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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 4 Results | Crosstable after Rd 4
Round Four: Ice Cold Against Alex
Stewart Reuben once suggested to me that there should be an annotation or symbol given against many games on chess databases to indicate that the game is not worth looking at. This is the logical extension of Bent Larsen's comment that chess databases are merely 'collections of bad games'. Stewart's idea is that a symbol denoting that a game was 'not recommended viewing' would help to steer people towards the more interesting games amongst the zillions that continue to flow into chess players' computers. The reason for a game's lack of worth could be that it was played by weak players, that it was dull and lifeless, or perhaps something else. Stewart and I couldn't agree on a suitable Informator-style symbol or logo to use at the time, though perhaps a little picture of a man covering his open mouth to stifle a yawn would be appropriate. I must remember to email the suggestion to the technical people at ChessBase so that they can think about including it in their next release. Stewart should receive full credit and naming rights. I seem to recall that it was a Dr Guillotine after whom the eponymous instrument of judicial decapitation was named. Before long we could all be listening to our friends moaning that their 120-move positional masterpiece, or sparkling gem of an 11-move draw, had been unjustly 'Reubened' on 'Mega Database 2003'.
I couldn't help but think of Stewart's suggestion whilst keying the round four game between Yakovich and Tiviakov into ChessBase. It's probably very unfair, but a double helping of Cyrillic algebraic notation in a 75-move game, with one player having two knights and the other two rooks (hence, lots of ambiguities as to which knight went to e3, which rook to f5, etc, etc - even top grandmasters forget to record this at times)... well, it soured me against the game from the start. No doubt there were lots of filigree manoeuvres and subtle nuances in there to be savoured by the chess connoisseur - but for me it was not 'game of the day' material. Play through it by all means but you have been warned.
The board two game between Petr Kiriakov and
Alex Baburin was probably not the 'game of the day' either, but it is certainly
worth playing through. This one went horribly wrong, horribly quickly, for Alex
Baburin. After eleven moves he had lost two pawns for zero compensation. Alex
was surprised by his opponent's move four innovation, found himself obliged to
change plan immediately, and blundered on move six. For 'Pistol Pete' Kiriakov
(pictured left), this was a stunning coup which carried him into the
sole lead. He's a cool customer who is clearly going to have to be watched.
Looking further down the field, things went pretty much in accordance with the rating list, except for young Irishman Sam Collins, who defeated Israeli IM (and international arbiter) Yochanan Afek in a hard-fought French Defence.
There are just two female competitors in the 56-player field. Both of them won in round four and now both are neck and neck on 2/4. Woman Grandmaster Ketevan Arakhamia, originally from Georgia but now living with her Scots husband, Jonathan Grant, in Edinburgh, remains the favourite to take the women's prize, despite her disastrous 0/2 start. In round four she showed her endgame abilities by winning with rook and two pawns against rook and three pawns. Yes, that's right, one pawn less, but the position was bit special - not all pawns are created equal. 25-year-old Maria Yurenok is putting up a good show. She has improved her game playing for Guildford-ADC in the top division of the 4NCL (British Team Championship), and has shown the stamina to sit through some long, hard games in this tournament. This round she spotted a vicious swindle to win a piece and ultimately the game.
Kiriakov,P (2548) - Baburin,A (2584) [D20]
Monarch
Assurance International Port Erin (4.2), 02.10.2001
1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 e3 Be6 At first glance this looks like a beginnerish move, blocking in the e-pawn and naively playing to hold the c-pawn despite sustaining a positional weakness. Respectable players such as Rausis and Zilberman have given it a try, but after the shelling given it by Kiriakov in this game, it's going to need to return to port for a complete refitting. 4 Ne2! A new move on move four. Most other White players have opted to go for the recapture of the c-pawn with moves such as Na3 or Nd2, but Kiriakov is planning to harass the e6 bishop with Nf4. 4 ..Bd7 5 Nec3! Another acute move, renewing the attack on the c-pawn and preparing a very nasty trap. 5 ..b5 6 Qf3
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6 ..Na6?? [For some reason, the refutation of this does not come easily to the human eye, probably because it has a quite unusual motif. Alex admitted he hadn't seen it coming. But Fritz gets there instantly: 6 ..Bc6 was necessary after which 7 d5 maintains White's initiative.] 7 Nxb5! Nf6 [If 7 ..Bxb5 then 8 Bxc4!! is a killer. It is the move that makes the whole combination hard to see: 8 ..Bxc4 9 Qc6+ Qd7 10 Qxa8+ Qd8 11 Qc6+ Qd7 12 Qxc4 and White is an exchange and a pawn to the good. As it is, Kiriakov gets his pawn back and wins the c4 pawn into the bargain. Another wise investment in the Isle of Man...] 8 Bxc4 e6 [Black needed to play 8 ..c6 but probably hadn't recovered from the shock of the last few moves.] 9 Qb7! Winning another pawn. 9 ..c6 [9 ..Qc8 is answered by 10 Qxa6! and a knight fork on c7.] 10 Qxa6 cxb5 11 Bxb5 The rest of the moves require no comment. 11 ..Bb4+ 12 Bd2 Bxd2+ 13 Nxd2 Rb8 14 Bxd7+ Qxd7 15 b3 0-0 16 0-0 Nd5 17 Nf3 Nb4 18 Ne5 Qe7 19 Qe2 f6 20 Nd3 a5 21 Rac1 e5 22 Nxb4 axb4 23 d5 e4 24 Rfd1 Rfd8 25 Rc6 Rd6 26 Qc4 Rbd8 27 Qxb4 Rxd5 28 Qc4 1-0
Afek,Y (2381) - Collins,S (2194)
Monarch Assurance
International Port Erin (4.15), 02.10.2001
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White's opening had backfired and he now goes in for a
rather desperate plan. 18 Nf3 Rhg8 19 f5 Giving up a pawn. White has
limited options available. 19 ..Nb3 20 Ra2 Nxc1 21 Qxc1 exf5 22 Qf4 g6
[22 ..fxg4 23 Nfh4 allows the White minor pieces a bit too much freedom.] 23
hxg6 fxg6 24 Qxh6 fxg4 25 e6 [Perhaps 25 Nd2 though after 25 ..Bc2 26 Ne3
Bf5 Sam Collins (pictured right) has a safe extra pawn.] 25 ..Qc7 26
Ne5 g3 27 Rf7?! [27 Nxg6 Bd6 anchors the g3 pawn; 27 Bg4 would have cut
across Black's coming plan.] 27 ..Bc2 28 Qe3 Bf5 29 Bg4 Bxg4 30 Nxg4 Qd6 31
Ra1 g5? 32 Re1? [An oversight by both players: 32 Nh6! Rge8 33 Rff1 and 34
Nf7 is an awkward threat to meet.] 32 ..Rg6 33 Ne5? Rh6! Black is about
to double rooks on the h-file so White tries something desperate. 34 Rxe7
Qxe7 35 Nf7 Rh3
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36 Qxg5? [36 Nxd8? Qh7 37 Kf1 Qh5 is the end; but 36 Nxg5! Rh2 37 Nf7 Rg8 leaves Black with work to do] 36 ..Rdh8! 37 Kf1 Rh1+ 38 Ke2 Qxe6+ 39 Ne5 Rg8 40 Qf4 Rxe1+ 41 Kxe1 a6 0-1
May,F (2125) - Arakhamia,K (2446)
Monarch Assurance
International Port Erin (4.20), 02.10.2001
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Though Black is a pawn down, the
c-pawn's path to the queening square gives Ketevan Arakhamia (pictured
left) practical chances of winning. White probably realised this, as he had
offered a draw a few moves earlier and had been trying to engineer a
repetition. 54 ..c4 55 Rh5 [55 Kf3 is playable: 55 ..c3 56 Rf7+ Kb6 57
Rf8 Rc4 58 Rb8+ Kc5 59 Ke3!] 55 ..c3 56 Rh1 Rxd5 57 Rc1 Rd3+ 58 Kg4 Kc6 59
f5 Kd7 60 Kf4 d5 61 Ke5 d4 62 Kd5? [Waste of a precious tempo: 62 g4 Rd2
63 g5 c2 (63 ..Ke7? 64 g6 probably even loses for Black) 64 g6
d3 65 Kd4 Ke7 (65 ..Rd1 66 g7 Rxc1 67 g8Q d2 68 Qd5+ is perpetual
check) 66 g7 is a draw.] 62 ..Rd2 63 Kc4 [Now it is too late for
63 g4 ] 63 ..c2 This was bad luck on Frank May who had come so close to
achieving a draw. 0-1
Isherwood,P (2172) - Yurenok,M (2088)
Monarch
Assurance International Port Erin (4.23), 02.10.2001
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White's position is not too bad, though Black (Maria
Yurenok, pictured right) might claim a slight edge. But suddenly White's
game goes pear-shaped: 21 Ne3?? Bxd3 22 cxd3 Nb5! 23 gxf5 [Oh dear -
the bishop cannot retreat, and if 23 Nc2 Nxd4 24 Nxd4 Bc5 a queen defence is
answered by a queen attack on the same diagonal. So it is 'goodbye, bishop'.]
23 ..Nxd4 24 fxe6 g6 25 Kh1 Nf5 26 Ng4 Qb6 27 Re2 Qxe6 Now White has
only a pawn for his 'unfrocked' bishop. The rest needs no annotation. 28 Rg2
Kh8 29 Rfg1 Nh4 30 Rf2 d4 31 Rg3 Qc6+ 32 Kg1 Nf5 33 Rgg2 Bh4 34 Rf1 Rac8 35 Re2
Qe6 36 Nh6 Be7 37 Rg2 Rc6 38 Ng4 Ne3 39 f5 Nxf5 40 Rgf2 Qg8 41 Qg2 Rfc8 42 Qe4
h5 0-1
Round 4 (2 October 2001)
Bd WHITE Result BLACK 1 YAKOVICH,Yuri 2577 (2½) 1/2 TIVIAKOV,Sergei 2618 (2½) 2 KIRIAKOV,Petr 2548 (2½) 1-0 BABURIN,Alexande 2584 (2½) 3 HILLARP-PERSSON, 2438 (2) 1/2 STOCEK,Jiri 2530 (2½) 4 GLEIZEROV,Evgeny 2587 (2) 1/2 CHERNIAEV,Alexan 2437 (2) 5 GALKIN,Alexander 2583 (2) 1/2 KIRSANOV,Oleg 2365 (2) 6 SOWRAY,Peter J 2334 (2) 0-1 ULIBIN,Mikhail 2583 (2) 7 SMITH,Andrew P 2234 (2) 0-1 HEBDEN,Mark 2559 (2) 8 SIMONS,Martin 2215 (2) 0-1 BRODSKY,Michail 2528 (2) 9 LALIC,Bogdan 2528 (2) 1/2 RYAN,Joe 2305 (2) 10 GALLAGHER,Joe 2516 (2) 1/2 WILLMOTH,Robert 2239 (2) 11 GOODGER,Martyn 2136 (2) 0-1 FLEAR,Glenn C 2489 (2) 12 GORMALLY,Danny 2481 (2) 1/2 VALENTI,Richard 2143 (2) 13 SHAW,John 2478 (2) 1-0 HOWELL,David WL 2193 (2) 14 ELLISON,D George 2104 (1½) 0-1 MCNAB,Colin 2437 (1½) 15 AFEK,Yochanan 2381 (1½) 0-1 COLLINS,Sam 2194 (1½) 16 KEMENADE,R van 1992 (1½) 0-1 WILLIAMS,Simon 2369 (1½) 17 BOUSBOURAS,Spiro 2102 (1½) 0-1 MARUSENKO,Petr 2362 (1½) 18 HANLEY,Craig A 2278 (1½) 1-0 SPENCE,David 2185 (1½) 19 ALLEN,Keith 2289 (1) 0-1 JACKSON,Adrian 2230 (1½) 20 MAY,Frank 2125 (1) 0-1 ARAKHAMIA-GRANT, 2446 (1) 21 CLARK,Stephen P 2112 (1) 0-1 CROUCH,Colin S 2407 (1) 22 LUTTON,J Ezra 2093 (1) 0-1 BISBY,Daniel L 2285 (1) 23 ISHERWOOD,Paul 2172 (1) 0-1 YURENOK,Maria S 2088 (1) 24 MCNALLY,Bruce 2010 (1) 1/2 COATHUP,Roger 2130 (1) 25 ORMSBY,Alan 1720 (1) 1/2 BOLT,Graham 2124 (1) 26 DOSSETT,Chris 1768 (0) 1-0 BENSON,Paul J 2046 (0) 27 STUART,E Leslie 2039 (0) 1-0 WAUGH,Jonathan 1672 (0) 28 SPANTON,Tim 2051 (0) 0-1 NICHOLSON,John 1865 (0)
Crosstable after Rd 4
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 Kiriakov, Petr g RUS 2548 =17 +23 +21 +15 . . . . . 3.5 2724
2 Yakovich, Yuri g RUS 2577 +33 = 9 +17 = 3 . . . . . 3.0 2663
3 Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2618 = 7 +30 +29 = 2 . . . . . 3.0 2549
4 Ulibin, Mikhail g RUS 2583 +18 -13 +19 +31 . . . . . 3.0 2575
5 Brodsky, Michail g UKR 2528 +31 =10 =12 +28 . . . . . 3.0 2622
6 Stocek, Jiri g CZE 2530 +20 =12 +37 =16 . . . . . 3.0 2635
7 Shaw, John m SCO 2478 = 3 =25 +39 +34 . . . . . 3.0 2469
8 Hebden, Mark g ENG 2559 =37 +34 =16 +30 . . . . . 3.0 2504
9 Flear, Glenn C g ENG 2489 +50 = 2 =10 +29 . . . . . 3.0 2589
10 Galkin, Alexander g RUS 2583 +22 = 5 = 9 =20 . . . . . 2.5 2549
11 Gallagher, Joseph G g SUI 2516 +24 -17 +25 =23 . . . . . 2.5 2371
12 Gleizerov, Evgeny g RUS 2587 +32 = 6 = 5 =18 . . . . . 2.5 2580
13 Gormally, Daniel m ENG 2481 +35 + 4 -15 =27 . . . . . 2.5 2493
14 Lalic, Bogdan g ENG 2528 =21 +26 =22 =24 . . . . . 2.5 2428
15 Baburin, Alexander g IRL 2584 =16 +28 +13 - 1 . . . . . 2.5 2515
16 Hillarp Persson, Tiger g SWE 2438 =15 +42 = 8 = 6 . . . . . 2.5 2559
17 Williams, Simon m ENG 2369 = 1 +11 - 2 +38 . . . . . 2.5 2547
18 Cherniaev, Alexander m RUS 2437 - 4 +27 +40 =12 . . . . . 2.5 2455
19 Hanley, Craig ENG 2278 =39 +33 - 4 +42 . . . . . 2.5 2414
20 Kirsanov, Oleg RUS 2365 - 6 +44 +47 =10 . . . . . 2.5 2432
21 Marusenko, Petr m UKR 2362 =14 +48 - 1 +39 . . . . . 2.5 2432
22 McNab, Colin A g SCO 2437 -10 +46 =14 +43 . . . . . 2.5 2405
23 Willmoth, Robert ENG 2239 +43 - 1 +49 =11 . . . . . 2.5 2410
24 Ryan, Joseph IRL 2305 -11 +53 +46 =14 . . . . . 2.5 2361
25 Collins, Sam IRL 2194 +55 = 7 -11 +37 . . . . . 2.5 2451
26 Jackson, Adrian ENG 2230 +49 -14 =43 +50 . . . . . 2.5 2348
27 Valenti, Richard FRA 2143 +38 -18 +55 =13 . . . . . 2.5 2323
28 Simons, Martin ENG 2215 +36 -15 +41 - 5 . . . . . 2.0 2302
29 Goodger, Martyn ENG 2136 +52 +32 - 3 - 9 . . . . . 2.0 2393
30 Smith, Andrew Philip f IRL 2234 +47 - 3 +36 - 8 . . . . . 2.0 2344
31 Sowray, Peter J f ENG 2334 - 5 +41 +44 - 4 . . . . . 2.0 2311
32 Arakhamia, Ketevan m GEO 2446 -12 -29 +53 +46 . . . . . 2.0 2129
33 Crouch, Colin S m ENG 2407 - 2 -19 +51 +47 . . . . . 2.0 2197
34 Howell, David WL ENG 2193 +54 - 8 +45 - 7 . . . . . 2.0 2236
35 Bisby, Daniel L ENG 2285 -13 -38 +56 +49 . . . . . 2.0 2287
36 Yurenok, Maria S ENG 2088 -28 +56 -30 +48 . . . . . 2.0 2082
37 Afek, Yochanan m ISR 2381 = 8 +40 - 6 -25 . . . . . 1.5 2266
38 Van Kemenade,Rudi ENG ---- -27 +35 =42 -17 . . . . . 1.5 2158
39 Bousbouras, Spyridon GRE 2102 =19 +50 - 7 -21 . . . . . 1.5 2264
40 Coathup, Roger ENG 2130 +51 -37 -18 =41 . . . . . 1.5 2003
41 McNally, Bruce SCO 2010 +48 -31 -28 =40 . . . . . 1.5 2125
42 Spence, David ENG 2185 +53 -16 =38 -19 . . . . . 1.5 2126
43 Ellison, Derek George ENG 2104 -23 +54 =26 -22 . . . . . 1.5 2151
44 Bolt, Graham ENG 2124 +56 -20 -31 =45 . . . . . 1.5
45 Ormsby,Alan IOM ---- -46 +55 -34 =44 . . . . . 1.5 2122
46 May,Frank WLS ---- +45 -22 -24 -32 . . . . . 1.0
47 Clark, Stephen P ENG 2112 -30 +51 -20 -33 . . . . . 1.0
48 Isherwood, Paul ENG 2172 -41 -21 +52 -36 . . . . . 1.0 1927
49 Lutton, J.Ezra ENG 2093 -26 +52 -23 -35 . . . . . 1.0 2000
50 Allen, Keith IOM 2289 - 9 -39 +54 -26 . . . . . 1.0 2023
51 Dossett,Chris IOM ---- -40 -47 -33 +54 . . . . . 1.0 1980
52 Nicholson, John IRL 2021 -29 -49 -48 +55 . . . . . 1.0 1920
53 Stuart, E. Leslie ENG 2039 -42 -24 -32 +56 . . . . . 1.0
54 Benson, Paul J ENG 2046 -34 -43 -50 -51 . . . . . 0.0
55 Spanton, Timothy ENG 2051 -25 -45 -27 -52 . . . . . 0.0
56 Waugh,Jonathan IOM ---- -44 -36 -35 -53 . . . . . 0.0
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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.