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16th Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International
22-30 September 2007
Last updated:
Tuesday, April 29, 2014 4:33 PM
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Round 1 - 22 September 2007
The top boards await the starting gun: nearest the camera, Wells (white) v Krasenkow,
Areshchenko vs Abergel, Speelman v Moiseenko, Kobalia v Kunin
Well, here we are again in the Isle of Man - for the 16th Monarch Assurance International, held at the Ocean Castle Hotel in Port Erin. And this is your friendly webmaster, John Saunders, here to welcome you to online coverage. It’s my seventh year in succession in this role. It’s always a pleasure to visit this lovely island.
This year, for one terrible moment, I thought I wasn’t going to make it. I travel here by car so that I can bring plenty of kit with me - computers, cameras, all sorts of boys’ toys to make the ten-day stay a productive and useful one. That meant a long drive from London to Liverpool, then a ferry to Douglas. Not a bad journey for the most part, but, as any English person will tell you, driving in England can be a nightmare, particularly north-south journeys. I planned the route using Google Map which said it would take four hours. I snorted with derision at that and allowed six hours. However, it would have taken at least seven hours, had I ever arrived in Liverpool. Three or four hours into the journey it had become quite obvious that I would never make the ferry. So, sitting there in the “fast lane” of the M6 – I got out my mobile phone and rearranged the ferry trip. Yes, I know you are not supposed to use a mobile while driving but since I was travelling at zero miles per hour at the time, I decided to take my chances. The ferry company offered me another ferry at 2.15am on Saturday morning in Heysham, which is about 70 miles further north from Liverpool. Consequently I arrived at the Ocean Castle Hotel at 7am on Saturday morning in time for breakfast, having had no sleep. Not a happy webmaster, I can tell you.
Anyway, that’s enough about me, you will want to know a bit about round one. As is customary, the top quartile of players played the second quartile, etc, etc, but it was far from being the first round bloodbath that you might see at a British Championship. There’s a good reason for that: the Monarch Assurance is a ferociously strong event and some of the guys in the second quartile are monsters. I hope my good friend Jon Speelman will forgive me for analogising him as a prehistoric monster, but it must have been somewhat intimidating for Kramnik look-alike Alexander Moiseenko to find himself confronting a former world top ten and ex-Candidates’ semi-finalist in the first round. Perhaps that is why the talented young Ukrainian was content with a draw despite the 130-point rating differential.
In fact, only one of the higher rated players on the top five boards managed to win and the Second Qs drew 2½-½ with the First Qs over those five boards. Last year’s winner Alexander Areshchenko dealt severely with French IM Thal Abergel.
Areshchenko,Alexander (2645) - Abergel,Thal (2512) [B61]
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Bg5 Bd7 7 Qd2 Rc8 8 Nxc6 Bxc6 [8...bxc6 9 Be2 Rb8 10 0-0 h6 11 Be3 Qc7 12 f4 e6 was the continuation in Spraggett-Abergel, Cappelle la Grande 2005, which White won.] 9 f3 a6 10 0-0-0 b5 [10...e6 has been played here more often.] 11 Kb1 h6 12 Be3 e6 13 Ne2 d5 [The problem with this is that it allows White to establish the e-pawn on e5 and exert further pressure on the kingside.] 14 e5 Nd7 15 f4 Nc5 16 Nd4 Ne4 17 Qe1 Qc7 18 Bd3 Be7 19 g4 [White has a comfortable edge and, one way or the other, he will concentrate his forces against the black king. Black's main problem is that he has not been able to generate much counterplay.] 19...h5 20 gxh5 Rxh5 21 h4
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I dubbed Mikhail Kobalia ‘the grinder’ at a previous Monarch tournament but he was made to suffer by Vitaly Kunin who showed that it is possible to win as well as draw when playing the black side of a Petroff.
Kobalia,Mikhail (2634) - Kunin,Vitaly (2507) [C42]
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 Nc3 Nxc3 6 dxc3 Be7 7 Be3 Nc6 8 Qd2 Ne5 9 0-0-0 0-0 10 h4 Bf6 [10...Bg4 11 Be2 Qc8 12 Kb1 Re8 13 h5 Bf8 14 Rh4 was Jakovenko-Wang Hao, Taiyuan 2006, which White eventually won.] 11 Ng5 Re8 12 f4 [This does compromise White's kingside pawn structure somewhat.] 12...Ng4 13 Bg1 Bf5 14 Bc4 Nh6 15 Qd5?! c6 16 Qd2 [It seems very odd to play Qd5 and then go back again when attacked. If 16 Qxd6 Qxd6 17 Rxd6 I suppose it could be argued that White is not really a pawn up since the queenside majority cannot easily be resolved. However, going back to d2 seems to make things worse for him.] 16...d5 17 Be2 Qa5 18 Kb1 Re7 19 Bf3 Rae8 [Black now has a definite edge.] 20 Bf2 Ng4 21 Rde1 Nxf2 22 Rxe7 Rxe7 23 Qxf2 Qb6 24 Qxb6 axb6 25 Bd1 d4 26 cxd4 Bxd4 27 g4 Bc8 [Though the ugly gap at g4 has been resolved, White's kingside pawns remain a little vulnerable to Black's two bishops.] 28 c3 Bf2 29 h5 h6 30 Nh3 Be3 31 f5 Kf8 32 Kc2 b5 33 Bf3 Bb6 34 Nf4 Re3 35 Rf1 Ke7 36 Ng2 Re5 37 Ne1 Kf6 38 Bd1 Re4 39 Kd3 Re3+ 40 Kd2 Rg3 41 Bf3 Rg1
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Mueller,Matthias (2405) - Malakhatko,Vadim (2596)
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29...Rd2! 30 axb5 [30 Bxe3 Rxg2+ 31 Kh1 Rg3+ and it is mate in a couple.] 30...axb5 [30 ..g3 31 hxg3 hxg3 32 c6 gxf2+ 33 Kh1 axb5 34 cxb7+ Kxb7 should also win but it is a bit messier and Black wants to keep the long diagonal open for his b7 bishop.] 31 g3 hxg3 32 hxg3 f4 33 Rae1 Bxc5! 34 Bxc5 [There is nothing to be done.] 34 ..Rg2+ 35 Kh1 Rxg3+ 36 Kh2 Rg2+ 37 Kh1 g3! 0-1
Szieberth,Adam (2315) - Collier,David O (2131)
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[Black threatens mate in one with Qf1, but White has a nice block/deflection to finish the game off in his favour.] 30 Qf5! Kg8? [30 ..Rg8 would certainly last longer but 31 Qf7 h6 32 Kh3 still looks quite strong for White.] 31 Qe6+ Kh8 32 Qf7! 1-0 [32...Rg8 33 Re8 Qxb2+ 34 Kh3 and Black cannot prevent mate.]
Monsieur... et Madame... Depin
David Sedgwick leads the applause after presenting Jean and June Depin with a wedding gift
As we all know, France is the home of romance and it is most fitting that we end our first report with some very happy news. Visitors to the Ocean Castle Hotel will know the manager, Jean Depin, who is a keen chessplayer himself and likes to come on for a cameo role at the board during the tournament (rather like Alfred Hitchcock insisting on small parts in his own movies). You may also know that in 2007 he has succeeded the tournament's legendary founder Dennis Hemsley as tournament director. Some act to follow, believe me. But Monsieur Depin has also taken on another role in recent weeks - that of husband. We all had great pleasure in meeting Jean's new wife June. The control team were also pleased to make a presentation of a wedding gift to the happy couple just before the beginning of round. Congratulations, Jean et June!
Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Open Venue: Ocean Castle Hotel Port Erin Date: 22 Sep 07 to 30 Sep 07 Controller: Mr David Welch Timings: First 40 moves in 120 mins. Next 20 moves in 60 mins. 30 mins to completion. Round 1 1 Wells, Peter K.......... 2517 ½ - ½ Krasenkow, Michal....... 2660 25 1 2 Areshchenko, Alexander.. 2645 1 - 0 Abergel, Thal........... 2512 2 26 3 Speelman, Jon........... 2511 ½ - ½ Moiseenko, Alexander.... 2641 27 3 4 Kobalia, Mikhail........ 2634 0 - 1 Kunin, Vitaly........... 2507 4 28 5 Adly, Ahmed............. 2488 ½ - ½ Gurevich, Mikhail....... 2633 29 5 6 Roiz, Michael........... 2630 1 - 0 Heberla, Bartlomiej..... 2484 6 30 7 Haslinger, Stewart...... 2468 0 - 1 Efimenko, Zahar......... 2624 31 7 8 Svetushkin, Dmitry...... 2618 1 - 0 Smerdon, David.......... 2461 8 32 9 Casper, Thomas.......... 2421 0 - 1 Bartel, Mateusz......... 2609 34 9 10 Dworakowska, Joanna..... 2320 1 - 0 Palliser, Richard....... 2417 50 35 11 Ferguson, Mark.......... 2413 0 - 1 Kotronias, Vasilios..... 2602 36 11 12 Yakovich, Yuri.......... 2597 1 - 0 Bradford, Joseph........ 2406 12 37 13 Mueller, Matthias....... 2405 0 - 1 Malakhatko, Vadim....... 2596 39 13 14 Golod, Vitali........... 2589 1 - 0 Collins, Sam E.......... 2405 14 38 15 Troyke, Christian....... 2386 ½ - ½ Spraggett, Kevin........ 2585 41 15 16 Iordachescu, Viorel..... 2584 1 - 0 Kolbus, Dietmar......... 2384 16 42 17 Cox, John J............. 2381 0 - 1 Kritz, Leonid........... 2571 43 17 18 Kuzubov, Yuriy.......... 2568 ½ - ½ Welling, Gerard......... 2364 18 44 19 Mannion, Stephen R...... 2359 ½ - ½ Drozdovskij, Yuri....... 2567 45 19 20 Georgiev, Vladimir...... 2567 1 - 0 Shachar, Ehud........... 2353 20 46 21 Horner, Jeff............ 2344 1 - 0 Pavlovic, Milos......... 2541 47 21 22 Hebden, Mark............ 2540 1 - 0 Zozulia, Anna........... 2332 22 48 23 Klinova, Masha.......... 2326 0 - 1 Sulskis, Sarunas........ 2537 49 24 24 Adams, Philip........... 2144 ½ - ½ Prosviriakov, Vladimir.. 2319 73 51 25 Szieberth, Adam......... 2315 1 - 0 Collier, David O........ 2131 52 74 26 Noordhoek, Henk......... 2102 0 - 1 Ashton, Adam G.......... 2295 75 53 27 Nelson, Jonathan P...... 2282 0 - 1 Almond, Richard......... 2101 56 76 28 Fraser-Mitchell, Jeremy 2097 0 - 1 Bannink, Bernard........ 2271 77 57 29 Bentley, John L......... 2242 1 - 0 Waters, Michael......... 2096 59 78 30 Fairbairn, Stephen...... 2091 1 - 0 Walton, Alan J.......... 2223 80 62 31 Grant, Alan............. 2223 1 - 0 Goodger, Martyn......... 2093 61 79 32 Hutchinson, Norman A.... 2079 0 - 1 Allen, Keith............ 2222 82 63 33 Taylor, Peter P......... 2209 1 - 0 Fox, Anthony............ 2084 64 81 34 Obers, Frits............ 2073 ½ - ½ Smokina, Karolina....... 2205 83 65 35 Egozi, Nadav............ 2205 0 - 1 Tate, Alan.............. 2053 66 84 36 Majer, Chris E.......... 2041 0 - 1 Ly, Moulthun............ 2295 85 54 37 Jackson, Oliver A....... 2198 1 - 0 Cafolla, Peter.......... 2034 68 86 38 Spanton, Tim R.......... 1982 0 - 1 Wright, William......... 2186 87 69 39 Van Den Bersselaar, Jero 2183 0 - 1 Marks, Ian A............ 1914 70 88 40 Nicholson, John......... 1910 0 - 1 Yeo, Michael............ 2153 89 71 41 Troyke, Doreen.......... 2151 1 - 0 Johnson, Paul A......... 1820* 72 90 42 Paehtz, Elisabeth....... 2457 ½ - ½ Bye..................... 33 43 Weisbuch, Udi........... 2284 ½ - ½ Bye..................... 55 44 Phillips, Roy........... 2271 ½ - ½ Bye..................... 58 45 Weeks, Manuel........... 2200 ½ - ½ Bye..................... 67
Tournament Director/Organiser:Jean-Pierre Depin Webmaster: John Saunders
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