Chess News

Malcolm Pein on…Rock Star Abdumalik

Malcolm Pein

June 18, 2021

International over-the-board chess!? I wonder if it will ever catch on. Malcolm Pein’s report in today’s Daily Telegraph column may help us decide…

Malcolm Pein on…Rock Star Abdumalik

International over-the-board chess returned to British soil, with the final leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Gibraltar. Kateryna Lagno and the Muzychuk sisters, Anna and Mariya, headed up the field on the Rock, with Mariya Muzychuk sharing the lead at the half-way stage with Zhansaya Abdumalik on 4.5/6.

Abdumalik, 21, from Kahzhakstan is a rising star of women’s chess and burst away from the field in the second half of the tournament, scoring back-to-back victories over Nana Dzagnidze, Alina Kashlinskaya and Valentina Gunina. Abdumalik coasted home with two draws to finish on 8.5/11, a point and a half ahead of Mariya Muzychuk.

Her result and 2699 performance was sufficient to qualify her for the grandmaster title. Meanwhile, Lagno’s share of third place enabled the Russian to qualify for the Women’s Candidates.

Abdumalik is particularly deadly when allowed to seize the initiative, as in today’s game. Black meets the Scotch Game in slightly unorthodox fashion with 4…Qf6!?, intending 5.Nb5 Bc5.

Z. Abdumalik – A. Stefanova

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qf6 5.Nb3 Qg6 6.f3 Bd6 (An unusual post for the bishop, but Black wants to take on h2) 7.Nc3! (Now 7…Bxh2? fails to 8.Rxh2! Qg3+ 9.Ke2 Qxh2 10.Nd5 followed by Bf4) 7…Nge7 8.f4 Bb4 9.f5!? (A new try, establishing a space advantage) 9…Qf6 10.Bd3! Bd6? (Taking control of the dark squares, but very artificial. The critical line is 10…Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Qxc3+ 12.Bd2 Qf6 13.0-0 when White has decent compensation, but Black is at least quite solid) 11.Qh5 a5? (Far too ambitious. 11…Be5 or 11…h6 was required) 12.0-0 a4 13.Bg5 Qe5 14.Bf4 Qf6 (The only square. Now White crashes through, trapping the black queen)

15.e5! Bxe5 16.Ne4 Qxf5 17.Nd6+! cxd6 18.Bxf5 axb3 19.Bxe5 Nxe5 20.Be4 (Side-stepping 20.axb3? Rxa1 21.Rxa1 g6. White converts the extra material with ease) 20…bxa2 21.Qd1 Ra6 22.Bd5 Ra5 23.Bxa2 d5 24.Qe1 N5c6 25.b4 Rb5 26.c3 0-0 27.Qe2 Rb6 28.b5 1-0

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G. Mammadzada – M. Muzychuk
Black to play and win

Highlight the space beneath this line to reveal the answer.

28…f3+! 0-1 29.Bxf3 Bxb5 forks the white rooks.

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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