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Chandler Cornered
Dresden Open Olympiad Rounds 6 to 11
Enjoying watching the Scots at the Olympiad? See their greatest games in Rampant Chess: Click Here!
Women's Olympiad Coverage (rounds 1-5) Available Here
Women's Olympiad Coverage (rounds 6-11) Available Here
Open Olympiad Coverage (rounds 1-5) Available Here
Captain's Second Report
Open Team Round 6
Open Team Round 7
Open Team Round 8
Open Team Round 9
Open Team Round 10
Open Team Round 11
Open Olympiad Round 6
Scotland 2.5 1.5 Japan
J. Rowson (2596) w 0 1 S. Kojima (2272)
J. Shaw (2469) 0.5 0.5 M. Baba (2220)
K. Grant (2448) 1 0 S. Uesugi (2222)
C. McNab (2455) 1 0 T. Sano (2111)
Our eager photographer scatters the board 4 pieces everywhere as he dives in for this...
Photo: Harald Fietz
There were moments today when I was getting quite tense and worried - and not just because the wife had offered to cook. Today the Eastern tour continued as we were drawn against the Japanese team. Japan is more famed for its domination of the game of Go rather than chess and this match looked easy on paper. There is no such thing as an easy match at the Olympiad though as these players are the best in their country and determined to fight all the way. About half-way through the playing session the match was looking very tight on the top three boards. The only game that seemed to go according to plan was another McNab Pirc where he quickly took advantage of his opponents aggressive, but weakening, play and then time trouble led White to walk into a mate in what was anyway a lost position. Colin's fine run continues!
Our eager photographer pushes the Japanese board 4 out of his seat to get this action shot.
Photo: Harald Fietz
[Click here to replay the game] Sano,Tomu (2111) - McNab,Colin A (2455) 1.e4 g6 2.d4 d6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.f4 Nf6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be3 Nbd7 7.Qd2 c5 8.dxc5 Nxc5 9.e5 Ng4 10.Bg1 b6 11.0-0-0 Bb7 12.h3 Nh6 13.Qe1 Rc8 14.h4 Qc7 15.h5 Na4 16.Bd4 Nf5 17.hxg6 hxg6 18.exd6 exd6 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Bd3 Nxc3 21.bxc3 Rfe8 22.Qd2 Bxf3 23.gxf3 Qxc3 24.Qxc3+ Rxc3 25.Bxf5 gxf5 26.Rxd6 Re2 27.Rg1+ Kf8 28.Rd8+ Ke7 29.Rgg8 Rcxc2+ 30.Kb1 Rb2+ 31.Kc1 Rxa2 32.Rc8 Ra1# 0-1 |
The next game to finish was Keti's and was a great Sicilian battle. This double-edged position seems to hold possibilities for both sides
Keti castled here, chosing to sacrifice a pawn to activate all her pieces, an good choice, especially when she followed up a few moves later with 25.Rc4! and then the Rb1-b7 manoeuvre giving the Japanese player problems that he was just unable to solve. Excellent play.
[Click here to replay the game] Arakhamia-Grant,Ketevan (2448) - Uesugi,Shinsaku (2222) 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c3 0-0 12.Nc2 Bg5 13.a4 bxa4 14.Rxa4 a5 15.Bc4 Rb8 16.b3 Kh8 17.h4 Bh6 18.Qe2 Be6 19.Nce3 Bxe3 20.Nxe3 Bxc4 21.Qxc4 Qb6 22.0-0 Qxb3 23.Rd1 Rfd8 24.Qxb3 Rxb3 25.Rc4 Rb6 26.Nd5 Ra6 27.Nc7 Rb6 28.Nd5 Ra6 29.Rb1 Rc8 30.Rb7 h5 31.Nb6 Rd8 32.Rxc6 a4 33.Rc8 Rxc8 34.Nxc8 a3 35.Rb1 Rc6 36.Rb8 Kh7 37.Ra8 Rxc3 38.Nxd6 Rc1+ 39.Kh2 Rc2 40.Nxf7 1-0 |
John Shaw's opponent played solidly and sensibly and never seemed to be in any real danger throughout the middlegame. Safety first seemed to be his motto though when John began to create some pressure in the endgame he defended very well. In any case, this draw secured Scotland the match.
[Click here to replay the game] Baba,Masahiro (2220) - Shaw,John (2469) 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Re1 c6 8.a4 b6 9.d5 cxd5 10.Nxd5 Nxd5 11.Bxd5 Rb8 12.c3 Nf6 13.Bb3 Bb7 14.Bc2 h6 15.c4 Qc7 16.b3 Rbc8 17.Ba3 a6 18.Nh4 g6 19.Bd3 Qd8 20.Bc1 Kg7 21.g3 Nd7 22.Ng2 Nc5 23.Bc2 h5 24.Bb2 Bf6 25.Qe2 Qe7 26.Rad1 Rh8 27.Qd2 Rcd8 28.h4 Rhe8 29.Qb4 Qc7 30.Qd2 Bc6 31.Qe2 Qb7 32.Ra1 b5 33.axb5 axb5 34.b4 Na6 35.Bc3 bxc4 36.Qxc4 Nc7 37.Ba4 Bxa4 38.Rxa4 d5 39.exd5 Nxd5 40.Ra5 Nxc3 41.Qxc3 e4 42.Qa3 Bd4 43.Ne3 Rc8 44.Qa4 Bxe3 45.Rxe3 Rc1+ 46.Kg2 Rd8 47.Rc5 Rb1 48.b5 Re8 49.Qc4 Re7 50.Qc3+ f6 51.Qc4 Qd7 52.Rxe4 Qb7 53.Rc6 Rxe4 54.Qxe4 Rxb5 55.Re6 ½-½ |
Finally we were left with Jonathan Rowson who was involved in an epic tussle. After safely neutralising Black's early middlegame counterplay, he entered the rook endgame a pawn up. As it typical in such situations Black sacrified his rook for White's passed pawn and we are left playing a rook versus 3 pawn endgame where to the untrained eye (that's me) all three results seemed possible...
and, unfortunately my guess was correct as Jonathan then had to allow one of the Black pawns to queen thus entering the dreaded queen versus rook endgame. This might be hard to win with the queen if you play against your perfect computer but in practice it is very difficult to avoid dropping the rook to some fork or other. Despite a valiant effort, Black managed to force the win just within the 50-move rule. A dissappointing result for Jonathan but at least the team managed to win the match which takes them to 8/12 in total match points.
[Click here to replay the game] Rowson,Jonathan (2596) - Kojima,Shinya (2272) 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 e6 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.0-0 Bd6 9.Rd1 0-0 10.Nc3 Qe7 11.Qe2 dxc4 12.Bxc4 e5 13.d5 e4 14.dxc6 bxc6 15.Qc2 Rad8 16.Bf1 Rfe8 17.Bd2 h5 18.Ne2 c5 19.Bc3 Nb6 20.Nf4 Bxf4 21.exf4 Nfd5 22.Bd2 Nb4 23.Bxb4 cxb4 24.Rxd8 Rxd8 25.Re1 Rd4 26.h4 f5 27.g3 Qd6 28.Rc1 Rd2 29.Qb3+ Qd5 30.Qxb4 Kh7 31.Rc5 Qd6 32.Rb5 Qxb4 33.Rxb4 Nd5 34.Rb7 e3 35.fxe3 Nxe3 36.Re7 Nxf1 37.Kxf1 Rxb2 38.Rxa7 Kh6 39.Ra6+ g6 40.Ra7 Rc2 41.a4 Rc1+ 42.Kf2 Rc2+ 43.Ke1 Rg2 44.a5 Rxg3 45.a6 Ra3 46.Kd2 Ra1 47.Kc3 Ra5 48.Kb4 Ra1 49.Kb5 Rb1+ 50.Kc5 Ra1 51.Kb6 Rb1+ 52.Kc7 Rc1+ 53.Kb8 Ra1 54.Ra8 Ra4 55.Ra7 Rxf4 56.Rc7 Rxh4 57.a7 Ra4 58.Rc4 Rxa7 59.Kxa7 Kg5 60.Kb6 h4 61.Kc5 h3 62.Rc2 Kf4 63.Kd4 g5 64.Rc1 h2 65.Rf1+ Kg3 66.Rxf5 h1Q 67.Rxg5+ Kf4 68.Rc5 Qd1+ 69.Kc4 Ke4 70.Kb5 Qb3+ 71.Kc6 Kd4 72.Rb5 Qe6+ 73.Kc7 Kc4 74.Rb6 Qe7+ 75.Kc6 Qc5+ 76.Kb7 Kd5 77.Rb3 Qc6+ 78.Kb8 Kc4 79.Rb1 Qe8+ 80.Ka7 Qd7+ 81.Ka6 Qe6+ 82.Ka7 Qf7+ 83.Ka6 Qg6+ 84.Rb6 Qe8 85.Rh6 Kc5 86.Kb7 Kb5 87.Rb6+ Kc5 88.Rh6 Qd7+ 89.Ka6 Qb5+ 90.Ka7 Kc4 91.Rh4+ Kb3 92.Rh6 Qc5+ 93.Kb7 Kb4 94.Ka6 Qg5 95.Rb6+ Ka4 96.Kb7 Qc5 97.Rb1 Qd5+ 98.Ka7 Qf7+ 99.Rb7 Qf6 100.Rh7 Kb5 101.Rb7+ Kc5 102.Rc7+ Kd6 103.Rh7 Kc6 104.Kb8 Qd6+ 105.Ka8 Qa3+ 106.Kb8 Qb3+ 107.Ka7 Qa2+ 0-1 |
Open Olympiad Round 7
Scotland 0.5 3.5 Georgia
J. Rowson (2596) b 0 1 B. Jobova (2664)
J. Aagaard (2528) 0.5 0.5 Z. Izoria (2610)
J. Shaw (2469) 0 1 M. Mchedlishvili (2615)
C. McNab (2455) 0 1 D. Arutinian (2584)
John thinking "I wouldn't touch that pawn if I were you."
Photo: Harald Fietz
Diving into the second half of the competition we find ourselves up against Georgia. The interesting string of opponents continues as we now face Keti's old federation. Perhaps naturally, then, Keti was rested today and Jacob returned to the fray, feeling well again I hope. This was always going to be a tough match and it was down to GM Aagaard to stem the flow against us.
The board 1 game was very entertaining. White played to reach a position where he had knight and bishop against rook and two pawns. Despite Black's rooks being doubled on the e-file his remaining knight struggled to find a home for a while. Eventually the following position was reached
...and, close to the time control, disaster struck as 37...a5 was answered by 38.Nc4! and the knight penetrates with decisive effect. Not sure if the result was a loss on time but Black's position was difficult in any case
Jonathan deep in thought
Photo: Harald Fietz
[Click here to replay the game] Jobava,Baadur (2664) - Rowson,Jonathan (2596)<\b> 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bg5 c6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.e3 Be7 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Qc2 Re8 10.0-0 Nf8 11.h3 Be6 12.Ne5 N6d7 13.Bxe7 Rxe7 14.f4 f6 15.Nf3 Nb6 16.Rae1 Qc7 17.f5 Bf7 18.Qf2 Rae8 19.Kh1 Nfd7 20.g4 Nc4 21.g5 Nxe3 22.g6 Nxf1 23.gxf7+ Kxf7 24.Rxf1 Qf4 25.Ne2 Qe3 26.Qxe3 Rxe3 27.Nf4 a6 28.Kg2 Nf8 29.h4 R3e7 30.Kf2 Nd7 31.Rg1 Rg8 32.h5 Nf8 33.Nh2 h6 34.Ng6 Rc7 35.Nf3 Nh7 36.Nd2 Ng5 37.Rc1 a5 38.Nc4 Rd8 39.Nxa5 Ra8 40.b4 1-0 |
Jacob's game was a strange Sicilian/French hybrid and although he held a slight edge throughout it was never really going to be enough to win and a draw was a fair result.
You can't have too many Slav defences, that's what I always say. You'll be pleased to hear that John agrees with me, reaching the following position with Black to play
The natural 19...Nd3 looks okay but John settled on the more passive 19...Nc8. However, after 20.Ng3 Bh6 21.Qxh6 f6 White is guaranteed a small but enduring edge due to Black's weakened kingside. So it proved, with the Whtie knights jumping all over the Black position, for example ten moves later here we are...
That's what I call an outpost!
[Click here to replay the game] Mchedlishvili,Mikheil (2615) - Shaw,John (2469)<\b> 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Nb6 8.Ne5 a5 9.e3 g6 10.Bd3 Be6 11.Nf3 Bg7 12.h3 Nfd5 13.0-0 0-0 14.e4 Nb4 15.Be2 Qd7 16.Bf4 Rad8 17.Qc1 Bc4 18.Bh6 Bxe2 19.Nxe2 Nc8 20.Ng3 Bxh6 21.Qxh6 f6 22.Rad1 Nd6 23.Rfe1 Nf7 24.Qc1 Qc8 25.Qc3 Rfe8 26.e5 Rd5 27.Qb3 Kg7 28.Ne2 Rdd8 29.Nf4 Nd5 30.Nd3 f5 31.Nc5 b6 32.e6 Nd6 33.Nd7 Rxd7 34.exd7 Qxd7 35.Ne5 Qb7 36.Rc1 Rc8 37.Qf3 Nb4 38.Nd3 Nxd3 39.Qxd3 Ne4 40.d5 c5 41.f3 Nd6 42.Re6 Kf7 43.Rce1 Rc7 44.h4 Rd7 45.h5 Ne8 46.Qc4 Rd6 47.Rxd6 Nxd6 48.Qh4 c4 49.hxg6+ hxg6 50.Qh7+ Kf8 51.Re6 1-0 |
Finally, all good things must come to an end and, unfortunately, today was the finish of Colin's excellent undefeated streak. A tough strategic game this one. Finally, Colin slipped up here...
...with 24. Bxg6 after which the Black rooks became very powerful along the e-file. See link from Chess Scotland front page to play over this game (and/or Jacob's)
A tough match, well fought, but no denying the class of opposition. Never fear, dear reader for tomorrow is another day!
Open Olympiad Round 8
Round 8 or, as it will henceforth be known, the round of draws. Yes patient reader, a mysterious virus swept the Scottish teams today with all games (open team and women's team ending in draws). This had a stunning effect on the watching spectators who collapsed from all the excitement
Photo: Harald Fietz
"So many spectators?" I hear you ask, "Why don't we get that many at Grangemouth?" That, my friends, is a mystery to me also. Perhaps because we do not have spectacular advertising posters like this...
Photo: Harald Fietz
The eagled-eyed amongst you will probably spot the error in this poster. For those who can't the answer is at the bottom of this round's report.
Today, the open team faced the similarly rated Latvian team. I know what you are thinking dear reader "Latvia? Didn't they win the Eurovision song contest in 2002?" and, as usual, you are correct! I know what else you are thinking "Are you ever going to get to the ******* chess Ruxton?" Well, yes I am!
Scotland 2-2 Latvia
J. Rowson (2596)w ½-½ N. Miezis (2557)
J. Aagaard (2528) ½-½ E. Sveshnikov (2525)
K. Grant (2448) ½-½ V. Meijers (2514)
C. McNab (2455) ½-½ V. Samolins (2444)
A match draw against a team with seeding very close to our own is no great disaster, indeed could be expected - although every game was very hard fought and we certainly had our chances. Jonathan had a slight advantage from the opening but his opponent played actively and the game never escaping drawing bounds.
Jonathan prepares his Vulcan death grip...
Photo: Harald Fietz
The most unbalanced game was Jacob's. After playing some accurate opening moves to escape the clutches of the world-renowned opening theorist, Sveshnikov, the Scot had the best of the middle and endgame, eventually reaching the following position...
When either 50...Rg3 or even 50...e5+ look promising. The ending became even more complicated over the following moves, eventually having a peaceful conclusion.
[Click here to replay the game] Sveshnikov,Evgeny (2525) - Aagaard,Jacob (2528) 1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.0-0 Be7 9.Qe2 0-0 10.Nc3 dxe5 11.dxe5 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Qa5 13.Rb1 Rd8 14.Rb5 Qc7 15.Bd3 b6 16.Ng5 Bxg5 17.Bxg5 Ba6 18.Bxd8 Rxd8 19.f4 Bxb5 20.Bxb5 Ne7 21.Qc4 Qxc4 22.Bxc4 Rc8 23.Bb3 Rxc3 24.Rd1 Nc6 25.f5 Kf8 26.fxe6 fxe6 27.Rd7 Nxe5 28.Rxa7 Nd3 29.Kf1 Nc5 30.Bd1 Rc4 31.Ke2 h6 32.Rc7 Rb4 33.Kf3 Rb2 34.Ra7 Rd2 35.Be2 Rd7 36.Ra8+ Ke7 37.Ke3 Kf6 38.h4 Ke5 39.h5 Ne4 40.Ra6 Rc7 41.Bf3 Nd6 42.Kd3 b5 43.Bc6 b4 44.g4 Rc8 45.Rb6 Rc7 46.Ra6 Nf7 47.Ke3 Nd8 48.Ra5+ Kf6 49.Be4 Rc3+ 50.Kd4 Nf7 51.Ra4 Rg3 52.Rxb4 Rxg4 53.Kc5 Rg5+ 54.Kb6 Rxh5 55.a4 Nd6 56.Bc6 Nc8+ 57.Kb7 Rc5 58.a5 Rxa5 59.Kxc8 Rc5 60.Kd7 g5 61.Bf3 Rc3 62.Bg4 Rd3+ 63.Kc6 e5 64.Kc5 Rc3+ 65.Kd5 Rd3+ 66.Kc5 Rc3+ 67.Kd5 ½-½ |
Keti got herself into one of those nice Hedgehoggy type positions that always look better than they really are. Nevertheless she was pressing until a small inaccuracy here...
where she played 30. Rcd1 to which her opponent found the excellent reply 30...Bb5! solving most of his problems. Then things got even scarier when in the following position...
Black played 47...Nxf3+ with a blistering attack. Keti is, however, known for her determined and resourceful defence and she once again escaped from danger to reach the safe haven of a draw as her opponent was forced to go for a perpetual.
[Click here to replay the game] Arakhamia-Grant,Ketevan (2448) - Meijers,Viesturs (2514) 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0-0 d6 7.c4 Nbd7 8.Nc3 Qc7 9.Be3 g6 10.Rc1 Bg7 11.f3 0-0 12.Qd2 b6 13.Rfd1 Bb7 14.Bf1 Rfd8 15.b4 Rac8 16.Nb3 Bf8 17.a3 Qb8 18.Qf2 Bc6 19.Kh1 h6 20.Rd2 Bg7 21.Bd4 Ne8 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.Rcd1 Kh7 24.Qe3 Bb7 25.Na4 Bc6 26.Nc3 Qa8 27.Rc1 Rc7 28.Qf4 Kg7 29.Qg3 Rdc8 30.Rcd1 Bb5 31.cxb5 Rxc3 32.Nd4 a5 33.Nc6 axb4 34.axb4 Qa3 35.Qf2 Ra8 36.h3 Rc1 37.Qd4+ Kh7 38.Rxc1 Qxc1 39.Rd1 Qf4 40.Bc4 Ra3 41.Rb1 h5 42.Qb2 Re3 43.Qc1 Nef6 44.Bf1 h4 45.Nd4 Nh5 46.Kg1 Ne5 47.Ne2 Nxf3+ 48.gxf3 Qxf3 49.Rb2 Qxe4 50.Qc7 Qf3 51.Qxd6 Rd3 52.Qxb6 Qf6 53.Rb1 Ng3 54.Nxg3 Rxg3+ 55.Bg2 Rxg2+ 56.Kxg2 Qg5+ 57.Kh1 Qd5+ 58.Kg1 Qg5+ 59.Kh1 Qd5+ 60.Kg1 Qg5+ ½-½ |
Colin's game was another Pirc where he had the better side of a draw. Alas today was just not meant to be for the Scots - we've stored up our luck for tomorrow.
* oh, nearly forget, the error in the poster? See that girl....she's playing Chess...and smiling. Nuff said.
Open Olympiad Round 9
We're at a critical stage in the Olympiad now where one good result can make all the difference in terms of final placings and boy, did we get a great result today. Bangladesh are a team who lie close to us in seeding so a tough match was in store but our team did us proud yet again with an excellent 3-1 victory. I've been incredibly impressed by the team's fighting spirit throughout this competition and today's games continued that tradition.
Scotland 3-1 Bangladesh
J. Rowson (2596) b 1-0 Z. Rahman (2510)
J. Aagaard (2528) 1-0 E. Hossain (2494)
J. Shaw (2469) 0-1 A. Abdulla (2522)
K. Grant (2448) 1-0 S. Abu (2418)
Jonathan's game was highly complex and tactical. Note how Black created queenside counterplay with the greatest of efficiency, never wasting a move and opening lines on the queenside before White's kingside 'attack' ever got going - that's how you should treat these Closed Sicilians!
A critical moment occurred after Black's 16th move.
Here White continued with 17. d5 with immense short-term complications. However, the loss of his dark-squared bishop also had long-term strategic implications and when Black activated himself with 25...d5 all his pieces swarmed the board. Crushing - you have to play this game over!
[Click here to replay the game] Rahman,Ziaur (2510) - Rowson,Jonathan (2596) 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.Nge2 Nf6 7.h3 0-0 8.0-0 Rb8 9.f4 Nd7 10.g4 b5 11.Ng3 c4 12.Kh2 b4 13.Nce2 Qb6 14.d4 c3 15.bxc3 bxc3 16.Be3 e5 17.d5 Qxe3 18.dxc6 Nb6 19.Rf3 Qc5 20.Rxc3 Nc4 21.f5 Ba6 22.Ng1 Qxc6 23.g5 Rfd8 24.f6 Bf8 25.h4 d5 26.exd5 Qa4 27.Qg4 Rb4 28.Ne4 Nd2 29.Re1 Rxd5 30.a3 Rxe4 31.Bxe4 Rd4 32.Nf3 Nxe4 33.Nxd4 Nxc3 34.Rxe5 Bd6 35.Qg3 Ne4 36.Rxe4 Bxg3+ 37.Kxg3 h6 38.c3 hxg5 39.hxg5 Qxa3 40.Re3 Qd6+ 41.Kf2 0-1 |
Jacob also won his game today, and in positional style! We all know and love GM Aagaard's tactical smashes but this round saw another side to him.
Yusupov "How did you get on today Jacob?"
Jacob "I won a nice game in positional style"
Yusupov "HA HA HA good one Jacob, now tell me what really happened."
Photo: Harald Fietz
Jacob dreaming of his post-match pint...
Photo: Harald Fietz
Alas, John Shaw's patchy form persisted today with a loss although he does seem to be getting a large number of games with the Black pieces which is a bit unfair, and also was playing Bangladesh's highest rated player on board 3...hmmm.
Keti is a superb fighter. No matter the position or how many moves have been played she stays fully focussed and alert and this paid off in spades today. Black had the better of the endgame for quite a while but Keti gradually clawed her way back to equality, reaching the following position...
Black should accept equality here with 57...Kc5 but, perhaps still trying for a win, lost concentration and played 57...Nc5?. As usual, Keti does not require any second invitation and continued 58. b6 Nd7 59. b7 Kc5 60. Bxg6! and Black can't stop both passed pawns. Brilliant!
The official game score shows Keti's final move as Kxe4. As Dougie Bryson pointed out tthis is likely to be another case of the king going to e4 to signal a White win on the DGT boards. Indeed, we can prove that now as we have photographic evidence...
Photo: Harald Fietz
As usual, all the games are available from the link on the Chess Scotland webpage.
The Scots' post match analysis in the bar "Now, John, lets go over what you did wrong just one more time..."
Photo: Harald Fietz
Open Olympiad Round 10
Scotland 2-2 Norway
J. Rowson (2596)w 0-1 M. Carlsen (2786)
J. Aagaard (2528) 1-0 S. Agdestein (2588)
K. Grant (2448) ½-½ L. Johannessen (2545)
C. McNab (2455) ½-½ J. Hammer (2522)
Where's the little yellow box gone?
Photo: Harald Fietz
Glamour tie with the 19th seeds Norway today and a FANTASTIC result for the Scots. Especially glamorous on top board where Jonathan Rowson was White against the current world number 4 (and rising!) Magnus Carlsen. Here, Jonathan was by no means outclassed as a tough positional and tactical battle ensued. The following position was reached after White's 39th move...
Here, the young Norwegian star played 39...Rxe5! 40.fxe5 f4! and managed to wrest the initiative from White. Well, he's not number 4 in the world for nothing you know. As it's a historic moment, let's enjoy (if we can) the game in full...
[Click here to replay the game] Rowson,Jonathan (2596) - Carlsen,Magnus (2786) 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 Bd6 5.b3 f5 6.Be2 Nf6 7.0-0 Qe7 8.Bb2 b6 9.Qc1 Bb7 10.Ba3 Nbd7 11.Qb2 c5 12.Nc3 a6 13.Rfd1 0-0 14.cxd5 exd5 15.g3 Rac8 16.Rac1 Kh8 17.Qb1 Ne4 18.dxc5 Nxc3 19.Rxc3 bxc5 20.Bf1 Nf6 21.Bg2 Ne4 22.Rc2 a5 23.Bb2 Rf7 24.Ba1 Re8 25.Qc1 h6 26.Ne1 Kh7 27.Nd3 Rc8 28.Nf4 Bxf4 29.exf4 Qf8 30.Qa3 d4 31.Qxa5 Rd7 32.Qb5 Qd6 33.Qd3 Ba6 34.Qf3 d3 35.Rcc1 d2 36.Rc2 Qg6 37.Bf1 Bb7 38.Qe3 Re8 39.Be5 Rxe5 40.fxe5 f4 41.Qe2 Ng5 42.Rc3 Qc6 43.f3 Nxf3+ 44.Kf2 Ng5 45.e6 Ne4+ 46.Qxe4+ Qxe4 47.exd7 Qd4+ 48.Ke2 Ba6+ 0-1 |
Hero of the day Jacob was drawn against the chess playing, football playing, Strictly Come Dancing Norwegian celebrity Simen Agdestein. After some exciting middlegame adventures a tricky queen and pawn endgame was reached. We all know from reading the noticeboard that there is no point in studying endgames but if you'll indulge me for one diagram dear reader...
Here Jacob played 42...e4! 43.fe Qe5! and went on to win nicely. We've had a loss so I think it's only fair we play through a win too - enjoy!
[Click here to replay the game] Agdestein,Simen (2588) - Aagaard,Jacob (2528) 1.c4 c6 2.e4 d5 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.e5 d4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0-0 Nge7 8.d3 a6 9.a4 Ng6 10.Qe2 b6 11.Na3 Qc7 12.Re1 Bb4 13.Bd2 Bxd2 14.Qxd2 0-0 15.Qg5 Bb7 16.Nc2 Na5 17.Ncxd4 Nxc4 18.Rac1 h6 19.Qg3 Qd7 20.Rxc4 Rfc8 21.Rb4 Rab8 22.Rxb6 Bxf3 23.Rd6 Qxa4 24.gxf3 Qa5 25.Rb1 Qd2 26.h4 Rc1+ 27.Rxc1 Qxc1+ 28.Kh2 Rxb2 29.Rc6 Qf1 30.Rc2 Rxc2 31.Nxc2 Qxd3 32.Ne3 Qd4 33.h5 Nxe5 34.Ng4 Nxg4+ 35.fxg4 e5 36.Kh3 a5 37.Qf3 a4 38.Qa8+ Kh7 39.f3 Qf4 40.Qd5 Kg8 41.Qd8+ Kh7 42.Qd3+ e4 43.fxe4 Qe5 44.Qc4 Qe8 45.e5 Qa8 46.Qxf7 Qh1+ 47.Kg3 Qg1+ 48.Kh3 Qh1+ 49.Kg3 Qe1+ 50.Kg2 Qe2+ 51.Kh3 Qd3+ 52.Kh4 Qc2 53.g5 Qe4+ 54.Kh3 Qe3+ 55.Kh2 Qxe5+ 56.Kh3 Qe3+ 57.Kh2 Qe2+ 58.Kh3 Qd3+ 59.Kh2 Qc2+ 60.Kg1 hxg5 61.h6 Qb1+ 62.Kh2 Qg6 63.Qd7 Qxh6+ 64.Kg2 Qa6 65.Qe8 Qb7+ 66.Kf2 Qb2+ 67.Kg3 Qc3+ 68.Kg2 Qd2+ 69.Kh3 Qd3+ 70.Kg2 Qd5+ 71.Kg3 Qd6+ 72.Kg2 a3 73.Qh5+ Qh6 74.Qf3 g4 75.Qxa3 Qc6+ 76.Kg3 Qf3+ 77.Qxf3 gxf3 78.Kxf3 Kh6 79.Kg4 Kg6 0-1 |
More endgame fun on boards 3 and 4. Keti had R+N+P v R+B+2P endgame while Colin reached a highly unusual pawnless endgame or R+B v N+B (alas Colin had the two minor pieces). I've no idea what the correct evaluation of such a pawnless endgame might be, but these type of material imbalances are notoriously difficult to defend in practice. If my memory serves me correctly (and it rarely does) I think even Judit Polgar lost a RvR+N endgame to Kasparov and that's considered one of the easier ones to defend. Luckily we have two gutsy performers on these lower boards and both managed to hold a draw - Colin's coming after move 153!! How do you fancy defending such a position for 153 moves with 1 minute increments? Nah, doesn't sound too great does it?
A magnificent result to draw the match against such a highly seeded team where we were outgraded on all boards. The team have played so well that they have escaped the dreaded Olympiad yo-yo effect (lose to a high rated team, smash a weak team, play a high rated team etc.) and are rewarded with a match against 27th seeds Greece in the final round on Tuesday.
Finally, a glimpse inside Keti's secret preparation laboratory..
Photo: ?????????
How did we get this photo? How indeed dear reader, how indeed!
Captain's Second Report
In common with other places throughout Europe Dresden has a couple of centimetres of snow. However for many of the players in other teams snow falling was an exciting moment for they had never experienced it! They took great pleasure out of something which we see as a bit of a nuisance.
In conversation with the Thailand captain I learned that Thai-Chess is the big game over there and our ‘ordinary’ chess has only 100 players in that country: this Olympiad is their best ever as they managed to beat a GM!
Scotland’s player population is quite small. In fact we are dwarfed by so many of our neighbours. Yet there must have been some point in time where we had around 100 players. Critically, we now have some very strong players. But I ask myself where the strong replacements are going to come from? And for that matter, what would induce a young man or woman to want to put in the sheer amount of hard work required?
I look at the results achieved by both our men’s and women’s teams at this Olympiad, and they are good. But what of the future? Strong players only become so by playing against stronger players still. Can we do more for those we have (2000+)? Or should we just leave them to wither on the vine? We have in the past, but the future?
Money is the key limiting factor. And yet money can and would be found if there were a sufficient number of players in Scotland. We may have more players than Thailand but we need many more again.
Team spirit is good, indeed very good. The results for both of our teams reflect some of the effort put in. The matches Greece versus Scotland and Austria versus Scotland are tomorrow. There is much to play for.
John Dempsey (Captain) Stephen Mannion (Captain)
Open Olympiad Round 11
It's a sad day today dear reader because this is the last round (boo hoo). I've enjoyed our little chat each evening (and your excited feedback) but all good things must come to an end.
Scotland 1-3 Greece
J. Aagaard (2528) 0-1 V. Kotronias (2587)
J. Shaw (2469) 0-1 H. Banikas (2572)
K. Grant (2448) 1-0 S. Halkias (2584)
C. McNab (2455) 0-1 D. Mastrovasilis (2572)
The team from Greece
Photo: Harald Fietz
The Scots faced another strong team today. The Greeks have real strength in depth, in fact only 15 elo points seperated their entire team today. With Jonathan Rowson taking a well-earned break we were again in the unenviable position of being outgraded on all boards.
Overall Jacob has had a good tournament with a performance rating close to 2600 but something went wrong today. The following position doesn't look too bad to me...
But Jacob must have felt differently as he lashed out with 22...g5 23.Be3 cxd5 24. exd5 after which the white-squared holes on Black's kingside are plain to see. In fact it took White only another 5 moves to force resignation by infiltrating all over them.
Board 3 was a much happier story. Before this game, Keti knew that she had to win in order to achieve a tournament performance rating of over 2600 and, hence, her third and final GM norm. Lots of pressure on you'd think? Well, let's see how timidly Keti plays under pressure...in this game she sacrifices a pawn, then a knight, then another pawn, then a bishop, a rook and then a knight. I'll just show one highlight (there are many to chose from)
Here, with her rook hanging on g6 Keti continued 24...Bxg4! 25. Bxg6 Nxh3+!! SMASH. This game is really something special - a complete destruction of an experienced 2584 GM - WOW! Give yourself a treat and play this one out. If ever a game deserved to clinch the GM title this is it.
[Click here to replay the game] Halkias,Stelios (2584) - Arakhamia-Grant,Ketevan (2448) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 Ng4 8.Bg5 f6 9.Bh4 Nc6 10.d5 Ne7 11.Nd2 Nh6 12.f3 g5 13.Bf2 f5 14.c5 Ng6 15.Nc4 Nf4 16.0-0 Rf6 17.a4 Rg6 18.exf5 Nxf5 19.Bd3 g4 20.fxg4 Qg5 21.h3 Qh6 22.Qf3 e4 23.Bxe4 Nd4 24.Qe3 Bxg4 25.Bxg6 Nxh3+ 26.gxh3 Nf3+ 27.Qxf3 Bxf3 28.Bg3 Rf8 29.Kh2 Qxg6 30.cxd6 cxd6 31.Rf2 Qd3 32.Nxd6 Bxc3 33.bxc3 Bxd5 34.Rb2 Rf1 35.c4 Rxa1 36.cxd5 Qf1 37.Bf2 Qh1+ 38.Kg3 Qxd5 0-1 |
This was to be the only highlight today as both John and Colin held their opponents for a while but were gradually outplayed in the late middlegame (probably time pressure had something to do with this). Colin finishes the tournament slightly above his expected performance and John...had to play a lot of games with the Black pieces.
Overall the team finished slightly below their seeded position but this obscures what was really a very good performance. All the players can be proud of their consistently fighting and very interesting chess. It's been a long time since I've enjoy watching a tournament as much as this one. I hope you feel the same.
It's all over...boo hoo
Photo: Harald Fietz
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