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10th Monarch Assurance International Chess Tournament, 29 Sept - 7 Oct 2001
The Monarch Assurance 10th International Chess Tournament is being held at the Cherry Orchard Hotel, Port Erin, Isle of Man, from 29 September to Sunday 7 October 2001.
Return to Main Tournament Page | Rd 8 Results | Rd 8 Crosstable
Round 8 (6 October 2001)
Gormally Scores For England...
Today was the day of the big England vs Greece soccer match, when the football fate of the nation was to be decided vis a vis the next World Cup. Kick-off was timed for 90 minutes into the round and it was widely expected that there would be a crop of short draws agreed by players who wanted to watch the match. However, as in chess, people played this game in different ways. One player, Andrew Smith, had had sufficient forethought to request a half-point bye several days previous to the game. There were indeed some short draws agreed - but only four. Other players decided on a perilous division of their concentration, trying to play their games whilst occasionally nipping out to watch some of the match. In some cases players played lightning fast for the first 90 minutes of (chess) play, in order to save up enough time (say) to watch the first half.
Most of the TV watching occurred in the bar which was reasonably adjacent to the playing hall. It was a cosmopolitan bunch of people. In line with the usual policy in Sweden (where the fans follow England almost as closely as their own team), Tiger Hillarp Persson was pro-England (and of course, 'pro' the Swedish manager of the team). Petr Marusenko of Ukraine was keeping his views to himself, though he did exclaim "Uwe Seeler!" when Teddy Sheringham scored from a header that was reminiscent of the 1960s German soccer forward. When England's defeat seemed probable, and a play-off match with Ukraine loomed, Petr was asked if we could all stay with him for the away leg. Joe Gallagher may be registered as a Swiss chess player, but there was no disguising the agony on his face when he came in to find England were a goal down. Colin McNab watched some of the match, but didn't give away his feelings. I'm sure, like any true Scot, he was hoping and praying for a Greek victory. Making occasional visits to the TV room was Spiros Bousbouras, a Greek in a den of English nationalism. That took courage, but the bravest man of all was Seamus, the restaurant manager (guess where he's from!), who strode boldly into the room a few times with a loud cry of "Come on, Greece!". Nobody was going to argue with him, though, as it was within his power to poison us all...
The Clown Prince of the TV room
was undoubtedly IM Danny Gormally (pictured left). Play was punctuated
with his frequent bellows of "Come On, England" accompanied by much
gesticulation and fist-waving. There was a large helping of self-parody in his
antics. When England had a set-piece, his reaction was: "I really think this is
it, this time!" followed by the inevitable plunge into gloom as the ball went
wide. "Come on, I've given up a chance of a grandmaster norm for this!", he
wailed. With two minutes to go, England had another free kick on the edge of
the penalty area: Gormally could contain himself no longer, and leapt up to
centre stage in front of the TV, as if he had been deputed to take the free
kick himself. With some ostentatious limbering up exercises and punching of the
air, Gormally psyched himself up for the last-ditch goal attempt and lined up
behind the (imaginary) ball, providing a full running commentary throughout.
Most of the room was straining to see past the flailing limbs of Gormally as
the actual kick was taken and the ball flew into the net. Somehow I shall never
be able to disentangle the image of Gormally's war dance from this key moment
in English soccer history. Probably when I'm old and feeble (i.e. in a matter
of weeks), I'll remember it as Gormally scoring for England, having long
forgotten that some chap called Beckham had a hand in it.
The result of the soccer match provided a moment of high adrenalin and it seemed strange to return to the sepulchral silence of the tournament hall. Despite the distraction next door, the round was the hardest played of all, averaging 47 moves a game compared to the next highest figure of 41 in rounds five and seven. A dozen games were still going well into the 5th hour of play, with Baburin-Cherniaev going right down to the wire: 95 moves and a minute or two short of the full seven hours. Despite the fighting chess at the top - and IM Cherniaev was the closest to winning - the top five boards still ended in draws. This meant that Kiriakov, Tiviakov, Lalic, Cherniaev, Baburin, Ulibin and Yakovich were still joint leaders. But three wins from the next four boards meant that the leading group had swelled to ten with the addition of Galkin, Brodsky and Gallagher.
Galkin dealt a severe blow to Collins' norm chance. The Russian achieved a plus from the opening, and soon converted this into a winning position, though he took his time delivering the coup de grace. Afek-Brodsky was an attritional encounter which went to 75 moves. For many long moves Brodsky probed the weak squares on Afek's queenside until finally something gave. Afek defended tenaciously but eventually Brodsky managed to steer a pawn home. It wasn't pretty but it was effective. Gallagher-Crouch seemed to be proceeding evenly until the onset of mutual time pressure helped to imbalance the struggle. Finally Joe took the opportunity to drive Colin's king out into the middle where, with a mischievous look at his opponent, he calmed pushed his f2 pawn forward two squares and didn't bother to stop his clock. No need - checkmate ends the game.
Craig Hanley did his IM norm chances some good, beating Daniel Bisby. Some injudicious middlegame play by Black allowed Hanley to win the exchange for a pawn. Thereafter things became more difficult for White as the pawns disappeared from the board. But in the end one was enough. Hillarp Persson-Simons was a soccer-affected game, in that both players were more or less alternating between the two rooms for a long period of time. With two of the most entertaining players in the tournament paired together, it was always going to be a good one for the spectators. So it proved, though Martin Simons went wrong rather early and was soon punished by the Swedish grandmaster. Norms for the last round: Collins and Hanley will both need draws for an IM norm.
Galkin,A (2583) - Collins,S (2194) [B81]
Monarch
Assurance International Port Erin (8.6), 06.10.2001
Galkin v Collins; in the background Kiriakov
v Tiviakov and Cherniaev v Baburin
1 e4 c5 2 Ne2 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 d6 6 g4 h6 7 h3 Nc6 8 Be3 a6 9 Bg2 Qc7 10 f4 Nxd4 [10 ..Be7 , 10...Bd7 or 10...Rb8 are all more usual here.] 11 Qxd4 e5 12 Qd2 exf4 [12 ..Be7 looks more conventional.] 13 Bxf4 Be6 14 0-0-0 Rd8 15 Nd5 Bxd5 16 exd5 Be7 17 Qe2 0-0 18 h4 Qd7 [Better seems to be 18 ..Rc8 with the possibility of 19...Qc4.] 19 g5
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19 ..Qg4 This plan gets Black in a tangle. 20 Qf2 Nh5 21 Be3 Qg3 [21 ..hxg5?? allows 22 Bf3 and 23 Bxh5] 22 Qd2 g6 [22 ..hxg5 23 hxg5 Qg4 24 Rh3 Ng3 25 Qf2 and there will be big trouble down the h-file.] 23 Rdf1 Rde8 24 Bf3 Bd8 25 Kb1 Ba5 26 Qd3 Nf4 27 Qa3 Bb4 28 Qb3 Bc5 [28 ..Ne2 29 Bf2 Qf4 30 gxh6 is not promising for Black.] 29 Bxc5 dxc5 30 gxh6 Ne2 31 Qd3 Nd4 32 Rhg1 Qe5 33 Rg5 Nf5 [33 ..c4! is worth a try, forcing 34 Qc3 but 34 ..Qe3 35 Qxe3 Rxe3 36 Bd1 and there is still work to do.] 34 Bg4 Kh7 35 b4 c4 36 Qxc4 Ne3 37 Rxe5 Nxc4 38 Rxe8 Rxe8 39 Rxf7+ Kxh6 40 c3 Galkin's approach is unhurried. He is confident of ultimate success. 40 ..Re1+ 41 Kc2 Rh1 42 Be2 Ne3+ 43 Kd3 Nf5 44 Rxb7 Rxh4 45 Rb6 1-0
Gallagher,J (2516) - Crouch,C (2407) [B05]
Monarch
Assurance International Port Erin (8.9), 06.10.2001
1 e4 Nf6 2 e5 Nd5 3 d4 d6 4 Nf3 Bg4 5
Be2 c6 6 0-0 Bxf3 7 Bxf3 dxe5 8 dxe5 e6 9 Nd2 Nd7 10 Re1 Qc7 11 Nc4 N7b6 12 Qe2
Nxc4 13 Qxc4 0-0-0 14 a3 h6 15 b4 g5 16 g3 Bg7 17 Bb2 h5 [All played
before to here. 17 ..Rd7 18 Qe4 h5 19 Rad1 g4 20 Bg2 Ne7 21 Rd6 Nf5 22 Rxd7
Qxd7 23 a4 A.Ivanov-Lakdawala, Los Angeles 2000, and White won.] 18 Qe4 g4
19 Bg2 Ne7 20 a4 Rd2 21 Bc3 Rd7 22 Rad1 Rxd1 23 Rxd1 Rd8 24 Re1 Nd5 25 Bd2
The position on the board looks balanced but time pressure makes the
overall situation more dangerous. 25 ..Nb6 26 Bg5 Rh8 27 b5 cxb5 28 axb5 Nd7
Picture left: Joe Gallagher
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29 Qa4! A typical Gallagher time scramble coming
up. 29 ..Nxe5 30 Bf4 Qc4 [The reason Black cannot defend with 30 ..Kb8
is that White then lines up 31 Ra1 b6 32 Qe4! and now the long diagonal is the
decisive factor.] 31 Qxa7 Qxb5 32 Qa2 Nf3+ Otherwise White will playRb1
and the b7 pawn will be under double attack. 33 Bxf3 gxf3 34 Qa8+ Kd7 35
Rd1+ Ke7 36 Qa3+ Kf6 [Otherwise 36 ..Ke8 and the position after 37 Qd6 is
untenable for Black.] 37 Qxf3 Now Black would like a few moves to work
out all the tactics but he doesn't have that luxury. 37 ..Qc6 38 Qd3
[38 Be5+ is attractive but not quite so clear: 38 ..Kg6 39 Qd3+ f5 40 Bxg7 Kxg7
41 Qd4+ Kh7 42 Qf6 etc.] 38 ..Rc8 39 h4 Bf8 [39 ..Ke7 40 Bd6+ Ke8 41
Qh7 and White is on the way to victory.] 40 Qh7 Qxc2 [40 ..e5 was the
last try but then 41 Bxe5+! Kxe5 42 Qxf7 and Black cannot save his exposed
king.] 41 Bg5+ Ke5 42 f4# 1-0
Picture right: Colin Crouch
Round 8 Results
Bd WHITE Result BLACK 1 KIRIAKOV,Petr 2548 (5) 1/2 TIVIAKOV,Sergei 2618 (5) 2 CHERNIAEV,Alexan 2437 (5) 1/2 BABURIN,Alexande 2584 (5) 3 LALIC,Bogdan 2528 (5) 1/2 ULIBIN,Mikhail 2583 (5) 4 YAKOVICH,Yuri 2577 (5) 1/2 HEBDEN,Mark 2559 (4½) 5 GLEIZEROV,Evgeny 2587 (4½) 1/2 SHAW,John 2478 (4½) 6 GALKIN,Alexander 2583 (4½) 1-0 COLLINS,Sam 2194 (4½) 7 GORMALLY,Danny 2481 (4½) 1/2 STOCEK,Jiri 2530 (4½) 8 AFEK,Yochanan 2381 (4½) 0-1 BRODSKY,Michail 2528 (4½) 9 GALLAGHER,Joe 2516 (4½) 1-0 CROUCH,Colin S 2407 (4) 10 FLEAR,Glenn C 2489 (4) 1/2 MCNAB,Colin 2437 (4) 11 HANLEY,Craig A 2278 (4) 1-0 BISBY,Daniel L 2285 (4) 12 WILLMOTH,Robert 2239 (3½) 1/2 ARAKHAMIA-GRANT, 2446 (3½) 13 HILLARP-PERSSON, 2438 (3½) 1-0 SIMONS,Martin 2215 (3½) 14 GOODGER,Martyn 2136 (3½) 0-1 WILLIAMS,Simon 2369 (3½) 15 KIRSANOV,Oleg 2365 (3½) 1/2 VALENTI,Richard 2143 (3½) 16 SOWRAY,Peter J 2334 (3½) 1/2 COATHUP,Roger 2130 (3½) 17 CLARK,Stephen P 2112 (3½) 0-1 RYAN,Joe 2305 (3½) 18 HOWELL,David WL 2193 (3) 0-1 MARUSENKO,Petr 2362 (3) 19 ISHERWOOD,Paul 2172 (3) 0-1 JACKSON,Adrian 2230 (3) 20 LUTTON,J Ezra 2093 (3) 1/2 MCNALLY,Bruce 2010 (3) 21 ALLEN,Keith 2289 (2½) 0-1 SPENCE,David 2185 (3) 22 MAY,Frank 2125 (2½) 1/2 BENSON,Paul J 2046 (2½) 23 STUART,E Leslie 2039 (2½) 1/2 BOLT,Graham 2124 (2½) 24 ELLISON,D George 2104 (2½) 1-0 BOUSBOURAS,Spiro 2102 (2½) 25 YURENOK,Maria S 2088 (2½) 1/2 ORMSBY,Alan 1720 (2½) 26 KEMENADE,R van 1992 (2) 1-0 SPANTON,Tim 2051 (2) 27 NICHOLSON,John 1865 (1½) 1/2 DOSSETT,Chris 1768 (1½) 28 WAUGH,Jonathan 1672 (½) 1-0 HEMSLEY, Dennis (-) 29 SMITH,Andrew P 2234 (3½) 1/2 Bye
Round 8 Crosstable
Isle Of Man (ENG), IX 2001 - X 2000
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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1 Ulibin, Mikhail g RUS 2583 + 8 -13 +16 +27 =15 +17 = 3 = 9 . 5.5 /8 2581
2 Baburin, Alexander g IRL 2584 =17 +38 +13 - 3 +16 +10 = 6 = 8 . 5.5 /8 2577
3 Kiriakov, Petr g RUS 2548 =22 +25 +29 + 2 =14 = 7 = 1 = 4 . 5.5 /8 2621
4 Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2618 =15 +33 +37 = 6 =18 = 9 +12 = 3 . 5.5 /8 2588
5 Galkin, Alexander g RUS 2583 +20 = 7 =18 =24 +29 = 8 =11 +21 . 5.5 /8 2558
6 Yakovich, Yuri g RUS 2577 +32 =18 +22 = 4 =11 +24 = 2 =14 . 5.5 /8 2631
7 Brodsky, Michail g UKR 2528 +27 = 5 =12 +38 =13 = 3 =15 +19 . 5.5 /8 2591
8 Cherniaev, Alexander m RUS 2437 - 1 +28 +35 =12 +21 = 5 +18 = 2 . 5.5 /8 2552
9 Lalic, Bogdan g ENG 2528 =29 +31 =20 =23 +25 = 4 +26 = 1 . 5.5 /8 2543
10 Gallagher, Joseph G g SUI 2516 +23 -22 +21 =25 +31 - 2 +24 +32 . 5.5 /8 2477
11 Stocek, Jiri g CZE 2530 +24 =12 +19 =17 = 6 =15 = 5 =13 . 5.0 /8 2581
12 Gleizerov, Evgeny g RUS 2587 +26 =11 = 7 = 8 +22 +20 - 4 =15 . 5.0 /8 2575
13 Gormally, Daniel m ENG 2481 +30 + 1 - 2 =28 = 7 +32 =14 =11 . 5.0 /8 2547
14 Hebden, Mark g ENG 2559 =19 +44 =17 +33 = 3 =18 =13 = 6 . 5.0 /8 2512
15 Shaw, John m SCO 2478 = 4 =21 +51 +44 = 1 =11 = 7 =12 . 5.0 /8 2511
16 Hanley, Craig ENG 2278 =51 +32 - 1 +34 - 2 +22 =20 +30 . 5.0 /8 2464
17 Hillarp Persson, Tiger g SWE 2438 = 2 +34 =14 =11 +23 - 1 -21 +38 . 4.5 /8 2437
18 Flear, Glenn C g ENG 2489 +52 = 6 = 5 +37 = 4 =14 - 8 =20 . 4.5 /8 2497
19 Afek, Yochanan m ISR 2381 =14 +35 -11 -21 +42 +31 +23 - 7 . 4.5 /8 2353
20 McNab, Colin A g SCO 2437 - 5 +43 = 9 +39 +28 -12 =16 =18 . 4.5 /8 2387
21 Collins, Sam IRL 2194 +55 =15 -10 +19 - 8 +29 +17 - 5 . 4.5 /8 2448
22 Williams, Simon m ENG 2369 = 3 +10 - 6 +42 -12 -16 +51 +37 . 4.5 /8 2392
23 Ryan, Joseph IRL 2305 -10 +49 +43 = 9 -17 +46 -19 +41 . 4.5 /8 2300
24 Kirsanov, Oleg RUS 2365 -11 +47 +41 = 5 +33 - 6 -10 =28 . 4.0 /8 2352
25 Willmoth, Robert ENG 2239 +39 - 3 +40 =10 - 9 -37 +46 =26 . 4.0 /8 2307
26 Arakhamia, Ketevan m GEO 2446 -12 -37 +49 +43 +38 =27 - 9 =25 . 4.0 /8 2246
27 Sowray, Peter J f ENG 2334 - 7 +36 +47 - 1 +44 =26 -30 =35 . 4.0 /8 2287
28 Valenti, Richard FRA 2143 +42 - 8 +55 =13 -20 =30 =33 =24 . 4.0 /8 2277
29 Marusenko, Petr m UKR 2362 = 9 +48 - 3 +51 - 5 -21 =40 +44 . 4.0 /8 2301
30 Bisby, Daniel L ENG 2285 -13 -42 +56 +40 =46 =28 +27 -16 . 4.0 /8 2236
31 Jackson, Adrian ENG 2230 +40 - 9 =39 +52 -10 -19 =36 +48 . 4.0 /8 2261
32 Crouch, Colin S m ENG 2407 - 6 -16 +53 +41 +37 -13 +48 -10 . 4.0 /8 2274
33 Smith, Andrew Philip f IRL 2234 +41 - 4 +46 -14 -24 +43 =28 =57 . 4.0 /8 2257
34 Spence, David ENG 2185 +49 -17 =42 -16 =51 =36 =37 +52 . 4.0 /8 2184
35 Coathup, Roger ENG 2130 +53 -19 - 8 =36 =45 =51 +52 =27 . 4.0 /8 2201
36 McNally, Bruce SCO 2010 +48 -27 -38 =35 =47 =34 =31 =40 . 3.5 /8 2142
37 Goodger, Martyn ENG 2136 +54 +26 - 4 -18 -32 +25 =34 -22 . 3.5 /8 2303
38 Simons, Martin ENG 2215 +46 - 2 +36 - 7 -26 +47 =41 -17 . 3.5 /8 2248
39 Ellison, Derek George ENG 2104 -25 +50 =31 -20 -43 =42 =45 +51 . 3.5 /8 2210
40 Lutton, J.Ezra ENG 2093 -31 +54 -25 -30 =52 +55 =29 =36 . 3.5 /8 2142
41 Clark, Stephen P ENG 2112 -33 +53 -24 -32 +54 +44 =38 -23 . 3.5 /8 2146
42 Van Kemenade,Rudy ENG ---- -28 +30 =34 -22 -19 =39 -44 +55 . 3.0 /8 2126
43 May,Frank WLS ---- +45 -20 -23 -26 +39 -33 =47 =50 . 3.0 /8 2084
44 Howell, David WL ENG 2193 +50 -14 +45 -15 -27 -41 +42 -29 . 3.0 /8 2042
45 Ormsby,Alan IOM ---- -43 +55 -44 =47 =35 -48 =39 =46 . 3.0 /8 2073
46 Yurenok, Maria S ENG 2088 -38 +56 -33 +48 =30 -23 -25 =45 . 3.0 /8 2048
47 Bolt, Graham ENG 2124 +56 -24 -27 =45 =36 -38 =43 =49 . 3.0 /8 1952
48 Isherwood, Paul ENG 2172 -36 -29 +54 -46 +53 +45 -32 -31 . 3.0 /8 1913
49 Stuart, E. Leslie ENG 2039 -34 -23 -26 +56 =58 -52 +54 =47 . 3.0 /8 2035
50 Benson, Paul J ENG 2046 -44 -39 -52 -53 +60 =54 +56 =43 . 3.0 /8 1829
51 Bousbouras, Spyridon GRE 2102 =16 +52 -15 -29 =34 =35 -22 -39 . 2.5 /8 2133
52 Allen, Keith IOM 2289 -18 -51 +50 -31 =40 +49 -35 -34 . 2.5 /8 2023
53 Dossett,Chris ENG ---- -35 -41 -32 +50 -48 =56 -55 =54 . 2.0 /8 1904
54 Nicholson, John IRL 2021 -37 -40 -48 +55 -41 =50 -49 =53 . 2.0 /8 1862
55 Spanton, Timothy ENG 2051 -21 -45 -28 -54 +56 -40 +53 -42 . 2.0 /8
56 Waugh,Jonathan IOM ---- -47 -46 -30 -49 -55 =53 -50 +59 . 1.5 /8
57 BYE3 ---- . . . . . . . =33 .
58 BYE1 ---- . . . . =49 . . . .
59 Hemsley,Dennis IOM ---- . . . . . . . -56 . 0.0 /1
60 Maher,Frank IOM ---- . . . . -50 . . . . 0.0 /1
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| GM NORM | Target score | Needed in last 2 rounds | Av Opp needed in last round |
| Danny Gormally | 6½ | 2 x | 2292 |
| John Shaw | 6½ | 2 x | 2576 |
| Alexander Cherniaev | 6½ 7 |
1½ 2 |
2622! 2136 |
| IM NORM | Target score | Needed in last 2 rounds | Av Opp needed in last round |
| Oleg Kirsanov | 5½ | 2 x | 2516 |
| Craig Hanley | 5½ 6 |
1½ 2 |
2383 2000 |
| Sam Collins | 5 5½ |
½ 1 |
2422 2089 |
START OF PLAY : 1330 (1.30pm)
RATE OF PLAY : 40 moves
in 2 hours, 60 moves in 3 hours then 30 minutes to each player to complete the
game. 7 hour playing session.
As well as Monarch Assurance plc, The Tournament is also sponsored by The Isle of Man Tourism, and The Cherry Orchard Hotel, plus the Erin Arts Centre, the Isle of Man Department of Tourism, Port Erin Commissioners and the Isle of Man Chess Association.