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16th Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International22-30 September 2007
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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.
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
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
[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.]
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 Official Website: www.bcmchess.co.uk/monarch2007 Webmaster: John Saunders
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