Round 8: Malakhatko or Iotov?

By GM Mikhail Golubev

There were many decisive games on the top boards in the penultimate 8th round of the Arcapita International Championship. GMs Vadim Malakhatko and Valentin Iotov both won with Black, and the fate of the first place will be decided in their encounter of the final round. Indeed, Malakhatko chances are higher: he has half a point more than Iotov, and he also will play against Valentin with a white pieces. But everything is possible, you never know. At this tournament, any draw agreements before the 30th move are forbidden. (A repetition of moves is the only exception). So, perhaps there will be an interesting fight for the gold! I drew with Malakhatko spouse, IM Anna Zozulia, who, as well as Vadim, is originally from Ukraine and now plays for Belgium. I think that I played well... but only the first 44 moves. What to say? :-)

The final Round 9 will begin at 17:00 local time, and will be followed by a closing ceremony. Round 9 top pairings: Malakhatko (7) v Iotov (6.5), Ibrahimov (6) v Roy Chowdhury (6), Jojua (6) v El Gindy (6), Bagheri (6) v Moradiabadi (6).

Ali Al Sulaiti (BAH, 2136) - Kulood Essa (UAE, 1829)

Arcapita Int Open Championship Manama (8), 01.02.2009

[Golubev,M]

18.Nxf7!

With a help of this tactical blow, the champion of Bahrain ensured the positive final result, scoring 5 points after 8 (of 9) rounds.

18...Kxf7 19.fxg5

with a decisive White advantage (1-0, 31).

GM Pavel Tregubov (RUS, (2645) - GM Amir Bagheri (IRI, 2486)

Arcapita Int Open Championship Manama (8), 01.02.2009

[Golubev,M]

44...Rg8!

[44...d1Q? loses to 45.Rxd1 h1Q 46.Rxh1 Rxh1 47.b6.]

45.b6?

[A dramatic mistake. According to GM Tregubov, he missed winning chances at some earlier point of this tense game. But here he had to agree with a draw: 45.Rd1 Rh8! (not 45...Kxf4? 46.b6 Rg1 47.b7!!) and 46.Rh1 Rg8 repeats.]

45...Rg1! 46.b7

[After 46.c8Q Rc1+! decides.]

46...d1Q 47.c8Q Qd4+ 48.Kb3 Rxh1 49.Qxe6+ Kd2 0-1

IM Anna Zozulia (BEL, 2376) - GM Mikhail Golubev (UKR, 2487)

Arcapita Int Open Championship Manama (8), 01.02.2009

[Golubev,M]

The position is drawn. Earlier, I missed a win on the 45th move. And, to make things worse, almost spoiled another half a point here.

51...Be6 52.Bxe6+ Kxe6 53.Kd3! Kf5!

[Luckily, there still was a way for Black to to escape. Instead, 53...Kd5? loses to 54.g6 e4+ 55.Ke3 Ke6 56.Kxe4 Kf6 57.h5.]

54.Kc4 e4 55.Kxb4 e3 56.Kc3 Kf4 57.g6 Kf3! 58.g7 e2 59.g8Q e1Q+ 60.Kb2 Qxh4 0.5-0.5

Round 7: Draws on the top boards

By GM Mikhail Golubev

In the Round 7, two most important games, Malakhatko (5.5) v Moradiabadi (5) and Iotov (5) v Amin (5) ended peacefully. Three players in the 4.5 points group managed to win their games: Roy Chowdhury, Ibrahimov, and Adly. In the game Kveinys v Tregubov White had a somewhat worse position after the opening, but in the end it was Kveinys who spoiled the winning chances by allowing a threefold repetition. Round 8 top pairings: Amin (5.5) v Malakhatko (6), Adly (5.5) v Iotov (5.5), Moradiabadi (5.5) v Ibrahimov (5.5).

IM Roy Chowdhury S (IND, 2444) - GM Anton Filippov (UZB, 2556) [C55]

Arcapita Int Open Championship Manama (7), 31.01.2009

[Golubev,M]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.Bb3 d6 7.c3 h6 8.Nbd2 Nh7 9.Nc4 Ng5 10.Nxg5 Bxg5 11.f4 exf4 12.Bxf4 Bxf4 13.Rxf4 Qg5 14.Qf3 Be6 15.d4 Ne7 16.h4 Qb5 17.d5 Bd7 18.Rf1 Qc5+ 19.Kh1 f6

20.e5!

This breaktrough is related with the exchange sacrifice, but White manages to advance his pawn to e6.

20...Ng6

[After 20...dxe5 21.Nxe5 White wins a piece.]

21.e6! Nxf4 22.Qxf4 Be8

[After 22...Bb5 23.Qf5 the main line is 23...Bxc4 24.Bc2 Rf7 25.Qh7+ Kf8 26.Rxf6!! and White wins. More stubborn is 23...Rfe8, but then 24.Rf4! is strong.]

23.Ne3 Bg6 24.Nf5

White attack seems to be unstoppable.

24...Rae8 25.Rf3 Bxf5 26.Qxf5 Re7 27.Bc2 g6

[Or 27...g5 28.hxg5 hxg5 29.Rh3! Qb5 30.Rh7 Qe8 31.Qh3, winning.]

28.Qxg6+ Rg7 29.Qxh6 f5 30.e7! Re8 31.Qe6+ Kh8 32.Rxf5 1-0

GM Rasul Ibrahimov (AZE) (2568) - IM Mohamed Ezat (EGY) (2421)

Arcapita Int Open Championship Manama (7), 31.01.2009

[Golubev,M]

Black already played in the mode 30 seconds per move, while White still had several minutes in reserve.

75.f6

[Ibrahimov hoped that his move wins. Instead, 75.g5 hxg5+ 76.Ke5! is hard to calculate.]

75...Rd5!

Otherwise Kf5 decides.

76.Rxc3 Kf7

Here White hardly has any other winning chances than to give away the f6 pawn.

77.Rc7+

77...Kg8?

[Having virtually no time left on his clock, IM Ezat missed the key defensive idea: 77...Kxf6 78.Rh7 Rd4+! and after 79.Kg3 Black plays 79...Rd6! where 80.Rxh6+ Kg5! 81.Rxd6 is stalemate and a draw. And if instead 79.Kf3, then 79...Kg5 80.Rg7+ Kh4! is possible.]

78.Rg7+ Kh8 79.Rg6 Kh7 80.f7 Rd7

[The best way to set the last trap was 80...Rd8, hoping for 81.Rg8?? (almost anything else wins easily) 81...Rd4+! 82.Ke5 Rd5+ with a draw.]

81.f8N+ 1-0

Round 6: Malakhatko leads solely

By GM Mikhail Golubev.

On a free day, January 29th, players were invited to a Gala Dinner in the Bahrain National Museum. It was an outstanding event, which deserves a separate report with photos! And the 6th round was played on January 30th. A tense top board game between GMs Anton Filippov and Vadim Malakhatko was decided in the complicated ending in the mutual time trouble. Filippov missed his chance on the move 36, and Malakhatko eventually won, missing along the way a nice quick tactical win. Malakhatko is a sole leader now, because on the second board GM Valentin Iotov, having Black, drew against GM Pavel Tregubov in a well played by both sides game. Round 7 top pairings: Malakhatko (5,5) v Moradiabadi (5), Iotov (5) v Amin (5).

IM Mohamed Ezat (EGY, 2421) - GM Aloyzas Kveinys (LTU, 2522)

Arcapita Int Open Championship Manama (6), 30.01.2009

[Golubev,M]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 a5 5.Nc3 b6 6.e3 Bb7 7.Bd3 0-0

[A more usual plan is 7...d6, followed by ...Nbd7, e5.]

8.0-0 d5 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Ne5 Bd6

[Safer is 10...Nbd7 as in Piket-Anand, Monaco 1999.]

11.f4 c5 12.Rf3!?

[In Del Rio-Vehi Bach, Spanish Team Championship 2000 White attacked by 12.Be1 Nc6 13.Bh4 Be7 14.Rf3.]

12...Nc6?

13.Nxd5!!

GM Kveinys underestimated this blow.

13...Nxe5

[13...Nxd5? loses quickly: 14.Bxh7+ Kxh7 15.Rh3+ Kg8 16.Qh5. After 13...Bxe5 the strongest is 14.fxe5! Nxd5 15.Bxh7+ and 15...Kxh7 loses on the spot: 16.Rh3+ Kg8 17.Qh5 f5 18.e6!.]

14.fxe5

[Even better would have been 14.Nxf6+! where 14...gxf6 fails to 15.Bxh7+ Kxh7 16.Rh3+ Kg7 17.fxe5 fxe5 18.Qg4+ Kf6 19.e4!. Or 15.Rh3 with the idea of 15...Nxd3 16.Qg4+ Kh8 17.Qf5!.]

14...Bxd5

[Also after 14...Bxe5 15.Nxf6+! Bxf6 16.Bxh7+ Kxh7 17.Rh3+ Kg8 18.Qh5 Bh4 19.Rxh4 f6 Black is a pawn down in the unpleasant for him position.]

15.Rxf6! Be7! 16.Rf2 Bh4?!

Black should have exchanged pawns on d4.

17.g3 Bg5 18.e4! Bb7 19.d5

Having a strong central pawns, White is technically winning. Only a miracle helped Kveinys to save half a point in this game...

19...Bxd2 20.Qxd2 Qe7 21.Qf4 Rae8 22.Bb5 Rd8 23.b3 Bc8 24.Kg2 h6 25.Rd1 Qg5 26.Qxg5 hxg5 27.Rdf1 Bg4 28.h4 gxh4 29.gxh4 Bh5 30.Kg3 Bg6 31.Kf4 Kh7 32.h5! Bxh5

33.Rh1?!

[Missing 33.Kg5! with an easy victory.]

33...g6 34.Be2 f5 35.Kg5!? fxe4 36.Rxf8 Rxf8 37.Rxh5+

[Also good was 37.Bxh5 Rf5+ 38.Kg4 and if 38...Rxe5 39.Kf4!.]

37...gxh5 38.e6!?

38...h4

[38...Rg8+ is answered by 39.Kxh5! Rd8 40.Kg5 Rxd5+ 41.Kf4!, winning. If 41...Kg7 42.e7 Kf7 43.Bc4.]

39.Bh5?

[A victory was still achievable: 39.e7 Rg8+ 40.Kxh4 Kg7 41.d6 Kf6 42.Bc4 Rh8+ 43.Kg4 and it is over.]

39...h3 40.Bg6+ Kg7 41.Bxe4 Rd8 42.e7 Rh8 43.d6 Kf7 44.Bd5+ Ke8 45.Bc6+ Kf7 46.Bd5+ Ke8 47.Bc6+ Kf7 48.Bd5+ Ke8

0.5-0.5

Round 5: Malakhatko joins leaders

By GM Mikhail Golubev

In the 5th round of the Arcapita International Chess Championship, the game between leaders, GMs Valentin Iotov and Anton Filippov, ended in a draw. Iotov was slightly better after the opening, but afterwards he did not manage to achieve any progress.

The second seed, GM Vadim Malakhatko, used the opportunity to join leaders. He defeated IM Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury. In their game Malakhatko was White, and after 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.e3! Nf6 5.d4 cxd4 6.exd4 d6?! (relatively better though not especially easy for Black is 6...d5) 7.d5 Saptarshi got an already unpleasant position, where Black scores less than 15% in practice. The rest of the game can be called a good technical performance by White! (1-0, 34).

No one has a perfect score anymore. Malakhatko, Filippov and Iotov are leading with 4,5 points. 9 players are on 4 points, (including myself - I won, not quite deservedly, a game versus IM Dinesh Sharma). Top pairings for the 6th round: Filippov vs Malakhatko, Tregubov (4) vs Iotov.

Among the local Bahraini players, a country champion Ali Al Sulaiti (2136), Ali Al-Ghasra (2133) and FM Ayyad Husain Abdulgalil (2111) have the best scores: 3 points each.

January, 29 is a (long-awaited by many) free day at the tournament. A massive cultural programme is scheduled.

FM Moklis Adnani (MAR) (2326) - GM Ahmed Adly (EGY) (2568) [B90]

Arcapita Int Open Championship Manama (5), 28.01.2009

[Golubev,M]

One of the tournament rating favourites, Adly, was on Wednesday on the verge of defeat in the amazing tactical game.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.h3!?

The 11th world champion Robert Fischer scored several wins by using this move. And such stars of the 21st century as Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin also have had some successes with it.

6...e5 7.Nde2 b5 8.g4 Bb7 9.Bg2 h6

[More common is 9...b4.]

10.Ng3 g6 11.0-0 Nbd7 12.a4

[Instead, 12.Be3 was played before. There Black may try 12...Nb6!?.]

12...b4 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.exd5 Rc8?

[A tempting move: Black targets the c2 pawn.But, perhaps, it would have been better to develop the bishop by 14...Bg7!.]

15.f4!

15...Qb6+

[With the idea of 16.Kh1 Qc5!. I do not see how Black could have developed his forces comfortably: 15...exf4 16.Bxf4 Ne5, planning Bg7, is answered by 17.Qe1 Qb6+ 18.Be3 Qa5 19.Qf2!. Or 15...Qc7 16.Rf2 exf4 17.Bxf4 and 17...Ne5?!, again planning Bg7, is refuted tactically by 18.Bxe5 dxe5 19.d6!.]

16.Rf2 a5

[Also after 16...exf4 17.Bxf4 Bg7 18.a5! with the idea of 18...Qc7 19.Qe1+ and 20.Qxb4 White has a clear advantage.]

17.f5! Be7 18.fxg6 fxg6 19.Qd3 Rg8 20.Be3! Qa6 21.Qd2 Bh4

[Or 21...Nb6 22.b3!, restricting the black knight.]

22.Ne4! Rc4

[A desperation. 22...Bxf2+ 23.Bxf2! is terribly bad for Black who is unable to defend against both threats, 24.Qxh6 and 24.Bf1.]

23.Bf1! Rxe4

Black does not get a fully sufficient compensation for a queen, but there was nothing else to do.

24.Bxa6 Bxf2+ 25.Qxf2 Bxa6 26.Bxh6!? Rh8 27.g5 Ke7 28.Qa7 Bc4 29.Rd1 b3 30.cxb3 Bxb3 31.Bg7 Rxh3

32.Bf6+?

[White played extremely well up until now. But here he missed a win: 32.Bf8+!! and then, e.g., 32...Ke8 33.Qa8+ Kf7 34.Rf1+ Rf4 35.Rxf4+ exf4 36.Bxd6.]

32...Ke8 33.Rc1 Rg4+! 34.Kf2

34...Bc4

[Curious though definitely not stronger is 34...Bc2 where 35.Qa8+ Kf7 36.Qd8 Rh2+ 37.Kf3 Rh3+ is a draw because White cannot capture a rook: 38.Kxg4?? Bf5#. And really funny is 34...Rh2+ 35.Kf3 Bd1+!! 36.Rxd1 Rhg2 where White, as it seems, escapes by 37.Bxe5!! Nxe5+ 38.Ke3.]

35.Rxc4!

[Or 35.Qa8+ Kf7 and only now 36.Rxc4!, but not 36.Qd8?? Rh2+ 37.Kf3 Be2+! 38.Ke3 Rg3+ 39.Kd2 Bc4+ 40.Ke1 Rg1#.]

35...Rxc4 36.Qa8+ Kf7 37.Qd8 Rc2+ 38.Kg1 Rg3+ 39.Kh1

[White has to agree with a repetition of moves, because after 39.Kf1?! Rf3+ 40.Ke1 Nxf6 41.gxf6 Rxf6 only Black may hope for a victory.]

39...Rh3+ 40.Kg1 Rg3+ 41.Kh1 Rh3+ 42.Kg1 Rg3+ 43.Kh1 Rh3+ 0,5-0,5

Round 4: Filippov and Iotov share the lead

By GM Mikhail Golubev

Before the 4th round of the Arcapita International Chess Championship there were eight players with perfect scores. And after this round, only two leaders remains: Grandmasters Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan (my Sicilian Dragon failed in a game against him; or rather it was my memory what failed completely!), and Valentin Iotov of Bulgaria. Coincidentally, their January ratings are the same: 2556 points. Iotov will have White in the top game of the next, 5th round. There could have been even three leaders, but GM Sergey Kasparov spoiled the excellent winning chances in a game versus GM Essam El Gindy. Six players are on 3,5 points now.

GM Anton Filippov (UZB, 2556) - GM Mikhail Golubev (UKR, 2487) [B76]

Arcapita Int Open Championship Manama (4), 27.01.2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 Nxc3 13.Qxc3 Bh6+ 14.Be3 Bxe3+ 15.Qxe3 Qb6 16.Qxe7 Be6 17.Qa3 Rad8 18.Bd3 Rd5 19.Rhe1 Ra5 20.Qc3 Rxa2 21.b3

Now I went astray:

21...Qa5?!

[Confidently following the game between GMs Kasimdzhanov and Alterman from the 1990s. And forgetting that the correct continuation is 21...Ra5 where 22.Rxe6 fxe6 23.Bc4 is parried by 23...Re8 24.Rd7 Qg1+.]

22.Qxa5 Rxa5 23.Kb2 Rh5 24.h3 a5

Here Filippov came up with a new, interesting move:

25.c4!?

And Black has big problems: not only there are weaknesses on the queenside, but also the h5 rook has no prospects. It cannot feel safely on c5 because of Kc3-d4... White won 35 moves later (1-0, 60).

GM Elshan Moradiabadi (IRI, 2505) - GM Valentin Iotov (BLG, 2556) [C18]

Arcapita Int Open Championship Manama (4), 27.01.2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 0-0 8.Bd3 f5 9.exf6 Rxf6 10.Qh5

[This is a relatively rare move. In the same Round 4 of the Arcapita Open a mainstream continuation 10.Bg5 Rf7 11.Qh5 g6 12.Qd1 Nbc6 13.Nf3 Qf8 14.0-0 c4 15.Be2 h6 16.Bc1 Bd7 was tested in the game Sharma-Pelletier (0.5-0.5, 36).]

10...h6 11.g4 c4 12.Be2 Nbc6 13.Nf3 Qa5 14.Bd2 Bd7 15.g5 Rf5 16.Qh3 h5

[Deviating from the game Short-Uhlmann, Thessaloniki Olympiad 1988 where 16...hxg5 was played.]

17.Nh4 g6! 18.Nxf5 Nxf5

Black sacrificed the exchange, and now he controls the f5 square firmly. After the game Iotov opined that here correct was 19.f4, with approximate equality.

19.Rg1 e5! 20.Bxh5

[After 20.dxe5 Nxe5 Black would have developed a strong initiative. So, White decided to sacrifice a bishop for an attack.]

20...gxh5 21.g6

[If 21.Qxh5 Kg7!.]

21...h4!

22.Rb1?

[A big mistake. Good or bad, White last chance was 22.Qf3!.]

22...exd4 23.Qf3

[After 23.Rxb7 Re8+ Black wins easily. But Moradiabadi move does not help either.]

23...Re8+ 24.Kd1 d3! 25.Qh5 dxc2+ 26.Kxc2 Qa4+ 27.Kc1 Qxa3+ 28.Kd1 Re7 29.g7 Qa4+ 30.Kc1 Rxg7 31.Rxg7+ Nxg7 32.Qxd5+ Be6 33.Qb5 Qa3+ 34.Kd1 Bg4+ 35.Ke1 Qe7+ 36.Be3 Qe4! 37.Qxb7 Qd3 38.Qb2 Ne5 0-1