Seven tied for first in Gibraltar Open
The Gibraltar open festival, which traditionally follows Wijk aan Zee, took place on Jan. 22 though Feb. 01 at the famous British overseas territory of Gibraltar in the UK.
There was a logjam for first, with seven players scoring 7.5 points apiece out of a possible 10.
In tiebreak order, Armenian Levon Aronian, the highest rated, proved his seeding by winning – beating No. 2 seed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, 2.5-1.5, in the final tiebreak play off. Lagrave came second, Hikaru Nakamura (USA), third, Richard Rapport (Hungary), fourth, Russian Nikita Vitiugov, fifth, British Michael Adams, sixth, and Vietnamese Le Quang Liem was seventh.
276 players, including 97 GMs paritcipated in
the 16th edition of the tournament, voted by the Association of Chess Professionals (ACP) as the world’s best open for four consecutive years.
* * * This is a stimulating classical game, replete with tactical turns and captivating points throughout. 2018 Gibraltar Open Festival W) L. Aronian (Armenia) B) S.P Sethuraman (India) Catalan System 1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nf6
In the game Aronian-Ivanchuk, FIDE World Cup 2017, play went 3...dxc4 4. Qa4ch c6 5. Qxc4 b5 6. Qc2 Bb7 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. Nc3 Rc8 9. 0-0 a6 10. d4 c5 11. d5 exd5 12. Nh4 Ndf6 13. Rd1 g6 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. e4 Bg7 16. exd5
and White obtained a huge advantage. 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. Qa4ch Bd7 6. Qxc4 c5 7. Ne5 Qc8 8. Qd3 Nc6 9. Nxd7 Nxd7 10. Nc3 ...
After 10. Qb3 Be7 11. Nc3 0-0 12. 0-0 Rd8 13. d3 Nb6 14. Be3 Nd4, the game is about even. AronianLiren, 2017 FIDE World Cup. 10 .... Be7 11. Qb5 ...
White’s Queen maneuvers in the opening looks unattractive, but proved effective in the ensuing middle game. 11 .... a6 12. Qa4 Nd4
After 12...b5 13. Qe4 Ndb8 14. 0-0, White stands slightly better. 13. O-O O-O 14. d3 Nb6 15. Qd1 Rd8 16. Bd2 Qd7 17. Rc1 Rac8
Both players have completed their development, with neither side enjoying a clear advantage. 18. b3 h6 19. Kh1 Nd5 20. Nxd5 exd5 21. e3 Nc6 22. Qh5 Qd6 Here White’s plan is to obtain pressure on the Black King by
advancing his Kingside pawns, while Black would attempt to force exchanges and reduce the sting of White’s attack. 23. f4 a5 24. a4 Rb8 25. e4 dxe4 26. Bxe4 b6 27. g4 Nd4 28. Bc3 f5
28...Nxb3? allows the tactical drawback of 29. Be5! and White wins material. 29. gxf5 Bf6 30. Rg1 Re8?
The decisive error. After 30... Kf8 (30...Kh8 31. Rg4) 31. Rg6 Qe7 32. Rcg1, White maintains pressure on the K-side, though Black probably has defensive resources. 31. Qxh6 Rbd8 32. Rce1 Re7 33. Re3 1:0
Black is hopelessly lost. For instance 33...Red7 (or 33...Kf7 34. Qh5ch Kg7 35. Rh3 is winning) 34. Rh3 Kf8 35. Qg6 Ke7 36. Re1 and White wins material.
* * * White to move and win.
white=Kh1, Qd8, Rc7, Ne4, Pb2, Pg4, Ph2
black=Kf7, Qe6, Ba2, Be7, Pa7, Pb7, Pg6, Ph6 1. Nd6ch Kf6 2. g5ch! 1:0
If 2...hxg5 3. Qh8 mate, or 2.. Ke5 3. Rxe7 and 2...Kxg5 3. Qxe7ch. * * *