Malcolm Pein resumes his coverage of the match between Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachtchi in today’s Daily Telegraph chess column, while also musing on the postponement of a number of over-the-board events. For how much longer will we be staying online?
Malcolm Pein on…Staying Online
Two elite tournaments in Scandinavia have been postponed. Norway Chess, with Magnus Carlsen in the field, has been pushed back from May to September 7. The TePe Sigeman Chess tournament in Malmo has been postponed indefinitely; Anatoly Karpov was going to make a comeback there.
The next leg of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour begins on April 24. Before then, on April 8, Carlsen’s company, Play Magnus, launches the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour with a $100,000 (£72,000) prize pot, for stars from the younger generation male and female.
The fourth Meltwater Champions Chess Tour tournament was won by Anish Giri, who defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final after a play-off. This was Giri’s win from the first game of the second set.
Sicilian Battle
A. Giri – I. Nepomniachtchi
Magnus Carlsen Invitational
Sicilian Taimanov
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.g4 h6 8.h4 Nf6 (8…Nge7 is today’s puzzle, given a the end of the game) 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Qf3 d5 (10…Rb8 11.0–0–0 d5 or 11.g5 hxg5 12.hxg5 Rxh1 13.Qxh1 Ng4 was also possible. Black has saved a tempo on d7-d6) 11.g5 hxg5 12.hxg5 Rxh1 13.Qxh1 Ng4 14.Bd2 Bb7 15.Qh3 Ne5 16.0–0–0 d4 17.Nb1 c5 18.f4 Nc6? (The decisive mistake as Giri’s next undermines the black pawn structure. 18…Ng6 19.f5 Ne5! 20.fxe6 Bc8! is an easy shot to overlook at a fast time limit when 21.exf7+ Qxf7 seems fine. If 18…Ng6 19.f5 Ne5 20.Bf4 Nd3+ 21.Bxd3 Qxf4+ 22.Nd2 exf5 should be all right, although White is slightly better)
19.g6! 0–0–0 20.gxf7 Qxf7 21.Bc4 Kb8 (Black loses a pawn. If 21…Re8 22.f5 Nd8 23.fxe6 Nxe6 24.Rf1 Qd7 25.Bxe6 wins the bishop on f8) 22.Bxe6 Qc7 23.Bc4 Ka7 24.Na3 Nb4 25.Re1 Be7 26.Kb1 Re8 27.e5 Bd8 28.Bb3 (Bringing the knight into the game decisively, d6 beckons) 28…g5 29.Nc4 gxf4 30.Bxf4 Nd5 31.Bd2 Qg7 32.Nd6 Rh8 33.Qe6 Bh4 34.Rc1 Nc7 35.Qc4 Qxe5 36.Nf7 Qh2 37.Qxc5+ Kb8 38.Qxd4 Rf8 39.Bf4 Bg3 40.Bxg3 Qxg3 41.Qb4 1–0
Test Your Strength
White to play and win
Highlight the space below this line to reveal the answer.
9.Ndb5! axb5 10.Nxb5 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Qb6 12.Nd6+ Kd8 13.Nxf7+ Ke8 14.Nxh8 wins.
