The British Chess Magazine
With an extra pawn and a good position
Adams is happy to exchange queens here, at
least if the circumstances are favourable.
22…d8 23 e1 d6 24 c3
A typical ‘Mickey’ move, not really doing much
but just protecting the bishop on d4 and asking Black to come up with a plan.
24…h5 25 g6+ d8 26 ×f5 ×f5 27
g8+ d7 28 g3 c5 29 e3 f6 30 f8
a6?! 31 f7+!
Black is losing a second pawn and against
Adams the resulting endgame is hopeless, so
Khenkin resigned.
31 f7+ c8 (or 31…c6 32 f4! e5 (32…
dd5? 33 ×e6+) 33 g5 e6 34 ×f6 e×f6
35 ×f6 ×f6 36 ×e5) 32 ×c5! ×c5 33
×f6 is easily winning.
557
This win left Adams a point clear of Kramnik going into the final two rounds, and in
Round 8 he comfortably drew with Black
against Meier, leaving him only needing a
draw with White against Kramnik in the final
round to win the tournament. He achieved
this easily, forcing a draw on move 14 and
thereby finishing half a point ahead with
7/9. Adams performed above 2900, which
almost certainly ranks as his best tournament performance, taking his rating to
2761, a career high.
1–0
Sam at the Back
Samuel Franklin
[email protected]
The following game is a demonstration of the combined
importance of opening knowledge and calculation. Even at
the top level, games are lost
very early on due to calculation errors in
unfamiliar territory.
G F Vallejo-Pons
O P Negi
Spanish Team Ch, 2013
Sicilian, Taimanov B47
[Franklin]
1 e4 c5 2 f3 e6 3 d4 c×d4 4 ×d4 c6 5
c3 c7 6 f4 a6 7 e3
Vallejo’s choice is infrequently played (although there are still a few hundred games)
and it may be interesting to consider Negi’s
thought process. For example, he may have
assumed that Vallejo had something specific
prepared or he may simply have felt more relaxed playing against this arguably less challenging variation. 7 ×c6 is the most popular
choice and is a fairly clear-cut attempt at gaining an initiative. 7…×c6 (alternative captures
– 7…b×c6 or 7…d×c6 – are less popular and
make a6 hard to justify) 8 d3 b5 9 e2 b7
10 d2 followed by long castling gives White
an easy-to-play attacking position. Objectively
it may promise little, but it certainly feels more
comfortable for White.
7…×d4
7…b5 keeps more tension in the position and
is the sharper option. 8 d3 ×d4 9 ×d4
×f4?! 10 f1 c7 11 f3, for example, is a
dangerous pawn sacrifice.
8 ×d4 b5
In the sharper lines of the open Sicilians, where
theory is developing daily, the initiative can
be lost in the early stages very suddenly. Here