BritBase.Info - British Chess Game Archive
13th Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International
25 Sept - 3 Oct 2004
Last updated: Monday, August 21, 2017 5:52 PM
Return to Tournament Home Page • Rd 1 • Rd 2 • Rd 3 • Rd 4 • Rd 5 • Rd 6 • Rd 7 • Rd 8 • Rd 9 • Crosstable
Round 5 - 29 September 2004 - "Birthday Boy"
Almira Skripchenko vs Thomas Rendle
John Saunders reports: We have a birthday boy here at the Monarch Assurance. Thomas Rendle is 18 years old today - many happy returns to him. His friends bought him a small gift which Stewart Reuben presented before the round began. A red bow tie. It's an in-joke, but Thomas used to wear a bow tie a lot when he was much younger. To his credit, Thomas was not fazed by this attempt to embarrass him. Anyway, the arbiters made him a much nicer gift - a pairing with top woman player Almira Skripchenko. An excellent way to mark his graduation to adulthood. And they are playing on board 18 - another nice touch. Thomas is from Hastings, and you can see another Hastings 'old boy' at the next board - GM Stuart Conquest. The game ended in a draw.
Hikaru Nakamura won a quick game against former British champion RB Ramesh this afternoon, so is the first player to reach 4/5. Viktor Korchnoi went on to beat the current British champion Jonathan Rowson to maintain his lead. Rowson played a suspect line on move 11 and he never looked likely to recover after that. There was a little incident in the Moiseenko-Ghaem Maghami game. On move 31 Moiseenko played Rc3, pressed his clock, then unpressed his clock, put the rook back and played Rc5 instead. This was observed by spectators as well as his opponent. Of course, touch-piece-move was enforced, although Moiseenko claimed that he had meant to play Rc5. Rc3 was a terrible blunder and cost him the game. Moiseenko complained that his opponent had put him off by offering a draw twice earlier in the game. Curiously, Ghaem Maghami's scoresheet does indeed record draw offers made by him on move 10 and 19, although Moiseenko's scoresheet doesn't. * now includes the score of Volkov-Pavlovic complete. My thanks to Milos Pavlovic for helping me to complete it.
Viktor Korchnoi exploited an early error by British champion Jonathan Rowson.
Korchnoi,V (2568) - Rowson,J (2558) [A16]
Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Port Erin IOM (5.1), 29.09.2004
1
Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 Qa4+ Bd7 6 Qb3 Nb6 7 Ng5 e6 8 d4
Bc6 9 Be3 [Mikhail Golubev slightly prefers 9 Bf4 in his notes in
Chess Today. One point is that after 9 ..Qxd4? 10 Nxe6! will soon win]
9 ..Bg7 10 Rd1 N8d7 11 Nf3 Qf6? (An error which Korchnoi immediately
exploits) 12 d5!
|
|
12 ..Nxd5 13 Nxd5 Bxd5 14 Rxd5! exd5 15 Bd4 (So White wins two pieces for rook and pawn) 15 ..Qf5 16 Bxg7 Rg8 17 Bc3 Qb1+ 18 Qd1 Qxa2 (Black gains a second pawn for the exchange but it only makes a slight difference to the assessment of the position which is still very much in favour of White) 19 e3 0-0-0 20 Be2 Nc5 21 0-0 Ne4 22 Qc2 Rd6 23 Bd4 Re8 24 Ne5 f6 25 Nd3 Rc6 (Black is finding reasonable counterplay) 26 Qd1 Qa5 27 b4 Qa2 28 Nc5 a6 29 Nxe4 dxe4 30 b5! (This needs precise calculation but the 73-year-old's brain proves to be well up to the task) 30 ..Rc2 31 bxa6 c5 [31 ..Rxe2? loses to 32 a7! and if 32 ..Kd7 33 Bb2+ picking up the e2 rook. 31 ..Rd2 works out slightly better than the text: 32 axb7+ Kb8 33 Bc4 Rxd1 34 Bxa2 Rxf1+ 35 Kxf1 f5 but now 36 g4 Kxb7 37 gxf5 gxf5 38 Kg2 is still very good for White] 32 axb7+ Kb8 33 Bxf6 [Fritz finds 33 Bb5 which is even better than the text] 33 ..Rd2 34 Bc4 Rxd1 35 Bxa2 Rxf1+ 36 Kxf1 Kxb7 37 Bf7 Rf8 38 Bd5+ Kb6 39 Bc3 Kb5 [39 ..Re8 40 Ke2 and after f3 White will get a passed pawn] 40 Bxe4 Kc4 41 Be5 Re8 42 f4 Kb3 43 Ke2 Rd8 44 g4 c4 45 f5 gxf5 46 gxf5 c3 47 Bd4 Rc8 48 Bd5+ Kb4 49 Kd1 1-0
Another British champion, RB Ramesh, lost quickly to Hikaru Nakamura.
Nakamura,H (2601) - Ramesh,R (2484) [B56]
Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Port Erin IOM (5.7), 29.09.2004
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 d4 cxd4 5 Nxd4 d6 6 Be3 Ng4 7 Bg5 h6 8 Bh4 g5 9 Bg3 Bg7 10 Nb3 Be6 11 Qd2 a5 12 a4 [12 Bb5 0-0 13 h4 a4 14 Nxa4 Bxb3 15 cxb3 Nd4 16 Be2 b5 17 Bxg4 bxa4 18 bxa4 Rxa4 19 Bd1 Ghinda-Inkiov, Athens 1988, which White won] 12 ..Rc8 13 f3 Nge5 14 Nd5 Nb4 (Probably the best way to strive for equality) 15 c3 Nxd5 16 Bb5+ Kf8?! [Black struggles after this. 16 ..Bd7 is better.] 17 exd5 Bf5 18 0-0 Ng6 19 f4! g4 [19 ..gxf4 20 Bxf4 Nxf4 21 Qxf4 Bg6 22 Bd3! is much too dangerous.] 20 Bf2 h5 21 Bd4 Ra8 22 Rae1 h4 23 Bxg7+ Kxg7 24 Nd4 Rh5 25 Qd1
|
|
25 ..Bd7 [A mistake but Black's game is very difficult anyway. If 25 ..Qc8 26 Nxf5+ Qxf5 27 Bd3! Qxd5 28 Qxg4! with threats of f5 or Rxe7.; 25 ..Qb6 may be best when 26 Kh1 Bc8 27 f5 Ne5 28 Rxe5 dxe5 and Fritz finds 29 Ne6+!?] 26 f5 Ne5 27 Rxe5! dxe5 28 Qxg4+ Kh6 29 Be2 1-0 [29...Rg5 30 Qxh4+ wins the rook]
Jovanka Houska was shocked by a tactical blow from Jolanta Zawadzka.
Houska,J (2375) - Zawadzka,J (2272) [B87]
Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Port Erin IOM (5.27), 29.09.2004
1
e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Bc4 e6 7 Bb3 b5 8 0-0 Be7
9 Qf3 Qb6 10 Bg5!? 0-0 [10 ..Qxd4 11 e5 would work out in White's
favour] 11 Rad1 Nbd7 12 a3 Nc5 [12 ..Bb7 has been played here.]
13 Ba2 Bb7 14 Rfe1 Rac8 15 b4?! (This looks doubtful. White compromises
her queenside pawn structure) 15 ..Ncd7 16 Qh3 Ne5
|
|
17
Re3? [Fritz gets interested in the line 17 Nxe6 fxe6 18 Bxe6+ Kh8
19 Bxc8 Bxc8 but it looks less appetising to the human eye. The dynamics
of the position seem to favour Black. However, White needs something better
than the text moves which allows Black a surprising tactical coup.] 17
..Neg4 18 Re2 Nxf2! 19 Rxf2 [19 Kxf2 looks pretty horrible and probably
is: 19 ..e5 20 Bxf6 Bxf6 21 Nd5 Bxd5 22 Bxd5 exd4 leaves Black a pawn
up and with a good position. But the text leads to a rapid collapse.]
19 ..Rxc3! 20 Be3 [20 Qxc3 Nxe4 21 Qe1 Nxf2 22 Bxe7 Nxd1 23 Qxd1
Re8 and 24...e5 will win the knight.] 20 ..Rxe3! 21 Qxe3 Ng4 22 Qe2
Nxf2 23 Qxf2 Bxe4 24 Kh1 Bf6 25 Qe2 d5 26 Nb3 Be7 27 Nd2 Bxc2 28 Rc1 Bg6
29 Nb3 h6 30 Na5 Bg5 31 Rc5 d4 32 Rc6 d3! 33 Qd1 Qf2 0-1
Finally, I may have confused readers by listing a game on board 49 in
this round below involving two players who have not played any other games
in the tournament. I nearly said "have not taken any other part in
the tournament" but that would have been grossly inaccurate. White
was of course our tournament director, Stewart Reuben, who doesn't need
any introduction from me. Suffice to say, Dennis Hemsley is still very
much with us at the Monarch Assurance tournament, but he has stepped sideways
to allow Stewart to take over the day-to-day running of the tournament.
Stewart's opponent in the game was Monsieur Jean Depin,
the manager of the Ocean Castle Hotel where we are playing. He is a very
good chess player and played two games in the Masters with success last
year. He also impressed us with his friends in high places. When both
Viktor Korchnoi and Jon Speelman arrived at the hotel, they both greeted
Jean as an old friend. This year Jean set him himself a tough task: to
beat the tournament director in a one-to-one encounter. Unfazed by Jean's
elan, and his claim to have three versions of ChessBase on his
computer (how many hoteliers can claim that?), Stewart was willing to
take up the challenge and it was duly scheduled for the middle round of
the tournament. I've included the game in the download. Note that our
hotel manager is French but played under the Manx flag; he is a councillor
here in Port Erin. Jean gave a good account of himself but it was a tall
order to expect to beat someone who has draws with Bobby Fischer to his
credit (OK, that was at blitz chess but Stewart is rightly proud of the
achievement).
Stewart Reuben vs Jean Depin
Round 5 Bd WHITE Result BLACK 1 KORCHNOI,Viktor 2568 (3½) 1 - 0 ROWSON,Jonathan 2558 (3) 2 SMIRIN,Ilya 2671 (3) ½ - ½ WELLS,Peter 2494 (3) 3 MOISEENKO,Alexan 2640 (3) 0 - 1 GHAEM MAGHAMI,Eh 2552 (3) 4 VOLKOV,Sergey 2625 (3) ½ - ½ PAVLOVIC,Milos 2498 (3) 5 SPRENGER,Jan Mic 2477 (3) ½ - ½ KOTRONIAS,Vassil 2608 (3) 6 ZHONG,Zhang 2603 (3) 1 - 0 HANDKE,Florian 2461 (3) 7 NAKAMURA,Hikaru 2601 (3) 1 - 0 RAMESH,Ramachadr 2484 (3) 8 SCHNEIDER,Dmitry 2454 (3) ½ - ½ BAKLAN,Vladimir 2595 (3) 9 WILLIAMS,Simon K 2427 (3) ½ - ½ KULAOTS,Kaido 2593 (3) 10 GREET,Andrew N 2310 (3) ½ - ½ SPEELMAN,Jon 2555 (3) 11 CHANDLER,Murray 2531 (3) 1 - 0 ARAKHAMIA-GRANT, 2446 (2½) 12 JONKMAN,Harmen 2425 (2½) 0 - 1 MILOV,Vadim 2683 (2½) 13 PEEK,Marcel 2406 (2½) ½ - ½ IORDACHESCU,Vior 2633 (2½) 14 GORDON,Stephen 2338 (2½) 0 - 1 ROGERS,Ian 2588 (2½) 15 KIRIAKOV,Petr 2555 (2½) ½ - ½ BANNINK,Bernard 2280 (2½) 16 GALLAGHER,Joseph 2541 (2½) 1 - 0 HOWELL,David W 2334 (2½) 17 CONQUEST,Stuart 2488 (2½) 1 - 0 ARMBRUSTER,Alexa 2351 (2½) 18 SKRIPCHENKO,Almi 2453 (2½) ½ - ½ RENDLE,Thomas 2258 (2½) 19 SARAKAUSKAS,Gedi 2442 (2½) 0 - 1 GOTTSCHLICH,Cars 2382 (2) 20 RAMASWAMY,Aarthi 2299 (2) 0 - 1 AGREST,Evgenij 2602 (2) 21 GRANT,Alan 2193 (2) ½ - ½ HOLZKE,Frank 2492 (2) 22 BIGG,Andrew J 2275 (2) ½ - ½ BERZINSH,Roland 2455 (2) 23 SMITH,Andrew P 2205 (2) 0 - 1 MCNAB,Colin 2427 (2) 24 RUOFAN,Li 2414 (2) ½ - ½ KOLBUS,Dietmar 2303 (2) 25 COLLIER,David O. 2168 (2) 0 - 1 GRAFL,Florian 2411 (2) 26 ADAMS,Phil 2124 (2) 0 - 1 PERT,Richard 2407 (2) 27 HOUSKA,Jovanka 2375 (2) 0 - 1 ZAWADZKA,Jolanta 2272 (2) 28 BOSBOOM-LANCHAVA 2370 (2) 1 - 0 LUTTON,J Ezra 2134 (2) 29 MANNION,Steve R. 2333 (2) 1 - 0 PLANT,Paul R 2107 (2) 30 AFEK,Yochanan 2325 (2) 1 - 0 TWITCHELL,Nevill 2003 (2) 31 COX,John 2314 (2) 1 - 0 FOX,Anthony 2123 (1½) 32 ASHTON,Adam 2270 (1½) ½ - ½ HORTON,Justin 2091 (1½) 33 GROFFEN,Hans 2244 (1½) ½ - ½ MILLIGAN,Helen 2077 (1½) 34 HAGESAETHER,Arne 2101 (1½) 1 - 0 ALLEN,Keith 2241 (1½) 35 SPENCE,David 2236 (1½) ½ - ½ NOORDHOEK,Henk 2095 (1½) 36 PIMMINGSTORFER,C 2116 (1½) 0 - 1 HUTCHINSON,Paul 2216 (1½) 37 WALTON,Alan J 2208 (1½) ½ - ½ MURTAGH,Dermot 1889 (1½) 38 WERNER,Gert 2085 (1½) ½ - ½ DUNN,Andrew 2192 (1½) 39 TRUMAN,Richard G 2023 (1½) 0 - 1 MCPHILLIPS,Karl 2172 (1½) 40 SPANTON,Tim 2004 (1½) 1 - 0 ALMOND,Richard J 2158 (1½) 41 GOODGER,Martyn 2136 (1½) 1 - 0 WAUGH,Jonathan C 1885 (1½) 42 HUTCHINSON,Norma 2176 (1) 1 - 0 MARKS,Ian 1910 (1) 43 FAIRBAIRN,Steve 2057 (1) 0 - 1 VAN KEMENADE,Rud 2107 (1) 44 NICHOLSON,John 2021 (1) 1 - 0 HENRICHSEN,Jens 2084 (1) 45 FRASER-MITCHELL, 2082 (1) ½ - ½ GORKA,Carl 1882 (1) 46 DOSSETT,Christop 1886 (1) ½ - ½ PYM,Thomas W 2059 (1) 47 CANNON,Richard 2060 (½) 1 - 0 WEBSTER,Richard 2008 (1) 48 DE LAGONTRIE,Jea 1968 (0) ½ - ½ BENNION,David A. 2052 (½) 49 REUBEN,Stewart (-) 1 - 0 DEPIN,Jean (-)