13th Monarch Assurance

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13th Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International
25 Sept - 3 Oct 2004

Last updated: Monday, August 21, 2017 5:49 PM

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Round 6 - 30 September 2004 - "Webmaster Left En Prise"

"The late" John Saunders reports: Have you ever had one of those days when you should really have just stayed in bed? Yes, me too. 30 September was one of them. It was the day of the traditional coach trip round the Isle of Man, which is always enjoyed by competitors in the Monarch Assurance. I always put my name down for this, not so much to see the sights these days (I think I've seen most of them now) but to take pictures of famous chess players in unfamiliar surroundings. It makes a change from all those pictures of worried-looking faces poring over chess boards, and shows the human face of the top grandmasters, who enjoy the chance to relax for an hour or two.

The coach was scheduled to depart at 10am. As usual I was slaving over a hot laptop, dealing with emails and website updates. At around 9.45am I thought I would send one last email, to Alexander Baburin, to thank him for making Chess Today available to our website readers. The trouble is that my internet connection in the hotel is about 500 times slower than the one I have at home. There, it would take about 30 seconds to do this, maybe a minute; but here my dial-up connection works at about 24kpbs (i.e. incredibly slowly). Minutes ticked past as I went through all the screens of my web-based email set-up. To my consternation it was 10am as I finished sending the email and came offline. Panic! Coat on, grab camera, dash downstairs to reception where I arrived at 10.02am - to find that the coach had left, bang on the dot. Truly, time and tide wait for no webmaster. Apparently they had travelled a couple of miles before someone thought to ask "where's John?". "Oh, he's not here." "Shall we go back and collect him?" "No". Thanks, guys!

However, a kind fairy came to my rescue - in the shape of tournament arbiter Cathy Rogers. Cathy is a well-known chess photographer and has had her photos published in magazines all over the world, including many in British Chess Magazine. She has placed her photos of the coach trip at my disposal, for which I am truly grateful.

The Monarch coach trip (photo - © Cathy Rogers)
amongst them GMs Rogers, Ramesh, Zhang Zhong, Volkov, and our tournament supervisor Dennis Hemsley (in human form today)

More photos from the coach party. Left to right: Zhang Zhong and Li Ruofan at Tynwald, the site of the world's oldest parliament; RB Ramesh and Aarthie Ramaswamy at Tynwald; chief arbiter David Welch and Dennis Hemsley; "I say, I say, I say, this cat's got no tail": Sergey Volkov gets familiar with a Manx cat. Photos by Cathy Rogers

That wasn't quite the end of my adventures. In the afternoon, after play began, I went for a walk round the headland. I wouldn't say I got completely lost, but the walk turned out much longer than I had expected. But we may catch up with this theme tomorrow.

Viktor Korchnoi finally took a quick draw. Old gentlemen are entitled to take an afternoon off now and again. But he was back to watch the other games later on. Nakamura beat Speelman to catch up with Korchnoi in the lead: an extremely good scalp for the young American who played a beautifully mature game.

Speelman,J (2555) - Nakamura,H (2601) [A09]
Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Port Erin IOM (6.3), 30.09.2004

1 Nf3 d5 2 c4 d4 3 d3 Nc6 4 g3 e5 5 Bg2 Bb4+ 6 Bd2 a5 7 0-0 Nf6 8 Na3 0-0 9 Nb5 Re8 [Better than 9 ..Bxd2 as played in Gausel-Westerinen, Gausdal 1995.] 10 e3 (White seems to get a passive game after this) 10 ..Bf5 11 e4 Bg4 12 h3 Bh5 13 Bc1 (The position is a sort of reversed Benoni, where White has not retained the extra tempo) 13 ..Nd7 14 Na3 Bd6 15 Nc2 Nc5 16 Qd2 Nb4 17 Nfe1 [17 Nxb4 axb4 18 Qxb4 may not have a direct tactical consequence, but Black gets a good game after something simple like 18 ..Qd7 , one point being that the white queen cannot return to d2, e.g. 19 Qd2? Nb3!] 17 ..f6 18 f3 [This looks ugly but White had to be very careful here. For example 18 f4? Nxa2!! 19 Rxa2 Nb3 when the queen has to desert the attacked bishop on c1: 20 Qf2 Nxc1 21 Ra1 Ne2+ 22 Kh1 exf4 is crushing.] 18 ..Qd7 19 b3 b5 20 cxb5 Nxc2 21 Nxc2 Qxb5 22 Rd1 Bf7 23 Bf1

(White's opening has been a disaster. However, it is one thing to corral the Speelwolf, but quite another to finish him off. Many have tried and failed. Nakamura's technique proves to be up to the job.) 23 ..a4 24 Na3 Qd7 25 b4 [The alternative was 25 bxa4 Rxa4 but then Black gets huge pressure down the a-file. As played, White's b-pawn is lured forward to its doom.] 25 ..Na6 26 b5 Bb4 27 Qf2 Bxa3 28 Bxa3 Qxb5 29 Qd2 c5 30 Rab1 Qc6 31 Rdc1 Reb8 32 f4 Qd6 33 Rxb8+ Rxb8 34 Qa5 exf4 35 gxf4 [35 Bxc5 Nxc5 36 Rxc5 fxg3 doesn't help White's cause.] 35 ..f5! (An energetic move played with a view to opening the a8-h1 diagonal as well as to expose the white king still further.) 36 e5 [36 Bxc5 Nxc5 37 Rxc5 fxe4] 36 ..Qg6+ 37 Kh2 Bd5 38 Rc2 [Of course not 38 Bxc5?? Rb2+ and mates] 38 ..Qc6 (Switching back to defensive mode to frustrate White) 39 Rb2 [39 Qe1 makes it harder for Black to break through.] 39 ..Rxb2+ 40 Bxb2 Nc7 41 a3 Ne6 42 Bc1 h6 43 h4 Qe8 44 Qe1 Qb5 45 Qd2 Bb7 46 Qf2 Qc6 (White can put a piece on g2 but the resultant endgame will be lost. There is nothing to be done) 47 Bd2 c4! 0-1 [A precision move with which to finish. If 48 dxc4 Qh1+ 49 Kg3 Nc5! is the killer.]

Chandler-Zhang Zhong was a long attritional game in which the English GM won two pieces for a rook. He ground down the Chinese GM in a game that lasted a few minutes short of seven hours. So we have three leaders: Korchnoi, Nakamura and Chandler.

Baklan dealt very severely with Simon Williams, who is chasing his third GM norm in a matter of months.

Baklan,V (2595) - Williams,S (2427) [C16]
Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Port Erin IOM (6.8), 30.09.2004

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e5 Ne7 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 bxc3 b6 7 Qg4 Ng6 [Williams played 7 ..Nf5 earlier in the tournament.] 8 h4 h5 9 Qd1 Ba6 10 Bg5 f6 (A rather suspect move) 11 Bxa6 Nxa6 12 Qd3 (Neatly forking two knights, though Black is not losing a piece) 12 ..Kf7 13 Nh3!? [Previous games have featured 13 Rh3!? (as suggested by the Irish player Moles many moons ago) and have resulted in a lot of wins for White. This also looks very good.] 13 ..Nb8 [Definitely not 13 ..fxg5? 14 Nxg5+ Ke7 15 Qxg6 Qg8 16 Rh3 when White has a big attack, as well as an extra pawn.] 14 0-0 c5 15 Rae1 c4 [Black should probably just get on with his development and play something like 15 ..Nd7 ] 16 Qf3 Nf8 17 exf6 gxf6 18 Nf4

18 ..fxg5 [Williams opts for a quick tactical decision rather than endure slow torture. 18 ..Nbd7 19 Re3 and White can take the h-pawn when he feels like it.] 19 Nxe6+ Qf6 20 Nxg5+ Kg6 21 Qxd5 Nc6 22 Re3 Rd8 23 Qe4+ Kh6 [23 ..Kg7 24 Rg3 Ng6 25 Rf3 Qd6 26 Ne6+ is crushing.] 24 Rf3 Qg6 25 Qe3 1-0

There were some big surprises in this round. English amateur Paul Hutchinson beat Dutch GM Harmen Jonkman. He was worse earlier in the game but a well-timed queenside attack caught the Dutchman unawares.

Hutchinson,P (2216) - Jonkman,H (2425)
Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Port Erin IOM (6.26), 30.09.2004

White is a pawn down with a rotten position on the kingside. But there is just a chance that a queenside thrust might pay off... 29 b5! axb5 30 Rb4 b6 [Perhaps Black could carry on with his kingside advance and play 30 ..h4 etc.] 31 Qe2 h4 32 gxh4 Nxh4 33 Nxh4 Qxh4? [A bad mistake. 33 ..Rxh4! 34 Qxb5 g3! and now if 35 Qc6 or 25 Qa6, Black has time for 35 ..Rxe4 when Black wins easily.] 34 Qxb5 Qe1+? [It is not too late to start defending with 34 ..Qd8 and perhaps Black can still entertain some winning chances.] 35 Kb2 Qe3?? [After this Black is lost. 35 ..Rh1 draws.] 36 Ra4! [Move order is important. If 36 Qa6? Rh1! rescues a draw.] 36 ..Qc5 [Now if 36 ..Rh1 37 Qe8+ Kb7 38 Qa8#; 36 ..Kc8 37 Ra8+ Kb7 38 Qc6#] 37 Qa6 Qa5 [37 ..c6 38 Qa8+ Kc7 39 Ra7#] 38 Rxa5 bxa5 39 Qb5+ Kc8 40 e5 dxe5 41 Rxe5 Rg6 42 Re8+ Rxe8 43 Qxe8+ Kb7 44 Qxf7 [44 Qxf7 Rg5 45 d6 wins.] 1-0

The young Irish player Karl McPhillips beat the Chinese woman GM Li Ruofan.

McPhillips,K (2172) - Li Ruofan (2414)
Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Port Erin IOM (6.27), 30.09.2004

Karl McPhillips Li Ruofan McPhillips has some pressure in this position but now the Chinese player goes to pieces) 28 ..Qe4? [28 ..Rxd1+!? 29 Qxd1 Qe6 30 Qd6+ Qxd6 31 Nxd6 Ne5 32 f4 Ng4 33 e4 f6 34 Nf5 wins a pawn for White but perhaps Black can mobilise her queenside pawns] 29 Rxd8+ Nxd8 30 Qd1 Qxf5 31 Qxd8+ Qc8 32 Qxh4 [32 Qxc8+? would lead to a king and pawn ending which is better for Black.] 32 ..Qe6? (A surprising error. With the black h4 pawn out of the way, the king and pawn ending is easily won for White) 33 Qd8+ Qc8 34 Qxc8+ Kxc8 35 c4 a6 36 a4 Kc7 37 g4 b5 38 cxb5 axb5 39 axb5 Kb6 40 Kf1 Kxb5 41 Ke2 Kb4 42 Kd2 Kb3 43 Kc1 Kc3 44 g5 Kd3 45 f4 1-0

Game of the day was Kulaots vs Conquest. The Hastings-born grandmaster is a witty and engaging character in real life and somehow manages to imbue his games with humour. This was typical of his surreal style.

Kulaots,K (2593) - Conquest,S (2488) [B17]
Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Port Erin IOM (6.9), 30.09.2004

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nd7 5 Ng5 Ndf6 6 Bc4 e6 7 Qe2 Bd6 8 Bd2 Qc7 9 0-0-0 a6 10 Kb1 h6 11 Ne4 Nxe4 12 Qxe4 Nf6 13 Qe2 b5 14 Bd3 Bb7 15 Nf3 c5 16 dxc5 Bxc5 17 Ne5 0-0 18 Rhe1 Rfd8 19 g4 (A very natural attacking move against the Caro Kann) 19 ..Rd4!? (Stuart Conquest happily embroils himself in some tactical complications.) 20 c3 Ra4 (If you or I played a move like that, our rook would soon drop off the board. But Stuart is a law unto himself) 21 Bc2 [21 b3 Ra3 22 Bc1 looks tempting but Stuart was no doubt banking on 22 ..Nd5! which looks quite handy for Black. One day Black's a3 rook might get to join in an attack down the a-file.] 21 ..Be4 22 Nd3 Bxd3 23 Qxd3 Rxg4 24 Qf3 [Looking through this game with Andy Smith, I felt inspired to try 24 Bxh6!? here. Amazingly, instead of awarding it the usual -15.00 that my moves are usually worth, Fritz quite likes this idea. 24 ..gxh6 25 Qf3 Rd8 26 Qxf6 is the idea, though after 26 ..Rxd1+ 27 Rxd1 Qxh2 Black can defend the big threat: 28 Rd8+ Bf8 and Black is holding.] 24 ..Rb8 25 h3 [25 Bxh6 is still possible] 25 ..Rh4 26 Rg1 Be7 27 Rg3 (The reason Kulaots probably didn't like the Bxh6 idea is that he has this big attack down the g-file. But, cool as a cucumber, Black virtually ignores it and takes material.) 27 ..Rd8 28 Rdg1 Rxd2! 29 Rxg7+ Kf8 30 Qg2 Bb4!

31 Bb3 [Black's king prepares to flee. If 31 cxb4?? Qxc2+ and mates] 31 ..Re4 32 Qf3 [32 cxb4 Ree2 33 Qa8+ Ke7 34 Ka1 Qe5 wins, much as in the game] 32 ..Ree2! (Now that's downright cheeky. Not only has he ignored White's attack down the g-file, Black has managed to conjure up a winning counterattack) 33 Ka1 [33 Qxf6 Rxb2+ 34 Ka1 Rxa2+! followed by Bxc3+ etc.] 33 ..Qe5 [33 ..Qe5 I would have played one spite check - 34 Qa8+ Ke7 - and then another - 35 Qb7+ Rd7 - before resigning] 0-1

Dutchman Bernard Bannink restored some national pride by beating IM Almira Skripchenko. Perhaps some of these foreign stars forgot to say "good morning, fairies" when they crossed Fairy Bridge on the coach trip this morning. They can't say I didn't warn them.

Finally, Neville Twitchell, who works in the BCM shop, celebrated his 50th birthday today (he reminded me of this by writing it on his scoresheet). What does every chess player want for his/her birthday? A win, of course. Neville got exactly that when Dave Collier gifted him a piece. But I'll spare Dave's blushes and leave you to look at that one for yourself.

Round  6

Bd  WHITE                      Result  BLACK
  1 GHAEM MAGHAMI,Eh 2552 (4)   ½ - ½  KORCHNOI,Viktor  2568 (4½)
  2 CHANDLER,Murray  2531 (4)   1 - 0  ZHONG,Zhang      2603 (4)
  3 SPEELMAN,Jon     2555 (3½)  0 - 1  NAKAMURA,Hikaru  2601 (4)
  4 MILOV,Vadim      2683 (3½)  ½ - ½  SPRENGER,Jan Mic 2477 (3½)
  5 ROGERS,Ian       2588 (3½)  ½ - ½  SMIRIN,Ilya      2671 (3½)
  6 GALLAGHER,Joseph 2541 (3½)  0 - 1  VOLKOV,Sergey    2625 (3½)
  7 KOTRONIAS,Vassil 2608 (3½)  ½ - ½  SCHNEIDER,Dmitry 2454 (3½)
  8 BAKLAN,Vladimir  2595 (3½)  1 - 0  WILLIAMS,Simon K 2427 (3½)
  9 KULAOTS,Kaido    2593 (3½)  0 - 1  CONQUEST,Stuart  2488 (3½)
 10 PAVLOVIC,Milos   2498 (3½)  1 - 0  GREET,Andrew N   2310 (3½)

 11 GRAFL,Florian    2411 (3)   ½ - ½  WELLS,Peter      2494 (3½)
 12 GOTTSCHLICH,Cars 2382 (3)   0 - 1  MOISEENKO,Alexan 2640 (3)
 13 IORDACHESCU,Vior 2633 (3)   0 - 1  BOSBOOM-LANCHAVA 2370 (3)
 14 AGREST,Evgenij   2602 (3)   1 - 0  PEEK,Marcel      2406 (3)
 15 ROWSON,Jonathan  2558 (3)   1 - 0  AFEK,Yochanan    2325 (3)
 16 ZAWADZKA,Jolanta 2272 (3)   0 - 1  KIRIAKOV,Petr    2555 (3)
 17 RAMESH,Ramachadr 2484 (3)   ½ - ½  COX,John         2314 (3)
 18 HANDKE,Florian   2461 (3)   1 - 0  MANNION,Steve R. 2333 (3)
 19 BANNINK,Bernard  2280 (3)   1 - 0  SKRIPCHENKO,Almi 2453 (3)
 20 MCNAB,Colin      2427 (3)   1 - 0  RENDLE,Thomas    2258 (3)

 21 PERT,Richard     2407 (3)   ½ - ½  GORDON,Stephen   2338 (2½)
 22 HOLZKE,Frank     2492 (2½)  1 - 0  GOODGER,Martyn   2136 (2½)
 23 BERZINSH,Roland  2455 (2½)  ½ - ½  GRANT,Alan       2193 (2½)
 24 ARAKHAMIA-GRANT, 2446 (2½)  1 - 0  BIGG,Andrew J    2275 (2½)
 25 KOLBUS,Dietmar   2303 (2½)  0 - 1  SARAKAUSKAS,Gedi 2442 (2½)
 26 HUTCHINSON,Paul  2216 (2½)  1 - 0  JONKMAN,Harmen   2425 (2½)
 27 MCPHILLIPS,Karl  2172 (2½)  1 - 0  RUOFAN,Li        2414 (2½)
 28 ARMBRUSTER,Alexa 2351 (2½)  ½ - ½  HAGESAETHER,Arne 2101 (2½)
 29 HOWELL,David W   2334 (2½)  1 - 0  SPANTON,Tim      2004 (2½)
 30 HOUSKA,Jovanka   2375 (2)   1 - 0  WERNER,Gert      2085 (2)

 31 NOORDHOEK,Henk   2095 (2)   0 - 1  RAMASWAMY,Aarthi 2299 (2)
 32 LUTTON,J Ezra    2134 (2)   0 - 1  ASHTON,Adam      2270 (2)
 33 PLANT,Paul R     2107 (2)   ½ - ½  GROFFEN,Hans     2244 (2)
 34 VAN KEMENADE,Rud 2107 (2)   0 - 1  SPENCE,David     2236 (2)
 35 HORTON,Justin    2091 (2)   ½ - ½  WALTON,Alan J    2208 (2)
 36 MILLIGAN,Helen   2077 (2)   ½ - ½  SMITH,Andrew P   2205 (2)
 37 DUNN,Andrew      2192 (2)   ½ - ½  NICHOLSON,John   1834 (2)
 38 MURTAGH,Dermot   1889 (2)   1 - 0  HUTCHINSON,Norma 2176 (2)
 39 TWITCHELL,Nevill 2003 (2)   1 - 0  COLLIER,David O. 2168 (2)
 40 ALMOND,Richard J 2158 (1½)  ½ - ½  ADAMS,Phil       2124 (2)

 41 ALLEN,Keith      2241 (1½)  1 - 0  TRUMAN,Richard G 2023 (1½)
 42 FOX,Anthony      2123 (1½)  1 - 0  DOSSETT,Christop 1886 (1½)
 43 WAUGH,Jonathan C 1885 (1½)  ½ - ½  PIMMINGSTORFER,C 2116 (1½)
 44 PYM,Thomas W     2059 (1½)  0 - 1  FRASER-MITCHELL, 2082 (1½)
 45 GORKA,Carl       1882 (1½)  0 - 1  CANNON,Richard   2060 (1½)
 46 WEBSTER,Richard  2008 (1)   ½ - ½  FAIRBAIRN,Steve  2057 (1)
 47 BENNION,David A. 2052 (1)   1 - 0  MARKS,Ian        1910 (1)
 48 HENRICHSEN,Jens  2084 (1)   1 - 0  DE LAGONTRIE,Jea 1968 (½)

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