Chess News, The Telegraph

Malcolm Pein on…Carlsen’s Qualification

Malcolm Pein

December 3, 2020

Malcolm Pein discusses Magnus Carlsen’s qualification for the semi-finals of the Skilling Open in today’s Daily Telegraph chess column.

Malcolm also presents memorable moments from the big clash between Hikaru Nakamura and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, including a position set as a challenge to our readers.

Carlsen’s Qualification

Only Magnus Carlsen qualified for the semi-finals of the Skilling Open without the need for a tie-break. Carlsen’s opponent Anish Giri again made the running in the second leg but struggled to create any clear winning chances. Carlsen secured four draws and his 2.5-1.5 victory in the first leg ensured his safe passage to the last four.

Vachier-Lagrave’s Fine Finish

Hikaru Nakamura showed tremendous resilience to overcome Maxime Vachier-Lagrave after this disaster. The American was seen on his webcam pacing the room and shaking his head afterwards but took the match in Armageddon.

M Vachier-Lagrave – H Nakamura

Skilling Open KO QF Play-off 5+3

Position after 38…Qxd5:

39.Qxh6!! Qxf3+ 40.Kg1 f6

White to play and win

(The answer is at the end of the post)

Nakamura Advances

Nakamura advanced to face Wesley So who got past Teimour Radjabov in Armageddon. Ian Nepomniachtchi won the Blitz play-off 2-0 against Levon Aronian.

H Nakamura – M Vachier-Lagrave

Sicilian Najdorf 5+3

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bd3 e5 7.Nde2 Nc6 8.0–0 Be6 9.Ng3 d5?! 10.Bg5! dxe4 (10…Be7 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.exd5 Bxd5 13.Nh5 Be6 14.Ne4 is like the game) 11.Ncxe4 Be7 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Qh5 Qc7 (Equine occupation is inevitable, Black cannot defend f6) 14.Qh6 0–0–0 15.Nxf6 Nd4 16.Rad1 Bxa2 (Desperation, White could trap the bishop with 17.b3 but the f5 square was too inviting) 17.Nf5 Be6 18.Nxe7+ Qxe7 19.Rfe1 Nc6 (White’s dominating knight allows him to grab the h7 pawn) 20.Bxh7 Qb4 21.b3 Kb8 22.Qg5 Rd4 23.Be4 Rhd8 24.Rc1 Qc3 (White could also take on c6 and e5. Black is too hamstrung to stop the h-pawn) 25.h4 Ka8 26.h5 Rd2 27.Bd3 1–0 Nf6–e4 follows.

Highlight the space below this line to find the answer to todays puzzle.

Answer: 41.Qh8+ (Or 41.e6 Qd1+ 42.Kh2 Rxe6 43.Qh8+ Kf7 44.g8Q+) 41…Kf7 42.e6+ Ke7 43.Qxe8+ Kxe8 44.g8Q+ Ke7 45.Qf7+ Kd6 46.Qd7+ Kc5 47.e7 1–0

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Malcolm Pein

Malcolm Pein is a British International Master, chess organizer, author and journalist. He was a child prodigy and a former British Junior Champion. He qualified for the International Master title in 1985. Malcolm is a distinguished writer, journalist and editor. He has been a chess correspondent of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph for over 30 years, has written numerous chess books and is the Executive Editor of CHESS Magazine. In 1992, he founded the London Chess Centre, a games store in central London and the UK's only chess shop. He is also the founder and CEO of Chess in Schools and Communities, a UK charity whose aim is to introduce chess to state schools and has taught the game to over 250,000 children since its inception in 2009. Malcolm is also well-known for his chess event management. He was responsible for the pre-planning of the World Chess Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik in London 2000. In 2002 he was appointed as Technical Director of the 'Brains in Bahrain' match between Vladimir Kramnik and the computer program Fritz. In 2009, Malcolm devised and organized the 1st London Chess Classic - the UK's first world-class elite all-play-all tournament since the 1980s which ran annually until 2019. Malcolm is also very active with the English Chess Federation. In 2016, he was appointed as the Manager and Captain of the England national team. He was also appointed as English Chess Federation delegate to the European Chess Union and FIDE and is the Director of International Chess. In 2018, he also stood for the post of Deputy President of FIDE. In 2021, Malcolm joined the ranks of Chessable authors by bringing the highlights of his column in the Daily Telegraph in the form of an interactive Chessable course, titled Telegraph Tuesday. Profile photograph © Lennart Ootes