The Sinquefield Cup, annually the strongest invitational tournament in the U.S., got off to a less than stellar start at the Chess Club of St. Louis, with just two decisive games — two — through Sunday’s Round 5 and Polish GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda pulling out of the 10-grandmaster field after Round 1, citing ill health.
Things picked up with three decisive games in Round 6 (including one by tournament leader GM Wesley So over fellow American GM Levon Aronian), but we had deadlines to meet and so went looking farther afield for some actual drama at the chessboard to round out this week’s column.
It was a tense and scrambled finish at the recent 24th European Team Championship in Budva, Montenegro, with upstart Serbia just edging out Germany for the gold medal on the strength of a last-round 3-1 win over Greece. Armenia took bronze while top-seeded Azerbaijan finished a distant 18th in the 38-team field.
Things weren’t looking so great for 10th-seeded Serbia as it needed a clear final-round win to have a shot at the gold medal, and top board GM Alexandr Predke had already been upset on Board 1. But Serbia’s three lower boards all scored wins, including a ulcer-inducing, seesaw victory by GM Aleksandar Indjic on Board 2 over Greek GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis.
The Greek GM as White has clearly the better of the play coming out of this Najdorf Sicilian, with his two bishops only gaining force with Indjic’s questionable decision to offer a queen trade on Move 20. Black’s 23 Bd2 Ra7 24. Rcd1 Rea8, doubling rooks on a closed file, is a bit of a tell that he can only mark time as White dictates the play.
Another ill-conceived trade — 29. Be2 hxg3?! 30. hxg3 — opens a nice attacking lane to the Black king, tempting White to risk a promising exchange sacrifice to give his bishops room to roam: 35. Rg2 f4? (playing with fire, but more discreet ideas such as 35…Kg8 run into lines like 36. f4 exf4 37. Bxh5 f3 38. Bxf3 Bxc3 39. Kxc3 Re3+ 40. Kb4 Rxf3 41. Kb5, with a big edge) 36. Rh1! fxg3 37. Rxg3 Kg8 38. Rxg6!? (the quieter 39. Rgg1 Nf4 39. Bf1 also leaves White better, without the material risk) Nf4 39. Rhg1 Nxg6 Kf7 (Nb7 41. f4 Kh7 42. Rg2 Na5 43. Bf3! and the bishops dominate) 41. Rxd6 Bf8 42. Nxe5+, sacrificing a second exchange.
White has the bishop pair, three extra pawns and all the winning chances, but Indjic makes the most of his one pesky asset — the advanced pawn on a3 — to fight back: 47. Bc2 Rf2 48. f4 (White has battened down the hatches and can now look to advance his pawns, but starts to lose the thread in a tricky ending) Rf3+ 49. Kb4?! (not disastrous, but the first step in a misguided journey) Rf2 50. Bf5? (Kc3 Rf3+ 51. Kd2 preserved the winning chances, though it’s already not easy) Rxa2 51. Be5 (Bxc5 bxc5+ 52. Ka4 Rf2 53. Kxa3 Ke7 is equal) Na6+ 52. Kb5 Re2!, when 53. Kxb6?? Rxe5! wins for Black.
Both players falter as the complications multiply: 57. Ba1 Nxb3 58. d6 (see diagram) Nxa1?? (this should lose; Black had a remarkable defensive idea with 58…Re1! 59. d7 Rd1 60. Be5 a2! 61. Bc2 Rxd7 62. Bxb3 Rd3! 63. Bxa2 Ra3 64. Bb1 Rb3+, winning back the piece) 59. d7 Nb3 60. d8=Q a2, and now, tragically for White, he misses 61. Qd5+! and the mating tricks secure the win after 61…Kf6 (Ke7 62. Qb7+ Ke8 63. Bg6+ Kd8 6. Qc7 mate) 62. Qa8! a1=Q (Kxf5 63. Qxa2 Kxf4 64. c5 and Black should win) 63. Qf8 mate.
Instead, White throws away the win with the panicky 61. Bg6+? Kxg6 62. Qg8+ Kf6 63. Qf8+ Kg6 64. Qg8+ Kf6, and then throws away the draw by eschewing perpetual check with 65. Qh8+?? Kf5! 66. Qh5+ Ke4 — White’s queen checks will soon dry up, leaving him with a lost game. Black can’t be stopped from finally queening the charmed a-pawn, and White resigns the final position as mate is in the offing on 79. Ka7 (Kc7 Na6+ 80. Kb7 Rb3+ 81. Kxa6 Qb6 mate) Ra3+ 80. Kb8 Qd6+ 81. c7 Qb6+ 82. Kc8 Ra8 mate.
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Congratulations to 17-year-old California WGM Rochelle Wu, who took the silver medal behind WFM Ayan Allahverdiyeva of Azerbaijan at the recent FIDE World Under-18 Girls Championship Tournament in Italy. Wu finished a half-point back with an undefeated 8-3 score.
Wu scored a nice positional win over Romanian expert Mihaela-Ioana Trifoi in Round 7 to put herself in a strong position to medal, using a perfectly time central break from the Black side of a Rossolimo Sicilian. White’s time-consuming efforts to reposition her bishop from b5 to d3 to c2 hand Black the opportunity to seize the initiative.
Wu doesn’t turn down the invitation: 18. Rac1 e5! 19. N4f3 d5!, and Black has achieved the classic Sicilian central break that unleashes the energy of her coiled-up pieces.
Already by 21. Qc4 Qxc4 22. Nxc4 f6 23. Rcd1 (a5 b5 24. Ne3 Nxe3 25. Rxe3 Rd7 26. Rce1 Rad8, dominating the middle of the board) Rac8 24. Ne3 (worth a look to change the dynamic of the play was 24. Rxd5!? Bxd5 25. Nxb6 Rc6 26. Nxd5 Rxd5 27. Kf1, but Black remains ahead on material and is still calling the shots) Nxe3 (and not 24…Nxc3? 25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. Bxc3, losing a piece) 25. fxe3 Bc6 26. b5 (a5 Rxd1 27. Rxd1 bxa5 28. bxa5 Rb8 29. Bc1 Rb5, winning a pawn with a vastly better position) axb5 27. axb5 Bxb5, and Wu has won a pawn.
Trifoi’s decision to pack in it after 24. Rd2 Rxd2 29. Nxd2 Rd8 30. Nf3 Bc5 31. Kf2 Rd3 may be a little premature at this level, but there’s no doubt Black’s forces are in total control of the battlefield. White’s position is bleak and approaching zugzwang as none of her pieces can move without material loss.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Kourkoulos-Arditis-Indjic, 24th European Team Championship, Budva, Montenegro, November 2023
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. f3 Be6 9. Qd2 h5 10. Nd5 Bxd5 11. exd5 Nbd7 12. O-O-O Qc7 13. c4 a5 14. Kb1 a4 15. Na1 O-O 16. Rc1 Rfe8 17. Nc2 a3 18. b3 Bf8 19. Be2 g6 20. Qb4 Qa5 21. Qxa5 Rxa5 22. g3 Kh7 23. Bd2 Ra7 24. Rcd1 Rea8 25. Rhe1 Bh6 26. Bb4 Nc5 27. Bf1 b6 28. Bc3 h4 29. Be2 hxg3 30. hxg3 Nh5 31. Rg1 Bg7 32. Nb4 Re7 33. Kc2 Ree8 34. Nc6 f5 35. Rg2 f4 36. Rh1 fxg3 37. Rxg3 Kg8 38. Rxg6 Nf4 39. Rhg1 Nxg6 40. Rxg6 Kf7 41. Rxd6 Bf8 42. Nxe5+ Rxe5 43. Bxe5 Bxd6 44. Bxd6 Re8 45. Bd1 Rg8 46. Kc3 Rg2 47. Bc2 Rf2 48. f4 Rf3+ 49. Kb4 Rf2 50. Bf5 Rxa2 51. Be5 Na6+ 52. Kb5 Re2 53. Bc3 Nc5 54. Kxb6 Re3 55. Bh8 Re8 56. Bc3 Re3 57. Ba1 Nxb3 58. d6 Nxa1 59. d7 Nb3 60. d8=Q a2 61. Bg6+ Kxg6 62. Qg8+ Kf6 63. Qf8+ Kg6 64. Qg8+ Kf6 65. Qh8+ Kf5 66. Qh5+ Ke4 67. Qd5+ Kxf4 68. Qf7+ Kg3 69. Qg7+ Kf2 70. Qb2+ Re2 71. Qf6+ Ke3 72. c5 a1=Q 73. Qg5+ Kd3 74. Qf5+ Re4 75. Qf3+ Re3 76. Qf5+ Kc4 77. c6 Qd4+ 78. Kb7 Nc5+ White resigns.
Trifoi-Wu, World Youth Girls Under-18 Championship, Montesilvano, Italy, November 2023
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. O-O a6 5. Bd3 Ngf6 6. Re1 e6 7. a4 b6 8. c3 Bb7 9. Bc2 c4 10. Qe2 Qc7 11. d4 cxd3 12. Bxd3 Nc5 13. Nbd2 Nxd3 14. Qxd3 Be7 15. b4 O-O 16. Bb2 Rfd8 17. Nd4 Bf8 18. Rac1 e5 19. N4f3 d5 20. exd5 Nxd5 21. Qc4 Qxc4 22. Nxc4 f6 23. Rcd1 Rac8 24. Ne3 Nxe3 25. fxe3 Bc6 26. b5 axb5 27. axb5 Bxb5 28. Rd2 Rxd2 29. Nxd2 Rd8 30. Nf3 Bc5 31. Kf2 Rd3 White resigns.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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