Chess News

Malcolm Pein on…Piano Practice

Malcolm Pein

February 12, 2021

Malcolm Pein’s coverage of the Tata Steel Masters continues in today’s Daily Telegraph column.

Chess and music have often been linked and Malcolm explains the importance of Piano practice.

Malcolm Pein on…Piano Practice

The venerable Giuoco Piano remains popular with the elite and was even seen on the top two boards in round 11 at the Tata Steel Masters. Magnus Carlsen appeared to gain an early edge as White against tournament leader Anish Giri, but mishandled it after which the local Dutch hero was able to make a fairly comfortable draw.

The opening also featured in a clash between two of the players sharing second, Alireza Firouzja and Fabiano Caruana. The latter stood better, but missed a resource in the run-up to the time control at move 40, allowing the 17-year-old to go a pawn ahead before the world number two rallied to hold the draw.

Esipenko Loses Ground

Jorden van Foreest was quickly a piece up and eventually defeated Pentala Harikrishna to join the chasing pack on 7/11, half a point behind Giri, but the sensation of the tournament, Andrey Esipenko, lost ground after being outplayed by Aryan Tari.

A. Tari – A. Esipenko
Ruy Lopez

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.0-0 Nf6 6.Re1 Bd7 7.c3 g6 8.d4 Bg7 9.Nbd2 0-0 10.Bc2 Nh5

11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Nf1 Nf4 13.Ne3 Kh8?! (Too optimistic. 13…Be6 was necessary when White is only a touch better after 14.g3 Qxd1 15.Nxd1 Nh5 16.Ne3 Nf6 17.b4) 14.Nd5! Ne6 (Sub-optimal, but 14…Nxd5? 15.exd5 picks off e5) 15.h4!? (White should be the faster after 15.b4 f5 16.a4) 15…h5? (Black never shakes off White’s typical Lopez grip after this. 15…f5 16.exf5 gxf5 17.Ng5 h6 looks risky, but was viable) 16.Be3 f6 17.b4!

(As 17…f5? 18.exf5 gxf5 19.Ng5 would be devastating, Black lacks counterplay while White expands) 17…Ne7 18.Qe2 Nc8 19.c4 Qe8 20.c5 a5 21.a3 Na7 22.Bb3 Nb5 23.Bc4?! (23.a4! Nbd4 24.Bxd4 exd4 25.Qd2 was the way to maintain a large advantage) 23…axb4 24.axb4 Rxa1? (24…Rd8 and …c6 had to be tried) 25.Rxa1 f5? 26.exf5 gxf5 27.Ng5! Nxg5 28.hxg5 f4 Black had been relying on this, but what tactical shot had he overlooked?

Test Your Strength

White to play and win

Highlight the space below this line to reveal the answer.

29.Ra8! (29.Nf6! Bxf6 30.Ra8! also works, but not 29.Bd2? Nd4) 29…Qg6 (if 29…Qxa8? 30.Qxh5+ Kg8 31.Ne7# and even 29…f3 30.Rxe8 fxe2 31.Rxf8+ Bxf8 32.Bxe2 is hopeless) 30.Rxf8+ Bxf8 31.Bd2 Na3 (31…Nd4 32.Qxe5+ Bg7 33.Qe7 wins too) 32.Bd3 Qxg5 33.Qe4 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