Masters meet

The close proximity of the Chinese New Year to the dates of this year’s Tata Steel chess tournament has meant that I haven’t been able to give this annual international chess event in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, much attention. 

This Wijk aan Zee tournament has a very long history that goes back to 1938. Before Tata Steel came into the picture, it used to be called the Corus tournament and before that, the Hoogovens event. Wijk aan Zee itself is the Dutch seaside town from where the tournament takes its name.

Anyway, the Tata Steel chess tournament is traditionally a very strong event and only the world’s best players will ever get a chance to be invited. There are three Grandmaster groups with 14 players each.

Since Jan 13, the eyes of the chess world have been focused mainly on the Grandmaster Group A tournament. And why not when this year’s participants include six of the world’s eight highest-ranked players in Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Teimour Radjabov, Veselin Topalov, Sergey Karjakin and Vassily Ivanchuk? Only the names of Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand are missing from this list. 

To round up the player’s list, there are also Vugar Gashimov, Hikaru Nakamura, Boris Gelfand, Fabiano Caruana, Gata Kamsky, Anish Giri, David Navara and local Dutch grandmaster Loek van Wely in the starting line-ups.

Until the eighth round, Carlsen and Aronian were leading the tournament but so far, it did not look like a complete domination to me. They were just a half point ahead of Radjabov who in turn was half a point ahead of Ivanchuk, Caruana and Nakamura.

Gelfand’s inclusion in this premier event was a surprise. He is due to play Anand for the world chess championship title in May and I thought he would have withdrawn himself from active play in order to prepare for the match of his life. However, he must be believing that the best preparation is to keep on playing actively, at least for this one or two months.

The Grandmaster Group B included players like Lazaro Bruzon, Vladimir Potkin, Alexander Motylev and Sergey Tiviakov. It was rather disappointing to see only Pentala Harikrishna and Harika Dronavalli as the only Asian players in this group because last year there were three Asian players in Wesley So, Li Chao and Le Quang Liem.

Nevertheless, it was interesting to notice the inclusion of four women chess players – all grandmasters – in this Group B tournament, namely, Harika, Kateryna Lahno, Daniele Vocaturo and Viktorija Cmilyte. 

This week, I’d like to feature an interesting game from the third round of this tournament. 

White: Magnus Carlsen

Black: Levon Aronian

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 c6 6.Qc2 Nf6 7.h3 g6 8.e3 Bf5 9.Qd2 h5 10.Bd3 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 Nbd7 12.Nge2 a5 13.0-0 0-0 14.f3 b5 15.e4 dxe4 16.fxe4 Nc5 17.Qf3 Ne6 18.Be3 (I should think that White has a firm grip on this game. His centre is strong while his opponent has several weaknesses all over the board, in particular the pawn on c6 and a very loose kingside due to his pawn on h5. It’s not so clear yet, as it’s hidden by the knight, but the pawn on f7 is also weak.) 18….b4 19.Nb1 Nh7 (Now we see Black’s other weakness exposed: the pawn on f7.) 20.Nd2 Rc8 21.Rad1 Bh4 22.g3 Bf6 23.Nc4 Bg7 (Black’s position is all passive. He has no counter-play and can only react to White’s play.) 24.b3 Qe7 (Black realises that the pawn on a5 cannot be defended for long and so, prepares to give it up.) 25.Qg2 Nc7 26.Nxa5 Rfe8 27.e5 Nd5 28.Bd2 Red8 29.Nf4 Qa7 30.Nxc6 (The start of a little combination) 30….Rxc6 31.Nxd5 Rc2 (Not 31….Qxd4+ 32. Kh1 Qxe5 when 33.Ne7+ wins material.) 32.Kh1 Bf8 33.e6 (Superb play by White. Black’s kingside becomes totally exposed. The next few moves are just about forced for both sides.) 33….Qa8 34.exf7+ Kh8 35.Nf4 Qxg2+ 36.Kxg2 Rxd4 37.Rf2 Rd6 38.Bc1 Rxf2+ 39.Kxf2 Rxd1 40.Bb2+ Nf6 41.Bxf6+ Kh7 42.Ne6 Bd6 43.Be5 Be7 (43….Bxe5 44.f8=Q, naturally. Anyway, there is no doubt that White is already winning in the endgame.) 44.f8=Q Bxf8 45.Nxf8+ Kh6 46.Ne6 g5 47.h4 gxh4 48.gxh4 Kg6 49.Nd4 Rd3 50.Nc6 Rd2+ 51.Ke3 Rxa2 52.Bd6 Ra1 53.Kd4 Rg1 54.Kc5 Kf5 55.Nxb4 Rc1+ 56.Kd4 Re1 57.Nc6 Re4+ 58.Kd5 Rxh4 59.b4 Rh1 60.b5 Rb1 61.Nd4+ Kg4 62.Kc6 Rc1+ 63.Kd7 Rb1 64.Kc7 h4 65.b6 Kh3 66.b7 Kg2 67.Nf5 h3 68.Nh4+1–0 (See diagram. White will promote his pawn next and after which, the knight will manoeuvre to f3 where it combines with the bishop to stop Black’s pawn from any further advance.)

The event only ends on Sunday, so you can still follow the last three rounds of the Tata Steel tournament from their website, http://www.tatasteelchess.com/, from 8.30pm nightly. Do enjoy the games!

Up Next

InSoFar chess

The InSoFar Chess Academy will hold its first event of the year at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Jalan Munshi Abdullah, Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Players can choose to play in any one of three sections – the rapid open, the junior scholarship open and the adult scholarship open – which will all be run off together.

Seven Swiss rounds with a 25-minute time control. Entry fees: RM20 (rapid open), RM50 ( junior scholarship open and adult scholarship open). To register, please send your full name and age by text message to Mat Zaki Yeop (017.2032051). Entries are limited to the first 64 players only.

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will kick off this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng grand prix chess circuit with the first leg at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Clifford in Kuala Kangsar on Feb 12. 

This is the third series of the local grand prix which will see six legs held in Kuala Kangsar, Taiping, Slim River, Bagan Serai, Kampar and Ipoh until July. Last year’s second series attracted widespread interest from players around the country and were held at five different districts in the state. PICA is confident that this year’s series would attract even greater response. 

Each leg of the grand prix will be played over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. Players can register for the open, the under-16 or the under-12 sections. Grand prix points shall be awarded to the top 10 winners of the open section of each leg and these would accumulate till the final leg in Ipoh. Those that register under the two junior categories will not be eligible for the open prizes or grand prix points. 

Entry fees for the first leg in Kuala Kangsar: RM25 (open section), RM15 (under 16 years old), RM10 (under 12 years old). For PICA members and Perak residents: RM20 (open section), RM10 (players under 16 years old). Closing date: Feb 9. For more information, call Yunus (013.3908129), Abu Bakar Martin (019.4007663), Azhar (013.4570443) or check the PICA blog at http://perakchess.blogspot.com for updates. 

Rakan Muda JB

The Rakan Muda Johor Bahru, Johor Chess Academy, Johor Bahru Chess Association and the Southerncity Giant hypermarket  are the joint organisers of this year’s seventh Johor Bahru junior tournament on Feb 19. Venue will be the concourse area of the hypermarket in Johor Bahru. Seven-round Swiss event with 25 minutes time control.

Entry fees: RM15 (players under 17 years old) and RM13 (players under 12 years old). Closing date is Feb 17. Details available from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com).

 

Siblings rule

The last big tournament on our shores as last year drew to a close was the fourth national junior chess championship that the Malaysian Chess Federation organised at the Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur in late December. The championship was divided into the boys’ and girls’ events and both were completely dominated by a trio of siblings.

First off, Mohd Nabil bin Azman Hisham demonstrated why he is possibly among today’s most promising youngsters when he pulled off a power display of skills in the boys’ event. Anyone scoring eight points from his fellow peers in a national tournament of this level simply cannot be taken of lightly.

Save for a blip in the sixth round when he lost to his closest rival, Roshan Singh, and hence had to be contented with a momentary share of the lead, Mohd Nabil practically led all the way from the start till the finish.

A strong spurt in the first half of the event – during which time the opponents he beat included Amier Hamzah, Ong Wei Bin and Mark Siew – was followed by an equally strong finish against Aron Teh, Low Jun Jian and Yee Jian Yang in the second half.

At the end of the tournament, Mohd Nabil finished with a clear 1½ points more than the three joint runners-up, Roshan Singh, Aron Teh and Teh Wee Zhun.

Of the trio that finished behind the champion, Roshan’s results were perhaps remarkable. Not only was he the only player to have inflicted a loss on the winner, Roshan was also the only participant in the 54-player field not to suffer any loss. His play was solid, comprising four wins but the five draws he made in this tournament did not do his overall chances any good. More tellingly, he could have pulled clear of the jam had his last three games not ended in consecutive draws.

As for Mohd Nabil’s two sisters who played in the girls’ event, it had been quite expected that they would make this event their own. I would believe that among the present batch of junior players in the country, the two sisters are the strongest players we have.

Nur Nabila binti Azman Hisham, being the older of the two, also came across as the stronger player. In this event, she also finished with eight points from nine games but unlike her brother, she was unbeaten throughout.

She started off with three wins, then a draw followed with her sister before he reeled off another two wins, followed by a second draw with Nur Sabrina Aliya before she closed off the event with two final wins. Her wins came from games with Ee Sun Xin, Anis Fariha, Camilia Johari, Goh Xin Yen, Nur Farihah, Zainoor Ikmal Maisarah and Nur Faqihah.

Nur Najiha binti Azman Hisham did not do badly either as she was just half a point behind her elder sister. She was also unbeaten throughout the tournament but there was just one draw too many for her, against Camilia Johari and Anis Fariha.

Up Next

InSoFar chess

The InSoFar Chess Academy will hold its first event of the year at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Jalan Munshi Abdullah, Kuala Lumpur on Jan 29. Players can choose to play in any one of three sections – the rapid open, the junior scholarship open and the adult scholarship open – which will all be run off together.

Seven Swiss rounds with a 25-minute time control. Entry fees: RM20 (rapid open), RM50 ( junior scholarship open and adult scholarship open). To register, please send your full name and age by text message to Mat Zaki Yeop (017.2032051). Entries are limited to the first 64 players only.

Rakan Muda JB

The Rakan Muda Johor Bahru, Johor Chess Academy, Johor Bahru Chess Association and the Southerncity Giant hypermarket  are the joint organisers of this year’s seventh Johor Bahru junior tournament on Feb 19. Venue will be the concourse area of the hypermarket in Johor Bahru. Seven-round Swiss event with 25 minutes time control.

Entry fees: RM15 (players under 17 years old) and RM13 (players under 12 years old). Closing date is Feb 17. Details available from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com).

 

Fragile grandmaster

If Lahiri Atanu’s brief loss of form cost him the title at the Sarawak open chess tournament last month, I can only say that that was just a small matter. Players everywhere experience it all the time. It doesn’t matter whether they are amateurs at the game or the professional chess players, it just happens.

Just about two weeks ago, something of this nature happened in faraway Italy. The only difference was that it happened this time to a high-ranking professional chess player who was taking part in a top-level chess competition.

That it ever happened to Vassily Ivanchuk, a grandmaster from Ukraine, should not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the chess world. Most everyone knows that Ivanchuk can be highly emotional at the chess board.

He can scale the greatest heights in his games and at the next moment, plunge into the deepest depths. 

A few years ago, he got so emotionally pissed off after losing a vital game for his team at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden that he refused to give a scheduled urine sample. At that time, the World Chess Federation had just made it compulsory for chess players to take random dope tests in compliance with regulations of the International Olympics Committee.

He got off very lightly. After a hearing, the World Chess Federation concluded that he was not to blame for refusing. But that incident cemented Ivanchuk’s reputation as being a highly fragile chess player. Perhaps he’s even the most highly fragile professional chess player in the world. He is so into the game that an important loss of form can turn him into a blubbering mess.

Witness what happened last September in the semi-finals of the Chess World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. It was the critical third game of a play-off match. Ivanchuk thought he was winning and fell into his opponent’s psychological trap. He played a two-move blunder and lost the game and the match. A highly distressed Ivanchuk left the chess board, covering his face with his hands. Not many chess players openly display their emotions so much.

And so we fast forward four months to January 2012. This was the traditional annual invitational tournament at Reggio Emilia in northern Italy. Ivanchuk had been invited to play in this double round-robin event, as were also Alexander Morozevich, Hikaru Nakamura, Nikita Vitiugov, Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri.

Perhaps the matter that he was the highest rated among the six players caused him some uneasiness but the fact was that he did not play like the tournament favourite. At the middle point of the tournament, he was lying in third place behind Nakamura and Morozevich, but only just. There were still hopes of overtaking them.

Then in the sixth round Ivanchuk lost to Giri, the lowest ranked player among the six participants. It was a strange game. To all of us watching it through the Internet, it was as if Ivanchuk was willingly inviting his opponent to break up his pawn formation. Giri seized upon it, then tightened his grip around the loose holes in Ivanchuk’s game and collected an easy win. 

Ivanchuk looked groggy after that. In the seventh round he lost again, this time to Vitiugov. He played a combination, not realising that there was a hole in his analysis. Vitiugov saw the refutation, played it and suddenly, Ivanchuk found himself down by a piece with no compensation.

It became very clear by now that the Ukrainian grandmaster was not only groggy but probably punch drunk as well. His play became suicidal. In the eighth round he was thoroughly outplayed by Caruana. The Italian had a mass of pawns in the centre and his rook had invaded Ivanchuk’s territory. If he wasn’t already losing, he would be within two or three more moves.

So what did Ivanchuk do in this dire position? He simply chucked everything away. He started to give up every single one of his remaining pieces. It began with him exchanging his queen for his opponent’s bishop, then a rook for his opponent’s pawn, followed for a bishop for another of his opponent’s pawn, and finally throwing away his remaining bishop as well.

Everyone watching was aghast. If I had done it, I would have been accused of bad sportsmanship, not losing with grace. But this was Ivanchuk and lost in his own world, he was suffering an Ivanchuk meltdown. His frayed nerves have betrayed him yet again. And in a big way too. Three lost games in a row. Any chess player would be greatly affected by this dramatic change of fortune.

But I sympathise with him. I know how it feels to lose one game after another, especially when silly mistakes are made. As I mentioned earlier, this loss of form can happen to anyone: great players like him or anonymous players like me. Trouble is, when it happens to high-profile players, everyone notices. Me, I’m safe in my anonymity.

Remarkably, Ivanchuk did never let this incident affect him. He returned to the chess board in the ninth round as if nothing had happened. A draw with Morozevich and then he joined the spectators to watch the rest of the games. 

And then in the final round of the event, inspiration came back to him. A masterful display against Nakamura ensured that he would end the game on a positive note. A man who would be first but eventually ending up fifth. That’s Ivanchuk for you.

Here is that fateful eighth round game where he imploded completely:

White: Vassily Ivanchuk

Black: Fabiano Caruana

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7 4. e3 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Be2 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. c3 Nbd7 9. Bh2 Qe8 10. a4 a6 11. Na3 e5 12. Nc4 Ne4 13. Nfd2 Nxd2 14. Nxd2 Kh8 15. Qc2 f5 16. Rfe1 g5 17. Bd3 Qg6 18. f3 Rae8 19. Rf1 d5 20. a5 c5 21. g4 e4 22. fxe4 dxe4 23. Be2 f4 24. axb6 Qxb6 25. Qb3 Qa7 26. Bb5 cxd4 27. Bxd7 dxe3 28. Nc4 Rd8 29. Ba4 Rd2 and here it comes… 30. Qxb7 (see diagram) 30….Qxb7 31. Rxf4 gxf4 32. Nxd2 exd2 33. Bxf4 Rxf4 34. Bc6 Qb6+ 0-1

 

The big four

As had been expected last week, the Indian grandmaster and current world chess champion, Viswananthan Anand, has been knocked off the second spot on the latest international rating list which was released by the World Chess Federation earlier this week. 

His rating took a tumble from the 2810 rating points a year ago (the January 2011 rating list) to 2799 this January. Without a doubt, his last three performances in Bilbao, Moscow and London had greatly affected his ratings and he is now placed fourth in the world rankings.

The Norwegian grandmaster, Magnus Carlsen, now 21 years old, has retained his number one standing in the world. But more than that, over the past year, his rating has increased from 2814 points in January 2011 to 2835 points in the January 2012 list. 

Considering that the top players in the world are playing with one another exclusively, this is actually a gain of 21 points against top chess opposition.

More tellingly, Carlsen’s present rating of 2835 points is a good 30 points more than his nearest chess rival, Levon Aronian from Armenia. Over the past year, Aronian’s rating has not changed and remains at 2805 points. But because of Anand’s drop down the list, Aronian has been propelled from third to second-placed. 

Similarly, Vladimir Kramnik has been pushed up from fourth to third in the world ranking. But at least for this Russian grandmaster, he has seen his rating increase by 17 points from a year ago to 2801 in January 2012. This has been helped by an impressive display of chess technique at the London Chess Classic last month which he won comfortably.

So there you have it, the top four players in the world today are Carlsen, Aronian, Kramnik and Anand. 

Fifth in the world rankings is Azerbaijan’s Teimour Radjabov whose rating is 2773. His rating had also risen by 29 points over the past year. At this time last year, he was placed in 12th position among his peers.

The Bulgarian grandmaster, Veselin Topalov, remains sixth in the world today, unchanged from a year ago. However, five points have been shed by him and he stands today with 2770 rating points.

Sergey Karyakin is in seventh position with 2769 points, Vassily Ivanchuk is eighth with 2766 points, Alexander Morozevich is ninth with 2763 points and Vugar Gashimov rounds up the top ten with 2761 points.

Outside of this top list includes Alexander Grischuk who is also with 2761 points, Hikaru Nakamura with 2759 points, Peter Svidler with 2749 points, Boris Gelfand with 2739 points (placed 16th in the world today), Fabiano Caruana with 2736 points, China’s Wang Hao with 2733 points and Gata Kamsky with 2732 points.

There are 44 players whose ratings are at least 2700 points. Apart from Anand and Wang, the only two other Asian players in this exclusive 2700-plus club are Le Quang Liem from Vietnam with 2714 points and Krishnan Sasikiran from India with 2700 points. 

Sasikiran’s position in the world rankings has remained relatively unchanged: an increase of 10 rating points has seen his ranking rise from 45th a year ago to 44th position this January.

Le’s climb has been more phenomenal: a 50-point increase. Accordingly, his ranking has gone up from 79th in the world to 29th today.

Turning my sights to the top women players in the international rating list, I see that Judit Polgar is still the number one woman chess player in the world with 2710 rating points. Her grip on the women’s world ranking has been total. Nobody has been able to touch her for years. 

But in the next few years, we may be able to see someone else come closer to challenging Polgar’s status. If there is any woman chess player who can do it, it is likely to be that lass from China, Hou Yifan, who is the current women’s world champion.

In the January 2012 rating list, Hou is finally the number two in the world, having displaced the former number two, Humpy Koneru, who is now the world’s number three woman player.

But interestingly enough, Hou’s present rating is very little changed from a year ago. Then, she was at 2602 points while now, her gain is only three rating points to 2605. It is just that Humpy’s poor performances lately have lost the Indian player some 18 points. She had been most affected by her terrible display at the women’s world championship match in November. 

Finally, I should also mention that China’s Ju Wenjun who was here in Kuala Lumpur playing in last year’s Malaysia open championship is now ranked as the sixth best woman chess player in the world. Over the past year, she had risen from 13th position.