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A grand old master
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Svetozar Gligoric the Yugoslav Grandmaster and former world title Candidate recently celebrated his 85th birthday and in his honour an 85 player Rapid Chess tournament was held in his home town of Pancevo.
For many years Gligoric was one of the strongest players outside of the USSR and his success contributed to the huge popularity of chess in Yugoslavia which persists today in the seven new countries that emerged after the collapse of Communism. His record in Chess Olympiads includes twelve medals of all hues and he won the Yugoslav championship eleven times.
Gligoric reached the Candidates Matches many times but could never overcome the hurdle of the Soviet chess machine. Doubtless he was hampered by a lack of strong contemporaries and trainers in Yugoslavia.
I can strongly recommend his autobiography ‘I Play Against Pieces’ published by Batsford/Anova in which he suggests that his career peaked in the late 1950s when he scored 6/8 in the USSR-Yugoslavia match, shared first with Sammy Reshevsky at Dallas in 1957 and scored 12/15 on the top board at the 1958 Chess Olympiad in Munich. His score at the Olympiad bettered that of Mikhail Botvinnik and later that year he finished in second place at the Portoroz Interzonal half a point behind Mikhail Tal.
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Whiteley shows his class
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International Master Andrew Whiteley the number one seed was a comfortable winner of the 1st English Senior Championships just completed at the Izaak Walton Hotel, Dovedale in Derbyshire.
This was by far the strongest individual tournament for Seniors, defined as over 60 in chess, held in the United Kingdom. Past British Senior champions; John Littlewood, Michael Cook, Roelof Westra, Norman Stephenson and George Ellison took part as did reigning joint champion David Anderton but none could challenge Whiteley, a former England international.
Whiteley was one of the leading lights of the King’s Head Chess Club in its heyday when chess was played continually at the pub of the same name which was, appropriately enough, sited in Moscow Rd, Bayswater, a suburb of west London.
Whiteley won his first four games and then took a quick draw in the final round with James Simpson, his only challenger, to win the first prize of ?1,025 outright. Simpson shared second place with Oliver Jackson on 4/5.
Whiteley played for England in Chess Olympiads and European Team Championships in the 1970s and pointed out that this was his first national title since he took the British Under 21 Championship in 1965. This gap of some 43 years must surely be a record.
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Big money at stake
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Fide have announced details of six new tournaments which will form Grand Prix in 2008 and 2009. All will be 14 player all play alls and held at Baku (Azerbaijan), beginning April 20th 2008, Krasnoyarsk (Russia), Doha (Qatar), Montreux (Switzerland), Elista (Russia), Karlovy Vary (Czech Republic) beginning December 7th 2009.
Each event has a prize fund of over ?100,000 and there will be a Grand Prix prize fund to be divided between the participants of over ?200,000. Unfortunately England’s number one Michael Adams has just missed out on automatic qualification and is first reserve.
The qualifiers are: Vishy Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov, Gata Kamsky, Alexey Shirov, Magnus Carlsen, Sergei Karjakin, Vassily Ivanchuk, Shakriyar Mamedyarov, Peter Leko, Alexander Morozevich, Levon Aronian, Teimour Radjabov and Boris Gelfand. Reserves, Michael Adams, Peter Svidler, Judit Polgar, Alexander Grischuk.
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IM in holiday mode
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The 6th Gibraltar International Chess Festival recently completed at the Caleta Hotel was the most successful yet with a record number of players who were treated to fine tournaments, live commentary from Stuart Conquest, master classes and a host of other side events.
The prize fund of ?63,000 attracted many of the world’s finest and a significant portion of the total was allocated to a women’s tournament subsumed into the main event, the Gibtelecom Masters. This was won jointly by IM Viktoria Cmilyte of Lithuania, GM Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria, IM Harika Dronavalli of Indian and IM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant who it should be emphasised will now play under the Scottish and not Georgian flag. The leading score was 6.5/10.
Ms Dronavalli had an enormous slice of luck when she was paired against a club strength player in the final round as all her rivals faced very strong Grandmasters and measures will doubtless be taken next year to prevent a recurrence.
Antoaneta Stefanova’s Tournament Performance Rating was close to 2700 while Ms Cmilyte scored a Grandmaster result.
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Short shrift by short shift
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The B and C groups at Wijk aan Zee produced a feast of entertaining chess as the traditional combination of experienced Grandmasters and young and ambitious players produced many decisive games. The organisers also added some of the world’s best young female players into the mix. Online chess. Group B was won by Sergei Movsesian and Nigel Short shared second place with Etienne Bacrot. In the following game Short employs the sharp McCutcheon Variation of the French Defence characterised by 4…Bb4 and seeks complications at every turn. Jan Smeets started well but then lost his way in the tournament.
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'H-Bomb' flattens Bu
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There was a dramatic finale to the GibTelecom Masters as the American GM Hikaru Nakamura won a fifth game in a row and then defeated the Chinese GM Bu Xiangzhi in a Rapid Chess playoff. Nakamura secured the ?12,000 first prize while Bu took home ?8,000.
Nakamura, one of the world’s finest Blitz and Rapid players was faster and better and after a convincing victory in the first play off game he chose to defend with the solid Queen’s Gambit Declined in the return. Bu took the initiative but Nakamura fought off an attack by sacrificing his queen to set up what proved to be an unbreakable fortress.
Bu tried all sorts of ideas to dismantle Nakamura’s formation of rook, knight and king but there was no way through and Nakamura’s body language said it all. Playing quicker than his opponent the man known as the ‘H-Bomb’ for his aggressive play looked into Bu’s eyes and he seemed to be saying: “I can see all your tricks and they don’t work”. Bu’s king was allowed to penetrate all the way to eighth rank but it made no difference and when Nakamura offered a draw Bu responded by walking into a rather pretty mate. It was magical to watch.
Earlier in the day Nakamura forced a play off with a crushing last round victory over the Ukrainian Zahar Efimenko a former winner of the event. Victor Bologan could have been in the mix but failed to overcome the rising Indian star GN Gopal. Bu reached the top score of 8/10 after a quick draw with his compatriot Ni Hua.
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Bellin gets his result
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The Gibtelecom Masters is wide open again after the Ukrainian Zahar Efimenko ended the wonderful run of Bu Xiangzhi in the penultimate round held at the Caleta Hotel. Bu’s tournament rating performance had exceeded 3000 and with his score of 7.5/8 he could have secured outright first place but Efimenko gave a classic exposition of how to use the bishop pair and forced victory on the 47th move.
Six players remain in contention for the first prize. Leading scores with a game to play.
Bu Xiangzhi (China), Zahar Efimenko (Ukraine) 7.5/9
Victor Bologan (Moldova), GN Gopal (India), Hikaru Nakamura (USA), Ni Hua (China) 7
Congratulations to Robert Bellin who achieved his first Grandmaster result at the age of 55. Bellin won the British Championship in 1984 ahead of a field that included Nigel Short and Tony Miles but this did not qualify as GM result on a technicality.
Bellin has played a fine tournament in his third appearance at Gibraltar. He defeated the Swedish GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson in round eight whom he regularly challenges for supremacy at the Guernsey International. A round nine draw against another Swede Emmanuel Berg secured the GM result and a tenth round pairing against the American Varuzhan Akobian will mean that Bellin has faced eight GMs in ten games.
At the other end of the spectrum the Australian Zong-Yuan-Zhao became Australia’s third GM at the age of 21. Zhao’s outstanding performance included the defeat of American GM Hikaru Nakamura
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Bellin is Rock of Gibraltar
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The Chinese challenge holds sway at the Gibtelecom Masters being held at Gibraltar’s Caleta Hotel. The Chinese have sent a very strong contingent with many of the team that defeated the UK at Liverpool last autumn. Bu Xiangzhi is the sole leader on 6.5/7 with five of his compatriots in the chasing pack.
Antoaneta Stefanova’s fine run was ended in the seventh round by Viktor Bologan, he shares second with Zahar Efimenko who has recovered from his travails at Robert Bellin’s hands, see below.
Bellin is having a fine tournament and on 4.5/7 is playing at Grandmaster level. He has faced four GMs and one Woman GM and remained undefeated until he lost to the winner of the Hastings Masters Vadim Malakhatko in round seven.
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Stefanova hits her stride
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The Gibtelecom Masters at Gibraltar’s Caleta Hotel has a significant portion of the prize fund set aside for a Women’s event and former Women’s World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova was an early leader after a superb run of results.
Ms Stefanova defeated former world title Candidate Mikhail Gurevich and drew with former Candidate Alexander Belyavsky. Her win over world junior champion and ICC speed chess wizard Tigran Petrosian - no relation to his namesake the late world champion – was typical of her combative style.
Stefanova accepted the Evans Gambit which we saw used to good effect by Nigel Short last week. Her defence, 5…Bd6 blocking the d pawn looks odd but dates back to the seminal tournament at London in 1851 where it was employed by Lionel Kieseritsky against Adolph Anderssen. Black’s position does not inspire confidence out of the opening but after …Nh4! all the tactics work; a nice game.
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Magnus Carlsen triumphs
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A momentous day at Wijk aan Zee saw Vladimir Kramnik, the 14th world champion, toppled by the 17-year-old prodigy Magnus Carlsen.
The youngster’s play was original and bold and sufficiently unsettled Kramnik to induce a blunder.
The 57-move win gives the youngster a share of the lead of the Corus tournament going into the last round.
Carlsen shares the lead with Levon Aronian on 7.5/12 with world champion Vishy Anand and Teimour Radjabov both half a point behind and still very much in the mix.
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Leonard Barden. January 26, 2008
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This week's game was the brilliancy of Corus Wijk aan Zee, which ends tomorrow. It was the first tie between Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik since their Toiletgate world title match in 2006 which left them bitter enemies.
No handshake at the start, then Topa unleashed an openings bomb (12 Nxf7 and 13 e5) which the Bulgarians had discovered three years ago but saved for a major occasion. Kramnik's defence skills could not cope with this at the board. Missing a couple of chances (22...Rfg8! 29...Qe2!) he went down in flames.
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No compromises
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The world champion Vishy Anand was far from convincing but still managed to put the young pretender Magnus Carlsen in his place and open up the competition in the eleventh round of the Corus tournament at Wijk aan Zee. The new leader is Levon Aronian with Anand now level with the seventeen year old Norwegian on 6.5/11, half a point behind with two to play.
Anand confused himself in the opening and stood clearly worse before Carlsen launched an imaginative sacrificial attack giving up bishop, knight and two pawns. With best play the game should have ended in a draw but Carlsen missed the best continuation before Anand coolly marched his king to safety. online chess
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Beyond the blunders
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The seventeen year old Norwegian prodigy Magnus Carlsen is riding his luck at Corus but retains a half point lead with three to play after emerging victorious from a blunderful game against Loek Van Wely in the tenth round. Carlsen lost in round nine to Peter Leko after another blunder but his rivals have been unable to take advantage.
Carlsen has 6.5/10, half a point ahead of Levon Aronian with the chasing pack that includes England’s Michael Adams, Vladimir Kramnik, world champion Vishy Anand, Vassily Ivanchuk and Teimour Radjabov another half a point adrift.
Against Van Wely Carlsen completely mishandled the Benko Gambit and the game looked rather like Malakhatko-Pavlovic from Hastings given in this column earlier this month where Black’s compensation for the pawn was non-existent. Carlsen didn’t panic and after the debacle on the queenside he switched plans and launched an unsound attack on the kingside which crashed through in Van Wely’s time pressure. Online chess...
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A hands down winner
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The Bulgarian GM Ivan Cheparinov turned from villain to hero at Corus overnight as his boss Veselin Topalov won the grudge match of 2008 against Vladimir Kramnik courtesy of an explosive opening novelty found by his trainer and kept tucked away on the laptop for three years.
Internet chess guru Mark Crowther’s prediction proved correct; Cheparinov’s antics against Nigel Short, when he refused to shake hands were indeed a dry run for the Topalov-Kramnik encounter. However neither player could refuse to shake hands this time as neither player offered.
Cheparinov’s idea was a knight sacrifice that appears to refute one of the lines of the Anti Moscow Gambit, the current theoretical battleground of some of the leading players. Kramnik plays it with both colours.
Topalov revealed that they had analysed some lines to move 40 and he bashed out his moves very quickly while Kramnik expended most of his thinking time unsuccessfully trying to find a defence
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Bad manners rewarded
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Justice was well and truly served at Wijk aan Zee as Nigel Short despatched Ivan Cheparinov in a game that had to be replayed on the rest day following the Bulgarian’s disgraceful behaviour in their first brief encounter.
On Sunday the game went 1.e4 c5 1-0, after the arbiter disqualified Cheparinov for refusing to shake hands before the game. Short quipped that 'the Sicilian Defence is not that bad if followed up correctly', but there is a more serious side to this.
Short commented: 'The facts are not in dispute and it’s high time this kind of nonsense was stamped out. I have been playing professionally for 25 years, playing chess for a lot longer and I have never had anyone refuse to shake hands with me. It was a calculated insult intended to disturb my equanimity at the start of the game and in fact it succeeded.
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Ivan the terrible
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Grandmaster Ivan Cheparinov became the first player to be disqualified for poor sportsmanship at the board after refusing to shake the hand of Nigel Short before play commenced. However, the Arbiter’s decision, made in the eighth round of the Corus Chess Festival at Wijk aan Zee was subsequently overturned on appeal.
The Appeals Committee condemned Cheparinov’s behaviour and demanded that he make a written apology to Short before the game was replayed. This was received and Short looked well on the way to victory after 5 hours play.
Cheparinov, a Bulgarian who was the fastest improving player in the world last year ignored Short’s offer to shake hands twice in the presence of the Chief Arbiter Thomas van Beekum. Short pointed out a new edict from the game’s governing body published last June, of which the arbiter was unaware and he was awarded the game. When his opponent realised what was stake he had a change of heart.
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Kramnik plays catch-up
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The Russian bear is stalking the Norwegian salmon fry at Wijk aan Zee. Sixteen year old Magnus Carlsen had the temerity to take the sole lead in the sixth round with victory over Judit Polgar but former world champion Vladimir Kramnik is just half a point behind.
Carlsen produced a strong opening novelty as did Kramnik but he found it much harder to prosecute his advantage in the face of inspired defence from Levon Aronian. With his pieces swarming all around the black king and well ahead on the clock, the 14th world champion looked well placed to win quickly but play reached a double rook endgame with Kramnik having an extra pawn.
Defending this kind of position against Kramnik is torture but Aronian clung on and reached the theoretically drawn endgame of rook vs rook and h pawn and f pawn. With his time running out Aronian erred on move 103 and a few moves later lost on time.
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Fischer vs. the World: A Chess Giant’s Endga
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There may be only three human activities in which miraculous accomplishment is possible before adulthood: mathematics, music and chess. These are abstract, almost invented realms, closed systems bounded by rules of custom or principle. Here, the child learns, is how elements combine and transform; here are the laws that govern their interactions; and here are the possibilities that emerge as you play with signs, symbols, sounds or pieces. Nothing else need be known or understood — at least at first. A child’s gifts in such realms can seem otherworldly, the achievements effortlessly magical. But as Bobby Fischer’s death on Thursday might remind us, even abstract gifts can exact a terrible price. In 1956 Mr. Fischer, at 13, displayed powers that were not only prodigious but also uncanny. A game he played against Donald Byrne, one of the top 10 players in the United States, became known as “the Game of the Century,” so packed was it with brilliance and daring (and Mr. Fischer’s sacrifice of a queen). “I just got good,” he explained — as indeed he did, winning 8 of the 10 United States Championship tournaments held after 1958 and then, of course, in 1972, breaking the long hold that Soviet chess had on the international championship.
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Bobby Fischer Has Died
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 REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Bobby Fischer, the reclusive American chess master who became a Cold War icon when he dethroned the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky as world champion in 1972, has died. He was 64.
Fischer died Thursday in a Reykjavik hospital, his spokesman, Gardar Sverrisson, said. There was no immediate word on the cause of death.
Born in Chicago and raised in Brooklyn, Robert James Fischer was a U.S. chess champion at 14 and a grand master at 15. He beat Spassky in a series of games in Reykjavik to claim America's first world chess championship in more than a century.
The event had tremendous symbolic importance, pitting the intensely individualistic young American against a product of the grim and soulless Soviet Union.
It also was marked by Fischer's odd behavior — possibly calculated psychological warfare against Spassky — that ranged from arriving two days late to complaining about the lighting, TV cameras, the spectators, even the shine on the table.
Spassky said in a brief phone call from France, where he lives, that he was "very sorry" to hear of Fischer's death.
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Elan from the less elite
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Groups B and C of the Corus Wijk aan Zee Chess Festival have seen some very entertaining chess, a world apart from the even battles between the elite in Group A. C started with seven decisive games in a frenetic first round and even after four days' play only seven of the 28 games have seen the point split.
The German GM Arik Braun and the Italian champion Fabio Caruana, whose exploits have been seen here before, were the early leaders.
This game starts as an English Opening but effectively becomes a Sicilian Accelerated Dragon as in 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.Nc2 but with White having an extra move.
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Perpetual motion
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The two leaders; Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian clashed in the fourth round Group A of the Corus Wijk aan Zee Chess Festival with the former escaping with a draw after ponderous play allowed Aronian a strong exchange sacrifice playing black in the Ruy Lopez. Aronian got into time trouble, missed a win and the 16 year old Carlsen later returned the compliment before a draw by perpetual check resulted.
Michael Adams had a most encouraging draw against the world champion Vishy Anand. Adams played black in a line of the Queen's Indian the pair have contested a few times but took the initiative by turning the game into something like a Dutch Stonewall. Anand had to sacrifice a pawn and play accurately to hold the game with queens and opposite coloured bishops.
After a quiet start Vladimir Kramnik was back to his old tricks and made Pavel Eljanov's life miserable in a long game. Eljanov allowed his pawns to be weakened which is usually fatal against Kramnik but the winner of last year's B Group defended tenaciously to reach an endgame of rook, knight and two kingside pawns to Kramnik's rook, knight and three.
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A clash of bishops
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The curse of the opposite coloured bishops struck in the third round of Group A at the Corus Wijk aan Zee Chess Festival. All seven games were drawn and four ended in endgames with opposite coloured bishops and there was no point continuing.
Opposite bishops produce drawish endgames because the bishops can easily blockade enemy passed pawns as the opposing bishop cannot lend support. They can also defend their own pawns easily and be of little offensive use if the opponent’s pawns are on the opposite coloured square. Even if one side is a pawn or sometimes two pawns to the good the game cannot be won and there are even some positions with three extra pawns where a blockade can be set up.
There was only one very long game as Teimour Radjabov had to cling on for 85 moves against Vladimir Kramnik’s trainer Loek van Wely in a Semi Slav Defence. One of the reasons Van Wely has been hired by Kramnik is his detailed knowledge of the Semi Slav which both Kramnik and Anand play so to an extent this game was war by proxy. Radjabov upset Anand in this opening in round one but found Van Wely made of sterner stuff. The Dutchman whipped out twenty moves in five minutes but then missed a win and Radjabov staved off defeat in a position with rook and a pawn on a5 vs bishop and a pawn on a4.
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Revenge is sweet
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Sixteen year old Magnus Carlsen shares the lead of the Corus Wijk aan Zee Chess Festival with Levon Aronian as both players won for the second time to maintain a perfect score. Vishy Anand, Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov have yet to win a game between them and Teimour Radjabov, another member of the younger generation is the only player on 1.5/2.
For the second time in a row Teimour Radjabov’s King’s Indian withstood the ultimate test as Kramnik tried for 79 moves, unsuccessfully, to exploit an extra pawn.
Michael Adams held on against Peter Leko after choosing to enter an endgame with queen and three kingside pawns against queen and four kingside pawns. Adams checked the white king all over the board and by move 99 Leko had had enough.
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Thin pickings at the top
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A mixture of caution and sheer abandon characterised an absorbing first round of the Corus Wijk aan Zee Chess Festival in which the world’s three highest rated players garnered just half a point between them.
The world champion Vishy Anand lost a long game to Teimour Radjabov who we saw in fine form last week at the ACP Rapid Chess Cup in Odessa. Radjabov came extremely well prepared for Anand’s Semi Slav and pressed remorselessly but great defence from Anand eventually produced an endgame of two rooks and two pawns against rook bishop and two pawns. This might have been drawn but patient defence is not Anand’s strongpoint and he allowed the white king to penetrate.
Vladimir Kramnik appeared to relinquish his advantage rather easily against Loek Van Wely who is on his analytical team. Veselin Topalov’s defeat at Levon Aronian’s hands was entirely of his own making. Aronian blundered rook for knight but emerged with reasonable compensation and Topalov, unwilling to simplify to a draw repeatedly spurned simplification and contrived to lose.
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Leonard Barden. January 12, 2008
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It's a now familiar tale. The annual Hastings Masters ended in a tie on 7.5/10 among three ex-Soviet grandmasters, with a rash of short draws in the final rounds. The leading English GMs Glenn Flear, Gawain Jones and Nick Pert were half a point behind.
The British championship and many international opens now insist on a sole winner, allocating part of the prize fund to a speed tie-break. Hastings should follow suit and, if that means blitz games at midnight or during the following day's prize ceremony, so be it. The damage to the event's reputation from unsplit, tacitly arranged multiple first-place ties is palpable.
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A field to dream about
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The Corus Wijk aan Zee Chess Festival starts today at the Dutch seaside town and runs until 27th January. Even in the second week of January Corus will rightly claim to be the most important chess event of year. The A Group boasts seven of the world’s top 10 and it may be some time before we see the world’s top three in the same tournament again, unless the organisers of Linares pull off another grand coup.
Relations between Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov will probably never recover after the ‘Toiletgate’ world title match in 2006 and even a handshake when they play is unlikely. Anand and Kramnik will avoid each other before they play a world title match in October so this is the last chance to score a psychological blow.
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Radjabov romps home
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Long standing Telegraph Chess readers will not need to be told that Teimour Radjabov was the winner of the 2nd Bank Pivdenny ACP Rapid Chess Cup at Odessa after your correspondent tipped his opponent Alexander Grischuk yesterday. Twenty year old Radjabov who hails from Garry Kasparov’s birthplace of Baku defeated the former World Blitz champion in a Blitz playoff after the two Rapid Chess games had been drawn.
Radjabov took home the victor’s prize of $40,000 for his efforts. Undoubtedly Radjabov’s skilful and relatively swift demolition of his semi final opponent Dmitry Jakovenko gave him an edge as Grischuk must have used a lot of nervous energy in his epic semi final match against Sergey Karjakin which swung one way then the other.
The Rapid Games were fairly uneventful but in the Blitz Radjabov played some excellent chess, maintaining a solid position as he probed Grischuk’s weaknesses and pawns duly fell. The return was a tragedy for Grischuk who established a won position quite quickly only to gradually relinquish his advantage over the subsequent thirty moves until only kings remained.
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Alexander Grischuk has the edge
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The 2006 World Blitz champion Alexander Grischuk faces the prodigy Teimour Radjabov in the final of the 2nd Bank Pivdenny ACP Rapid Chess Cup at Odessa. Grischuk overcame another prodigy, Sergey Karjakin in the semi final as Radjabov defeated former Russian champion Dmitry Jakovenko.
The contest promises a $40,000 prize to the winner and Grischuk, who says he does not even enjoy Classical Chess, the slower form of the game, is probably a slight favourite even if Radjabov has eliminated the great Vassily Ivanchuk.
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Top names tumble
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The 2nd Bank Pivdenny Association of Chess Professionals Rapid Chess Cup at Odessa has $136,000 in prize money with $40,000 to go to the winner. The organisers have surpassed last year’s efforts with a quality field that includes many of the world’s leading players. Amongst those eliminated in the first round of the knockout competition were Anatoly Karpov and Judit Polgar who fell to Alexander Grischuk and Sergey Karjakin respectively.
Each match comprises two games of Rapid Chess and in the first round only the Karpov-Grischuk match went to a tie breaker. The quarter final draw was comprised exclusively of players from the world’s top 20. The Ukrainian home favourite Vassily Ivanchuk was eliminated in a tie breaker by Teimour Radjabov and Ernesto Inarkiev, the conqueror of Alexey Shirov was eliminated by his Russian compatriot Dmitry Jakovenko.
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Trio share the spoils
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The 83rd Celebration Hastings International Chess Congress Masters section ended in a three way tie for first on 7.5/10 between Vadim Malakhatko of Belgium, Nidjat Mamedov of Azerbaijan and Ukrainian Valery Neverov.
Although once again the main spoils went abroad a strong home challenge ended saw three English GMs end with 7/10 and six more on 6.5 plus Bob Eames of Hackney Chess Club who had another fine result.
For the second year in a row the tournament had a somewhat flat finale as the leaders chose to halve out rapidly on top board and preserve their positions and of course a share of the prize fund.
This provides poor fare for the spectators and it should be noted that nowadays there are not just a few dozen at the venue but many thousands watching live on the internet. Much is made of the Sofia Rules which preclude early draws and while the organisers may consider something similar, my suggestion is simpler. Simply do not invite back the worst transgressors.
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