The first round of any strong open tournament invariably captures my attention and the Hastings tournament was no exception. Replaying the upsets, which includes any drawn game by a much lower rated player, is enjoyable. The first game I wish to bring to your attention is a player who has been on my pages recently. GM Daniel Gormally was held to a draw by Kim Yew Chan, rated 2299. Not much to say when the Queens come off on the tenth move, other than that the ‘Gorm’ could have played something like 1…f5!
Daniel Gormally (2477) vs Kim Yew Chan (2299)
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 d6 5. d4 c5 6. g3 Ne4 7. Nbd2 Qa5 8. Qc1
Nxd2 9. Qxd2 Qxd2+ 10. Kxd2 Nc6 11. e3 Bg4 12. Bg2 O-O 13. Kc1 e5 14. dxc5 dxc5
15. h3 Bf5 16. Ne1 Rfd8 17. Bxc6 bxc6 18. g4 Be6 19. Nf3 f6 20. Kc2 h5 21. Rag1
Kf7 22. e4 1/2-1/2
The next game features GM Jens Kristiansen, who won the 22nd World Senior in 2012, also earning the GM title. Born in 1952, Jens should be eligible for the ‘older’ Senior division which is 65+. His opponent, Jonah B Willow, born in 2002, was rated 2252.
Bobby Fischer said every game has a ‘critical’ moment. Since everyone has an ‘engine’ I want to provide the moves then interject a diagram at what hit me as a ‘critical’ moment. In the best world, you the reader, would have a Chess board with the position set up so as to cogitate a little.
Jonah B Willow (2252) vs GM Jens Kristiansen (2415)
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 b6 4. Bd3 Bb7 5. O-O Be7 6. c4 c5 7. Nc3 cxd4 8. exd4
d6 9. d5 e5 10. Nh4 g6 11. f4 Nfd7 12. Nf3 f5 13. Bc2 O-O
After attempting tournament Chess I decided to review my games in order to ascertain why I was losing so many games. It was apparent I was making mistakes around move 13. I do not have Triskaidekaphobia, but the number 13 stuck with me. Having a somewhat rational mind I concluded my problem was with the transition from the opening to the middle game. The GM’s next move reminded me of some of the ‘salvo’s’ fired around my 13th move.
14. g4 fxg4 15. Ng5 Nc5 16. Qxg4 Bxg5 17. fxg5 Rxf1+ 18. Kxf1 Qf8+ 19. Kg2 Bc8 20. Qe2 Bf5 21. Be3 Qc8 22. Bxf5 gxf5 23. Rf1 Nba6 24. a3 f4 25. Bg1 Qf5 26. b4 e4 27. Kh1 f3 28. Qd2 Nd3 29. Be3 Qh3 30. Kg1
Qg4+ 31. Kh1 Qh3 32. Kg1
Qg4+ 33. Kh1 Qh3 1/2-1/2
OH NO, MR. BILL! Did you see the move? After outplaying his GM opponent Mr. Willow must have wept when seeing the beautifully centralizing move 30…Ne5! Then he missed it again on move 32!
The last game we will focus on was THE UPSET of the round.
Adam C Taylor (2242) vs GM Deep Sengupta (2586)
1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Bg4 4. Ne5 Bf5 5. c4 c6 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. O-O e6 8. d3
Bd6 9. Qa4+ Nbd7 10. Bf4 Qe7 11. e4 dxe4 12. dxe4 Bg4 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Qxd7+
Kxd7 15. Bxd6 Kxd6 16. h3 Bh5 17. f4 Ke7 18. g4 Nxg4 19. hxg4 Bxg4 20. Bf3 Bxf3
21. Rxf3 Rhd8 22. Nc3 Rd2 23. Rf2 Rad8
24. Raf1 a6
25. Rxd2 Rxd2 26. Rf2 Rd3 27. Kf1 h5 28. Ke2 Rg3 29. e5 f5 30. exf6+ gxf6 31. Rh2 Rg8 32. Ne4 Rh8 33. Kf3 h4 34. Rc2 f5 35. Ng5 Kd7 36. Rd2+ Ke7 37. Re2 Rh6 38. Kg2 Kd7 39. Kh3 Ke7 40.Re3 Kd7 41. a4 b6 42. Nf3 Kd6 43. Nxh4 Kc5 44. Kg3 Kb4 45. b3 a5 46. Nf3 Rg6+ 47. Ng5 Rg8 48. Kf3 Rd8 49. Nxe6 Rd7 50. Ke2 Ka3 51. Kf3 Kb2 52. Kg3 Kc2 53. Kh4 Rd6 54. Kg5 Kd2 55. Re5 Kc3 56. Kxf5 Kxb3 57. Re4 1-0
The move that would have brought the house down vividly illustrates why I was known as the coach who had the mantra of “Examine All Checks!” A teacher should be able to impart the three golden questions:
“Why did my opponent make that move?”
“What move do I want, or need, to make?
“Am I leaving anything en prise?”
Then the student is ready for what follows: “Examine All Checks!” If your King is in position to be checked after making your move a player better know how the King will get out of check before moving.
Armchair Warrior 