TRADEWISE GIBRALTAR MASTERS 2018 – ROUND 3

Day 3 in Gibraltar shrunk the field on 100% down to 7 players. At the top of that list is Nakamura.

Meanwhile Aronian, MVL, Adams, Gelfand et al are all just a half a point back and ready to pounce.

Down at table 23, 12 year old Indian prodigy Praggnanandhaa (2515) held 52 year old Nigel Short (2681) to a draw.

A look ahead to the draw for round 4:

On table 1 Nakamura will have white against 24 seed Nils Grandelius.  Further down the list 12 year old Praggnanandhaa will have Black against Blohberger while Nigel Short (2681) will be White against Cawdery.  

The pairings on the top boards for round 2 were as follows, with tournament points in brackets:
Perez Ponsa Federico  (2) vs Nakamura Hikaru  (2)

Moroni Luca Jr (2) vs Duda Jan-Krzysztof  (2)

Lalith Babu M R (2) vs Adams Michael  (2)

Rapport Richard (2) vs Mikhalevski Victor (2)

Howell David W L (2) vs Dzagnidze Nana  (2)

  

Here are some decisive games from round 3:

Perez Ponsa,Federico (2553) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2781)

Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2018 Caleta (3), 25.01.2018

1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 e6 6.Be2 g6 B11: Caro-Kann: Two Knights Variation 

7.0–0 Bg7 8.Rd1N [8.d4!?; 8.d3 Nd7 9.Qg3 Ne7 10.Bd2 0–0 11.Qh4 f5 12.Bg5 Rf7 13.exf5 exf5 14.Rfe1 0–1 (92) Jones, G (2575)-Ivanchuk,V (2764) Warsaw 2010] 

8...d4 The position is equal. 

9.Nb1! Ne7 10.d3 c5 11.a4 Nbc6 12.Na3 0–0 13.Qg3 a6 14.Bf4 e5 15.Bd2 Rb8 16.Rf1 b5 17.axb5 axb5 18.f4 [White should play 18.c4= ] 

18...Bh6 [Better is 18...f5³ ] 

19.Qh4 Bxf4 20.Bxf4 exf4 21.Rxf4  [21.Qxf4= remains equal. 21...f5 22.Bf3] 

21...Ne5!µ 22.Raf1 N7c6 23.Qf2 b4 24.Nb1 b3 25.c4 Nb4 26.Qg3 f6 [¹26...Ra8 Hoping for ...Ra2. 27.Nd2 Ra2 28.Nxb3 Rxb2] 

27.Kh2 [27.Nd2µ is a better defense.] 

27...Qd6 28.Na3 [¹28.Nd2] 

28...Nc2–+ 29.Nb5 Qe7 30.R4f2 Ra8 31.Rb1 Ne3 32.Na3 Rf7 33.Re1 Kh8 34.Bf1 [¹34.Kg1] 

34...Re8 [¹34...f5 35.Be2 fxe4 36.Rxf7 Nxf7 37.dxe4 Kg7] 

35.Nb1 f5 36.Nd2 Qc7 37.Kg1 f4! 38.Qh4 [38.Rxf4 Nxd3] 

38...Ref8 39.Be2 [¹39.Nf3] 

39...Qa5 40.Qg5 Qxd2 41.Qxe5+ Kg8 42.Rb1 Qc2 43.Rbf1? [43.Re1 Qxb2 44.Bg4] 

43...Nxf1 44.Bxf1 Qc1 45.Qxc5? [45.Qe6] 

45...f3 46.g3 Qe3 47.Qd5 h5 48.h4 Kh7 49.Qg5 Ra7 50.Qc5 Ra1 51.Qe7+ Kg8 ( -> ...Rxf1+!) 

52.Qe6+ Kg7 53.Qe7+ Rf7  0–1

Howell,David W L (2682) - Dzagnidze,Nana (2522)

Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2018 Caleta (3), 25.01.2018

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Bc5 5.Bg2 d6 6.e3 0–0 7.0–0 a6 8.h3 A29: English Opening: Four Knights Variation with 4 g3 

8...Ba7 9.d4 h6 10.dxe5 White is slightly better. 

10...dxe5 11.Qxd8 Rxd8 12.g4N [12.b3 Be6 13.Ba3 Rd7 14.Rfd1 Rad8 15.Rxd7 Rxd7 1/2–1/2 (41) Howell,D (2676)-Ponomariov,R (2694) Riadh 2017] 

12...Rd3 13.Ne1 Rd8 14.b3 Ne7 15.Ba3 Ng6 16.Nd5 Ne8 17.Ne7+ Nxe7 18.Bxe7 Rd7 19.Ba3 c6 20.Nf3 Bb8 21.Nh4 Bd6 22.Bb2 Rd8 23.f4 Be7 24.Nf3! e4 25.Nd4ƒ White has some pressure. 

25...c5 [25...h5!?] 

26.Ba3 Bf8 27.Ne2! f5  [¹27...h5] 

28.gxf5!± Rd3 29.Rad1 [But not 29.Bxe4?! Rxe3 30.Bd5+ Kh7²] 

29...Rxe3 30.Kf2 Rd3 31.Ng3 Rb8 32.Bxe4 Rxd1 33.Rxd1 aiming for Bd5+. 

33...Nf6? [33...Be7± 34.Bb2 b5] 

34.Rd8+- Bxc5 is the strong threat. 

34...b6 35.Bb2 Strongly threatening Bxf6. 

35...Nxe4+ 36.Nxe4 White is clearly winning. 

36...Kf7 37.f6 gxf6 38.Bxf6 Ra8 39.Bh4 Rb8 40.f5! Ra8 [40...Bxf5 41.Rxb8] 

41.f6 b5 42.Bg3 bxc4 43.bxc4 a5 44.Bd6 Bb7 45.Rd7+  1–0

Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime (2793) - Goryachkina,Aleksandra (2493)

Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2018 Caleta (3), 25.01.2018

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.0–0 0–0 6.c4 c6 7.Qb3 Qb6 8.Nc3 Rd8 9.Rd1 D78: Fianchetto Grünfeld: 6 0–0 c6 [9.Bg5 is interesting. 9...dxc4 10.Qxc4 Qxb2 11.Rfb1 Qa3 12.Bc1; 9.h3 Bf5 10.Bf4 Na6 11.Qxb6 axb6 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 Rxd5 14.Be5 Bxe5 15.dxe5 Be4 16.Rfd1 Bxf3 17.Bxf3 Rxe5 0–1 (68) Li,C (2732)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2789) Riadh 2017] 

9...Qxb3 10.axb3 Bf5 11.Ne1 The position is equal. 

11...Na6 12.Bf4 Ne4 13.Ra5N [13.cxd5 cxd5 14.Ra5 Nb4 15.Rb5 Nxc3 16.bxc3 Na2 1/2–1/2 (37) Tkachiev,V (2629)-Bai,J (2444) London 2014] 

13...e6 14.e3 h6 15.h3 [15.h4²] 

15...g5!= 16.g4! gxf4 17.gxf5 Nd6 18.fxe6 fxe6 19.Bf1 fxe3 20.fxe3 Nc7 21.Ng2 Rf8 22.Be2 a6 23.Raa1 Nf5 24.Bg4 Rad8 25.Na4 h5 26.Bxh5 e5 27.dxe5 d4 [27...Bxe5= 28.Nc5 Ng3] 

28.exd4± Nxd4 29.Nc5 Bxe5 30.Nxb7 Rb8 31.Nc5 Nxb3 32.Nd7 aiming for Ra2. 

32...Nxa1 33.Nxe5 Nc2  [Better is 33...Nb3² ] 

34.Bg6!+- Hoping for Rd7. 

34...Rxb2 35.Rd7 Threatening mate with Bh7+. 

35...Rc8? [35...Rf6+- 36.Rxc7 Nd4 37.Bh7+ Kf8 38.Nd7+ Kg7] 

36.Nf4 Rb1+ 37.Kf2  1–0

Gelfand,Boris (2697) - Almagro Llamas,Pablo (2479)

Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2018 Caleta (3), 25.01.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 0–0 8.Bg2 c6 9.e4 d5! 10.Qe2 E15: Queen's Indian: 4 g3 sidelines, 4 g3 Ba6 and 4 g3 Bb7 early deviations [10.exd5 cxd5 11.Ne5 Bb7 12.0–0 Nc6 13.Bf4 Rc8 14.Rc1 Na5 15.cxd5 Bb4 16.dxe6 Bxg2 17.Nxf7 Qe7 18.Kxg2 Rxc3 19.Rxc3 Bxc3 0–1 (31) Navara,D (2737)-Ivanchuk,V (2738) Prague 2017] 

10...Nbd7 [10...b5=] 

11.0–0 Rc8 12.e5 White is slightly better. 

12...Ne8! 13.a4 Nc7 14.Rfd1 Bb4 15.Rac1N [15.h4 h6 16.Be1 Qe7 17.Qa2 Rfd8 1–0 (80) Gorshkov,Y (2393)-Shefer,A (2105) Voronezh 2008] 

15...Bxc3 16.Rxc3 c5 17.dxc5 Nxc5 18.Bg5 Qe8 19.Nd4 h6 20.Bf4 dxc4 21.Qg4 f5 22.exf6!‚ White wants a kill. 

22...Rxf6 23.Bc6 [23.bxc4± Threatens to win with Nc6. 23...Rg6 24.Qe2] 

23...Qf7²  And now ...Nd5 would win. 

24.bxc4 Rd8? [24...Rf8!=] 

25.Be5+- Rg6? [25...Ne8 is a better defense. 26.Bxe8 Rxe8] 

26.Qh4 Rf6 27.Bxf6 Qxf6 28.Qxf6 gxf6 29.Rcc1 e5 30.Nb5 White is clearly winning. 

30...Rxd1+ 31.Rxd1 Bxb5 32.axb5 KRB-KNN 

32...Kf8 33.Rd8+ Ke7 34.Rh8 Kd6 35.Rxh6 a5 36.bxa6 Kxc6 37.Rxf6+  1–0