but highly theoretical games, like the one in which Peter Leko got hit by an amazing blow from Grandelius, that was good enough to save the draw for the Swede.
My game against Leko was played after his clash with Nils, and in the end a desperate Peter, who came to Malmo to 'just play chess', threw in l.d4 against Berg and crushed him in his healthy positional style. At the finish Leko almost managed to catch Fabi
ano, but it wasn't meant to be. After escaping against Li Chao and then
MALMO
having luck again on his side against Grandelius, Fabiano rolled over Jonny Hector, clinching an incredible +4 in just seven rounds.
Among the Swedish players, it was definitely Nils Grandelius who stood out. He was even fighting for first place in the penultimate round.
:! 'iV
position after 29.�xc629 ... axb2?
After an absolutely random beginning a complicated game arose, but here, in time-trouble, Nils had a chance to affect the outcome of the tournament.
Instead of the pawn capture, he could have played 29 ... ib'a5!!, and sud
denly Black is winning: 30.bxa3 .tifcS!
31.'i¥d6 'i¥xa4 32.-Ufl ib'a7, and the queen is trapped. 'i¥d2+ 40.<iit>hl blib' 41..!lxblllxbl+
42. 'li'xb 1 'li' e3 - a brilliant, study-like draw.
37JU2! �a1 38.�xb2 'i¥e1 39.
l:!.hS g6 40.fxg5 gxhS 41.'i¥b8+
cJ;;g7 42J�1xf7+ Black resigned.
The other Swedish players seemed to play two events, one before the rest day, when we went out to watch the exciting handball final of the Swedish league, and one after it. Berg and Hec
tor played the first event well and col
lapsed in the second one, while Hans Tikkanen performed the other way around, managing to recover from a painful streak of four zeros.
Li Chao, who collapsed after experi
encing another miracle performed by Fabiano, won't be too content either with his final result. However, I was delighted to see Li staying friendly and truthful to his positive mood up to the very end, and I am eagerly wait
ing for the mysterious Chinese small bottle of oil he promised me at the closing ceremony (yes, Li, now your promise is documented).
That closing ceremony took place in a quiet restaurant with just a few guests and was a warm and pleas
ant way to end yet another success
ful Sigeman & Co chess tournament.
Endless and fascinating stories told by Peter Leko kept the evening going for
a long time and at the end I would bet anyone that all of us were delighted with this wonderful event and left Malmo hoping to come back!
Gl 4.16- D85 Li Chao
Fabiano Caruana Malmo 201 2 (5)
1.d4 tt:lf6 2.tt:lf3 g6 3.c4 ilg7 4.
tt:lc3 dS S.cxdS tt:lxdS 6.e4 tt:Jxc3 7 .bxc3 cS 8J;:!.b1 0-0 9.ile2
.i�.t'i¥ ...
ii ii.ti i
9 ... tt:lc6
An uncommon and risky move. I wanted to avoid the main line, which the theory considers adequate for
MAL MO
equality but often leads to drawish positions.
10.d5 tt:leS 1 1 .tt:lxe5 il xeS 12.'i¥d2 e6 13.f4
13 ... �c7 A further risky continua
tion. The dark-squared bishop aban
dons the defence of the kingside in or
der to prevent the advance of White's c-pawn from aS.
13 ... .i.g7 14.c4 is considered by the theory to be better for White.
14.0-0
Now 14.c4?? is impossible, of course, due to 14 ... .i.aS.
14 ... exdS 15.exd5 ilaS 16.d6 l:!.b8
17 . .l:i:b5
An interesting exchange sacrifice. In some lines, White prepares to sacri
fice on aS, which is necessary in order for him to be able to play fS.
Previously I had faced 17.�b2 bS 18.
J:lbdl �d7 19.�f3 c4, and once Black fixes the pawn on c3 he is usually OK.
I eventually won a complicated game against Yannick Pelletier.
17 ... �d7
I had analysed this position a few years ago, but could only vaguely remember how Black is supposed to
NEW iN CHESS 87
play. However, my next few moves are correct.
18.f5!
A strong move. White will soon be attacking with all his pieces, while Black has limited resources to organize an efficient defence.Another possibility is 'i¥xa5 19 .fS, but Black achieves equality with 19 ... c4! 20.f6 'i¥c5+ 21.'it>hl 'it>h8 22. 'lWh6 l:!.g8 23 . .i.gs 'lWes 24.hc4 ..tc6 25.hf7 'i¥e2 26.l:!.gl hg2+ 27.
.ld.xg2
'iYfl
+,with a draw.18 ... �xb5
18 ... .L:fs? 19.Ihf5 gxfS 20.l:!.xa5 is
88 NEW iN CHESS
the point behind 17 . .l:!.b5. Black is mated after 20 ... 'iixaS 21.
'ii'
g5+ 'it>h8 22.'i¥f6+ <ot>g8 23.�h6.19.�xb5
.i 'iV .� . ii i i
� i
.t�i �
-� � � ��
� :�
19 ... 'i¥h4
Preventing White's queen from invad
ing h6, but my queen is liable to be kicked around on the kingside. The position is starting to get very sharp, and any mistake by either side will be severely punished. White has to act fast, before Black plays .. J:tbd8, after which White will be tied to defend
ing the d-pawn. Of course, if White
MALMO
is forced to play d7, Black will take his bishop back to c7 and neutralize White's initiative.
The following variation demonstrates how dangerous Black's position is:
19 ... a6? 20.f6 itxc3 21.'iixc3 axbS 22.
'iY
e3 'it>h8 23. 'iih6 llg8 24 . .!::!:f3, with the threat of 'i¥xh7+, mating.20.l:!f4
20.g3 is met by 20 ...'iY
e4!, preparing counterplay against c3 with ...'li'
eS. It's important to note that once the black queen gets to the centre, Black will be fine..i .� .
ii i i
� i .t�i �
� 'iV
� � ��
� �
20 .. .'�Vg5
Since the game continuation leads to a very unpleasant position for Black, perhaps it's necessary to consider 20 ... 'ii'h6!? which, in some lines, opens up the possibility of ... gS.
21. 'if el White prepares a discovered attack with l:i.f3 or l::!.a4. Now Black has many options, and in all cases the position is highly dangerous for him.
'' ' '
fj, '
.i.�.l fj,'¥}Jf fj, ,g
fj, fj,fj,
� �
21 ... �d8?!
Objectively speaking, this is a decisive mistake, although the refutation is not at all obvious. However, other moves wouldn't offer much respite either.
2l...a6 is met by the powerful 22.fxg6!
(22.�c4 l:i.be8 gives Black coun
terplay) 22 ... 23. �d7! c;tlh8 24.i.f5, with a strong and probably unstoppable attack.
22.'iYe5
22.fxg6 would be premature: 22 ... hxg6 23. 'fiVes lle8 24. 'ii'ds .llel + 25. c;tlf2, and here, as opposed to the game, Black has the e6-square at his dis
posal: 25 ... l:i.e6!, and Black is winning.
22 ... l:i.e8 This was my idea when I played 21... 'ii' d8. I sacrifice an ex
change in order to simplify the posi
tion and head into an endgame. Un
fortunately, there is a flaw:
23.�d5!
White correctly assesses that his bishop is needed in order to attack, and is worth more than my rook. I had underestimated this move when I played 21... 'iV d8.
The automatic 23. i.xe8 leads to equality: 23 .. .'ihe8 24. 'iiV dS (after 24. 'ii'xe8+ !Ixe8 White's d-pawn is more a liability than an asset; 24. 'iiV e7 'ii'xe7 25.dxe7 f6 26.fxg6 hxg6 27.
l:W6 hc3 28.1hg6+ c;tJ£7 will yield Black reasonable chances) 24 ... 't/Vc6!
(an important move, forcing a queen swap; not 24 ... hc3? 25.d7 I+ 26 . l:i.fl �d4+ 27. 'i¥xd4 'iYxfl + 28. c;tlxfl cxd4 29.i.g5, and Black loses his rook) 25. 'i¥xc6 bxc6 26. �e3 .ixc3 27.hc5 �eS 28 . .l:la4 l:td8, eliminat
ing the d6-pawn, with a likely draw.
23 ... l:i.e1+ 24.<;i;>f2
The point of White's play. The cl-bishop is a small price to pay for the attack White will get after fxg6.
24 ... gS Forced. I'm trying to shore up the kingside, but it's clear that Black's king is too exposed to survive.
24 ... lhcl? loses on the spot: 25.fxg6 hxg6 26. 'i¥xf7+ c;tlh8 27. 'tixg6, and Black will be mated.
25.f6 h6
'' i. ' fj, fj, ,g
fj, �fj,fj,
� i.
MALMO
26. 'iYfS! Surprisingly enough, this is the only move. But it's a winning one.
White sacrifices almost all his pieces, but it turns out that he only needs his queen and bishop to mate Black.
26.Wxel? .ixc3+ 27.ltd2 ltxd2+
28.'i¥xd2 gxf4 29.'i¥xf4 'i¥a5+ can only be good for Black.
26 ... 'iYxd6 The most tenacious de
fence, which at least doesn't lose on the spot and forces White to make a few more accurate moves before winning.
26 ... .l:!.xcl 27 . .id3, and there's no defence against 'i¥h7+.
26 ... .lldl, preventing �d3, fails to 27.
.l:!.g4, after which a sacrifice on gS will win.
26 ... Wh8 27.�d3 'ii'g8 has many ref
utations, but I particularly like the following one: 28.l:i.f3 .llxcl 29.l:i.h3 'i¥g6 30.'t/Vxg6 fxg6 3l..llxh6+ Wg8 32.i.c4+ c;tJfs 33.Illi8 mate.
27.'>t>xe1l:i.d8
27 ... i.xc3+ doesn't help much either:
28.c;tle2 l:i.d8 29 . ..id3 (29.llfl!? also wins) 29 ... c;tlf8 30. 'i¥h7 l::!.e8+ 31. c;tlf2!
(other moves are less clear, but this one decides the game at once) 31...
�d4+ 32. c;tlfl hf6 33. 'ifxh6+ We7 34 . .l:!.f3, and Black has no compensa
tion for the piece.
NEW iN CHESS 89
28.�f2?
After very powerful play Li Chao slips up and loses all his advantage. Instead, a simple move would have sufficed to win, e.g. the calm 2S.ili,e2!- after 28 ...
ili,xc3+ 29. �fl Black doesn't have enough compensation for the piece.
28 ... �dl Now White is unable to hold all his pieces together.
&
� &
.t�& i¥&
� � c;i;��
29.�c4 The point is, of course, that after 29.ili,e3 Black can capture 29 ...
gxf4, and the queen on d1 protects the g4-square!
29 ... �h8 30 . .!:!.f3 �xcl 31.�d3
�d2+
Finally it all ends in a perpetual.
32.�f1
32. �g3?? �e1 +even wins for Black!
32 ... �d1+ 33.�f2 �d2+ 34.�f1
�dl+ Draw.
After this close call, I managed to win my final two games and to become the sole winner of the tournament!