www.britbase.info
© 1997-2024
John Saunders

 

BritBase.Info - British Chess Game Archive

14th Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International
22 Sept - 2 Oct 2005
 

Last updated: Monday, August 21, 2017 6:35 PM
 
Return to Tournament Home PageRd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4Rd 5Rd 6Rd 7Rd 8 • Rd 9 • Crosstable

Round 2 - 25 September 2005

David Howell vs Sergei Tiviakov
David Howell vs Sergei Tiviakov

David Howell is easily the most talented English player of his generation and Round Two gave him a great opportunity to cross swords with a super-grandmaster. A few years ago he might have had chances to do this at other British tournaments, but now the Monarch Assurance is one of only two places in Britain where keen chess spotters can get to see that rara avis, the Great Talented Super-Grandmaster (the other, by the way, is the 4NCL (British Team League), where a few migratory members of the species fly through occasionally). Sergei Tiviakov is a hugely talented player who seemed destined for great things in the early 1990s. His loss to Michael Adams in the 1994 Candidates' quarter-finals may have marked a watershed in his career, and his upward trajectory stalled at that point. In 2000 he relocated to the Netherlands and concentrated on his professional career. His rating dipped below 2600 for a while, but in 2005 he has made a significant come-back, climbing from 2593 on the April 2004 rating list to 2678 on the July 2005 list.

So David Howell found himself meeting a super-grandmaster enjoying a big upswing in form. Howell opened with a c3 Sicilian and didn't seem to get very much out of the opening. Tiviakov calmly generated a positional plus and Howell felt obliged to try a pawn sacrifice to open up his opponent's king. However, he couldn't get close enough to it to cause damage and Tiviakov refuted all the tactics.

Andrew GreetAndrew Greet (pictured left) is another player who has made a significant advance in strength recently. He will be 26 a few days after this tournament ends, so he is not a youngster in chess terms. He seems to be a late developer. Until the middle of last year he was rated in the low 2300s, but he has since done a lot of work on his game, resulting in three quick IM norms, including one at the 2004 British Championship, and a jump to 2425 on the rating list. In 2004/5 he also scored a phenomenal 11/11 in Division Two of the 4NCL.

Like Howell and other young British players, Andrew Greet has been starved of strong opposition in Britain and the Monarch Assurance has provided him with the chance to show what he can do. Also like David Howell, he found himself up against an in-form grandmaster, former US champion Alexander Shabalov. In Round Two, Shabalov played a very impressive game which is well worth a closer look.

Greet,A (2425) - Shabalov,A (2593) [E15]
Monarch Assurance Port Erin IOM (2.6), 25.09.2005

1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 c4 b6 4 g3 Ba6 5 Qa4 c5 6 Bg2 Bb7 7 0-0 cxd4 8 Nxd4 Bxg2 9 Kxg2 Qc8 10 Rd1 Be7 11 Nc3 0-0 12 Bf4 a6 13 Nc2 Qb7+ 14 f3 Rc8 15 Rd2 [Perhaps White hoped to improve on 15 Bd6 b5! 16 cxb5 Bxd6 17 Rxd6 axb5 18 Qb3 Na6 and Black had the edge in Schmidt-Donaldson, Seattle 1980. In that game, the undefended knight on c2 had been a problem and, after 15 Rd2, White thinks to be able to capture on b5, should the black pawn advance that far.] 15...b5! [Shabalov plays it anyway.]

 








Alexander Shabalov16 cxb5 d5 17 Nd4 [One of White's problems is the restricted escape options for his queen should he capture on a6. If 17 bxa6 Rxa6 18 Qd4 Nc6 (Not 18...Qxb2?? 19 Nxd5! and White has a big advantage) 19 Qd3 e5 and Black has a lot of compensation for the pawn.] 17...Nbd7 18 Nc6 [Once again 18 bxa6 is not good: 18...Rxa6 19 Qb3 Rb6 and the threats of e5 and Rxb2 are hard to meet.] 18...Bf8 [Having invaded Black's position, White now finds himself with little option other than to retreat.] 19 Ne5 Nxe5 20 Bxe5 Nd7! 21 Bd4 [21 bxa6? is still out of the question: 21...Rxa6 22 Qf4 Rc4 23 e4 f6 wins.] 21...e5 22 Bf2 d4 23 bxa6 [Finally White gives in to the temptation to capture on a6 but he should probably have played 23 Ne4. That said, 23...Nb6 24 Qb3 Nc4 looks very good for Black.] 23...Rxa6 24 Qd1 Nc5 [Also possible was 24...dxc3 25 Rxd7 Qxb2 26 Rb1 Qxa2 with a likely win.] 25 Ne4 [25 Nb1 meets with the shocking reply 25...Nb3!] 25...Nxe4 26 fxe4 Qxe4+ 27 Kg1 g6

Pictured left: former US Champion Alexander Shabalov

 

 








28 Rd3 [White would like to contest the c-file with 28 Rc1 but then 28...Rxc1 29 Qxc1 Rxa2 leaves White a pawn down and with a bad position.] 28...Rac6 29 Qb3 Qxe2 30 Rf1 Rf6 0-1

Richard Palliser

The two English grandmasters, Danny Gormally and Peter Wells, progressed smoothly to 2/2, and the other English player on that score is Richard Palliser (pictured left) who scored a superbly aggressive win against Ukrainian GM Vadim Malakhatko. At 24, Richard is a bit younger than Andrew Greet though he has been an established IM rather longer. After graduating from Oxford University and playing on the chess circuit for a while, he has now accepted the inevitable - that it is time to concentrate on the world of work. However, he is staying with chess, in a new role with the Everyman Chess publishing company. Perhaps this has led to him playing with a new freedom, and his game of today had a relaxed and confident air about it. The game followed an old Kasparov-Gelfand game for a while and then Palliser broke through for a classic kingside attack. A real crowd-pleaser of a game. I realise I am beginning to look rather partisan here as regards British players, but I have no hesitation in awarding Richard Palliser my personal 'star player of the day' award. Unfortunately I don't yet have a photo of Richard to place beside his triumph but I'll try to put that right later. Enjoy the game.

Palliser,R (2389) - Malakhatko,V (2556) [D45]
Monarch Assurance Port Erin IOM (2.10), 25.09.2005

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 e6 5 e3 a6 6 b3 Bb4 7 Bd2 Nbd7 8 Bd3 0-0 9 0-0 Bd6 10 e4 dxc4 11 bxc4 e5 12 c5 Bc7 13 Na4 exd4 14 h3 [White gives up a pawn to gain a lot more space and attacking chances. The last move is designed to stop the f6 knight coming to e5 via g4.] 14...Re8 15 Re1 h6 16 Rb1 Nf8 [16...Nh7 was played in Kasparov-Gelfand, Linares 1991. White also won on that occasion.] 17 Qc1 Rb8 18 Rb4 Ne6 19 Rc4 [White concentrates on making it hard for Black to develop his pieces usefully.] 19...Ba5 20 Bxa5 Qxa5 21 Nxd4 Nxd4 [This looks dubious. Perhaps Black should try 21...Rd8 22 Nb3 Qc7 when White's pieces are at least not pointed so obviously at his king.] 22 Rxd4 Qc7 23 Rd6! [White's use of this rook as a blocking piece is very effective.] 23...Be6 24 Nb6 Red8 25 e5 Ne8 26 Qf4 Qe7 [Not 26...Nxd6?? 27 exd6 (The queen is trapped) 27...Rxd6 28 Qxd6 and Black has lost a piece for nothing.] 27 Re3!

 








[Now it is a genuine exchange sacrifice, with a view to a vicious kingside attack.] 27...Nxd6 28 cxd6! [Fritz seems to prefer 28 exd6 but it looks utterly wrong on this occasion - particularly if you look ahead to White's 33rd move.] 28...Qg5 29 Qe4 g6 30 Rg3 Bf5 [30...Qc1+ 31 Kh2 Bxa2 32 Rxg6+! fxg6 33 Qxg6+ Kf8 34 e6 wins for White.] 31 Qf3 Qc1+ 32 Kh2 Bxd3 33 e6!!

 








[Beautiful.] 33...Qc5 [White's last move wins outright. If 33...fxe6 34 Qxd3 and Black has no hope of defending his king from the queen and rook.; 33...Rxd6 34 Qxf7+ Kh8 35 e7 and the twin threats of e8Q and Qf8+ are unstoppable.] 34 Qxf7+ Kh8 35 Qf6+ Kh7 36 Rxd3 Qxb6 37 Qf7+ Kh8 38 Qxg6 Qxf2 39 Qxh6+ Kg8 40 e7 Rd7 1-0


RESULTS

All games are now available - note that the scores of Neubauer-Kobalia and Wademark-Martin are currently incomplete because of illegibility and scoring mistakes.

Round  2

Bd  WHITE                      Result  BLACK                          PIN
  1 HOWELL,David W   2471 (1)   0 - 1  TIVIAKOV,Sergei  2678 (1)    29   1
  2 NEUBAUER,Martin  2468 (1)   0 - 1  KOBALIA,Mikhail  2614 (1)    30   3
  3 AAGAARD,Jacob    2442 (1)   0 - 1  EPISHIN,Vladimir 2600 (1)    33   5
  4 GALKIN,Alexander 2598 (1)   ½ - ½  KUNIN,Vitaly     2448 (1)     6  32
  5 KORNEEV,Oleg     2594 (1)   1 - 0  ZATONSKIH,Anna   2435 (1)     8  36
  6 GREET,Andrew N   2425 (1)   0 - 1  SHABALOV,Alexand 2593 (1)    37   9
  7 ZUDE,Erik        2424 (1)   0 - 1  IKONNIKOV,Vyache 2560 (1)    38  14
  8 KOLBUS,Dietmar   2416 (1)   ½ - ½  POSTNY,Evgeny    2559 (1)    39  16
  9 GORMALLY,Daniel  2557 (1)   1 - 0  DWORAKOWSKA,Joan 2401 (1)    17  40
 10 PALLISER,Richard 2389 (1)   1 - 0  MALAKHATKO,Vadim 2556 (1)    43  18

 11 BRODSKY,Michail  2554 (1)   1 - 0  ROEDER,Mathias   2393 (1)    19  42
 12 KLENBURG,Mikhail 2400 (1)   ½ - ½  KRITZ,Leonid     2544 (1)    41  20
 13 HANLEY,Craig     2367 (1)   0 - 1  KUZUBOV,Yuri     2535 (1)    50  22
 14 ULIBIN,Mikhail   2529 (1)   1 - 0  SAREEN,Vishal    2385 (1)    23  44
 15 HUGHES,Howard R  2194 (1)   0 - 1  WELLS,Peter      2529 (1)    67  24
 16 BOBRAS,Piotr     2525 (1)   ½ - ½  GOLETIANI,Rusuda 2332 (1)    25  53
 17 GLADYSZEV,Oleg   2436 (½)   0 - 1  KIDAMBI,Sundarar 2484 (1)    35  28
 18 ARESHCHENKO,Alex 2625 (½)   ½ - ½  ZIMMERMAN,Yuri   2375 (½)     2  48
 19 GHAEM MAGHAMI,Eh 2603 (½)   1 - 0  ZOZULIA,Anna     2314 (½)     4  55
 20 ASHTON,Adam      2294 (½)   ½ - ½  KOGAN,Artur      2580 (½)    56  10

 21 DAVID,Alberto    2579 (½)   1 - 0  PERIC,Slavisa    2280 (½)    11  57
 22 MANNION,Steve R. 2331 (½)   0 - 1  MIKHALEVSKI,Vict 2572 (½)    54  12
 23 FRIDMAN,Daniel   2566 (½)   ½ - ½  DUHAYON,Yves     2230 (½)    13  59
 24 YAKOVICH,Yuri    2560 (½)   1 - 0  DUNN,Andrew      2197 (½)    15  66
 25 SULSKIS,Sarunas  2535 (½)   1 - 0  ADAMS,Phil       2138 (½)    21  73
 26 MIRZOEVA,Elmira  2223 (½)   ½ - ½  ADLY,Ahmed       2503 (½)    60  26
 27 LALIC,Bogdan     2491 (½)   1 - 0  FRASER-MITCHELL, 2098 (½)    27  78
 28 NEELOTPAL,Das    2467 (½)   ½ - ½  FAIRBAIRN,Steve  2065 (½)    31  82
 29 LOHOU,Stephane   2144 (½)   ½ - ½  KONONENKO,Tatian 2442 (½)    72  34
 30 BENNION,David A. 2074 (½)   0 - 1  GUPTA,Abhijeet   2380 (½)    81  46

 31 FOX,Anthony      2118 (0)   0 - 1  ERENBURG,Sergey  2595 (0)    74   7
 32 COX,John         2385 (0)   1 - 0  RUSTON,Mark      2116 (0)    45  75
 33 NEGI,Parimarjan  2376 (0)   1 - 0  HICKMAN,John     2115 (0)    47  76
 34 PEEK,Marcel      2373 (0)   1 - 0  HEYL,Thomas      2101 (0)    49  77
 35 HUTCHINSON,Norma 2097 (0)   0 - 1  BOSBOOM-LANCHAVA 2363 (0)    79  51
 36 RADOVANOVIC,Jovi 2357 (0)   1 - 0  HENRICHSEN,Jens  2075 (0)    52  80
 37 VITOUX,Colomban  2264 (0)   ½ - ½  WERNER,Gert      2047 (0)    58  83
 38 SPENCE,David     2218 (0)   1 - 0  SPANTON,Tim      2032 (0)    61  84
 39 HENDERIKSE,Bert  2028 (0)   0 - 1  ALLEN,Keith      2210 (0)    85  62
 40 GROFFEN,Hans     2210 (0)   1 - 0  NICHOLSON,John   2000 (0)    63  86

 41 DE LAGONTRIE,Jea 1988 (0)   0 - 1  SMITH,Andrew P   2204 (0)    87  64
 42 KIRSCHBAUM,Gunna 2204 (0)   ½ - ½  YOUNG,Mel        1971 (0)    65  88
 43 WADEMARK,Helge   2182 (0)   0 - 1  MARTIN,Katie     1953 (0)    68  89
 44 MARKS,Ian A      1889 (0)   0 - 1  WALTHER,Cliff    2175 (0)    90  69
 45 GOODGER,Martyn   2162 (0)   ½ - ½  FOX,Pierre       1815 (0)    70  91
 46 MCKENZIE,Mark    1249 (0)   0 - 1  GRANT,Alan       2152 (0)    92  71

Home Page