Chess News

Malcolm Pein Asks…Howell’s That?

Malcolm Pein

March 5, 2021

Malcolm Pein turns his attention to the 2021 Bunratty Blitz 2021 in today’s Daily Telegraph chess column and has news of another success for the winner of Caplin Hastings tournament.

Malcolm Pein Asks…Howell’s That?

Three-time British Champion David Howell is having an excellent few months. Not only has he been hired as an official pundit by the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, but he triumphed at the Caplin Hastings Online All-Play-All and then won the Bunratty Blitz with 8/9.

Howell defeated former Bunratty Champions Joel Benjamin and Peter Svidler ahead of clinching first place with an early repetition of moves against Romanian IM Mihnea Costachi, who was half a point behind. Svidler, Michael Adams, Ameet Ghasi, Gawain Jones and Simon Williams also finished on 7.5/9, with Jones coming second on tie-break and Svidler third.

The initiative is all-important at Blitz. In today’s game, the players enter a sharp line of the Reti Opening. 11.Re1 was first played in Grandelius-Perunovic, Sarajevo 2011, where after 11…e6? 12.Bf3! Bg6 (or 12…Bxf3 13.Nexf7 Qd5 14.Re5) 13.Bxc6+! bxc6 14.Qxc6+ Nfd7 15.Nexf7! White was already winning.

D. Howell – T. Rendle
Bunratty Blitz 2021

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.0-0 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Nb6 7.Na3 Be6 8.Ng5 Bg4 9.Nxc4! Bxe2 10.Ne5 Bh5! 11.Re1 h6 12.Ngxf7! Bxf7 13.b4 e6? (13…a6 14.a4!? g5 was just highly unclear in Nepomniachtchi–Vachier-Lagrave, Carlsen Invitational, Chess24 2020) 14.Bh3! Bd6 15.Nxf7 Kxf7 16.Bxe6+ Kf8 17.Bb2

(White has only a pawn for the piece, but he enjoys highly promising compensation. His bishops are monsters, while Black remains vulnerable on f7 and cannot easily coordinate his pieces) 17…Nbd5 18.b5! Qc7 19.bxc6 bxc6 20.Rac1 Rb8? 21.Bd4? (21.Qg6! Rxb2 22.Rxc6! wins) 21…h5 22.Qf5 Rh6?? (A blunder in a difficult position. 22…Ne7 would have left everything to play for) 23.Bxd5 Qa5 24.Be6 Qxf5 25.Bxf5 Bb4 26.Rxc6 Bxd2 27.Re2 Bb4 28.Bxa7 Ra8 29.Be3 Rh8 30.Bg6 Rd8 31.Bb6 Ra8 32.a4 h4 33.Rc4 Bd6 34.a5 hxg3 35.hxg3 Rh6 36.Bd3 Nd5 37.Kg2 Be7 38.Be4 Nxb6 39.axb6 Ra1 40.b7 1-0

Test Your Strength

S. Williams – J. Heinrich
White to play and win

Highlight the space below this line to reveal the answer.

42.Rxf6+! exf6 43.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