the official results:

Photo: GM Chanda Sandipan on Board 3

With 7.0 points:
GM Xiangzhi Bu
GM Vadim Milov
GM Kamil Miton
GM Chanda Sandipan

With 6.5 points
GM Nigel D. Short
GM Valeriy Aveskulov
GM Mark Bluvshtein
GM David Howell
FM Anton Kovalyov
GM Tomas Likavsky
IM Tomas Krnan
GM Hoang Thong Tu
GM Bator Sambuev
GM Frank De La Paz Perdomo
IM Leonid Gerzhoy

Full results and standings can be found here:

Reminder: Gamescores wanted for Canbase II

2007-07-14T20:11:00.000-04:00

A reminder:

Montreal's Hugh Brodie, the intrepid compiler of Canbase II, the leading database of Canadian chess games, will be visiting the 2007 Canadian Open Sunday. He has magnanimously offered to enter any and all games from the Open into his database, if he can be given scoresheets from the organizers sorted by round and board number. Have a game that you are particularly proud of, that you wish immortalized for downloadable posterity? The organizers will set up a drop-off point for scoresheets tomorrow.

Round 9 - this just in...

2007-07-14T19:59:00.000-04:00

This just in ... after 9 rounds:

Leading with 7 points: GM Xiangzhi Bu , GM Chanda Sandipan, GM Kamil Miton and GM Vadim Milov.

In contention with 6.5 points: IM Tomas Krnan, GM Mark Bluvshtein, GM David Howell , GM Nigel Short , GM Frank De La Paz Perdomo , GM Hoang Thong Tu , GM Tomas Likavsky , GM Bator Sambuev , FM Anton Kovalyov , GM Valeriy Aveskulov and IM Leonid Gerzhoy

An extremely close race. Some games in Round 9 were phenomenal. Official results will follow shortly. Round 10 Finale is on Sunday, July 15 at 10am EDT. Follow the finale round courtesy Monroi realtime broadcast. It's not to be missed!

Noritsyn makes IM norm at the Canadian Open

2007-07-14T19:23:00.000-04:00

According to Chief Arbiter, Jonathan Berry, Nikolay Noritsyn has made a 9-game IM norm at the 2007 Canadian Open. Congratulations!

Photo: Nikolay Noritsyn at the beginning of Round 9 of the Canadian Open.

Round 9 continues

2007-07-14T18:34:00.000-04:00

The top board is drawn (Bu, Miton 1/2-1/2). Round 9 continues into a rainy Ottawa evening.
Other top board results:
Board 3: Chanda, Tiviakov (1-0)
Board 5: O'Donnell, Short (0-1)
Board 8: Rensch, Rychagov (1/2-1/2)

Please visit here for live coverage. Upon completion of Round 9, full results will be avaialable here.

Prize Fund for the Canadian Open

2007-07-14T17:00:00.000-04:00

As we close in on the final round, here are the details on the prize fund:

Prize Fund for the Canadian Open

$26,500 CAD

Open: $5,000, $3,000, $2,000, $1,200, $700, $600, $500, $400

Class Prizes:
Under 2400: $1,200, $650 $450
Under 2200: $1,100, $600, $400
Under 2000: $1,000, $550, $350
Under 1800: $850 , $450, $300
Under 1600: $700, $350, $250
Unrated: $250, $150

Special Prizes
Top Junior: $400, $200
Top Woman: $400, $200
Top Veteran: (60 plus): $400, $200
Biggest Upset: $200
Top Canadian: $1,000, $500

Age prizes - determined as of July 7, 2007

Photos from Round 9

2007-07-14T16:22:00.001-04:00

A few photos from the beginning of Round 9. More photos from the beginning of Round 9 are available here.

GM Xiangzhi Bu and GM Kamil Miton on Board 1

IM Tom O'Donnell and GM Nigel D. Short on Board 5

Jerry Xiong on Board 24

Norm Watch

2007-07-14T12:01:00.000-04:00

There have been several norm possibilities, but at the moment we have identified these:

Bindi Cheng, 9-game IM norm with a draw today.

Nikolay Noritsyn, 9-game IM norm with a win today.

Liam Henry, possibility of IM norm with 1.5 or 2 points in the last two rounds.

Jonathan Tayar, possibility of 9-game IM norm if he wins his last two games, assuming strong opponent tomorrow.

Pairings for Round 9

2007-07-14T11:28:00.001-04:00

Pairings for Round 9 of the Canadian Open are available here. Alphabetical pairings are also available.

Photos: Our sharply dressed Board 1 players: GM Xiangzhi Bu and GM Kamil Miton

Top 10 boards:

GM Xiangzhi Bu, GM Kamil Miton
GM Suat Atalik, GM Vadim Milov
GM Chanda Sandipan, GM Sergey Tiviakov
GM David Howell, GM Valeriy Aveskulov
IM Tom O'Donnell, GM Nigel D. Short
GM Frank De La Paz Perdomo,GM Victor Mikhalevski
IM Leonid Gerzhoy, GM Anton Shomoev
FM Daniel Rensch, GM Andrey V. Rychagov
GM Sipke Ernst, IM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon
IM Ekaterina Atalik, GM Mark Bluvshtein

Round 9 starts at 2PM EDT Today

2007-07-14T10:00:00.001-04:00

A reminder that today's Round 9 begins at 2PM EDT today.

Round 10 on Sunday will begin at 10AM EDT.

Pairings will be available here approximately 11:30AM EDT

Round 8 Standings

2007-07-14T08:19:00.000-04:00

GM Xiangzhi Bu and GM Kamil Miton lead the field with 6.5 points each.

In second with 6.0 points are: GM Vadim Milov, GM Sergey Tiviakov, GM Suat Atalik, GM Chanda Sandipan, GM Valeriy Aveskulov and GM David Howell.

Full standings may be found here.

Round 8: Shower of Gold

2007-07-14T05:03:00.000-04:00

Finally, another combo by an Indian GM (yesterday was Chanda), Abjihit Kunte - Timon van Dijk (Netherlands). Position is after 29...Kf8.

Here White wrapped up with the spectacular 30.Qxg7+!! Kxg7 31.Bxh6+ Kg8 32.Rg5+ Kh8 33.Bg7+ Kg8 34.Bf6+ Kf8 35.Bh7!!, and now 35...Ne7, to guard against the mate on g8, allowed 36.Bg7 checkmate!

Very nice indeed - this is the kind of position some players might want to proudly wear on a T-shirt, for psychological reasons at the very least!

********
Well, time for some well-deserved rest. Two rounds to go, Saturday at 2 pm, and Sunday at 10 am (ugh)...should prove an exciting finish!

Round 8 Continued:

2007-07-14T04:32:00.000-04:00

GM Bator Sambuev (Russia) - GM Nigel Short (England): Queen's Pawn Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Bg4!? 3.Ne5 Bf5 4.Bf4 f6 5.Nf3 e6 6.e3 g5!? 7.Bg3 h5

It seemed to be a wacky theme this round for the GM's to push their K-side pawns up the board as fast as possible (compare to Milov - Chanda, Rd. 8). Here it seems reasonably sound, as White has to move his h-pawn to save his B/g3, and this more or less rules out castling short in the future.
It should also be noted that Short has played this unusual line at least once in the past against strong opposition, to wit, during his 1993 World Championship match in London, against none other than GM Gary Kasparov himself!

8.h3 Bd6 9.Bxd6 Qxd6 10.Bd3 Ne7! 11.Nc3 Nbc6 12.Qd2 0–0–0 13.0–0–0 Kb8 14.Kb1 g4
15.hxg4 hxg4 16.Nh4 Bxd3 17.Qxd3

Black is very slightly better here, due to the poorly placed White knight on h4. Short plays against this piece for the next few moves.

17...Qd7!? 18.g3 e5 19.Ne2 a6 20.c3 Qe6 21.Qc2 Rhg8

Ruling out any possibility of N/h4-g6, now that there is no longer an ...e5-e4 tempo against the White Queen.

22.Nc1 Rg5 23.Nb3 b6 24.Rhe1 Rd6!? 25.e4 dxe4 26.Qxe4 Qd7

The point of Black's 24th. Having anticipated a White e3-e4 break, Black wanted to ensure that his major piece battery along the d-file was headed by his rook and not his Queen.

27.Qh7 Qd8 28.Rd2 Rd7 29.Qe4 exd4 30.Red1 Rgd5 31.Nxd4 Nxd4 32.Rxd4 Rxd4 33.Rxd4 Rxd4 34.Qxd4 Qxd4 35.cxd4

This isolated pawn should give the edge to Black in the knight endgame.

35...Kc8 36.Kc2 Kd7 37.Kd3 Ke6 38.Ng2 f5 39.Nf4+ Kd6 40.Ke3 a5 41.f3 gxf3 42.Kxf3 a4

Gaining space on the Q-side.

43.Ne2

43...Nc6?! 44.Kf4 Ke6 ½–½.

A bit disappointing, as most of us in the commentary room expected Short to grind out his small edge, or make something more of it. We spent most of our time on 43...Kd5!? when passive defence looks poor, so White should probably try 44.Kf4 Kc4 45.Ke5 Kd3, and the race is on!

We were extremely fortunate to have Nigel in the commentary room after the game where he spent a few minutes discussing these final few moves of the draw. Many GM's (and probably most) would not be at all interested in spending any energy thinking about a disappointing result (I am quite sure Nigel was not very pleased to only draw in this game), and he was extremely gracious to give us a few minutes of his time and his thoughts after a clear disappointment. Indeed, he seemed quite perplexed at his inability to work out much of anything in this endgame (he claimed to feel more or less "brain dead" in his late game calculations, and claimed that he was extremely low on energy and in need of something sugary to give him an energy boost!). Naturally he had looked at 43...Kd5, but claimed to have miscounted tempi, or simply had the pieces on the wrong squares in his mind - a symptom of running on empty and general fuzzyheadedness.

Well, even in these lines with 43...Kd5 (which does, on surface, look a much better winning try than the 43...Nc6 played), it is far from clear that Black can win. In the line mentioned above ending in 45...Kd3, if we continue 46.Nf4+ Kc2 47.Ke6!, things are still very messy. And going back to 43...Kd5 itself, White may even be able to play 44.Nc3+ Kxd4 45.Nxa4 Nd5 46.Nc3!?, when 46...Nxc3+ 47.bxc3 Kxc3 48.Kf4 seems to lead to a nightmarish Q and P endgame after 48...Kb2 and a promotion race, or a just-in-time draw after 48...Kd4!?, forcing a trade of Queens on g8 (after both sides promote, Black has ...Qf1+).

I was rooting for Nigel in this game, so I hope he didn't actually miss a win after his efforts to convert a series of small advantages. He only has two rounds to go, so let's hope he can put a big effort together with White on Saturday afternoon!

Round 8: Last Train for Clarksville

2007-07-14T02:43:00.000-04:00

In the game of Bridge, there is an advanced bidding convention colourfully referred to as the "Last Train for Clarksville"....essentially it occurs when a partnership wants to bid a slam, but is not sure how high is a safe level - it is a question of finding a balance between aggression and security. In other words, for those who are willing to risk the destination, "All aboard!".

For many players this round, this was the test. Most players in the trailing pack knew that a win was of critical importance. Was it, however, worth risking a loss? Well, that's the whole point, isn't it? Some players would rather play "va banque" in search of the full point and risk finishing nowhere. Others want a lively chance at making something happen, but aren't willing to throw complete caution to the winds. In other words, the players' particular psychology and philosophy on chess was really coming to the forefront this round. And of course there is the whole issue of playing White vs. playing Black.

Perhaps this was really the 2nd last train for Clarksville - Round 9 will bring these issues even more to the foreground. But some will have fallen too far behind in Round 8, based on their choices then. Let's take a look at the top standings coming into the final two rounds.

Once again, two players share the lead: GM and top seed Xiangzhi Bu of China, and GM Kamil Miton of Poland. Both have 6.5 points out of 8.
Next in line, six players (all GM's) with 6/8: David Howell (England), Sandipan Chanda (India), Vadim Milov (Switzerland), Suat Atalik (Turkey), Sergey Tiviakov (Netherlands), and Valery Aveskulov (Ukraine). And finally, a huge logjam of 24 players have 5.5/8, with English GM Nigel Short at the head of the pack.

Top seed Bu played a wonderful game today to move into the joint lead. Yesterday he defended the Black side of this variation, and today he took the White pieces in it:

Bu - Atalik: Slav Defence

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6

In Round 7, Bu played the main alternative, 6...Nbd7, against GM Sipke Ernst of the Netherlands and won a nice game.

7.f3 c5!?

Again, this line. No one has ventured the crazy piece sac after 7...Bb4 8.e4 Bxe4!?, where current theory has advanced to well past move 20 in some positions and the verdict is still out. 7...c5 was played in Bluvshtein - Miton, from Round 7, and drawn after some dynamic play in 31 moves.

8.e4 cxd4 9.exf5 Bb4

10.Be3!

I have been out of competitive chess circles for a few years, and do not know if this is hot new theory or a new idea fresh from the Chinese GM's, but it is certainly a move to get one's attention! White is up a piece, and cannot save his N/c3, so giving Black a choice of minors to capture is not as foolhardy as it looks. More importantly, the B/e3 is poisoned! 10...dxe3? 11.Qxd8+ Kxd8 12.Nxf7+ and 13.Nxh8 just wins material for White. Black's continuation is pretty well forced.

It should be pointed out that 10.Bxc4 (as in Bluvshtein - Miton) and 10.fxe6 are the only two moves that I have seen here in the past.

10...dxc3 11.Qxd8+ Kxd8 12.0–0–0+

Now 12.Nxf7+?? simply loses to 12...Ke7, as 13...cxb2+ is threatened as well as White's knight.

12...Ke7 13.bxc3 Ba3+

Allowing 14.Bc5+ after 13...Bxc3 looks very foolhardy. After 14...Ke8 15.Nxc4 (planning 16.Nd6+), Black's position looks awful.

14.Kc2 Nbd7 15.Nxd7 Nxd7 16.fxe6 fxe6 17.Bxc4 Rhc8 18.Kb3 Ne5 19.Be2 Bc5 20.Bg5+! Kf8 21.f4 Nf7 22.Rd7

With straightforward play, White has achieved a significant plus, and Black has not made any clear errors (IMHO) since faced with 10.Be3! Black will have to look for improvements somewhere, as it soon becomes clear just how bad Black's game is here.

22...Nxg5 23.fxg5 Be7 24.Rf1+! Ke8 25.Rxb7 a6

Forced, to stop 26.Bb5+. White simply has too much initiative here for Black to put up much resistance.

26.Bf3 Rcb8 27.Bc6+ Kd8 28.Rd1+ Kc8 29.Kc4! Rxb7 30.Bxb7+ Kxb7 31.Rd7+ Kb6 32.Rxe7

Much as in Atalik's win yesterday, one side has better rook, King and extra material. In fact, here Black cannot really prevent the loss of a 2nd pawn. The endgame is quite hopeless for Black.

32...Rf8 33.g6 hxg6 34.Rxe6+ Ka5 35.Rxg6 Rc8+ 36.Kb3 Rb8+ 37.Kc2 Rb7 38.h4 Rf7 39.Rg4 1–0.

There is little point in continuing, and Atalik decides to preserve energy for the final two games.

*******

Compare the above technical gem above to the following chaos. The Indian GM throws the kitchen sink at Milov, the "va banque" approach mentioned in the intro, and the game still ends in a draw!

Milov - Chanda: Queen's Gambit, Irregular

1.c4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Bg5 h6!? 5.Bxf6 Qxf6

This is already slightly unusual, as with the more traditional ...Be7, Black's bishop is typically on f6, but not his Queen. The text has more akin with the Moscow variation of the Semi-Slav (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6. 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6!? 6.Bxf6 Qxf6).

6.e3 Nd7 7.Nbd2!? g5!?

White chooses to deploy his Queen's knight on a different square than the usual c3, and Black indicates that he plans to play for the full point in this game!

8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bd3 g4 10.Ng1 h5

I was pretty skeptical of Black's play in the commentary room for most of the session, but it certainly sets White with some unique problems - what the heck is going on? is at the top of the list! It seemed to me that spending multiple tempi on these pawn advances without a King as a clear target at the end of the day was a bit dubious. Let's travel a little further down this wild (and very unpaved) road...

11.Ne2 h4 12.Qc2 c5 13.Nf4 Qg5 14.dxc5 Nxc5 15.Bb5+ Bd7 16.Bxd7+ Nxd7 17.Rd1 Bg7 18.Qa4 d4 19.0–0 b5!? 20.Qa3 Qc5 21.Qd3 Ne5 22.Qe4 Rd8 23.Nb3 Qc6!

Black's position looks exceedingly loose, and he is being reduced to finding only moves, but White still has no knockout punch in sight.

24.Qf5 d3 25.Nd4 Qb7

26.h3?!

This might be the zenith of White's chances. 26.Nh5! looks strong, but allows some dangerous and scary complications: 26.Nh5 Rxh5!? 27.Qxh5 h3 28.gxh3! Rxd4! 29.exd4 Nf3+ 30.Kh1 Nxd4 31.f3! seems to hold, as 31...Nxf3 32.Qxg4! leaves Black with no killing discovered check. Still, this is a line a computer could handle far better than a human, and I have sympathy for Milov choosing to rule out a Black ...h3 advance once and for all. Another possibility for White is 26.Nxd3!, and after 26...h3 27.gxh3 gxh3 28.f3!, White appears to be staving off the attack. Both of these lines require iron nerves from White, but after Milov's choice instead, Black appears to be quite OK.

26...gxh3 27.Nxh3 Qd7 28.Qe4 Rh5! 29.Rxd3 f5 30.Nxf5 Qxf5 31.Rxd8+ Kxd8 32.Rd1+ Ke8

Black's King is exposed, but he now has an extra piece. Milov was unable to find a way to bring his N/h3 into the attack, and decided to force matters with a perpetual.

33.Qa8+ Kf7 34.Qd5+ Kf8 35.Qa8+ Kf7 36.Qd5+ Kf8 37.Qa8+ ½–½.

An absolutely crazy game, and certainly not your typical example of what comes to mind when one things of "grandmaster draw"!

Dress like a Grandmaster

2007-07-14T01:38:00.000-04:00

What are well-dressed 2650-plus players wearing this season? The 2007 Canadian Open t-shirt, of course. GM Bu Xiangzhi of China wore his shirt on Board One last night... and won, vaulting into the lead.

Buy your lucky shirt this weekend for $20, at the CFC store next to the skittles room. The organizers are also throwing in smaller versions of the poster behind GM Bu, suitable for framing.

After Round 8: Bu, Miton leading with 6.5 points

2007-07-14T00:13:00.000-04:00

AFTER 8 ROUNDS LEADING WITH 6.5 POINTS:GM Xiangzhi Bu of China and GM Kamil Miton of Poland. Following with 6.0 points are: GM David Howell ENG, GM Chanda Sandipan IND, GM Vadim Milov SUI, GM Suat Atalik TUR, GM Sergey Tiviakov NED, GM Valeriy Aveskulov UKR.

At the time of this posting (12:20am July 14), Round 8 has not yet fully concluded. Thomas Roussel-Roozmon and Trevor Vincent are still playing. Once Round 8 concludes, official results will be posted here:

Photo: Thomas Roussel-Roozmon at the beginning of Round 8 of the Canadian Open

Round 8 Photos

2007-07-13T22:01:00.001-04:00

Here's a few photos from the beginning of Round 8 of the 2007 Canadian Open. The full set of photos for Round 8 can be found here. At the time of this posting, Round 8 is still underway. Live games from Monroi can be viewed here.

(left) GM David Howell

(below) GM Xiangzhi Bu

(left) GM Kamil Miton

(below) GM Tom Likavsky(right) with Slovakian Embassy official

Canadian Open, a truly international event

2007-07-13T14:48:00.000-04:00

Since juniorchess.ca started hosting Canadian Open viewable games online (providedby Monroi) in the evening of July 9, there have been more than 1,400 visitors from 60 countries viewing these games 3,000 times as of 2 pm EDT today.

Fifty-five percent of viewers are from Canada, followed by USA (14.2%), Netherlands (5.7%), Turkey (4.7%) and UK (3.4%). Here is the list of top 40 countries ranked by the numbers of visits.

Pairings for Round 8

2007-07-13T11:58:00.000-04:00

Pairings for Round 8 are now available here. Alphabetical pairings are also available.

Photos: GM Xiangzhi Bu (5.5) and GM Suat Atalik (6.0) to battle on Board 1 tonight

Top 10 boards:

GM Xiangzhi Bu, GM Suat Atalik
GM Vadim Milov, GM Chanda Sandipan
GM Kamil Miton, GM Hoang Thong Tu
GM Bator Sambuev, GM Nigel D. Short
GM Sergey Tiviakov,Nikolay Noritsyn
GM Victor Mikhalevski, IM Leonid Gerzhoy
GM Anton Shomoev, Rick Lahaye
GM Borislav Ivkov, GM Valeriy Aveskulov
GM Mark Bluvshtein, FM Shiyam Thavandiran
Raja Panjwani, GM David Howell

Chessbase covers the 2007 Canadian Open

2007-07-13T10:08:00.000-04:00

As the 2007 Canadian Open head into the home stretch, Chessbase features a report up to Round Seven, bringing news of the event to the global chess community. Here it is!

Atalik leads after Round 7

2007-07-13T00:40:00.000-04:00

GM Suat Atalik takes the lead with 6.0 points after Round 7 of the Canadian Open. In second with 5.5 points are GMs Bu, Milov, Miton, Sandipan and Tu. Full standings can be found here.

Round 7: Atalik's Yellow Jersey

2007-07-13T00:31:00.000-04:00

By virtue of his fine rook endgame win over GM David Howell of England, Turkish GM Suat Atalik is now in sole first place with 6 points out of 7. Five GM's are within half a point with 5.5 points: GM Xiangzhi Bu (China), GM Vadim Milov (Switzerland), GM Kamil Miton (Poland), GM Chanda Sandipan (India), and GM Hoang Thong Tu (Vietnam). The next point group on 5 has seventeen players, headed by English GM Nigel Short, who was held to a draw in a Petroff's Defence by Toronto's young GM, Mark Bluvshtein (in the same variation that downed Alexei Shirov in Edmonton 2 years ago!)

There were a number of good games today, or least interesting ones for the fans in the commentary room...keep those decisive results coming - today, only 5 draws on the top 25 boards!

Atalik - Howell: Grunfeld Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Be3

Originally, I thought this game was identical to Milov-Howell from Round 4, with the exception that Milov chose to play B/c1-g5 and only after ...h7-h6 retreated the bishop to e3. But something didn't feel quite right. Then I recalled that in the Milov game, White developed his King's knight to e2 much later in the opening. Here, the knight has already been committed to f3, and hence a very different position is underway, and not only due to the location of White's dark-squared bishop. The game position here is quite theoretical....Milov's choice was considerably lesser known.

8...Qa5 9.Qd2 Nc6 10.Rb1 0–0

Not wanting to waste a tempo on a move like 10...a6, Howell embarks on a risky Queen sacrifice. I could only find 2 examples going back to 2003 (between players 2500 FIDE and above). White scored one win and the other game was drawn. Another more natural choice would have been 10...cxd4, leading to a slightly better endgame for White after many exchanges.

11.Rb5 cxd4!? 12.Rxa5 dxe3 13.Qxe3 Nxa5

Gasps in the spectator room - did Black blunder? Certainly not, but it did take some convincing....and it would have done my reputation better if Howell had managed to hold a draw! The position is unbalanced, materially and strategically. Black needs to find a way to coordinate his forces, preferably while ganging up against White's weak c3-pawn. White, contrastingly, wants to consolidate his position, and shut down the activity of Black's fianchettoed bishop and rooks along the c-file.

14.Nd4 Bd7 15.e5 Rfc8 16.f4 Rc7 17.Bb5!?

The drawn game followed this one up to move 16. In that game White played 16.Be2 - Atalik's plan may be an improvement, as 16.f4, bolstering e5, looks like it may be necessary in many positions, and now White finds a useful post for his bishop in a single developing move, not wasting time on B/f1-e2.

17...Nc6 18.Nxc6 Bxc6 19.Bxc6 Rxc6 20.Ke2

I did not expect a wholesale exchange on c6, but White's strategy is interesting. With Black's bishop hemmed in, it is not easy to organize much needed counterplay - various pieces for Queen is only good if all the pieces are working! Black chose to try to open the position and exploit White's centralized King, but it didn't work out very well. More predictable moves like 20...Rac8 also look clearly better for White after 21.Rd1, say, 21...Rxc3 22.Qxa7, when b7 is dropping and Black is still searching for targets.

20...f6?! 21.Rd1! fxe5 22.Rd7 b6 23.Qd3 Rac8 24.Rxe7 Rxc3 25.Qd5+ Kh8 26.fxe5 Bh6! 27.g3!

Black's last was a good bid for counterplay with 27...Re3+, but White's calm response creates an escape cubbyhole for White's King on h3, and the hoped-for perpetual is simply not there. Black is struggling.

27...Bg5 28.Rxa7 Rf8 29.Qe4!

Cutting out checks and offering Black a pawn down Rook endgame through simplification. Howell finally decides there is nothing better than trying to salvage a half point in a clearly inferior endgame.

29...Re3+ 30.Qxe3 Bxe3 31.Kxe3 Kg8

32.Ra4!

A nice idea which was overlooked during my commentary. With an extra pawn, better King and better rook, I gave White excellent chances to convert this endgame to a full point, but pointed out that limiting Black's defensive counterply would require good technique. Atalik's move is designed to keep Black's King out of the game for awhile.

32...b5 33.Rf4 Ra8 34.Rf2 Ra4

Tit for tat. Black's King is cut off on the f-file, so Black tries to prevent White's King from crossing the 4th rank. There is also a trap in that the tempting 35.e6 is a serious error - 35...Ra6! would simply pick it off as White's King is poorly placed. This point explains White's next move.

35.Kd3! Kg7 36.e6 Ra6 37.Re2 Rd6+ 38.Kc3 Kf8 39.e7+ Ke8 40.Re5 Rf6 41.Re2

Black's last aimed for counterplay on the 7th with ...Rf2. White decides to repeat the position and try something else.

41...Rd6 42.Kb4 Rd5 43.Ka5!

Very nice. Sneaking around the b-pawn gets White's King to the important 6th rank.

43...Rf5 44.Kb6 b4 45.Kc6 Ra5 46.Kd6 Rb5

46...Ra6+ 47.Kc5 just picks off the b4-pawn. Now White takes advantage of the fact that nearly all pawn endgames are lost for Black.

47.Rc2 Rb8

47...Rb6+ 48.Rc6! Rxc6+ 49.Kxc6 Kxe7 50.Kc5 is absolutely hopeless.

48.Rc6 Ra8 49.Ke6 Rb8 50.h4 1–0.

Black is out of moves. Also winning was the idea R/c6-d6-d8+, again with a winning pawn endgame.

*******
GM Sipke Ernst (Netherlands) - GM Xiangzhi Bu: Slav Defence

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7

Last round we saw the more common 6...e6 against the Modern 6.Ne5 in Bluvshtein - Miton.

7.Nxc4 Nb6 8.Ne5 a5 9.g3 e6 10.Bg2 Bb4 11.0–0 0–0 12.Re1 Ne4!

A battle around square e4 is unfolding. Black's last is tactically held up by the weak d4-pawn. If White tries to win material with 13.Nxe4 Bxe1 14.Qxe1, then 14...Bxe4! 15.Bxe4 Qxd4, and White's minors are loose.

13.Bxe4 Bxe4 14.e3 f6

By guarding d4, White's hope to play N/c3xe4 became real. Black takes time to kick back the e5-knight before retreating his bishop.

15.Nd3 Bg6 16.e4

16...Kh8!

Deep prophylaxis. There were understandably some confused spectators concerning this move, and I could only suggest that they try to compare the idea to the relative common K/g1-h1 that one sees in many open Sicilians. Black feels that his King may come unders some tactical pressure along the b3-g8 diagonal some day, and takes time to prevent this from occuring. It's surprising that this idea becomes a reality so quickly!

17.f3 Qe7 18.Be3 Nc4! 19.Qb3

This works out poorly, but the more natural 19.Bf2 fails to 19...Nxb2!, winning a pawn. If White cannot develop his bishop and support his centre without facing tactical problems, his position must be much worse than I initially suspected. I realized that Black was quite OK, but it may well be much better than that. 18.Nxb4 axb4 19.Ne2 e5! is also nice for Black, somewhat like the actual game.

19...Nxe3 20.Rxe3 Rfd8 21.Nxb4 axb4 22.Ne2 e5 23.dxe5 fxe5

24.Kf2?!

Not great, but what should White do? Black has simple moves coming up - occupy the d-file with rooks, bring the bishop to f7, ...Qc5+ sometimes, keep an eye on the a4-pawn. By contrast, White is really stuck for any constructive idea. Maybe 24.Rd3 is relatively best, but 24...Bf7 25.Rxd8+ Rxd8 26.Qc2 Qd6 leaves Black firmly in the driver's seat.

24...Rd2 25.Rd1? Bf7! 26.Rxd2

Whether White simply had an oversight, or he planned this Queen sacrifice, the resulting position gives White nowhere near enough compensation for the missing lady. Bu wraps up effectively, opening up lines against White's K-side while his pieces lack the ability to coordinate.

26...Bxb3 27.Rxb3 Rxa4 28.Rbd3 Ra8 29.Rd6 Rf8 30.Kg2 Qf7 31.f4 exf4 32.gxf4 Re8 33.e5 g5! 34.Rd7 Qe6 35.Rxb7 gxf4 36.Rxb4 Qg4+ 37.Kf2 Qh4+ 0–1.

********

GM Alex Yermolinsky (USA) - GM Vadim Milov: Modern Rat Thing

1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Bg5 Nd7 5.Nf3 a6 6.a4 h6 7.Be3 e6 8.g3 Ne7

Milov's amorphous setup would be at home in any collection of chess Canadiana. Black keeps many options open, while giving White a free reign in the centre.

9.Bg2 d5 10.exd5

Locking the centre leaves Black with the active ...c7-c5 break down the road. Black keeps knights on to pursue the possibility of a future ...N/e7-f5.

10...exd5 11.0–0 0–0 12.Qd2 Kh7 13.a5 Nf6 14.Ne5 Nf5 15.b4?!

Hoping to clamp down on Black's Q-side and build pressure, I feel this plan was likely too ambitious. White has ideas like N/c3-a4-c5 sometimes, or maybe even b4-b5, opening Q-side lines under the right circumstances, but the move also weakens the long diagonal and the c4-square in particular, which is now an outpost for Black's pieces.

15...Be6 16.Rfe1 Nd6! 17.f3 Nd7

This regrouping of knights made it to my analysis board in the commentary room. Black's plays simply for control of c4.

18.f4 Nxe5 19.fxe5 Nc4 20.Qd3

Not a brilliant square, but Black plays much the same on any Queen move.

20...f6!

Spying the right moment to open the position. Black need only work out a few tactical lines to justify this move. The White position proves to be shockingly difficult here.

21.exf6 Qxf6 22.Bxd5

The alternatives are not wonderful: 22.Rf1? Bf5!, winning; 22.Nxd5 Bxd5 23.Bxd5 Nxe3, and now 24.Qxe3 Rae8!, or 24.Rxe3 Rad8!, both with huge advantage for Black.

22...Nxe3 23.Qxe3 Rae8! 24.Ne4

24.Bxe6? Rxe6!! 25.Qxe6 Qf2+ 26.Kh1 Qf3+ and 27...Bxd4+, crushing. There are no good moves left for White.

24...Qd8! 0–1.

The most decisive. ...B/g7xd4, winning the Queen, is coming soon. Not Yermo's best by any stretch, but still an energetic and important win for Milov with the Black pieces.

********

To close tonight's report, and borrow a term from Toronto IM Lawrence Day's chess lingo, here is a "combo bombo" - White to play and win after Black's 30...Nd3. It is from the game Sandipan - Kovalyov.

Solution: 31.Qxh7+ Kf8 32.Qh6+! Ke7 33.Qe3+, and Black resigned as 33...Ne5 allows 34.Nxf5+, winning Black's Queen. Otherwise, White simply wins the N/d3 for nothing.

Three rounds to go - hope to see you all tomorrow!

IM Lawrence Day Book Launch

2007-07-12T23:24:00.000-04:00

The seats were filled at IM Lawrence Day's book signing and lecture Thursday afternoon at the Albert Room of the Ottawa Marriott. Day's book, Nick's Best, is an unvarnished account of the life and games of the late Canadian IM Bryon Nickoloff.

Photo: Lawrence Day signs his book, Nick's Best, for Stijn De Kerpel and Nigel Short.

Canadian Open chairman Gordon Ritchie introduced Day, his friend of 45 years, as simply one of the finest players to come from Ottawa. Indeed, Ritchie admitted that one reason he abandoned chess for other pursuits back then was because he wanted to keep a plus score against the kid, five years his junior, who was already showing his great potential and dedication to the game. Lawrence regaled the appreciative audience for 45 minutes with tales of adventures he shared with his friend Bryon, a creative genius in his monomonaical pursuit of perfection.

That perfectionism probably cost Bryon the GM title his ability so clearly warranted, according to Lawrence. His opening preparation was superb and his endgames were technically sound but usually played in desperate time trouble as he had used up the clock seeking the perfect plan in the middle game.

In the question and answer session that followed, Lawrence advised young chess players to follow Bryon's creative dedication, without adopting his bohemian life style. The book was published by ChessnMath and Larry Bevand was pleased to sell some 20 copies to fans in attendance, including superGM Nigel Short."

Nick's Best is available through http://www.strategygames.ca/

Short-Bluvshtein Round 7: 1/2-1/2

2007-07-12T23:17:00.000-04:00

GM Nigel D. Short, GM Mark Bluvshtein 1/2-1/2 on Board 3

[Event "Canadian Open 2007"]
[Site "Ottawa"]
[Date "2007.07.12"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Short, Nigel"]
[Black "Bluvshtein, Mark"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteELO "2683"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackELO "2520"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.O-O O-O 8.c4 c6 9.Qb3 Na6 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Re1 Nc7 13.Qc2 f5 14.Ne5 Qh4 15.g3 Qh5 16.Be2 Qh3 17.Bf1 Qh5 18.Qe2 Qxe2 19.Nxe2 Rac8 20.f3 Bb4 21.Rd1 Nf6 22.Nf4 Bd7 23.Be3 Bb5 24.Bh3 g6 25.Rac1 Rfe8 26.Kf2 Na8 27.Nfd3 Bd6 28.Bf1 Bxd3 29.Bxd3 Nb6 30.Bf4 Rxc1 31.Rxc1 Rc8 32.Rxc8 Nxc8 33.Bc2 Kf8 34.Bb3 Ke7 35.Bg5 Nb6 36.a4 Ke6 37.Bxf6 Kxf6 38.a5 Nc8 39.Bxd5 Bxe5 40.dxe5 Kxe5 41.Bxb7 Nd6 42.Ba6 Kd4 43.h4 h6 44.b4 g5 45.Be2 gxh4 46.gxh4 f4 47.h5 Kc3 48.b5 Kb4 49.b6 axb6 50.axb6 Kc5 51.Kg2 Kxb6 52.Kh3 Ne8 53.Kg4 Nf6 54.Kxf4 Nxh5 55.Ke5 Kc6 56.Bd3 Kd7 57.Bg6 Ng3 58.Kf4 Ne2 59.Kg4 Ke6 60.Kh5 Kf6 1/2-1/2

Round 7 underway

2007-07-12T21:48:00.001-04:00

Round 7 of the Canadian Open is underway. Monroi live coverage is available here.

Photos taken just prior to Round 7 are available here.

Results and standings will be available later this evening.

GM Suat Atalik getting ready on Board 1

GM Nigel D. Short, GM Mark Bluvshtein on Board 3

Round 7 pairings

2007-07-12T11:52:00.000-04:00

GM Suat Atalik and GM David Howell square off on Board 1 tonight

Here are the top 22 boards for Round 7 of the Canadian Open...

GM Suat Atalik, GM David Howell
GM Sipke Ernst, GM Xiangzhi Bu
GM Nigel D. Short, GM Mark Bluvshtein
GM Alex Yermolinsky, GM Vadim Milov
GM Kamil Miton, GM Abhijit Kunte
IM Tomas Krnan, GM Sergey Tiviakov
GM Chanda Sandipan, FM Anton Kovalyov
GM Valeriy Aveskulov, GM Anton Shomoev
GM Hoang Thong Tu, GM Andrey V. Rychagov
IM Artem Samsonkin, GM Victor Mikhalevski
GM Tomas Likavsky, Bindi Cheng
Victor Plotkin, GM Bator Sambuev
Nikolay Noritsyn, FM John D. Bick
Robert J. Gardner, GM Borislav Ivkov
IM Alexander Reprintsev, Louie Jiang
IM Leonid Gerzhoy, Peter Hum
Rick Lahaye, Jerry Xiong
FM Shiyam Thavandiran, Nikita Kraiouchkine
GM Arkady Vul, Thomas Kaminski
Raja Panjwani, Evan Raymer
GM Frank De La Paz Perdomo, Roger Lebrun
John Upper, IM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon

The full pairings are here.

Charles Graves Tie Day Pictures

2007-07-12T07:29:00.000-04:00

A few random shots from yesterday's Charles Graves Tie Day. More pictures can be found here.
(Photos: top left: Les Bunning, top right: Walter Kosmin)

Standings after Round 6

2007-07-12T06:30:00.000-04:00

GM Suat Atalik andGM David Howell lead the field with 5 wins each.
Round 6 standings and Round 6 PGN are now available.

Games can be viewed online at: http://www.monroi.com/wdc/round.php?round_id=1343

Round 6: Most Interesting Moments

2007-07-12T03:16:00.000-04:00

In the game between GM Xiangzhi Bu (China) and FM Daniel Rensch (USA), the following position was reached after 21...Qe6. With an extra pawn and great pressure along the f-file, White is clearly pressing. But Bu found a tremendous knockout blow to win on the spot.

After the brilliant 22.Qd6!!, Black is powerless. The threat is simply 23.Nxc8+, winning a piece. 22...Qxd6?? wins a Queen but allows mate in 1 with 23.Rxf7#. 22...Bd7 23.Rxf7+ Qxf7, and now a discovered check by White's knight, say 24. Nd5+, wins material on f7 and d7 with an easy win.

Black tried 22...Rxe7, but again 23.Rxf7+ followed, with the point that 23...Qxf7 24.Rxf7+ Kxf7 25.Qd5+, spears the R/a8, so Black Resigned.

Note that in the original position, 22.Rxf7+ doesn't work, because 22...Qxf7 23.Rxf7+ Kxf7 24.Qd5+ can be met by 24...Be6! Only after luring Black's e8-rook to e7 does Qd5+ actually win material - very clever!

*******

Something very strange happened in the game between GM's Howell and Mikhalevsky.
The position below was reached after 20.Rfd1, in a c3-Sicilian. The first dozen moves or so were known theory (to me), then Howell tried marching his a-pawn up the board to create some light-squared pressure on the Q-side. The main themes I had been discussion in the commentary room revolved around the usual IQP (isolated Queen's pawn) themes, and the pressure against Black's N/c6.

Black has more guys lined up on d4 than White defenders, but cannot capture at the moment due to the pin along the f3-b7 diagonal. This led to some discussion of moving Black's Queen elsewhere, and I was voting for 20...Qa8!?, with likely a small disadvantage at most. Other squares seemed to have problems - the c-file running into a rook on c1 and b6 running into the nasty advance d4-d5.

So you can imagine my surprise (and my loyal listeners) to see that the next few moves were 20...Qb6?? 21.d5! Nd4 (this must be played, but I didn't trust it) 22.Qe4 e5 23.f4! Splat.

White wins minimum of a piece, and likely much more in practice. Mikhalevsky played on for awhile, but was down the kitchen sink when he finally threw in the towel.

So what happened? I ran into Mikhalevsky for a few minutes while waiting for a new .pgn batch update, and he said that he simply overlooked 22.Qe4. Obviously he overlooked something, but I am still wondering why he would voluntarily put his Queen on such a dangerous looking square like b6? Well, I can only guess that he was deliberately seeking complications in the hopes of a full point. He was actually in remarkably good spirits considering the seriousness of his gaffe, and I have to admit that I found his outlook very refreshing, and wish him well in his remaining games. Hopefully he won't feel too badly about me showing this terrible blunder after his brilliant win yesterday. I guess I just wanted to let all the blog readers know that GM's are human too (and completely fallible). As a teacher, I would not be surprised to learn that Mikhalevsky will include this example for his own students in some way!

********
To wrap-up, two games that caught my eye:

GM Suat Atalik (Turkey) - GM Tomas Likavsky: Queen's Gambit

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6!?

Nearly anything is playable these days. With the popularity of the 4...a6 Slav, Black may be hoping for a useful transposition to something similar.

4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 c6 6.e3 Bd6 7.Bg3 Ne7!?

Rather than wooden development with 7...Nf6, this gives Black the option of contesting a White bishop on the b1-h7 diagonal.

8.Qc2 Bf5 9.Qb3 Ra7!?

This got a chuckle out of today's specs, but actually this idea is quite common in those 4...a6 Slav lines I mentioned earlier. Black's idea is that if White's Queen has to stay on b3 to keep b7 occupied, Black doesn't mind using his rook for the job. It still looks pretty silly though, doesn't it?

10.Nf3 0–0 11.Be2 Re8 12.0–0 Bxg3

Otherwise, Black can't develop his Q-side properly.

13.hxg3 Nd7 14.Nh4 Be6 15.Qc2 Ra8

The dance continues.

16.Bd3 Nf8 17.b4 g5

White was planning a calm minority attack (18.a4, 19.b5 (or maybe Rab1 first)), but Black has violent intentions on the other flank.

18.Nf3 Neg6 19.a4 g4 20.Nd2 h5 21.b5 h4 22.gxh4 Qxh4 23.bxc6 bxc6 24.Ne2! Kg7 25.Rfb1 Nd7 26.Nf1! Rh8

All very consistent play for Black, but can he really break through White's solid position, with those knights ready to hold the fort?

27.Nfg3 Qh2+ 28.Kf1 Nh4?

"Go long!" works much better in football. Here, Black's forces have ventured too far into White territory, and the Black Queen in particular is soon in serious trouble.

29.Nf4 Rhc8 30.Ke2 Nxg2?? 31.Ngh5+ 1–0.

Oops. After 31...K moves, 32.Rh1 will cost Black the Queen.

*******
I happened to witness this scrappy fight between two young talents in post-mortem analyis - Thomas was very unlucky to lose in the end, but also mentioned that his position was by far the more difficult to play (despite the material edge) with only a few minutes on his clock. (I'm guessing that even with the increment, he never managed to bank any time).

IM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon (Montreal) - GM Valery Aveskulov (Ukraine)

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.g3 d6 6.Bg2 Bd7 7.Nc3 g6 8.0–0 Bg7 9.Nc2 Qc8 10.e4 Bh3 11.Qe2 h5 12.Bxh3 Qxh3 13.f3 Rc8 14.Bd2 Nd7 15.Qg2 Qe6 16.b3 h4 17.g4 h3 18.Qe2 Nc5 19.Rac1 g5 20.Nd5 Qg6 21.Be1 e6 22.Nde3 Be5 23.Bg3 Qf6 24.Rcd1 Rd8

I walked in around this point. Thomas didn't seem to be too happy with this position, chiefly because of his compromised K-side - he just felt that Black's pieces were always going to be better with strong dark-square control in the centre, and his f3-pawn and holey K-side would always require attention. While this assessment may be true, most of the variations they were trying out seemed to end in rather unclear chances....maybe White's position is optically worse than it actually is!?

25.Rd2 Bf4 26.Bxf4 Qxf4 27.Nd4 Ne5

Certainly natural-looking, but Aveskulov pointed out an interesting possibility here: 28.Nb5!? a6 29.Nc7+! (29.Nxd6+?! Ke7! 30.b4 Rxd6 31.Rxd6 Kxd6 32.bxc5+ Ke7!, and with ...Rd8 coming, Black has a very nice position). 29...Kf8 30.Ncd5!, trapping Black's Queen! Black will be forced to play ...Nxf3+ at some point to resuce the lady, but the resulting positions are very good for White. Black would probably have to sacrifice the a7-pawn after 28.Nb5, but Black should likely just prevent all of this with 27...a6!

As it turns out, Black allows White a N/d4-b5 in another position shortly, so Black still had to give up some material on the Q-side for nebulous play against White's King.

28.Nd1 Ng6?!

Thomas rightly pointed out (and his opp agreed) that the knight is very well placed on e5 (attacking f3) and should stay there. It may look nice if it arrives on f4, but will it really be perfoming a useful task there?

29.Qe3 Qf6 30.Nb5! Ke7 31.Nxa7

Black never did get around to playing ...a6, so a pawn for White anyways.

31...Ne5 32.Nb5 Rh4 33.Rxd6

It should be safe enough to take this second pawn...if only White was able to forbid tactics for the rest of the game!

33...Rc8

Black has admitted lost the thread, but his position is still sufficiently active to cause some practical problems.

34.Rf2 Nxg4!? 35.fxg4 Rxg4+ 36.Kf1 Qe5 37.Qc3 Rxe4 38.Qxe5 Rxe5 39.Ndc3 Re3 40.Rfd2 f5 41.R6d4

Thomas missed a nice chance here with 41.Kf2! The only reason I spotted it was their discussion of the following line: 41.b4 Na6 42.Rd7+ Kf6 43.Nd6 Rh8!, planning ...Rh4-f4+. This looked worrisome to the 3 of us, while the dispassionate computers will undoubtedly hold up their love of the White position (with extra material) until their horizon effect lets them down.

The above variation may be better for White, but throwing in 41.Kf2 f4 makes it almost a certainty after 42.b4 Na6 43.Rd7+ Kf6 44.Nd6, and there is no longer a rook maneuver along the h-file to infiltrate White's position (and square e4 is a big problem for Black to boot). So this was one way to get a nice edge.

41...g4 42.b4 Na6 43.c5 g3 44.hxg3 Rxg3 45.Rh4 Rcg8 46.a3

Even here White is probably winning (or at least significantly better), but after a few second-rate moves, Black puts on the gas and even finds a nice combo to steal the whole point. Thomas was most critical of this move (46.a3) and 48.Rc2. He was clearly disappointed, but took the loss fairly well otherwise given his young age and relative inexperience. I think these qualities will stand him very well in the future.

46...Rg1+ 47.Ke2 R8g3 48.Rc2 f4

Black may be down a piece (and his knight not really participating), but his active forces are incredibly irritating to deal with. It must have been very frustrating to be so clearly on the defensive, when holding a material advantage.

49.Rh7+ Kf8 50.Nd1? f3+ 51.Kd2 Kg8! 52.Rh4 R3g2+ 53.Kc1 Rxd1+! 54.Kxd1 Rg1+ 55.Kd2 f2 0–1.

A tough loss for Thomas, but I am sure he will rebound....he has made good progress in the past few years, and still has a long road ahead of him.

Round 6: And Then There Were Two

2007-07-12T02:10:00.000-04:00

Despite the bloodiness of the round, (only 4 draws on the top 25 boards, three on 1-2-3, the other between local Expert Peter Hum, on this event's Organizing Committee, and apparent Drawing Machine :-), Nikolay Noritsyn, of Toronto), the big logjam at the top has reduced to two joint leaders, GM David Howell of England, and GM Suat Atalik of Turkey. Both have 5 points out of 6 games.

Once again, GM Short's game was unavailable (I hope for posterity, the organizers are saving the handwritten scoresheets and adding to .pgn files later!), but I have heard rumours to the effect that his game tomorrow should be...I am not sure why, but will be eager to find out! He apparently played a solid Nimzo-Indian against GM Rytchagov and a draw was agreed. GM Sergey Tiviakov was allowed to offer a draw before move 30 this round (for huminatarian reasons, he had some delicate oral surgery performed earlier in the day), and GM Alex Yermolinsky, playing the Black side of a Caro-Kann decided not to torture him (literally), and agreed an early peace. Only the game between Canadian GM Mark Bluvshtein and GM Kamil Miton of Poland (on Board 2) had a few fireworks, but they were mostly theoretical in nature, and that soon petered out as well:

Bluvshtein - Miton: Slav Defence

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.f3 c5!?

An interesting alternative to the heavily analyzed piece sac, 7...Bb4 8.e4 Bxe4 9.fxe4 Nxe4 10.Bd2 Qxd4 11.Nxe4 Qxe4+ 12.Qe2 Bxd2+ 13.Kxd2, where the theoretical evaluation has flipped back and forth several times over the years of praxis.

8.e4 cxd4 9.exf5 Bb4 10.Bxc4 dxc3 11.Qxd8+ Kxd8 12.0–0

I am reasonably certain that I tried 12.Ke2!? in this position against IM David Cummings of Wales (or is it England?) at the Toronto International Open in the early 1990's. That game was also drawn, but we spent some time trying to decide where White's King belonged, and Mark's move is likely a bit better to maintain options of immediate pressure along the e-file on the e6-pawn.

12...cxb2 13.Bxb2 Ke7 14.fxe6 fxe6 15.Nd3!? Rc8! 16.Bb3 a5

I was advocating 16...Nc6 as likely in the commentary room. 17.Nxb4 Nxb4 18.Ba3 a5 is nothing special, as attacks on e6 with Rfe1 can be met laterally on the 3rd rank now. English GM Matthew Sadler in his Chess Press booklet on the Slav recommends this move, so it may be that I recalled seeing it there as well. Miton's choice is also quite reasonable, maintaining the orbit ...N/b8-d7-c5!? in reserve perhaps, attacking B/b3 and guarding P/e6.

17.Nxb4 axb4 18.Rfe1 Rc6 19.Bxf6+

Playing to flatten the position, but there isn't much else. A draw is likely just around the corner.

19...Kxf6 20.Re4 Na6 21.Rae1 Nc5

Same destination, different route.

22.Rf4+! Ke7 23.Rxb4 Nxb3 24.Rxb7+

This intermezzo wins back the pawn and leads to dead equality. White's 22nd was important to ultimately force Black's King onto a tactically vulnerable square. Otherwise, Black would have been able to win material after Rxb4 with a ...Nd3 fork of rooks.

24...Kf6 25.Rxb3 Rxa4 26.Rbe3

Now the players shuffle pieces until move 30 (oops, did I say that?). I'm sure they were just gauging there final winning chances (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)...

26...Rac4 27.R1e2 Kf7 28.Kf2 Rc3 29.Rxc3 Rxc3 30.h3 Kf6 31.Kg3 ½–½.

Round 6 underway

2007-07-11T21:28:00.000-04:00

Round 6 of the 2007 Canadian open is now underway. Monroi live coverage is available here

GM Andrey V Rychagov and GM Nigel D. Short on Board 1

GM Sergey Tiviakov, GM Alex Yermolinsky on Board 3

Monroi live coverage for Round 6 of the Canadian Open

2007-07-11T15:02:00.000-04:00

MonRoi will provide live coverage of the top boards for Round 6 of the Canadian Open which commences as 6pm EDT.

Live coverage will be available here.

Photo: Canadian IM Tom O'Donnell getting ready for Round 5

Pairings for Round 6

2007-07-11T15:00:00.000-04:00

Pairings for Round 6 are available at: http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/6rO.htm

The top 10 boards:

GM Andrey V Rychagov, GM Nigel D. Short
GM Mark Bluvshtein, GM Kamil Miton
GM Sergey Tiviakov, GM Alex Yermolinsky
GM David Howell, GM Victor Mikhalevski
GM Suat Atalik, GM Tomas Likavsky
GM Xiangzhi Bu, FM Daniel Rensch
GM Vadim Milov,IM Ekaterina Atalik
FM Lefong Hua, GM Chanda Sandipan
GM Anton Shomoev, Liam Henry
IM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon, GM Valeriy Aveskulov

Alphabetical pairings are available at:

http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/6rOalpha.htm

Round 6 starts at 6:00 pm, Wednesday July 11, 2007.

Standings after Round 5 are available at: http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/5sO.htm

Yermolinsky lecture today at 1pm

2007-07-11T12:18:00.000-04:00

GM Alex Yermolinsky will be lecturing on his insights on the Classical Sicilian at 1 PM EDT in the Albert Room. Cost is $20 CAD at the door.

GMs... and future GMs?

2007-07-11T09:50:00.000-04:00

From left to right: promising Ottawa player Agastya Kalra, IM Thomas Roussel Roozmon, GM Abhijit Kunte and GM Sandipan Chanda conduct a post-mortem on Chanda-Roussel Roozmon (it was a draw) in the 2007 Canadian Open skittles room.

Canada's best young players rub shoulders with the 2500 crowd... you gotta like it.

David Begoray interview

2007-07-11T06:46:00.000-04:00

Chess Today, Irish GM Alex Baburin's daily mass e-mail of chess games and news, went out yesterday night with the subject line: "CT-2436 - Short, Tiviakov and Begoray lead Canadian Open..."

Its global readership was surely familiar with super-GMs Nigel Short and Sergei Tiviakov, who had scored 3.5 points after four rounds. But who's that Begoray guy?

That would be be David Begoray, shown at left. He's a Burlington, Ont., player with a CFC rating of 2063 whose 3.5/4 earned him the white pieces in Round 5 against Indian GM Abhijit Kunte, last year's Canadian Open co-champion.

Not a bad start at all for David's second tournament in seven years. A night-shift worker, David has few opportunities to play in weekend Swisses or even in club events. David says was prompted to enter the 2007 Canadian Open because of the event had confirmed a slew of GMs. "There's no two ways about it," he says.

After a first-round draw, David scored wins against two 1900 players and then against Ottawa master Dusan Simic. As a result, he was paired in Round 5 against GM Kunte.

[Date "2007.07.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Begoray, David"]
[Black "Kunte, Abhijit"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2063"]
[BlackElo "2532"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2007.07.07"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nge2 c5 7. O-O cxd4 8.
exd4 Nc6 9. Bg5 Be7 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Bxe7 Ncxe7 12. Qd2 b6 13. Rad1 Bb7 14.
Ne4 Ng6 15. Bb1 Qe7 16. f4 Nh4 17. N2g3 g6 18. Rde1 Rad8 19. Rf2 Rfe8 20. Rfe2
Qc7 21. Rf2 Qd7 22. Rd1 f5 23. Nc3 Nf6 24. Qd3 Qg7 25. h3 g5 26. Qe3 gxf4 27.
Qxf4 Ng6 28. Qd2 Kh8 29. Qe2 Nh4 30. Rd3 Ba6 0-1

Well OK, the GM stopped the Canadian expert's winning streak pretty convincingly. And quickly too. "He used no time," David told listeners last night in the spectators room where IM Deen Hergott presides. "He used about the time it takes to move the pieces. I was really happy when it (GM Kunte's clock) went below 1:40."

"Me, I'm just milling pieces around and praying," David said.

Result aside, David enjoyed his encouner with GM Kunte. "He a very nice guy," David said. "It was a pleasure to play with him and discuss the game afterwards."

"My tournament's basically made," David added. "I beat a master and I got to play a GM... the rest is gravy."

-- by Peter Hum

Round 5: Wrap-up

2007-07-11T04:51:00.000-04:00

From the top: Boards

1) Short - Tiviakov, drawn
2) Hoang Thong Tu - Xiangzhi Bu, drawn in 34...Black slightly better, but drifted into equality
3) Noritsyn - Milov, Sicilian, drawn in 64...tough battle, Black tried to grind out an endgame, but Nikolai hung tough.
4) Reprintsev - Miton, 1.g4(!), 0-1 in 37....I know the fans would have liked to see a White win here, but Caissa would have been sorely offended, I think. The Ukrainian IM would certainly fit right in with Mssrs. Suttles, Day, etc....more chutzpah than I have!
5) Mikhalevsky's win - see below

Other noteworthy Canadian results: Thomas Roussel Roozmon's draw with GM Sandipan (India), Tomas Krnan's win over Lawrence Day, and Liam Henry's win over Cuban GM de la Paz (that's 2 great results in a row for Liam - nice job!)

I don't know if/how/when the Short-Tiviakov gamescore will become available (several people asked me), but if someone lets me know, or I gain access to it within the next few days, I will inform people and/or post here....see u all soon in Round 6!

Full results and standings: http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/5sO.htm

Round 5 PGN file: http://www.monroi.com/tournamentgate/CanOpen07/games.html

Online viewable games: http://bjdy.com/juniorchess/CO_07_games/index.html

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/canopenchess/CanadianOpenRound5

Round 5: A Real Gem

2007-07-11T04:39:00.000-04:00

Mikhalevski - Sambuev: Queen's Gambit, Tarrasch

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 c5

Black eschews the typical Catalan setups and offers to transpose to the QGD, Tarrasch.

5.Nf3 Nc6 6.0–0 Be7 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Nc3 0–0 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Be3 Re8 12.Rc1 Bf8

All very theoretical so far. It is amazing how many IQP positions I have had in the commentary room so far in this tournament. Either it makes an appearance much more often than I imagined at the GM level, or it just happens to belong to the repertoire of a surprising number of players at this particular event.

13.Nxc6!?

Connecting Black's pawns but creating a valuable strategic outpost for pieces on c5. And naturally there is still concrete play against the now backward c6-pawn in many lines. I have always found these positions much easier to play as White, but of course, Black's position can spring to life quickly if one is lax, so it pays to be vigilant at all times against players who wield the initiative well.

13...bxc6 14.Bd4 Bg4 15.f3 Bd7 16.Na4 g6 17.Nc5 Bf5 18.g4 Bc8

Several people were not impressed with White's bishop at this point, but its imprisonment is merely temporary.

19.Qa4 Qd6 20.e3 h5!?

From what I have seen of Black's games, he is not a guy who just likes to sit around! Still, this aggression did not really achieve what I think he had been hoping for.

21.g5 Nh7 22.f4 h4 23.e4 h3 24.e5 Qd8 25.Bf3 Bxc5?!

This hands the dark squares over to White for good. Agreed, Black does not have a very comfortable game, and the c6-pawn is a major nuisance, but I think here we have a case of "the cure is worse than the disease".

26.Rxc5 Bd7

27.e6!! Rxe6 28.Bc3

Opening up the long diagonal is not such a difficult concept on its own, but recognizing that it is worth a small investment in material without the ability to state a forced line of play is where Mikhalevsky's judgment really shines. Indeed, by the end of the game, he throws another two pawns into the mix for further line opening opportunities.

28...Kf8 29.Qd4 Ke8 30.Ba5 Qb8 31.Rcc1!

Retreating moves are often the most difficult to find. This clears the a3-f8 diagonal for the bishop, and reconnects White's rooks.

31...Nf8 32.Bb4 Qb7 33.Bc5 Rc8 34.f5! gxf5 35.Qh8 Re7

36.g6!!

Beautiful and elegant. In the commentary room, we only considered 36.Bh5 (threatening g5-g6) Be6 37.Rce1 Kd7 38.Bxe7 Kxe7, which is also very good for White, but the text ends the game instantly. Another example of what I think of as move order permutations (probably a throwback to my degree in Mathematics) - in fact, we were using some of the same moves and themes, but simply in a less effective manner.

36...fxg6 37.Rfe1 1–0.

Absolutely crushing. 37...Be6 runs into 38.Rxe6! now, so Black simply has no options but to resign.

Round 5: Halfway Home

2007-07-11T03:26:00.000-04:00

With this evening's game, we have just past the halfway mark in the tournament, and we have 12 leaders with 4 points:

GM Nigel Short, GM Sergey Tiviakov, GM Kamil Miton, GM Victor Mikhalevski, GM Suat Atalik, GM Andrey Rychagov, GM Sipke Ernst, GM Mark Bluvshtein, GM David Howell, GM Alex Yermolinski, GM Tomas Likavsky, Dalia Kagramanov.

OK, how does this pairing system work again Jonathan? Dalia finished 2nd in the recently completed Canadian Youth Chess Championships at the Chateau Laurier, also in Ottawa, immediately prior to this event. This was in the Under-14 Girls Division, and I don't recall there being 11 GM's in her section, but I can always find out. Hmmm, nope, just Dalia and some other young girls....well, I hope she doesn't feel out of her league in such auspicious company, and on Charles Graves Tie Day too (GCTD), a recent Canadian Open tradition. Maybe someone should lend her a tie for the round - could make a great photo!

**********

Well, anyways, compared to yesterday's results on the top boards, today was a virtual cleansing of the ranks. Only 5 draws on the top 20 boards! A few interesting ones, but mostly placid affairs. Nigel Short apologized (jokingly) to my specs in the commentary room for playing rather flatly today. Neither he nor Tiviakov, his opponent, used MonRoi recorders, so I was unfortunately not able to comment on their game. I do believe he opened 1.g3 (or played it fairly early on), as he made a comment to the effect that when he looked over at Reprintsev-Miton on a nearby board and saw 1.g4 (it's true, I swear!), he mentioned that he had nearly played the same thing, but decided that one square forward was enough!

My vote for game of the day goes to GM Viktor Mikhalevski for his smashing win over GM Bator Sambuev - let's take a look!

GM Atalik: simul shelved, but lecture's a go

2007-07-11T01:04:00.000-04:00

GM Suat Atalik and his wife IM Ekaterina Atalik were to give a tandem simul this afternoon -- except that best as the Canadian Open organizers can tell, the amount of interest is distinctly underwhelming.

So rather than hold the Ataliks to their part of the bargain, the organizers have opted to can the tandem simul. Given the attendances at the GM Bluvshtein simul and GM Rychagov simul, the 2007 Canadian Open's players are definitely much more keen on lectures (the lecture Tuesday by GM Tomas Likavsky on psychology in chess was packed, drawing 40 attendees).

However, GM Atalik is a man of his word. He promised the organizers that he would appear at a side event, and he has proposed that if there is interest, on Sunday, after the closing ceremony, he will make himself available to lecture, perhaps using his Canadian Open games as material, or simply having a Q+A session with interested players. "Interactive," GM Atalik stressed, when discussing the proposed lecture.

When are you going to get another chance to interact with an top-notch GM? Don't miss GM Atalik's words of wisdom on Sunday.

Yermo makes a mean borscht -- and he lectures today

2007-07-11T00:31:00.000-04:00

Ottawa chess player Garland Best has been spending some quality time with two particular GMs playing the 2007 Canadian Open Chess Championship.

The reason? Garland is the vice-president of engineering at the Ottawa fibre optics company OZ Optics, which has helped sponsor GM Suat Atalik, IM Ekaterina Atalik and WFM Kubra Ozturk.
The 2007 Canadian Open's Turkish players are staying at the guesthouse of OZ Optics, which was co-founded by Turkish-Canadian Omur Sezerman, who is the company's CEO.
Garland has helped shuttle the players from the tournament site to the guesthouse occasionally, although GM Atalik's friend, GM Yermolinsky, is driving as well (a rental car, provided by the Canadian Open organizers).

All this to say, after Round Four, Garland found himself at his company's guesthouse, chowing down with the GMs. GM Yermolinsky had bought groceries earlier to re-stock the guesthouse's kitchen, and he was glad to invite Garland for dinner. "You have to stay for borscht!" GM Yermolinsky reportedly said.

"He makes a mean borscht -- a delicious borscht," Garland says.

In addition, GM Yermolinsky, a former U.S. Chess Champion who is the GM-in-residence at the Mechanics Institute Chess Club in San Francisco, is a mean lecturer. He will be sharing his insights into the Classical Variation of the Sicilian Defence at 1 p.m. today, of which he knows plenty. (See his latest book, Chess Explained: The Classical Sicilian, if you need proof.)

The fee to attend the lecture is $20. We're expecting it to be popular, so show up early.

Side Events for Wednesday July 11th

2007-07-10T22:07:00.000-04:00

Canadian Open Side Events on Wednesday, July 11th

Lecture by GM Alex Yermolinsky on his insights on the Classical Sicilian, 1 PM EDT (Albion) Room) Cost $20 CAD

Simul by GM Suat Atalik and WGM Ekaterina Atalik, tandem 1 PM EDT (Cartier Room) Cost $20 CAD. Please sign up beforehand (signup sheet by York Room)

On Thursday, July 12th, there will be the Canadian Book Launch of Nick's Best, by IM Lawrence Day. More details shortly.

Monroi realtime broadcast

2007-07-10T20:05:00.000-04:00

Monroi realtime broadcast is now available for top boards: 2, 3, 4,5 and 7

http://www.monroi.com/wdc/round.php?round_id=1322

GM Alex Yermolinsky on Board 13 using a Monroi PCM

The realtime PGN file for 31 top boards in Round 5 is available for download at:

http://www.monroi.com/tournamentgate/CanOpen07/index.html

Seirtne Golb

2007-07-10T17:32:00.001-04:00

For those still looking for the "diagram above" in my last post, there is none. Be aware (as I still can't get my head around it) that the entries are published in reverse order of creation. So, this was definitely my bad - I should have said "below" rather than "above"....as there has only been one diagram in all the blog entries to date (I believe), other than Tim Bouma's photograph of a projection of game Bu-Short, Round 4, I think everyone will have figured it out.

I promise, as penance, I will try to imagine standing on my head from now on when providing multiple blog entries for the day! :-) or is that :-( ?

Success at Last!

2007-07-10T16:58:00.000-04:00

The diagram is a snapshot of an all Russian battle from Round 4: GM Anton Shomoev vs. GM Bator Sambuev - the same gentlemen mentioned in a previous blog entry, "Friend vs. Friend".

Well, given that Black is down three pawns in the featured position, having just played 26...Bg6, and continued to play for a possible win(!) for another 30 moves, I would say that their was nothing particularly "friendly" about this battle royale. The game was eventually drawn on move 56 (Queen and 2 pawns each). It brought back memories of old Shakmatny Bulletin magazines in my Junior days, where every second game featured unknown (to me) Russians hacking and slashing their way to sacrificial wins or wild perpetuals - great stuff!

Seriously, if you need some inspiration to play for a win, I suggest you take a look. All available .pgn gamescores are posted at the MonRoi site, and various other links on the canchess.ca blog have other tools (PGN readers) etc. if you need them. Using two windows is a good way to enjoy my annotated games as well if you do not have a physical board and pieces available.

Thanks very much to Gilbert (an anonymous blog poster from Sunday's Rds 2/3, who instructed this Luddite (at least prety much so technically) on how to finally get with the program and pepper my notes with diagrams of a few key positions. Hopefully I won't forget how I produced the above! And to Peter Hum for apprising me of this useful post, and passing the info along.

We are nearly at the halfway mark of the Canadian Open, and things will continue to heat up, I am sure. Hopefully you are all enjoying a taste of what I am providing each day live and on-site. Stay tuned for some more exciting chess soon - cheers!

Diagram Test

2007-07-10T16:56:00.000-04:00

This is my second attempt at posting a chess diagram on this blog, keep your fingers crossed!

Pairings for Round 5 - Four Canadians playing the top 10 boards

2007-07-10T16:55:00.000-04:00

Pairings for Round 5 can be found at:

http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/5rO.htm

The Top 10 Boards:

GM Nigel D. Short, GM Sergey Tiviakov
GM Hoang Thong Tu, GM Xiangzhi Bu
Nikolay Noritsyn, GM Vadim Milov
IM Alexander Reprintsev, GM Kamil Miton
GM Victor Mikhalevski, GM Bator Sambuev
Joost Michielsen, GM Suat Atalik
GM Chanda Sandipan, IM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon
IM Ekaterina Atalik, GM Anton Shomoev
Eric Hansen, GM Andrey V Rychagov
GM Sipke Ernst, Jerry Xiong

Three Canadians are in the Top 10 boards:Nikolay Noritsyn on Board 3, IM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon on Board 7, Eric Hansen on Board 9 and Jerry Xiong on Board 10. We'll be watching them closely!

Results and pairings directly available from Chief Arbiter, Jonathan Berry

2007-07-10T14:49:00.000-04:00

To ensure that you get results even faster than us folks at the Marriot, we've added a link on the left hand column of the blog, entitled:

Results and pairings directly from Chief Arbiter, Jonathan Berry. This is where the latest information resides.
Before issuing pairings and results to the tournament floor, Jonathan posts his brief synopsis and links to the latest information to this link. If you want information even before it appears on the blog, this is the link to watch.

To email Jonathan directly, his e-mail address is: jberry@islandnet.com

(Pictured above is Jonathan smiling after a successful pairing!)

What the heck is CGTD?

2007-07-10T13:37:00.000-04:00

Well, it's a long-standing tradition of the Canadian Open. CGTD stands for Charles Graves Tie Day. In short, CGTD occurs when participants of the Canadian Open adhere to a voluntary dress code for a selected day. For gents, this means wearing a collared shirt and tie with casual or dress pants (no jeans or cut-offs). A suit or sports jacket is not required and tuxedos are also optional. For members of the other sex, it simply means dressing up a bit ( no jeans, t-shirts or visible thongs).

This year, the Charles Graves Tie Day will be held on Wednesday, July 11th, 2007. So participate in the CGTD. This is your best opportunity in the Canadian Open to win or lose in style!

Canadian Open - a Truly International Event

2007-07-10T13:14:00.000-04:00

Since late yesterday, our chess friends in British Columbia, Junior Chess , began hosting the viewable Canadian Open games. In less than 18 hours, over 300 people so far have viewed these games, a figure which is sure to climb quickly. Like the players in the Canadian Open, the profile of the game viewers reflects a truly international flavour. This complements the Monroi capability, which enables game data to be posted directly from the tournament floor to the internet in realtime.

Top 30 rankings are listed in the image below. The top 5 countries are Canada, United States , Netherlands, Turkey, and United Kingdom. As the tournament progresses, we'll keep you posted on which country will win the "Gold Medal" for game viewership (will Canada stay ahead?).

Games as they are available from the tournament floor can be downloaded from the Monroi website at: http://www.monroi.com/tournamentgate/CanOpen07/games.html

Games can be replayed directly online at: http://www.bjdy.com/juniorchess/CO_07_games/index.html

Thanks, Junior Chess and Monroi!

Support for Simuls

2007-07-10T11:47:00.000-04:00

Monday afternoon's simul by GM Andrey Rychagov was, shall we say,
modestly attended... although that has certainly has nothing to do with GM
Rychagov. Still, a good time was had by all, and even with a
high single-digit turnout, GM Rychagov was nicked for a draw by Ottawa
player Roger LeBrun, who was justifiably proud.

Nonetheless, the question arises: how many people does it take to make
a successful simul?

We're proposing that for the proposed Wednesday afteroon tandem simul
by GM Suat Atalik and his wife IM Ekaterina Atalik, there be a sign-up
sheet near the skittles/analysis room. If we don't get sufficient
takers (15? 20?) at $20 a pop, then we might be better off not to hold
the simul, due to insufficient demand.

What do you think? (you can use the comment function below)

Gamescores wanted for Canbase II

2007-07-10T11:41:00.001-04:00

Montreal's Hugh Brodie, the intrepid compiler of Canbase II, the leading database of Canadian chess games, will be visiting the 2007 Canadian Open Sunday. He has magnanimously offered to enter any and all games from the Open into his database, if he can be given scoresheets from the organizers sorted by round and board number. Have a game that you are particularly proud of, that you wish immortalized for downloadable posterity? The organizers will set up a drop-off point for scoresheets ASAP.

Hugh's database is:

http://chesscanada.no-ip.org/chess/canbaseii.htm

Side Events for Tuesday, July 10th

2007-07-10T06:36:00.000-04:00

Side events for Tuesday, July 10th

Lecture: GM Tomas Likavsky on psychology, self-training and preparation.
Time: 1:00PM EDT
Location: Albert Room (lower lobby of the Marriott)
Cost: $20 CAD at the door

Also note that private lessons are available during off-hours for one-on-one and/or small group lessons, rates to be negotiated:

GM Victor Mikhalevski
GM Abhijit Kunte
GM Tomas Likavsky
GM Tu Hoang Thong
IM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon

If you have a request, please contact a committee member at the tournament or e-mail canopenchess@gmail.com

Round 4 Standings and Results

2007-07-10T01:44:00.000-04:00

Round 4 results are now available.

A three-way tie for first with 3.5 points each: GM Nigel D. Short, GM Sergey Tiviakov and David Begoray.

Complete results can be found at: http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/4sO.htm

PGN realtime file of Round 4 is available at the Monroi site at: http://www.monroi.com/tournamentgate/CanOpen07/games.html

Games can be replayed online at: http://www.bjdy.com/juniorchess/CO_07_games/index.html

(courtesy Jay Zhao of British Columbia)

Pairings for Round 5 will be available around 12:00PM EDT at: http://cocycc.pbwiki.com/results

More Round 4: One Win in Ten

2007-07-10T01:42:00.000-04:00

Of the top ten matchups in the Canadian Open's 4th round, only one game was decisive - Dutch GM Sergey Tiviakov defeated GM Valery Aveskulov of the Ukraine, and moved into a tie for 1st with 3.5 points. Still that is not to say that all was boring or quiet - here are the games from Boards 2-4.

Board 2: GM Vadim Milov (Switzerland) - GM David Howell (England): Grunfeld Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bg5!?

A lesser variation, compared to the old Exchange variation 7.Bc4 and 8.Ne2, or the reams of theory on the Modern Exchange starting with 7.Nf3.

7...c5 8.Rc1 h6 9.Be3

As Toronto master Michael Dougherty pointed out during the commentary, the game quickly follows lines similar to those after 7.Be3, another early possibility. Both players must have recognized this as well, and needed to decide what the relevance of having the pawn on h6 rather than h7 might be in several lines.

9...Qa5

The more natural and usual 9...Nc6 allows 10.d5 (now that c3 is defended), and so this method of increasing the pressure against White's centre is to be preferred.

10.Qd2 cxd4 11.cxd4 Qxd2+ 12.Kxd2 0–0 13.Bd3 Rd8 14.Ne2 Nc6

All very sensible to here, and fairly predictable. White does not really want to commit his pawn centre until absolutely necessary and so the next short sequence of moves also popped up on my analysis board fairly quickly.

15.Rc4! Be6 16.d5 Ne5 17.Rc7 Bd7!

A good choice, I think. The crowd of specs were really hoping for 17...Bxd5!? to work, I think, but after 18.exd5 Rxd5 19.Nf4 Rdd8! (better than 19...Rd6 20.Bc5), 20.Rxe7! g5 21.Rxe5, White simply appears better. 21...gxf4 22.Bxf4 Bxe5 23.Bxe5 gives White a nice bishop pair to combat rook and pawn, and 21...Bxe5 22. Nh5, and a quick K/d2-e2, also looks more pleasant for White. Black's retreat may not be as flashy, but simply intends a chipping away at White's now-extended centre with ...e7-e6. I believe that explains White's choice of developing his h1-rook (my prediction) as opposed to the greedy-looking 18.Rxb7?!

18.Rb1 b6 19.Ba6 e6 20.Ke1

My batting average in this game was quite good as this position also made it to our analysis board before the actual moves were transmitted. Black's next, however, was strong and quite underestimated.

20...Bc8! 21.Bxc8 Rdxc8 22.Rxc8+ Rxc8

Not really part of White's plans, but very logical from Black's perspective. Milov now recognizes the very real possibility of becoming worse and puts all of his faith in his passed d-pawn.

23.Rd1! exd5 24.exd5 Nc4 25.Bf4 g5 26.Bg3 f5 **D**

27.d6! Rd8

Necessary. The careless 27...f4?? runs into 28.d7 Rd8 29.Nxf4 gxf4 30.Bh4, winning.

28.d7 Ne5

28...Be5, one suggestion from my peanut gallery (apologies to Roger Lebrun, who looks absolutely nothing like a peanut! :-)), runs into the pretty 29.f4!, when 29...gxf4?? 30.Bh4, or 29...Bc7, say, 30.fxg5! Bxg3 32.Nxg3 (winning the f5-pawn), or 29...Bg7, say, 30.fxg5 (threat 31.Bc7) are all very good for White.

29.Bxe5 Bxe5 30.Rd5 Bf6 31.Ng3! f4 32.Nf5 Kf7 33.Rd6 h5 34.h4!? gxh4!?

At first I thought that 34.h4 was a great move, and that Milov was really pressing for the full point. But as we analysed, even 34...g4 as an alternative to the move played seems to lead to only a draw, after 35.Ke2 Be5 36.Nh6+ Ke7 37.Nf5+. This is probably the correct result.

35.Ke2 Be5 36.Nh6+ Ke7 37.Nf5+ Kf7 38.Rd1!?

A bit shocking, to my mind, but given Black's weak K-side, Milov may have felt there was little risk in continuing to play. I also mentioned to the group present that Milov is very used to playing in Open Swisses in Europe where playing for wins in nearly every game is very important - it could easily be the case that he is simply too used to fighting to the last pawn.

38...Ke6 39.Nd4+ Bxd4 40.Rxd4 Rxd7 41.Rxf4 Rd5 42.Rxh4 Kf6

An equal rook endgame has been reached, and assuming no terrible errors, a draw is still very likely.

43.Rc4 Kg5 44.g3 Rf5 45.Kf1 Rd5 46.Ke2 Rb5 47.Kf3 Rb2 48.a4 a5 49.Rd4 Rb4 50.Ke3 Rb3+ 51.Ke4 Rb2 52.f3 Rb3 53.Rd5+ Kg6 54.Rd6+ Kg7

White has managed to create a very, very small something, but still not enough to win.

55.Kf4 Kh7 56.Rf6 Kg7 57.Re6 b5 58.Re5 bxa4 59.Rxh5

59.Rxa5 a3 60.Rxh5 also fails to win as Black's rook is too active: 60...Rb4+ 61.Ke3 Rb3+ 62.Ke2 Rb2+ 63.Kd3 (if White unwisely chooses to put his King on the 1st rank, then ...a2! wins for Black!) 63...Rb3+, with perpetual (or wins f3-pawn).

59...Rb4+ 60.Ke3 ½–½.

Same problem, Black's rook can check ad nauseam.

********
Board 3: GM Kamil Miton (Poland) - GM Sipke Ernst (Netherlands): Dutch, Leningrad

1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 g6 5.g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 0–0 7.d5 Qe8!? 8.0–0 a5 9.Be3 Na6 10.Qd2 Ng4 11.Bf4

This game was a complex fight throughout. White's last surprised a few onlookers, but the more natural 11.Bd4 runs into the surprising 11...Bh6!, when White's bishop becomes a target to ...e5 and ...c5.

11...Nc5 12.Nd4 Bd7 13.Nb3!?

Offering to trade Black's strongly posted N/c5. The attempt to chase this knight away with pawns is very time consuming (b3, a3, Rb1, b4), and White's choice seemed quite logical to me.

13...b6 14.Nd4!?

And back again. Perhaps the newly weakened light squares on the Q-side convinced White to keep his knight pair for potential occupation at a later date. Have I used the word complex yet?

14...Rc8 15.b3 Qf7 16.Rad1 Qf6 17.Qc1 Qf7 18.Ncb5 Kh8 19.Na7 Rce8 20.Nab5 Rc8 21.h4 Nf6 22.Bf3 Nfe4 23.Kg2 Bf6 24.Qc2 Bg7 25.Rh1!

I like this regrouping and felt that Miton might finally be on his way to producing another full point. The simple plan of h4-h5 is not at all easy to meet.

25...h5

Rather ugly, but probably necessary. Here I honestly felt White was better as he had succeeded in provoking a tangible compromise in Black's position.

26.Bc1 Kh7 27.e3 Nf6 28.Bb2 Ng4 29.Rhf1 Be5 30.Nc3!

Finally a knight is making its way to the juicy f4-square. Black has been doing well to sit tight, but I was beginning to think it just might be one of those positions where White will slowly squeeze Black to death, a la Petrosian, for example.

30...Bg7 31.Nce2 e5 32.dxe6 Nxe6 33.Nxe6 Bxe6 34.Nf4 Bd7 35.Bxg7 Kxg7 36.Qc3+ Kh6 37.Qd2 Kg7 38.c5!?

A tactical shot, creating a passed Q-side pawn. Mind you, we are still a LONG way from any endgame!?

38...bxc5 39.Qxa5 Ne5 40.Bd5 Bc6 **D**

41.e4!

Breaking the pin. This temporary block of the long diagonal forces an exchange on d5 and creates a nice outpost on e6 for White's knight...looked like progress to me!

41...Bxd5 42.exd5 Ra8 43.Qc3 Kg8 44.Rd2 Rfb8 45.Re1

I have been quite impressed with Miton in this event, and particularly in his handling of the White pieces. While there is still work to do here, it looked like he could easily be on his way to 3/3 with White. Ernst, however, has not come this far to lie down easily, and comes up with some very creative counterplay over the next few moves.

45...c4! 46.bxc4 Ra4 47.c5 Rc4 48.Qa3 Rbb4 **D**

48...Rxc5 49.Rxe5! dxe5 50.Qxc5 exf4 51.d6!?, or even 51.gxf4 (putting the King on g3 should be OK), is not really playable for Black.

49.cxd6?! cxd6 50.Rb2?

White's 49th is not so bad, but his 50th undoes all of his hard work and lets Black escape with a miracle save. Best on move 49 is the direct 49.Qa8+!, when 49...Qf8 50.Qxf8+ Kxf8 51.Ne6+ and 52.Nxc7! (the reason to not trade pawns on d6) wins, as 52...Rxc5 allows the fork 53.Na6!
And if Black moves his King with 49...Kh7, 50.Ne6! leaves Black's Queen with no good squares, and a Q trade on g8 runs into the same variations after N/e6xc7.

After the pawn trade on d6, 50.Qa8+!? still offers chances after 50...Qf8 (50...Kh7 51.Ne6! again), 51.Qxf8+ Kxf8 52.Rxe5!? dxe5 53.Nxg6+ and 54.Nxe5, although Black may hold in some lines. Simpler and strong on the surface is the immediate 50.Ne6!, intending Q/a3-a8+, when 50...Qb7 51.Qe3! (idea Qh6) appears to keep very strong pressure in addition to an extra pawn.

White is a bit unfortunate that the line he did choose allows Black to escape in spectacular fashion, but credit to Black for not giving up, and making the most of his opportunities when they were presented to him.

50...Rxb2 51.Qxb2 **D**

51...Rxf4!

Removing White's pride and joy, and threatening to wreak havoc with Queen and knight after 52...Qxd5+!

52.Qb8+ Kh7 53.Qxd6! Rxf2+! 54.Kxf2 Nd3+ 55.Kf1 Nxe1 56.Kxe1 Qa7!

It is possible that White only analyzed to 56.Kxe1 and assumed a victory, but I feel it more likely he overlooked something earlier. (And of course it could all have been time-trouble related as well, as I was not actually present in the tournament room, and do not have access to the clock times). Regardless, it is Black's active 56th which manages to salvage the half point in this pawn down Queen endgame. White's King is too exposed to exploit his far-flung d-pawn.

57.Qe5 Qxa2 58.d6 Qb1+ 59.Kd2 Qa2+ 60.Kd3 Qb3+ 61.Kd4 Qb2+ 62.Kd5 Qb5+ 63.Ke6 Qe8+ ½–½.

There is no escape from perpetual. 64.Kf6 Qh8+ 65.Ke6 Qe8+ 66.Kd5, and White's King can only run back and forth until a repetition occurs.

**********

Tiviakov - Aveskulov: Sicilian, 2.c3

1.e4 c5 2.c3

Another Tiviakov specialty, which he has continued to play regularly despite a huge drop in popularity since the 1980's. In round 2, he won a very Queenless middlegame and endgame in another Sicilian offshoot, the Moscow Variation:

Tiviakov - Leonid Gerzhoy (Toronto): Sicilian, Moscow

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qg4 9.Qxg4 Nxg4 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bf4 g6 12.h3 Nf6 13.e5 dxe5 14.Bxe5 0–0–0 15.Ke2 Bg7 16.Rhd1 Nh5 17.Bxg7 Nxg7 18.Ne4 Ne6 19.Ke3 f5 20.Nc3 g5 21.Ne2 h5 22.b4 h4 23.a4 g4 24.Nf4 Rxd1 25.Rxd1 Rh6 26.f3 Nxf4 27.Kxf4 gxh3 28.gxh3 Rg6 29.Re1 Kd7 30.Re5 Rg3 31.Ra5 Rxh3 32.Rxa7+ Ke6 33.b5 cxb5 34.cxb5 Rh1 35.b6 Rb1 36.a5 Rb4+ 37.Ke3 h3 38.Kf2 Rb2+ 39.Kg1 Ke5 40.Rxe7+ Kf4 41.Rg7 Kxf3 42.b7 f4 43.a6 Rb1+ 44.Kh2 Rb2+ 45.Kxh3 Rb1 46.Kh4 1–0

3...d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Nbd2 Nc6 7.Bc4 Bxf3 8.Qb3!?

A wild sequence of moves follows which I can only assume is theory. My current database is undergoing some repair, so I cannot consult the silicon oracle here, but the moves certain smack of erudition.

8...Na5!? 9.Qb5+ Qd7 10.Nxf3 Nxc4 11.Qxc4 cxd4 12.Nxd4 e5 13.Nc2

And so, after a number of adventures and exchanges, we arrive at this position. My evaluation during the commentary was that White had very slightly the better side of no real edge here. I still believe that Black can only be slightly worse here (if even that). White can try Bg5, Rd1, Ne3 perhaps, but Black simply hasn't made enough errors to be suffering yet. His next move offers a trade of Queens yet again, but it may be just a little too eager. What's wrong with 13...Be7?, say. Black needs to watch the e5-pawn, but that's really the only concern at the moment.

13...Qd5?! 14.Ne3! Qxc4 15.Nxc4 Nd7 16.f4!

And White has moved just a little bit closer to that slight advantage he is hoping to nurse. Tiviakov is really quite astounding at making something out of seemingly miniscule plusses, and his technique in this game and the one above is quite striking.

16...e4 17.Be3 Rc8 18.Ne5 Bc5 19.Ke2

Naturally, White has no need or desire to castle any longer and brings his King into the action (note similarily in game above).

19...Nb6!?

19...Nxe5 20.fxe5 still leaves White with a nagging plus as the e4-pawn is easier to get to than the e5-pawn is for Black, e.g. 20...Ke7 21.Rhf1 Ke6 22.Rf4!, and White's pressure continues.

20.Bxc5 Rxc5 21.Rhd1 g5!? 22.Rd4! f6

22...gxf4 23.Rxe4! f5 24.Nd3+ is a tricky line which still provides a White plus.

23.Ng4 f5 24.Nf6+ Kf7 25.fxg5 h6 26.Rf1! hxg5?!

Tactics keep White afloat with a solid extra pawn after this. 26...Ke6!? looks a better try to me, and after 27.h4 hxg5 28.hxg5, White's extra pawn is at least a doubled one, and the h-file may provide Black with some counterplay. White would still be better, of course, even here.

27.Nxe4! Re5 28.Kd3 g4 29.h3!

Black's King position allows for a Ng5+, maintaining White's extra pawn.

29...Ke7 30.Nf2 gxh3 31.Nxh3 Nd5 32.Rf3 Rg8 33.g3 Nf6 34.Nf2 Nh5 35.g4! Ng7

Initially I thought that this was terrible at the tournament hall, but 35...fxg4 36.Nxg4 leads to even bigger trouble as White picks up a tempo and has this amazing threat of Ng4-h6! 36...Re6 37.Ne3! does not seem to help matters much. So, as unappealing I feel 35...Ng7 to be (and still do!), it is considerably stronger than the alternative, and as such, perhaps deserves a (!).

36.Kc2 Ne6?

Despite the simplification, Black's game is still quite difficult. It would be nice to simply exchange the f-pawn for g-pawn and concentrate solely on the Q-side, but it is not at all easy to do so under favourable circumstances. Black's best may be 36...Re2+ when 37.Kb3 Ne6 at least has an additional nuisance check available for Black with ...Nc5+, and 37.Kd3 Re5 repeats. 37.Rd2, offering a trade of rooks would also be possible there, but I think Black would welcome a trade of one set of rooks. Another idea for White, if his King were forced back to d3, is R/d4-f4, more or less forcing Black to play ...f5xg4, and letting White's knight achieve some activity with N/f2xg4.
There is little question that Black could have offered more resistance than the text move chosen, but also little doubt that White has a surprising amount of pressure given the simplified nature of the position.

37.Rb4! fxg4 38.Nxg4

Double attack - White wins a 2nd pawn and the game. White need only be patient now, and coming this far, Tiviakov is not about to mess things up.

38...Re2+ 39.Kd1 Rg2 40.Rxb7+ Kd6 41.Nf2 Rg1+ 42.Kc2 R8g2 43.Rd3+ Kc6 44.Rf7 Nc5 45.Rd2 a5 46.Rf6+ Kc7 47.Rf5 Kc6 48.b3 Kb6 49.Kb2 Rf1 50.Ka3 Nb7 51.Rf6+ Kc7 52.Re2 Rg7 53.Ne4 Rxf6 54.Nxf6

One step closer to the win.

54...Rg3 55.Re7+ Kc6 56.Re6+ Kc7 57.Nd5+ Kd7 58.Re7+ Kc8 59.c4 Rg2 60.c5! Nd8 61.c6!

Both here and on the previous move, capturing the c-pawn with knight allows Rc7+, winning a piece.

61...Rc2 62.c7 1–0.

Almost there....63.Nb6+ is next.

********

Best Canadian underdog stories of the day: Scarborough junior, Liam Henry, nicked his GM opponent, Abhijit Kunte, of India, for a draw, as did Alberta FIDE Master (FM), Greg Huber, against recently settled FM Anton Kovalyov (only 15 years old, and FIDE rating of 2510 on most recent list!) of Montreal (via Ukraine and Argentina).

Round 4: A Short Draw

2007-07-10T00:49:00.000-04:00

Due to the peculiarities of accelerated pairings, and the fact that only GM Nigel Short had a perfect 3-0 score going into this round, we saw a matchup between the top two rated players in the event. According to the very latest FIDE rating list (July 07), Bu actually outrates Short by 2 points.

Bu (2685) - Short (2683): Queen's Gambit Declined

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6

Given the opponent and the tournament standings, Short's choice of opening did not surprise me in the least. He is quite knowledgeable in the QGD, and it is a most solid choice. Perhaps, in a later round, in what he might feel is a must-win situation, he would have chosen the Nimzo-Indian or something with some extra dynamic chances. But a draw here would not be unreasonable (with Black), and there is little wrong with the strategy of playing to equalize first, and look for chances later.

6.Bh4 0–0 7.e3 b6 8.Rc1

One of many options available to White in this classical opening. The line I am most familiar with from this point is 8.Be2 Bb7 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.cxd5 exd5 11.b4!?, with the idea of restraining the ...c5 break, and playing for some plus in the event of 11...c5 12.bxc5 bxc5 13.Rb1.
As I pointed out to the spectators for this game, White does not want to trade on f6 and d5 until Black's bishop has committed itself to b7, as otherwise it will develop to e6 where it has more of a future with some K-side influence. Also, in the game, this type of line would no longer make much sense as White will then waste a tempo playing R/a1-c1-b1 as opposed to an immediate R/a1-b1.

9...Bb7 9.Bd3

A funny thing happened here. I went into the tournament hall, looking for an introductory batch of live .pgn files to start my commentary, when I was summoned to Zeljka's table to attempt to solve a problem. From the outset of the event, Nigel has indicated his lack of interest in using the MonRoi devices for recording games. Perhaps he finds them too distracting, or simply finds they don't suit his temperament - whatever the reason, it matters little. Players are given an option to use the technology, and reasonably so. In any case, the only drawback is that if his opponent also does not want to use the device, then I do not have access to a gamescore. This in fact happened in Round 1.

So, when Zeljka called me over, I was curious (and someone concerned) that this might be the situation yet again, as it would have been a real shame to have no access to the game played between the tournament's #1 and #2 seeds. Fortunately, this was not the issue. What had happened, however, is that Bu had apparently entered a move incorrectly, and the gamescore was out of whack. I was asked if I could help, and was able to recreate their correct gamescore to within one-half ply accuracy. It was move 9 that I was unsure of: either 9.Be2 or 9.Bd3. I was unable to tell for certain, as after 9...dxc4 10.Bxc4, the identical position would be reached.

I voted for 9.Be2, and was later informed that 9.Bd3 was played. Oh well, so much for my predictive ability. If that is the only difference between a GM (Bu) and an IM (myself), then I still might have a chance as a player!

9...dxc4 10.Bxc4

This exchange sets the tone for the next phase. The central tension and its resolution is always an interesting moment in any chess game. Short opts to open the centre and the long diagonal at the expense of giving White slightly more central space. In exchange, Black gets active control of the light squares.

10...a6 11.a4

Restraining any ...b5 ideas as well as the P/a6, but at the cost of weakening the b-file and b4-square.

11...Nbd7 12.0–0 Ne4

Trading pieces while retaining a solid position is one method of getting closer to a shared peace. Bu agrees to trade one set of minors, but retains his bishop to aim at the Black Q-side.

13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.Bg3 c5 15.Qe2 Qc8!?

Aiming for b7. Here I pointed out that White could attempt to open the c-file and exploit the Black Q's position with 16.dxc5. After 16...Bxc5 17.b4!? Bxb4 18.Bxe6 Qe8 is possible, and on 16...Nxc5 17.b4 Nxa4 18.Bd5!? Bxd5 19.Rxc8 Rfxc8, Black has assorted bits for the Queen, and appears to be hanging in there. Neither of these lines looked all that convincing for White and I started looking elsewhere for White ideas.

I was a bit surprised later to find that 16.dxc5 had in fact been played, but that Short had chosen a 3rd recaptured, one that I did not even spend any time on!

16.dxc5 bxc5!?

This choice escaped my scrutiny completely, but is also very reasonable. The semi-open b-file provides Black with counterplay against the b-pawn and b4-square, and the c5-pawn, while isolated, cannot be easily attacked, and controls the d4-square. A case of checks and balances, really.

17.Nd2 Bc6 18.b3 Rd8 19.Rfd1 Qb7 20.Bd3 Nf6

Not 20...Bxg2?? of course, as 21.f3 Bh3 22.Qh5 wins a piece.

21.e4 ½–½.

And here, quite sensibly, a draw was agreed. Naturally both players could continue the game, but I am speculating that neither felt particularly ambitious for the full point. Bu played about 120 moves on Sunday and Nigel was playing Black, after all.

But wait a minute! Didn't I mention in an earlier blog that there was a tournament rule prohibiting the offer of a draw before move 30? Well, yes I did, in fact, and apparently, several players in the event were not aware of the rule (or at least I assume they were not deliberating thumbing their noses at it!). Not only was Short's game drawn in under 30 moves, but two other games this round: GM Suat Atalik - GM Alex Yermolinsky , and GM Andrei Rychagov - Noritsyn were drawn in 20 and 29 moves respectively. The arbiters apparently "yellow-carded" Bu and Short for their interdiction, but I assume no more than this was done (and how could they really do more than issue a warning?) as their were further infractions. I would hate to think that further action could have been taken, but as I was not present at the opening ceremonies, I do not know how clearly the rules were stated to all players. And if they were, there is no guarantee that everyone was listening when they should have been. And then there is the issue of language as well. Well, it's a potentially nasty can of worms, but I think (and hope) that we have seen the last of the short draws - that certainly doesn't guarantee in any way that all the 30-move draws will be interesting ones! :-)

When I left the tournament hall this evening, there were fairly large signs posted on the doors in at least 4 languages reminding the players of this "no early draw offer" rule in effect.

Association of Chess Professionals endorses the 2007 Canadian Open

2007-07-09T22:35:00.000-04:00

Gordon Ritchie, Chair of the Organizing Committee for the 2007 Canadian Open is pleased to announce that the Committee has accepted a request by the Association of Chess Professionals to include this tournament as an event on the 4th ACP Tour running from July 2007 through June 2008. The tour is reserved for the top events around the world. The request was made in light of the very high level of the participants in this event.

Yannick Pelletier, ACP Tour Director, is equally pleased with the acceptance of this request.

"The ACP Tour is happy to welcome a new tournament from the American continent. The Canadian Open has reached such a level, that there can be no doubt any more. It definitely belongs to the upper crust of chess events!"

The announcement was officially made at the commencement of Round 4, and was met with a round of applause from the players on the Top 40 boards. This is a ringing endorsement of the success of the 2007 Canadian Open.

The 4th ACP Tour has just been launched on July 1st 2007. The ACP expects that, again, the strongest chess tournaments in the world will agree to be part of this tour. At the same time, the ACP has also decided to start a circuit for women, which is named the ACP Women Series, which will contribute to contribute to the development of women in chess.

All necessary information can be found on the ACP website at: http://www.chess-players.org/ .

Late-breaking news and commentary for the 2007 Canadian Open can be found at: http://canchess.blogspot.com/

The 4th ACP Tour has just been launched on July 1st 2007. We expect that, again, the strongest chess tournaments in the world will agree to be part of it. Some new points have been added to the Rules. The main one certainly concerns the decision to include the most important team competitions on the circuit. Thus, players who are used to taking part as much for teams as in individual tournaments will not be at a disadvantage. At the same time, the ACP has also decided to start a circuit for women, which we've named ACP Women Series. We thus hope to contribute to the development of women chess.

All necessary information can be found on the ACP website at http://www.chess-players.org/

Short, Bu Round 4 Result: Draw (as of 9:15pm)

2007-07-09T21:35:00.001-04:00

As of 9:15 pm, the result is a draw between GM Xiangzhi Bu and GM Nigel Short.

Above is the display of the game after 19. ..Qb7. A draw was agreed upon by the players after move 20. Bd3 Nf6 21. e4 . However, this draw offer is not in accordance with the Canadian Open tournament rules ( http://cocycc.pbwiki.com/CORules)

Discussing the draw situation, are (from left to right), Nigel Short, Xiangzhi Bu, Jonathan Berry (Chief Arbiter), Gordon Ritchie (Chair, Organizing Committee), and Lianhu He (Organizing Committee Member).

At the time of this posting, the ruling by Berry is not known. More to come soon.

Pictures from Round 4 of the Canadian Open

2007-07-09T21:08:00.000-04:00

A few pictures from the beginning of Round 4, which commenced at 6pm EDT.

Board 1: GM Xiangzhi Bu, GM Nigel D. Short

Board 3: GM Sergey Tiviakov, GM Valeriy Aveskulov

Board 9: GM Andrey V Rychagov, Nikolay Noritsyn

Round 4 pairings can be found at: http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/4rO.htm

The PGN file realtime for Round 4 is available at:

http://www.monroi.com/tournamentgate/CanOpen07/index.html

Results, as soon as they are available, will be posted by the Chief Arbiter Jonathan Berry at:

http://cocycc.pbwiki.com/results

Before Round 4 - sights from atop the Ottawa Marriott

2007-07-09T20:47:00.000-04:00

To give you a flavour of the Ottawa environs, these pictures were taken a few short minutes shortly before Round 4. The vantage point is the Rotunda, the top floor of the Ottawa Marriott, which includes a revolving restaurant and is the site of the 2007 Canadian Open.

The Ottawa Marriott is a major sponsor of the Canadian Open, having provided a fantastic venue at a fantastic rate.

Looking east to the Parliament Buildings

Looking south at the Supreme Court of Canada. On the other side of the Ottawa River is Gatineau, Quebec.

Looking west to the brand new Canadian War Museum. The festival tents to the left make up the site of the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, underway in Ottawa. But most important is the tournament being held in this hotel, more to come shortly...

Round 3

2007-07-09T17:18:00.000-04:00

Fortunately for me, I didn't understand what was going on in a number of games from the 3rd round, and so I don't have as much to say! After nearly 10 hours of talking about chess yesterday (Sunday), I have to admit my throat felt like it had taken quite a beating...I'm quite hoarse today. I guess I will need to remember to drink water during the round to keep it happier!

As I mentioned before, the short(ish) draws I was somewhat expecting were nowhere to be seen, with good reason. Although I later heard that David Gordon offered his 3rd GM opponent, Sipke Ernst, of the Netherlands, a draw on move 26 (a pawn up, but a much worse and likely lost position), without realizing the rule was in existence himself! It is unusual to see such a rule in place in my 30-year experience of chess in Canada, but personally I like it from the specatators point of view. It forces the opponents to at least give some impression of playing for a win!

Here are highlights from the 3rd round:

Board 1: GM Sandipan Chanda (India) - GM Bu (China), Moscow Sicilian, draw in 52 moves, Black looked slightly better to me from another Queenless middlegame (Bu's 3rd), but it didn't appear to be enough to convert.

Board 2: GM Valery Aveskulov (Ukraine) - GM Milov (Switzerland), Sicilian, ...e6/...a6, draw in 48 moves.

An exciting slugfest, though I am fairly certain that Milov slipped out of the noose in this game.
Critical position is after Black's 27...Ng7. White can likely win the e4-pawn with advantage in some lines. Black's tricky 31...Ng5!? led to very unclear complications, still better for White, I think, but extremely messy. White ultimately had to play for a draw a pawn down, so I think he will be somewhat disappointed not to find something better....still a great fight (and the 2nd round of the day!)

Aveskulov - Milov: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.0–0 b5 8.a4 b4 9.Na2 Bb7 10.Qe2 Be7 11.Bd2 a5 12.c3 bxc3 13.Nxc3 0–0 14.Rad1 Nbd7 15.Ndb5 Nc5 16.Bc2 Qb6 17.Be3 Rac8 18.f3 Rfd8 19.Qf2 d5 20.e5 Ne8 21.f4 g6 22.Bd4 Qa6 23.g4 Ne4 24.Qg2 Bc5 25.f5 Bxd4+ 26.Rxd4 exf5 27.gxf5 Ng7 28.fxg6 hxg6 29.Nxe4 dxe4 30.Bb3 Ne6 31.Qf2 Ng5 32.Qe3 Rxd4 33.Nxd4 Qb6 34.e6 Nxe6 35.Rxf7 Qxd4 36.Qxd4 Nxd4 37.Rxb7+ Nxb3 38.Rxb3 Rc4 39.Kf2 Kg7 40.Rb7+ Kf6 41.Ke3 Rxa4 42.b3 Ra2 43.Rb6+ Kg7 44.Ra6 Kh6 45.Kxe4 Ra3 46.Kf4 Rxb3 47.Rxa5 g5+ 48.Kg4 ½–½.

Board 3: GM David Howell (England) - GM Sergei Tiviakov (Netherlands): Scandinavian, 3...Qd6, drawn in 37.

I had absolutely no idea what to say about this game other than that Tiviakov is apparently a specialist in this very offbeat opening. I have recollections of seeing him defend some pretty miserable positions against very good players in this line in the past, but also some fairly effortless wins. I suggest you play through the game ( complete .pgn files downloadable from Monroi site) and decide what you think for yourself if interested!

Board 4: GM Kamil Miton (Poland) - GM Borislav Ivkov (Serbia): Czech Benoni, 1-0 in 38.

Game of the day, in my opinion. At least of those that I saw. Miton put together a pretty flawless effort, and exploited a pawn vulnerability with precise play.

Miton - Ivkov: 1.d4 c5 2.d5 e5 3.e4 d6 4.Bb5+

An opening nuance. Trading light-squared bishops is not really in keeping with Black's strategic plans (dark-squared Bs another matter altogether = highly desirable). And blocking with the knight misplaces this piece very slightly as often it would prefer the orbit ...Na6-c7 to support a ...b7-b5 pawn break in the future.

4...Nd7 5.a4 Be7 6.Nf3 Ngf6 7.Nc3 0–0 8.0–0 Ne8

Renewing the idea of a potential Bishop trade on g5 with a future ...Bg5. Also, planning ...Nc7 or ...g6 and ...Ng7, supporting an ...f5 break. Typically with such a locked pawn centre, both sides will be relying on lots of piece regrouping to support their eventuall strategic pawn breaks.

9.Nd2 g6

Perhaps 9...Bg5!? immediately. Black also needed to consider a plan against White's idea of further advancing the a-pawn. In the game, this became a real problem for Black, and will likely be the source of some improvements for him.

10.a5 Bg5 11.a6

I don't think this should have been allowed, although 11...a6 leaves a big hole on b6 and a constrained Q-side to deal with. Likely improvements needed on moves 9/10.

11...bxa6 12.Bxa6 Bxa6 13.Rxa6 Nb6 14.Qe2 Nc7 15.Ra1 a5? **D**

This pawn will be a source of trouble to Black regardless of where it resides on the a-file, but Miton demonstrates that it becomes more immediately vulnerable the further it advances. Black should probably settle for getting on with ...f5 and recognizing the fact that the a-pawn will always be a nuisance.

16.Nb3! Bxc1 17.Rfxc1 a4 18.Nd2 Qd7 19.Ra3!

As David Gordon, our erstwhile giant killer (he finally succumbed in round 3, see above, but not without providing the commentary room with some entertainment) put in during my analysis, "Let the siege of the a-pawn begin!" Well put, as there is little Black can do to save it in the long run. Black seeks some form of counterplay, but it proves to be inadequate.

19...f5 20.f3! fxe4 21.fxe4

Maintaining the centre, and keeping Black's knights at bay.

21...Rf4 22.Rca1 Rb8 23.h3 c4!?

Recognizing his plight, Ivkov makes a last bid for counterplay on the b6-g1 diagonal. White has provided luft for his King, however, with h3, and is well aware of not allowing Black anything approaching counterplay.

24.Nxa4 Qb5 25.Qe3! Nxa4 26.Rxa4 Qxb2?!

Dubious is too harsh perhaps, as otherwise, Black will simply be down 2 pawns (when c4 drops), but Black's pieces are simply no match for White's Queen with many targest available (including Black's King!).

27.Rb1 Qxb1+ 28.Nxb1 Rxb1+ 29.Kh2 Nb5 30.Rxc4 h5 31.Rc8+ Kg7 32.Rb8 h4

Weaving a mating net, but White predictably breaks through first.

33.Rb7+ Kf6 34.Qb6! Kg5 35.Qd8+ Rf6 36.c4 Nc3 37.Rxb1 Nxb1 38.g3 1–0.

Board 5 saw GM Viktor Mikhalesky (Israel), who turned 35 yesterday (see earlier Blog posts) turn a 30-40 move win into an extended tussle which ultimately landed in 2 Queens vs. 1 Queen, and a win in 101 moves! That kept several of us there until the witching hour, but I am glad to see that he actually managed to win (after missing several simpler chances along the way), and his opponent, Rick Lahaye, of the Netherlands, was still smiling when the game was over, so he seemed a genuinely good sport about it as well.

As mentioned, Gordon finally lost to GM Sipke Ernst, and stands at 50%. Voloaca also was ground down (against his 3rd GM pairing, Russia's Anton Shomoev) and also stands at 50%.

Current standings posted here, and battle set to begin shortly for Round 4. I hope to provide earlier blogging results for this and subsequent rounds (perhaps some live if possible, and enough time between spectator questions and interaction). It's been most enjoyable so far, and today we get some of the big guns going face-to-face. In fact, Board 1 has Bu vs. Short, rankings #1 and #2, so we will see what happens very soon!

Thanks and back again soon with more chess - cheers!

Round 2 addenda

2007-07-09T17:08:00.000-04:00

Canadian highlights from the 2nd round: Draws by young Canadians Nikolai Noritsyn (Toronto) and IM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon (Montreal) against GM's Kamil Miton and Viktor Mikhalevsky respectively. Well done!

Also, GM scalpers David Gordon and Mihnea Voloaca of Ottawa (both roughly 2200) managed draws in their second rounds against a second GM. One and a half out of two against GM opps - not bad, boys. Keep up the good work!

On to Round 3!

Friend vs. Friend

2007-07-09T16:39:00.001-04:00

GM Anton Shomoev and GM Bator Sambuev, both of Russia and both friends, are set to play in Round Four of the 2007 Canadian Open. GM Shomoev's comment upon seeing the pairing posted -- on time -- at the Ottawa Marriott was something along the lines of "I traveled half-way around the world -- and now I'm playing Sambuev?" He had to laugh.

Other friends paired in Round Four: GM Suat Atalik plays GM Alex Yermolinsky. As well, GM Victor Mikhalevski plays GM Mark Bluvshtein. GM Mikhalevski quipped that last night at his impromptu birthday dinner, which GM Bluvshtein attended, he and Mark joked about the possibility that they might play today.

End of Round 2

2007-07-09T16:39:00.000-04:00

Board 3 of the second round also provided a great illustrative effort. Swiss GM Vadim Milov effectively defused an aggressive opening line by Ukranian IM Alexander Reprintsev, and turned a small material plus into a convincing win with apparent ease:

Milov - Reprintsev: Queen's Gambit, Tarrasch

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4!?

The Hennig-Schara Gambit, a violent attempt to wrest the early initiative at the cost of a pawn through superior piece development. Canadian IM Brian Hartman, of Hamilton, Ontario, used to play this line with some regularity at one point during his peak activity in the 1980s.

5.Qa4+! Bd7 6.Qxd4

A nice sequence to avoid Black's intended 5.Qxd4 Nc6! Now, of course, ...Nc6 is rather less effective!

6...exd5 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.Qxd5 Nf6 9.Qd1

White had little choice but to except the pawn offer, and Black has succeeded in gaining some edge in devopment (as hoped) by playing against White's exposed Queen. It may seem odd to retreat the Queen to her starting square, but there are few places on the board that are not subject to further harrassment. White's job for the next few moves will be simply to consolidate, be aware of the need for King safety, and ideally, to simplify through piece exchanges and alleviate pressure.

9...Qa5 10.Bd2 0–0–0! 11.e3 Bg4 12.Be2 Bb4

I liked the way that Black was playing this during the game. All of his pieces are ready to fight, R/h8 is ready to join the battle on e8, and White has still not castled. Yes, Black is down a pawn, but that is part of the whole variation, is it not?

13.Qc2 Bf5 14.Qc1 Ne4 **D**

Black would like to play moves like ...Kb8, ...Rc8 and ....Rhd8!? perhaps, really forcing White's Queen to struggle in her quest to find a safe home, but White's simple threat of a2-a3, driving back Black's pieces or forcing exchanges, seems too quick an antidote. Black decides on a more direct approach, but the same reply seems too powerful here as well.

15.a3!

This innocent pawn advance seems to cast doubt on Black's whole set-up! I was more hopeful of Black's chances for compensation a few moves ago, but the text seems to force a long series of exchanges, when Black has lost the bulk of his attacking forces. Perhaps putting Black's Queen on a5 was not so wise in hindsight, as a2-a3 creates serious tactics against her on this square.

15...Bxc3 16.Bxc3 Nxc3 17.Qxc3 Qxc3+ 18.bxc3 Rhe8

Those trades were played with a heavy heart I am sure. Black's only hope now is to develop enough pressure against White's split Q-side to hold the balance, but Milov plays beautifully over the next dozen moves, demonstrating the hopelessness of realizing this idea.

19.Nd4! Bd7 20.Rb1 Re5! 21.0–0 Ra5 22.Rfc1!!

A high-level move. Firstly noting that 22...Rxa3? 23.Nb5!, when 24.Nd6+, forking b7 and f7, is too strong to allow, means that the a-pawn is currently taboo, and secondly anticipating the importance of a rook on the c-file to enable the advance of the c3-pawn.

22...a6 23.Rb3 Ra4 24.c4!

Guarding against ...N/c6-a5, when the c4-square could have conceivably become a problem for White. Also, leaves the 3rd rank open for the b3-rook.

24...Kc7 25.Bf3 b6 **D**

26.Nb5+!

The knight is coming to d6 via this square anyways! Again, an example of strong GM's finding themselves "lucky" enough to have their pieces on the right squares. 22.Rfc1 was truly a star move, and a great example of Milov in his best form.

26...Kb8 27.Nd6 Ne5 28.Rxb6+ Kc7 29.c5

With the loss of the 2nd pawn, Black's game has become a hopeless task. The rest is, as they say, technique (or silence, or something else trite....depending on which chess author you are reading!)

29...Nxf3+ 30.gxf3 Bc6 31.Nxf7 Rd5 32.e4 Rxc5 33.Rxc5 Kxb6

Winning back a pawn, but Black is still 2 down.

34.Rc3 Rd4 35.Kg2 Bb5 36.e5 Rf4 37.Nd6 Bd7 38.Kg3 g5 39.Ne4 Rf5 40.Rd3 Bb5 41.Rd6+ Ka5 42.Rd5 Ka4 43.Nd6 Rf8 44.e6

This one is going to decide the game.

44...Bc6 45.Rc5 Rxf3+ 46.Kg4 h5+ 47.Kxg5 1–0

Queens ready for battle

2007-07-09T16:32:00.000-04:00

A battalion of rosewood Queens awaiting promotion for the upcoming Round 4 of the 2007 Canadian Open. Round 4 will commence 6pm EDT in the Laurier Room at the Ottawa Marriott

GM Xiangzhi Bu, on 2.5/3, has the White pieces against GM Nigel Short(3/3) on Board 1 pictured below.

More Round 2

2007-07-09T16:06:00.000-04:00

Current tournament leader (3/3), GM Nigel Short, of England, had a smooth win in Round 2 against Cuban GM, Frank de la Paz:

de la Paz - Short: Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 a6 6.Bb3 Ba7

Both sides anticipate central pawn advances with gain of tempo, and safeguard against this. White also wants to avoid ...Na5 in some moment, which might force an exchange of bishop for knight.

7.h3 d5!?

Most direct. Black doesn't always have the option to play this move in one go, as ....d6 has been played earlier in many lines. The drawback of this two-step advance is the relative vulnerability of Black's e5-pawn, no longer defensible with the d-pawn. Play revolves around these observations for the next few moves.

8.exd5 Nxd5 9.0–0 0–0 10.Re1 f6

Careful judgement required. Certainly this is the most efficient method to defend the pawn from capture, but the opening of the light-squared diagonal towards his King cannot be taken lightly.
White tries to open lines quickly to exploit this.

11.d4 exd4 12.cxd4 Na5 13.Nc3!

Completing development is more important than maintaining the bishop.

13...Nxb3 14.Qxb3 c6 15.Bf4! Rf7!

Nice. This not only breaks the pin, but defends b7 and makes it possible to get the c8-Bishop into the game.

16.Bg3 Bf5 17.a4?! **D**

This slip, and White's only serious error of the game, as far as I could see, hands the initiative to Black. My preference at the site during the game yesterday was 17.Re2!, planning to simply double on the e-file and force Black to take precautions against Re8+. It should be noted that on 17.Re2 Qb6 (as in the game), White has an alternative that was not available to him after 17.a4.

17...Qb6! 18.Qxb6

With the a-pawn still on a2 (after 17.Re2, say), White could have played 18.Nxd5! Qxb3 19.Nxf6+, and 20.axb3, with an extra, albeit doubled, pawn. Now, of course, White has little choice but to exchange Queens, and this favours Black who wants to simplify the position and build up an endgame advantage against White's isolated d4-pawn.

18...Nxb6 19.Re2 Rd8 20.Rae1 Rfd7 21.Bf4 g5!

Without the presence of Queens, White's rooks on the e-file make far less of an impression, and Black is freer to expand aggressively on the K-side, gaining space, as there is far less fear of an attack against his King.

22.Bc1 Kf7

Even the slightly weakening ...f7-f6 has little significance with the Queens gone. Black's King is perfectly placed now on f7, and he has a clear advantage here. White has little to do, while Black can continue to build his position, and aim for an eventual win of the d-pawn.

23.b3 Nc8 24.Ne4 **D**

24...Bxe4!

Well judged. There is no point in allowing this knight to c5 (24...Bxd4?! 25.Nxd4 Rxd4, 26.Nc5) where there is very real counterplay against Black's Q-side. The d4-pawn is not going anywhere, and every exchange brings Black one step closer to a winning endgame.

25.Rxe4 Rd5 26.Bb2 h5!

Black continues to build and improve his position while White has little to do but wait.

27.g4 h4 28.Re6 Bb6 29.Ba3 R8d7 30.Re8 Nd6 31.Rb8 Ba7 32.Bxd6 R5xd6 33.Rh8 Bxd4

Finally, Short is ready to take the material. The game has been strategically decided for some moves, and the end result is never really in doubt.

34.Ree8 b5!

Moving pawns off the 7th rank has some tactical significance in a few lines. It should also be noted that White cannot deliver perpetual with his rooks as Black can always place his King on g6, say, and interpose a rook along the 7th.

35.Ra8

A variation like 35.Rhf8+ Kg6 36.Rg8+ Rg7 37.Rxg7+ Kxg7 38.Re7+ no longer picks up the b-pawn (see note above), so White looks for counterplay behind Black's Q-side pawn mass.

35...bxa4 36.Rxa6!? axb3 37.Nxd4 Rxd4 38.Rb8 c5

Black cannot save both of his pawns, but only needs to maintain one passer to decide the game in his favour.

39.Rxb3 R7d6 40.Ra7+ Ke6 41.Rc7 Kd5

Black's last fighter is on the scene. There is no hope of saving this.

42.Rc3 c4 43.Kg2 Rc6! 0–1.

Black tucks his King on c5, plays ....Rd4-d3, and starts the remorseless advance of his c-pawn. A fine game by Short, and a nice illustration of how to play against an isolani.

Rounds 2 and 3: Workhorse

2007-07-09T14:12:00.000-04:00

Your trusty correspondent has finally recharged, and provided reports from Day 2 - read on and enjoy!

The first Sunday at a Canadian Open is a very long day for nearly everyone involved. I am not a chessplaying participant at this wonderful event, yet I did not leave the Marriott site until nearly midnight, and I arrived at 10 am. For directors, various committee workers, affiliate staff, and volunteers, I imagine some were there even longer. And players, well a few kept me talking into the late evening, so they weren't getting much of a free ride either!

The reason for all this is the dreaded North American standard of 2 chess games in one day. Having lived in Europe for a few years, and played a significante amount of international chess, I can tell you that the 2 games per day phenomenon is largely a North American one. Most of the Europeans here, I am fairly certain, are not used to the 2nd game, and as such I had expected a fair number (but not excessive) of amicable handshakes in one of the two rounds to save energy and make it through the day - then it dawned upon me that there was a tournament rule in place that draws were not to be offered until move 30!

Well, that certainly changed the complexion of the day's results completely! To everyone's credit, I must say, I saw very few individuals complaining....it was almost as if they were saying, to borrow from a famous saying,"Well, when in Canada, do what the Canadians do, eh?" At the same time, I am sure everyone (Canucks and Yankees included) will be relieved to fall back to the relatively stress-free and relaxed tempo of 1 game per day. The tireless Organizing Committee, MonRoi, directors, and other workers etc. (myself included) will also be pleased to see the back of this past weekend - pretty crazy at times, but we all made it through, and as far as I know, there were no serious casualties.

On to some games from Rounds 2 and 3 - there were some terrific fights. Board 1 on Sunday morning proved to be another powerful endgame demonstration by GM Bu, over recently settled (from Belarus), 17-year-old Artem Samsonkin, of Toronto (incidentally, if anyone else knows a simple way to include diagrams in these blogs (I am using ChessBase Light for the gamescores), please let me or Tim Bouma know in the comments. I'm afraid I am not sufficiently up on the current tech. For now, intended diagrams are listed as **D**) -thanks.

Bu - Samsonkin (2): King's Indian, Fianchetto

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.Nc3 d6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0–0 e5

The move Black aims for in many variations of this opening, but here Black plays it directly when a Queen exchange is possible. More typical are 7...Bf5 (as was played in Kaminski-Krnan from this round), Bg4 and Qa5. The text gives White a small, riskless plus, and gives Black far fewer opportunities to complicate.

8.dxe5 Nxe5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.Qxd8 Rxd8 11.Bg5 Rd4

The threats of 12.Nd5 and 12.Ne4, or even 12.Bxf6 and 13.Nd5, forking, have to be met somehow.

12.Be3! Rd7

12...Rxc4 13.Rfd1 Be6 14.Bxb7 Rb8 15.Ba6! Rc6 16.Bb5, and with a7 hanging, Black's position is terrible. The tactic 16...Rxc3 17.bxc3 Rxb5 predictably runs into 18.Rd8+ Bf8 19.Bh6 Nd7 20.Rd1!, winning. Black's main difficulties here stem from a poorly developed Q-side and some back rank weakness.

13.b4!? Ng4 14.Bc5 e4!? **D**

White's 13th anticipated Black's desire to play ...c7-c6, blunting the long diagonal and facilitating development. Black's reaction hopes to exploit the long diagonal. Complex play ensues.

15.Nxe4

Accepting the gauntlet. 15.Rac1 is the chief alternative, but 15...f5 seems OK for Black, even after a line-opening 16.f3 exf3. The Exchange sacrifice is certainly the most interesting of options, although during the commentary I had suggested that in hindsight, White may have regretted his choice of 13.b4, regardless of its logic. At least now Black has a tiny bit of material as comp for his awkward mobility problems on the Q-side.

15...Bxa1 16.Rxa1 f5 17.Nc3 Nf6!

Controlling e4. If White can play e2-e4 and open a line for his Rook without allowing wholesale exchanges, Black's sleeping Q-side will cost dearly.

18.e3 Kf7 19.Bd4 a6

I liked White's idea to simply anchor the dark-squared Bishop on d4. Black's last is an attempt to slowly unravel the Q-side with ...Rb8 and ...b6, and make his material count for something.

20.Rb1 Rb8 21.c5 Ne4!?

During the live commentary of this game, I could not understand why Black was so eager to give a pawn away. But as things transpired, it appears that Black was simply doing so to enable the completion of his Q-side development, something that has been plaguing him from the get-go. 21.c5 made the planned 21...b6 impossible, as simply 22.cxb6 cxb6 23.Be5 costs an Exchange.
The text makes an odd impression, but it may be a reasonable decision in practice. Certainly, freeing Black's pieces on the Q-side must have provided some mental relief.

22.Bxe4!?

Another interesting choice. Reflexively, I had expected White to take the pair of bishops with 22.Nxe4, but Bu clearly believed that the bishop and knight duo compliment each other better. My old Fritz 4 engine agrees with me to the tune of 3/10 of a pawn, but what do they know anyway? Maybe they prefer tactics with bishops over knights?

22...fxe4 23.Nxe4 Re7 24.Nd2 Be6 25.a3 Rd8

Finally, Sleeping Beauty has awakened!

26.Nf3 Bf5 27.Rc1 h6 28.Nd2 g5 29.f3 Bd3 30.g4! Bb5 31.Nf1 Kg6

An important moment. There were some spectators in my commentary room that opined Black should eliminate this knight with 31...Bxf1 before it could arrive on the g3-square. The endgames are going to be very delicate for Black in all cases. White has two pawns for the Exchange, and most importantly a solid outpost for his B/d4. This is key - not only is material roughly even, the minor piece is pulling it's full weight against Black's rook. Here, it is probably superior.
So, even if Black chooses a line with 31...Bxf1, the resulting endgame will see White with all of the active plans (pawn breaks and advances, h2-h4 being a key one), and Black will have to adopt a "wait and see" strategy, in other words, passive defence. This may result in a draw, but will be a depressing chore to defend. Leaving the extra set of minors on the board will not change the possibility of defending passively, but it will provide Black with his bishop should he choose to seize a moment and defend actively (by returning some material, and aiming for counterplay). This was Samsonkin's choice in the game, and while it ultimately fell short, I was not able to say which course of action was more likely to offer the best hope for Black. The actual game was certainly more exciting for the spectators!

32.Ng3 Rf7 33.Kg2! Bc6 34.Rf1 **D**

Accurate defence. 33.Kf2, which looks more natural, would have allowed 33...Bc6 34.Nf5 h5!, with counterplay.

34...Rxd4!?

A big E for Effort. While this move may prove unnecessary and insufficient, it certainly forces White to regroup over the next few moves. This was the turning point I referred to above. Black's choice is an example of active defence. Shuffling further with 34...Bd5, say, and waiting for further developments, would be an example of passive defence. Black will be slightly worse for a long time if he chooses to "do nothing". "Doing something" is psychologically easier for most players, and provides a small burst of initiative. Only an enormous amount of analysis would provide a definitive answer as to which of these courses of action are more likely to succeed in garnering Black his half point.

35.exd4 Rf4 36.d5!? Bxd5 37.h3

Yesterday's live analysis of this game spent much time on 36.h3 Rxd4 37.Nf5, but 37...Rd3, eyeing a3 and f3 and allowing 37...Ne7+, crippling Black's Q-side gives Black active chances to defend the ending due to his active rook. Bu's choice appears much better - returning the pawn to expose Black's bishop slightly, and keeping his knight closer to home for defence and consolidation.

37...Rc4! 38.Ne2! Rc2 39.Rf2 Kf6 40.Kg3 Ke5 41.f4+

The logical and only real chance. Tactics make this move possible.

41...gxf4+ 42.Nxf4 **D**

42...Rc3+

Another key moment in this great struggle. On 42...Rxf2, White has 43.Nd3+ to save his material, but 43...Kd4 44.Nxf2 Kc4, simply racing for White's Q-side pawns did not look at all clear to those of us in the commentary room. White will always create a passed pawn on the K-side of course, but who is winning the race for fastest counterplay? 45.Kf4 Kb3 45.Ke5 as a sample line, and now what? I couldn't make a definitive evaluation of this endgame, but personally I feel it may have been Black's best chance. His bishop is an ideal minor in dealing with White's K-side passer, and this looks the most active chance for immediate Q-side counterplay.

43.Kh4 Bf3

Black's idea.

44.Ng6+ Kf6 45.Kh5 Kg7

Black chooses to defend his h-pawn and create vague mating threats in some fanciful lines. Black could have chosen to "go deep" and activate his King in these lines as well (44..,Kd4, say), but White would likely have 2 passers on the K-side after winning the h6-pawn, so this is less convincing IMHO (in my humble opinion!)

46.Nh4 Bd5 47.Nf5+ Kh7 48.Kh4

Not 48.h4?? Bf7 checkmate!

48...Bc4

Otherwise 49.Re2-e7. White need only find a way in with his Rook now, and he can claim a solid advantage. It is somewhat amazing that Black still hasn't had time to capture the a3-pawn.

49.Rf4! Bd5 50.Ne7 Bc4 51.a4

Safeguarding the Q-side. White White's rook now excellent placed on the 4th rank, Black no longer has any threats available against the Q-side pawns, and White can focus on breaking through on the other flank. Black's drawing chances have pretty much evaporated.

51...Kg7 52.Nf5+ Kg6 53.Re4 Bf1 54.Ne3!

Perfect coordination. I made the flippant comment during the game that GM's always seem to have their pieces on the right squares. Coincidence? I think not! White has shown excellent technique, and Black great fighting spirit. Other than a potential chance in a minor piece endgame (and that was rather unclear), I think both sides have played a game very much worth of Board one this round.

54...Bd3 55.Re6+ Kf7 56.Rxh6

White has finally broken through and wraps up in a few more moves.

56...Bg6 57.Nd5 Rc4 58.Kg5 Be4 59.Rf6+ Kg7 60.Nxc7 Rxb4 61.Ne6+ Kh7 62.Rf7+ Kg8 63.Kf6!
1–0.

Planning to checkmate with 64.Rf8+, 65.Ng5+, and 66.Rh8+. A great game, with many instructional moments....hope you enjoyed. More to come!

Round 4 Pairings are now available

2007-07-09T11:58:00.000-04:00

Round 4 pairings are now available at: http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/4rO.htm

The Top 10 Board pairings:

GM Xiangzhi Bu, GM Nigel D. Short
GM Vadim Milov, GM David Howell
GM Kamil Miton, GM Sipke Ernst
GM Sergey Tiviakov, GM Valeriy Aveskulov
GM Mark Bluvshtein, GM Victor Mikhalevski
GM Suat Atalik, GM Alex Yermolinsky
GM Hoang Thong Tu, GM Chanda Sandipan
GM Anton Shomoev, GM Bator Sambuev
GM Andrey V Rychagov, Nikolay Noritsyn
GM Abhijit Kunte, Liam Henry

Real-time PGN files are available for download from the Monroi website at:

http://www.monroi.com/tournamentgate/CanOpen07/games.html

2007 Canadian Open games can be viewed via Internet Chess Club. For more information, please go to http://www.chessclub.com/finger/CanOpen07

Results, as they become available, will be posted directly by Jonathan Berry at:http://cocycc.pbwiki.com/results

GM Valeriy Aveskulov

2007-07-09T10:53:00.000-04:00

GM Valeriy Aveskulov showsg us a great smile. After Round 3, GM Aveskulov has 2.5 points. So far, he has a Round 1 win against Kevin Pacey, Round 2 win against FM Daniel Rensch, and a Round 3 draw against GM Vadim Milov...

Aveskulov,Valeriy (2539) - Milov,Vadim (2665) Canadian Open 2007 Ottawa, Canada, 08.07.2007

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.0-0 b5 8.a4 b4 9.Na2 Bb7 10.Qe2 Be7 11.Bd2 a5 12.c3 bxc3 13.Nxc3 0-0 14.Rad1 Nbd7 15.Ndb5 Nc5 16.Bc2 Qb6 17.Be3 Rac8 18.f3 Rfd8 19.Qf2 d5 20.e5 Ne8 21.f4 g6 22.Bd4 Qa6 23.g4 Ne4 24.Qg2 Bc5 25.f5 Bxd4+ 26.Rxd4 exf5 27.gxf5 Ng7 28.fxg6 hxg6 29.Nxe4 dxe4 30.Bb3 Ne6 31.Qf2 Ng5 32.Qe3 Rxd4 33.Nxd4 Qb6 34.e6 Nxe6 35.Rxf7 Qxd4 36.Qxd4 Nxd4 37.Rxb7+ Nxb3 38.Rxb3 Rc4 39.Kf2 Kg7 40.Rb7+ Kf6 41.Ke3 Rxa4 42.b3 Ra2 43.Rb6+ Kg7 44.Ra6 Kh6 45.Kxe4 Ra3 46.Kf4 Rxb3 47.Rxa5 g5+ 48.Kg4 1/2-1/2:

Games can be downloaded from :

http://www.monroi.com/tournamentgate/CanOpen07/games.html

GMs in the skittles room

2007-07-09T10:28:00.000-04:00

Here's a scene from the skittles/analysis room after Round Three. In the foreground, Richard Ziegler (left) and GM Tu Hoang Thong of Vietnam (right) discuss their game. Next to them, Canadian GM Mark Bluvshtein (left) and Eric Hansen (right) go over their moves.

A little late for his party

2007-07-09T01:25:00.000-04:00

GM Victor Mikhalevski turned 35 yesterday, and a group of well-wishers were waiting to toast him at the Ottawa Marriott's Cafe Toulouse.

Meanwhile, GM Mikhalevski was embroiled in this:

[Event "Canadian Open 2007"]
[Site "Ottawa Canada"]
[Date "2007.07.08"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Mikhalevski, Victor"]
[Black "Lahaye, Rick"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2590"]
[BlackElo "2367"]
[PlyCount "201"]
[EventDate "2007.07.07"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 a6 7. b3 Bd6 8. Bd3
Qe7 9. Bb2 e5 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 13. Ne2 Bg4 14. Bxe5
Qxe5 15. Nd4 Rc8 16. Qb2 O-O 17. O-O Rc7 18. Rac1 Rfc8 19. h3 Bd7 20. Rxc7 Qxc7 21. Ne2 Qb6 22. Rc1 Rxc1+ 23. Qxc1 Qb4 24. Nd4 h6 25. a3 Qd6 26. b4 Ne8 27. Nb3 Nc7 28. Na5 b6 29. Nb3 Kf8 30. Qc3 Kg8 31. Nd4 Qe5 32. Be2 b5 33. Qc5 Ne6 34. Qe7 Qc7 35. Nxe6 Qc1+ 36. Kh2 Bxe6 37. Qd8+ Kh7 38. Bd3+ g6 39. Qf6 Qxa3 40. Bxg6+ Kg8 41. Bc2 Qa2 42. Qc3 Qc4 43. Qb2 Kf8 44. Bd1 Ke7 45. Be2 Qh4 46. Kg1 Qe4 47. Bf1 Bd7 48. Qc3 Qe6 49. Qd4 Qc6 50. Bd3 Qc1+ 51. Kh2 Qc7+ 52. f4 Qc6 53. Kg3 Qe6 54. Kh4 Qf6+ 55. Qxf6+ Kxf6 56. g4 Kg7 57. Kg3 f6 58. h4 Kf7 59. f5 Ke7 60. Kf4 Kd6 61. g5 hxg5+ 62. hxg5 fxg5+ 63. Kxg5 d4 64. e4 Ke5 65. Kg6 Be8+ 66. Kg7 Kf4 67. f6 Ke3 68. e5 Kxd3 69. e6 Kc2 70. f7 Bxf7 71. exf7 d3 72. f8=Q d2 73. Qc8+ Kb2 74. Qd7 Kc2 75. Qc6+ Kb2 76. Qf6+ Kc2 77. Qg6+ Kc1 78. Qxa6 d1=Q 79. Qxb5 Kb2 80. Qc5 Kb3 81. b5 Ka4 82. b6 Qf3 83. Kg6 Qf4 84. Qc6+ Ka5 85. b7 Qh2 86. Kf7 Qh7+ 87. Ke8 Qg8+ 88. Kd7 Qf7+ 89. Kc8 Qf8+ 90. Kc7 Qf4+ 91. Qd6 Qf7+ 92. Kc8 Qf5+ 93. Qd7 Qc5+ 94. Qc7+ Ka6 95. b8=Q Qf8+ 96. Qd8 Qc5+ 97. Qbc7 Qf5+ 98. Qcd7 Qc5+ 99. Kb8 Qb4+ 100. Ka8 Qe4+ 101. Qd5 1-0

At least his opponent gave him two new Queens for his birthday.

At 11:40 p.m. or so, GM Mikhalevski sat down in the cafe and had himself a well-deserved...

Round 3 Results now available

2007-07-09T00:03:00.000-04:00

Nigel Short holds a clear lead with a perfect score of 3.0.

Complete results can be found at: http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/3sO.htm

PGN files of the completed rounds are available for download at:

http://www.monroi.com/tournamentgate/CanOpen07/games.html

Pairings for Round 4 will be available around 12:00PM EDT. Pairing information will be posted at:

http://cocycc.pbwiki.com/results

After three rounds.. one perfect score

2007-07-08T23:03:00.000-04:00

That achievement belongs to GM Nigel Short, who beat FM Anton Kovalyov on Board Two.

Other top board results:

GMs Bu Xiangzhi and Sandipan Chanda drew
GMs Vadim Milov and Valeriy Aveskulov drew
GMs Sergey Tiviakov and David Howell drew

"A mountain of players" are now on 2.5/3, says the 2007 Canadian Open's chief arbiter, Jonathan Berry.

Stay tuned for more details.

2007 Canadian Open Round 2 Standings and Pairings for Round 3

2007-07-08T20:31:00.001-04:00

2007 Canadian Open Top 10 standings as of Round 2

GM Xiangzhi Bu tops the field after Round 2

Results can be found at: http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/3sO.htm

Top 10 Board Pairings for Round 3:

GM Chanda Sandipan, GM Xiangzhi Bu
GM Nigel D. Short, FM Anton Kovalyov
GM Valeriy Aveskulov, GM Vadim Milov
GM David Howell, GM Sergey Tiviakov
GM Kamil Miton, GM Borislav Ivkov
GM Victor Mikhalevski, Rick Lahaye
FM Lefong Hua, GM Suat Atalik
Mihnea Voloaca, GM Anton Shomoev
Lucas Davies, GM Andrey V Rychagov
CM David Gordon, GM Sipke Ernst

Round 3 pairings are available at: http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/3rO.htm

A real-time PGN file is available for download at: http://www.monroi.com/tournamentgate/CanOpen07/index.html

Results, as they become available, will be posted directly by Jonathan Berry at: http://cocycc.pbwiki.com/results

Just a reminder...

2007-07-08T18:05:00.000-04:00

MONDAY'S CANADIAN OPEN SIDE EVENTS

LECTURE: GM Victor Mikhalevski on the Grunfeld Defence
A leading authority on this dynamic reply to 1.d4 shares his insights
1 p.m., Albert Room, $20

SIMUL: GM Andrey Rychagov
Play a 2557-rated Russian Grandmaster
1 p.m, Cartier Room, $20

Round 2 Pairings now available

2007-07-08T09:41:00.000-04:00

Round 2 pairings are now available at: http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/2rO.htm

The Top 10 Board pairings:

1 GM Xiangzhi Bu, IM Artem Samsonkin
2 GM Frank De La Paz Perdomo, GM Nigel D. Short
3 GM Vadim Milov, IM Alexander Reprintsev
4 Nikolay Noritsyn, GM Kamil Miton
5 GM Sergey Tiviakov IM Leonid Gerzhoy
6 IM Thomas Roussel-Roozmon, GM Victor Mikhalevski
7 FM Joe Bradford, GM Chanda Sandipan
8 Rick Lahaye, GM Andrey V Rychagov
9 FM Daniel Rensch GM Valeriy Aveskulov
10 IM Ekaterina Atalik, GM David Howell

A real-time PGN file is available for download at:

http://www.monroi.com/tournamentgate/CanOpen07/index.html

Results, as they become available, will be posted directly by Jonathan Berry at:

http://cocycc.pbwiki.com/results

Happy Birthday to...

2007-07-08T09:13:00.000-04:00

... GM Victor Mikhalevski, who turns 35 today. Playing two strong opponents today at the 2007 Canadian Open should be a good way to celebrate.

GM Mikhalevski, older and wiser, will be lecturing Monday at 1 p.m. in the Albert Room at the Ottawa Marriott. For $20, you can hear one of the world's authorities on the Gruenfeld Defence discuss this dynamic defence ot 1.d4.

Who are these guys? They're only moving pawns...

2007-07-08T07:56:00.001-04:00

You're looking at GM Kamil Miton of Poland, confronting GM Tu Hoang Thong of Vietnam at the 2007 Canadian Open's blitz championship.

GM Miton finished first with 10/12, topping a field of more than 50 players. (GM Tu finished in clear second, half a point back) Eight of the Canadian Open's 22 GMs took part, lured we can assume by the guaranteed $500 first prize.

GM Miton prevailed, despite the afternoon exertions of playing a game against Montreal IM Thanh Nha Duong in the afternoon.
(See that tussle, with comments by IM Deen Hergott, below.) Also, GM Miton just 24 hours earlier was still on the road -- or rather, in the air -- having traveled from Warsaw to Toronto to Ottawa, touching down just before midnight the night before the Canadian Open started.

The blitz event, directed by Dave Gordon and Frank Dixon, went on past midnight. We wish the blitzers well at the Canadian Open's Round Two -- which starts at 10 a.m. today.

Why is this man smiling?

2007-07-08T07:35:00.000-04:00

You would be too if you scored an upset victory against last year's Canadian Open co-champion, GM Abhijit Kunte.

Dave Gordon, executive director of the Chess Federation of Canada, strikes a triumphant pose.

Dave admits that by move 20 of his game, he was "getting smashed." However, as IM Deen Hergott points out in his comments below, GM Kunte overlooked a tricky tactic -- something which Ottawa players know to expect from Dave.

For GM Kunte, there are still nine more rounds in a field filled with more than 20 other Grandmasters -- plenty of time, perhaps, to challenge for first place.

RBS, Epilogue

2007-07-08T00:51:00.000-04:00

My final post from Round 1: other highlights. Being a local Ottawa boy for nearly 20 years now, I have to admit I was quite happy to see two, count'em, two upsets by local Experts over foreign GM's. Congrats to David Gordon and Mihnea Voloaca for their respective wins - and good luck tomorrow guys - it's not going to get any easier!

Gordon,D (2275) - GM Kunte,Abhijit (India): Trompovsky

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 e6 3.Nd2 h6 4.Bxf6 Qxf6 5.c3 d5 6.Ngf3 c5 7.e4 cxd4 8.e5 Qd8 9.cxd4 Qb6 10.Qb3 Bb4 11.Qd3 Be7 12.Qb5+ Bd7 13.Qxb6 axb6 14.Bd3 Nc6 15.Ke2 g5 16.Nb3 g4 17.Ne1 f6 18.exf6 Bxf6 19.Nc2 Ke7 20.Rhe1 Kd6 21.a3 h5 22.Rad1 Ne7 23.Nc1 Nf5 24.Bxf5 exf5 25.f4 Rac8 26.Kd2 Rc4 27.b3 Rc7 28.Nd3 Rhc8 29.Rc1 Ra8 30.Ne5 Be6 31.a4 b5 (DIAGRAM)
32.Na3!

White's opening did not lead to much, and 25...Rae8+ and 26...Re4, say, or ideas with ...h5-h4 look to give Black the better chances. Instead, after the text, Kunte must have simply overlooked Gordon's tricky tactic on move 32. White wins a pawn by force now, and leaves Black with a rather poor position which goes very quickly downhill. A one-move game some critics might say, but chess is after all very often about he who makes the SECOND-LAST mistake!

32...Rxc1 33.Nxb5+ Ke7 34.Rxc1 Rc8 35.Rxc8 Bxc8 36.Kc3 Be6 37.Kb4 Kd8 38.Kc5 Bg8 39.Kb6 h4 40.Kxb7 Bxe5 41.dxe5 d4 42.Nxd4 Bd5+ 43.Kb8 Bxg2 44.Nxf5 g3 45.hxg3 1–0

After 45...h3 46.g4! h2 47.Ng3 h1Q 48.Nxh1 Bxh1, White's five(!) pawns are more than a match for Black's only remaining piece.

********

GM Likavsky,Tomas (Slovakia) (2485) - Voloaca,M (2313): Semi-Slav, Meran

I am going to leave this game for the experts in this opening to debate. I am tired (1 am) and have 2 rounds to come up with scintillating wit and fabulous analysis tomorrow...the Tim Horton's coffeeshop near the hotel is open in the morning, right? And more importantly, they do have coffee (as in lots of it)? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........
Oh, right, anywho... I will say that I was impressed with the Black Queen's contortions and refusal to leave the board, and the vicious attack which eventually unraveled against White's King, while Black's blithely marched up to h4. Mihnea is a creative and resourceful player, and he demonstrated those abilities in spades in this game, regardless of how objectively imperfect it might be. I'm sure there were many alternatives for both sides, but do yourself a favour and play through the game as is - it is quite a treat!

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Bd3 dxc4 6.Bxc4 b5 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.0–0 a6 9.a4 b4 10.Qe2 c5 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Nbd2 Nbd7 13.Nb3 Bd6 14.Rd1 Qc7 15.Bd2 0–0 16.Rac1 Qb8 17.Na5 Bxf3 18.gxf3 Bxh2+ 19.Kg2 Bd6 20.Rc6 Ne5 21.Rxa6 Rxa6 22.Bxa6 Qa8 23.Nb7 Be7 24.Qb5 Nd5 25.Rc1 f5 26.f4 Ng4 27.Qc6 Kf7 28.Be2 Rb8 29.Ba6 h5 30.Na5 Qa7 31.Nc4 Nxf4+ 32.Kf1 Rd8 33.Be1 Nd3 34.Rc2 Nh2+ 35.Ke2 b3 36.Rd2 Nb4 37.Ne5+ Kf6 38.Nd7+ Rxd7 39.Qxd7 Qxa6+ 40.Qb5 Qa8 41.Rd7 Qf3+ 42.Kd2 Nd5 43.Qxb3 Bb4+ 44.Kc1 Bxe1 45.Qb7 Bxf2 46.Rf7+ Kg5 47.Rxg7+ Kh4 48.a5 Bxe3+ 49.Kc2 Bc5 50.Kb1 Qd1+ 51.Ka2 Nb4+ 52.Ka3 Nc2+ 53.Ka2 Qa1+ 54.Kb3 Nd4+ 55.Kc4 Qc1+ 0–1.

That's it for tonight folks...see u tomorrow!

RBS, part 3

2007-07-08T00:34:00.000-04:00

The last game I did some work at on-site was the following Catalan, an opening I have some experience with myself. Duong's Queen seemed uncomfortable in the early going, and Miton built up some nice pressure which resulted in either a win of a pawn or a destruction of Black's K-side. Black chose the latter and fought valliantly, but White's pressure extended into the endgame, and he won quite handily.

Board 4) Miton,K (2653) - Nha Duong,T (2300): Catalan

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0–0 6.0–0 c6 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.b3 b6 9.Qd3 Bb7 10.Rd1 Qc8?!

This looks a bit artificial, and indeed the Queen does prove uncomfortable on the c-file very shortly. 9...Ba6 and 10...Rc8, planning a hopeful ...c5 advance may have been a better choice in hindsight. White could opt for an e2-e4 break along the way, but after multiple exchanges on e4, White's advantage should be controllable.

11.Bb2 c5 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Rac1 Qb8 14.Nh4! Re8 15.Nf5 Bf8 16.dxc5! Nxc5 17.Qd4

White has skillfully achieved an advantage, with continued pressure against d5 and some K-side possibilities along the newly opened long diagonal.

17...Ne6 (DIAGRAM) 18.Nh6+ gxh6 19.Qxf6 Bg7 20.Qf5 d4 21.Nd5 Qe5

Black tries to stay afloat with activity, but Miton demonstrates that even the endgame is not a safe haven.

22.Qxe5 Bxe5 23.e3 Rad8 24.exd4 Bg7 25.Nc7 Nxc7 26.Bxb7 Nb5 27.Ba6 Nxd4 28.Ba3!

Even material, but the bishop pair and better pawns spell more woe for Black. Trust me, I know well the difficulty of making a draw with a determined GM from a level position, let alone a worse one!

28...Rd5 29.Bb4 Red8 30.Kg2 Bf8 31.Bc3 Bg7 32.Re1 R5d7 33.Re4 Ne6 34.Bc4 Bxc3 35.Rxc3 Nd4 36.Rg4+ Kf8 37.Bd3 f6 38.Bc4 b5 39.Bf1

Patient maneuvering. White's bishop will always be superior to the knight, and the pawn weaknesses are an additonal hardship.

39...a6 40.a4! Rd5 41.axb5 axb5 42.b4 f5 43.Rf4 Ne6 44.Rh4 Kg7 45.Rc6 Nf8 46.Rcxh6

The first of several pawns to finally give up the ghost.

46...R8d7 47.Rb6 Ng6 48.Rh5 Re5 and Black Resigned as a second pawn is about to drop.

Canadian Open Round 1 Standings are now available

2007-07-08T00:31:00.001-04:00

Round 1 Standings of the 2007 Canadian Open are now available at:

http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/S01o.htm

RBS, part 2

2007-07-07T23:57:00.000-04:00

No moves availalble from GM Nigel Short's win on board 2 (neither player used MonRoi devices, I am speculating?), so on to board 3:

Board 3) Mikanovic,G (2303) - Milov,V (2665): King's Indian

1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.e4 0–0 6.Be2 Na6!?

By transposition, the trusty KID has been reached. Black's 6th is a modern alternative to the more usual 6...e5 lines. Tends to be flexible and creative.

7.0–0 e5 8.Re1 Qe8!?

In the commentary room, I admitted to a lack of experience in this line, and pointed out that all would undoubtedly become clear in the later middlegame (this did in fact happen!) The more natural 8...Qe7 may run into N/c3-d5 in some positions. The Q on the e-line puts pressure against e4, and forces a White reaction.

9.Bf1 Bg4 10.d5

Pressure was mounting on the White centre, and this resolution tends to favour Black in some ways. For one, his R/f8 no longer need move to find a purpose - a future ...f5 advance will find it very well posted indeed. There is a problem on Black's Q-side, however, as the N/a6 cannot easily enter the game - 10...Nc5? 11.b4 just forces a retreat. Milov finds an interesting attempt to solve the Q-side issues, but the computer in the commentary room didn't care much for the idea.

10...Nb4!?? (DIAGRAM) 11.Be2

A human response to the positional threat of 11...Bxf3 12.gxf3 (12.Qxf3?? Nc2), but the greedy 11.Qb3!? might be superior. The amount of gamescore I had to work with in the commentary room included this position, and after 11.Qb3, we couldn't find anything clear for Black.

a) 11...Bxf3 12.Qxb4 Bg4 13.Qxb7 has Black scrambling for compensation
b) 11...c5 12.a3 Bxf3 13.axb4 and 14.bxc5 gives White a clear advantage
c) 11...a5 12.a3 Bxf3 13.gxf3 (13.axb4 axb4! 14.Rxa8 Qxa8 looks OK for Black) 13...Na6 14.Qxb7 looked better for White to me, though Black may get some positional compensation later with play against White's compromised K-side, and with ideas of ...Nc5 and ...a4 to bind the Q-side. Still, a pawn is a pawn, and the comp doesn't look completely clear to me. Comments?

This was my biggest analytical headache of the day - not so terrible, really, but when White plays otherwise and ends up losing, I inevitably get asked, "But didn't 11.Qb3 just win a pawn?" Well maybe, in fact probably, but humans are not machines, and grabbing pawns on N7 (old algebraic-speak) has often been associated with poison.... We may all have to wait for a future game with 11.Qb3 and see what happens!

11...a5 12.h3 Bd7 13.a3 Na6 14.b3

Avoiding a bind with ...a5-a4. Notice how Black's Q supports the a4-square (important here), and also supports the h5-square to support an f5-advance (important when Black's knight arrives on h5 shortly). See, I knew ...Qe8 would eventually be vindicated!

14...Nh5 15.Rb1 Nc5 16.b4 axb4 17.axb4 Na4 18.Qc2

This was where my moves abandoned me this afternoon - we (spectators + yours truly) concluded that White was slightly worse as Black had an active position with several clear plans on the K-side: ...f7-f5, ...N/h5-f4. Meanwhile White's reactive Q-side play is considerably behind.
Milov eventually won in another 53 moves!

18...Nf4 19.Bxf4 exf4 20.Nxa4 Rxa4 21.Bd3 Qe7 22.Qd2 Ra3! 23.Rec1 g5 24.c5 h5

This looks a bit loose, but Black's pawns are aiming for a serious target, and the N/f3 doesn't have a lot of useful retreat squares at the moment.

25.cxd6 cxd6 26.Rc7 Qd8 (DIAGRAM) 27.Rxd7!?

Mikanovic tries to make a fight of it, but this is probably insufficient. Still, something like 27.Rxb7 g4! looks much scarier. Sacking the Ex has the practical advantage of shutting down most of Black's immediate attack for a bit of material.

27...Qxd7 28.Nxg5 Qe7 29.Nf3 Rc8 30.Rd1 Be5! 31.Qe2 Rcc3 32.h4! Qf6 33.Ng5 Qg6 34.Qf1

A bit mysterious, but g2 can be weak in some lines, and an ...f4-f3 advance will not come with tempo now. I toyed with fantasy here - B/d3-b5-e8! was one dream, or B/d3-e2-f3, and Q/f1-e2, but these ideas are either too time-consuming or too unlikely. Black's material is simply starting to count for too much now.

34...Rab3 35.Kh1 f6 36.Nf3

36.Ne6 looks nice, but 37...Qg4 picks off the h-pawn for no return. White simply doesn't have active pieces to give up further material.

36...Rxb4 37.Rb1 Rxb1 38.Qxb1 Qf7 39.Qb5 Kf8 40.Be2 Rc5 41.Qa4 Qe8 42.Qa7 Qc8 43.Kh2 Bc3 44.Qa3 Ke7 45.Qa4 Ra5 46.Qb3 Qc7 47.Qc2 Kd8 48.e5!?

An interesting try - White's pieces gain some scope on the light squares once this pawn disappears - but it is all rather desparate looking in the long run.

48...Bxe5 49.Qg6 Qe7 50.Qxh5 Ra2 51.Bd3 Rxf2 52.Qg6 Kc7 (DIAGRAM) 53.h5

Maybe 53.Bf5!? is a last attempt to deny Black's bishop defence of the h8-square. Black should be able to simply recycle his rook for defence: R/f2-a2-a8, but it may cause Black a few moments of concern. Black's 53rd addresses this issue at the cost of one of his f-pawns.

53...f5! 54.h6 Bc3! 55.Bxf5 Qf6 56.Kh3 Qxg6

The rest is wrapping up. Black's b-pawn proves to be a touchdown.

57.Bxg6 b5 58.h7 b4 59.Ng5 Rf1 60.Bc2 Rc1 61.Ba4 Bf6 62.Kg4 Rh1 63.Bc2 Kd8 64.Ne6+ Ke7 65.Nxf4 Bg7 66.Kf3 Rc1 67.Bd3 b3 68.Ng6+ Kf6 69.h8Q Bxh8 70.Nxh8 b2 71.Ng6 Rc3! 0–1.

Canadian Open Round 1 PGN now available

2007-07-07T23:46:00.001-04:00

The PGN file for the Canadian Open Round 1 is now available courtesy www.monroi.com

The file is available at: http://www.monroi.com/tournamentgate/CanOpen07/index.html

Canadian Open Blitz Snippets on Youtube

2007-07-07T23:17:00.000-04:00

The blitz tournament is underway - Youtube snippets can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/canchess

Round 1: Really Big Shew

2007-07-07T23:09:00.000-04:00

Deen Hergott here - told you I would be back shortly...in blog time at least. What's with my title for round 1? Well, read on...

I'm old enough (sigh) to remember the Ed Sullivan Show, or at least my older relatives talking about it. And this was on Black and White TV (whatever that is, I can hear some of the young blogreaders whispering)...

Anyways, he used to introduce his next act as "a really big show (prounounced shew)", and that's what this year's edition of our Canadian Open Chess Championship promises to be. Once this year's huge effort of an event got underway, it was more or less chess as usual, some wins, some draws and some losses. That's the big picture at least. My job this week will be to provide you with some of the highlights from the event, which will be pretty much contained to the top 40 or so boards, unless I am provided with spectactular happenings from the remaining 100 boards - and I am sure that there will be something interesting going on there, so please drop me a line if you feel it might be interesting to others - either comments here or email to dhergott@sympatico.ca. I can't print everything, but if you think it might be fun to share, I might too!

This is my blogging mandate, and I am expecting some exciting chess, with no fewer than 33 titled players in attendance - as far as live work at the tournament site is concerned, today was a bit of a stopgap measure as my projected work was impossible due to temporary technical difficulties (do not adjust your dials...etc.). If you had been at the Marriott today, and seen the number of committee members and volunteers, not to mention eager chessplayers, overflowing the lower floor of the hotel, you might be surprised to hear that Round 1 was only delayed an hour. Sure there were a few glitches here and there, but in an event this size, there are always some growing pains. Instead of using a MonRoi interface, I tried to make due with a quickly downloaded version of ChessBase Light and some scurrying back and forth between the commentary room and the playing room for the top boards. One of my biggest problems was trying to use a hypersensitive trackball on a laptop as opposed to a more traditional (ok, say it, dinosaur) mouse....it was frustrating, but those are the details that are easy to fix once they are recognized - more growing pains, right? Well, everyone did there best to make the most of a less than perfect situation....we have 8 more days to get it right, and I am confident that things will quickly improve as the rounds progress. To all my helpers today (Adam, Peter, Garrett, Zeljka, Tim...), a big thank you - sorry for missing last names and anyone I have overlooked.

Well, enough chit-chat...on to some of the games. I am hoping to cover roughly six games per round, once everything is smoothly interfacing (i.e. I can try and analyze some chess for folks rather than struggling with a bleeping trackball, uh, sorry, no more ranting, I promise...), and I think that will be doable for most of the event. In round 1, I managed to cover the first half of 3 of the top games (boards 1-4)...I made a few predictions, got some of them right, others not, and my evaluation of the games was dead on - 3 wins for 3 Grandmasters. Yeah, I know, just call me Kreskin (another blast from the past!) :-)

Oh, and for today at least, expect to read my ramblings in several parts....I am new to the blogosphere, and anyone who has heard me leave phone messages knows that I can tend to go on a bit, and on and on....no, really, stop me if you've heard this one before...

*********

Board 1) Vul,A (2324) - Xiangzhi,B (2656) Canadian Open 2007 Ottawa Canada (1), 07.07.2007

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 c6 3.c4 dxc4 4.e3 Be6!?

An unusual option in the Queen's Gambit Accepted. White's next may not the best reaction as it leaves vulnerable squares on White's Q-side. 5.Na3 and 5.Qc2 look possible, but White may have wanted to rule out Black's option of ...b5, as risky as it can be, altogether.

5.a4 Nf6 6.Na3 c5 7.Bxc4 Bxc4 8.Nxc4 Nc6 9.dxc5

The most direct, but Black proves his position to be quite solid despite the lack in development. Moves like 9.0-0 lead to an isolated d-pawn for White, but a more or less level position. White may have been hoping for more.

9...Qxd1+ 10.Kxd1 Ne4 11.Ke2 Nxc5

This was the first batch of moves I scrawled down from this game on Board 1. Black is behind in development, but his knights are both ready to pounce on weakened squares on White's b-file (b4 and b3). Note that the advance a2-a4 is responsible for both of these weaknesses, hence the sage adage that "pawns do not move backwards, and one should be prudent before advancing them". Naturally, one would think that Black should not be better here, but as the game proceeds, it becomes clear that his game is much easier to play than White's.

12.Bd2 Nb3 13.Ra3 Nxd2 14.Nfxd2 (DIAGRAM TIM IF POSSIBLE ) 0–0–0!

This option did not get mentioned during my commentary, and it is an excellent one. Black manages to develop his a8-rook and bring the King to safeguard the b7-square all in one move.

15.Rc1 Kb8 16.Ne4 e6

There was some question as to whether Black would develop his bishop on e7 or g7, but the threat of Ne4-g5 forces Black to get going with things as directly as possible. The gained tempo against White's R/a3 allows for simple and effective moves.

17.Rb3 Be7 18.Ncd2

It is hard to find anything for White to do with his knights, and Black has several natural and useful moves coming up - Black feels slightly better to me. Fritz' grandfather (aka Fritz 4.0) says 1/10 of a pawn to Black.

18...Rc8 19.Rbc3 Rhd8

This is where I ran out of steam and technology on this game. Bu's handling is instructive - small improvements in his pieces (King included*), some space gaining**, and a demonstration of bishop against knight.

20.Nf3 h6 21.Rd1 Rxd1 22.Kxd1 a6 23.Nc5 Ka7* 24.Nd3 Bf6 25.Rc2 Rd8 26.Ke2 g5** 27.h3 Bg7 28.Rc4 Rd6 29.e4 b5 30.axb5 axb5 31.Rc1 Kb6* 32.b4 f5** 33.e5 Rd5 34.g4 Bf8 35.Rb1 Be7 36.Ke3 Rd8 37.Rb3 Bf8 38.Rb1 Be7 39.Rb3 h5 40.gxh5 g4 41.hxg4 fxg4 42.Nh2 (DIAGRAM) 42...Bg5+***

This check proves devastating. White's King has no good squares, and prolonging the game doesn't improve matters sufficiently.

43.f4 gxf3+ 44.Kf2 Nd4 45.Rb2 Bh4+ 46.Kf1 Rh8 47.Ne1 Bxe1 48.Kxe1 Rxh5 49.Rd2 Rxe5+ 50.Kf1 Re4 51.Rd3 e5 0–1.

King and pawn endgames are hopeless for White as Black will round up the b-pawn and promote his own. A convincing win by the event's top-rated seed!

A "picture" of Top 40 Board Round 1Results

2007-07-07T21:35:00.001-04:00

A picture of the Top 40 Board Round 1 results, straight from the arbiter's hands.

2007-07-07T20:33:00.000-04:00

Round 1 Pairings for the Canadian Open

Round 1 Pairings for the 2007 Canadian can be found at:

http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/1rO.htm

According to arbiter Jonathan Berry, "There were 134 boards, plus one extra forfeit and nine people who took half-point byes, so about 278 players. The round started at 3 pm, an hour late, thanks to me! All the foreign stars made it through the gauntlet of Canadian Immigration. The highest-ranked no-show was # 34"

Round 1 results should be available shortly.

Jonathan will be posting information directly from the tournament war-room to: http://cocycc.pbwiki.com/results

Deen checking in

2007-07-07T19:07:00.000-04:00

Be with you all shortly....