[Event "Thailand op 15th"]
[Site "Pattaya"]
[Date "2015.04.13"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Puccini, Jack"]
[Black "Gomez, John Paul"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B21"]
[WhiteElo "2241"]
[BlackElo "2524"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2015.04.12"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.23"]
{This year's Thailand Open took place in the five-star Dusit Thani resort in
Pattaya (a very popular coastal tourist destination), and was my third
attendance of the tournament. The tournament has a very international flavour
- this year the top seeds were GMs Wang Hao, Francisco Vallejo Pons, Nigel
Short, Jan Gustafsson, Bartosz Socko and Surya Shekhar Ganguly - with a total
of 38 countries represented in the Open. 16 Australians participated in the
tournament. Before revealing who won and the standout Australian performers,
I'll share some of the better games from the tournament. To start with, the
talented Australian youngster Jack Puccini crushed Filipino GM John Paul Gomez
in the morning of the second day:} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 {Personally, I
don't think the Smith-Morra is 100% sound, but there aren't many other
openings where you'll beat a GM in 19 moves!} dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bc4
a6 7. O-O $1 Nge7 {This is one of Black's better defensive systems, bringing
the knight to g6 so that the knight is not hit by e5, but it is a little slow.}
8. Bg5 {A thematic response to provoke Black's next weakening move.} f6 (8...
h6 {is slightly more precise in my view.}) 9. Be3 b5 10. Bb3 Ng6 11. Nd5 $1 {
A powerful piece sacrifice - if Black accepts the a2-g8 diagonal and e-file
will be opened up toward the Black king.} Rb8 ({A very famous example from
this position went} 11... exd5 12. exd5 Nce5 13. d6 Bb7 14. Nxe5 fxe5 15. f4
Qf6 $2 (15... exf4 16. Re1 fxe3 17. Rxe3+ Be7 18. Qd4 Qc8 19. Rae1 Qc6 20. Rf3
Kd8 21. dxe7+ Nxe7 22. Rxe7 Kxe7 23. Qxg7+ Kd6 24. Qg3+ Kc5 25. Rc3+ Kb6 26.
Qe3+ Kc7 27. Qf4+ Kb6 28. Qd4+ Kc7 29. a4 {is somewhat better for White, but
the game move just loses.}) 16. fxe5 Qxe5 17. Bg5 Be7 18. Bf7+ Kd8 19. dxe7+
Nxe7 20. Qd2 Kc8 21. Rac1+ Nc6 22. Rfd1 Qf5 23. Bf4 Qxf7 24. Qd6 Kd8 25. Rxc6
Bxc6 26. Qxc6 {1-0 (26) Esserman,M (2453)-Van Wely,L (2683) Orlando 2011}) 12.
Rc1 exd5 $2 {This just loses, but even} (12... a5 13. a3 a4 14. Ba2 {leaves
Black without a great move.} exd5 15. exd5 Nce5 16. d6 {with Re1 to follow
would be disastrous for Black, who cannot develop his pieces.}) 13. exd5 Nce5
14. d6 {Already Black's position is resignable as he can't develop his
kingside.} Bb7 (14... Bxd6 15. Qxd6 Nxf3+ 16. gxf3 {only makes matters worse
for Black.}) 15. Nxe5 fxe5 16. f4 {White breaks through as in the Esserman
game and the rest is easy.} Qh4 17. fxe5 Bxg2 18. Bf7+ Kd8 19. Qd2 1-0 [Event "Pattaya Thai Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.04.13"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Bersamina, Paulo"]
[Black "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C00"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "2015.04.??"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.12"]
{There weren't many other shocking results on the top boards in the first few
rounds. In the following game White tries to surprise his opponent with a rare
setup, but in my experience the higher-rated player is quite happy to face
such a rarity.} 1. e4 e6 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2 a6 4. exd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Be2 Nf6
7. O-O Bd6 8. d4 O-O 9. Ne5 Ne7 10. Nd2 Bf5 11. g4 Bc8 12. f4 Ne4 13. Bf3 f5
14. g5 Ng6 15. Bg2 c6 16. Bc1 Bxe5 17. Nxe4 Bxf4 18. Bxf4 Nxf4 19. Rxf4 dxe4
20. h4 Be6 21. c4 a5 22. a4 Qb6 23. Kf2 Rad8 24. Ke3 Rd7 25. Ra2 Rxd4 0-1 [Event "Pattaya Thai Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.04.13"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Peng Hongchi"]
[Black "West, Guy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B01"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "40"]
[EventDate "2015.04.??"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.12"]
{On the other hand, this game shows how effective a tricky opening can be
against a lower-rated, unprepared player.} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Bg4 4. f3
Bf5 5. c4 (5. g4 Bg6 6. c4 e6 7. Nc3 exd5 8. g5 Nfd7 9. Nxd5 Nc6 10. h4 {is a
much better continuation.}) 5... e6 6. dxe6 Nc6 7. exf7+ {White is definitely
in trouble after this overly greedy move as he falls too far behind in
development.} (7. Be3 {was called for.}) 7... Kxf7 8. Be3 {Now White is
already lost!} (8. Ne2 Nb4 9. Ng3 {was the only way to resist, though Black is
definitely still for choice. Just make sure to avoid} Nc2+ 10. Kf2 Nxa1 $4 11.
Nxf5 {when the a1-knight will not make it out alive.}) 8... Bb4+ 9. Kf2 Re8 10.
Nc3 Rxe3 $3 11. Kxe3 Bc2 $1 {A very striking coup de grace, which I'm pretty
sure has occurred before in Guy's games.} 12. Ne4 (12. Qxc2 Qxd4+ 13. Ke2 Re8+
14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. fxe4 Rxe4+ {is a complete massacre - forced mate actually.})
12... Nxe4 13. fxe4 Qg5+ 14. Kf2 Bxd1 15. Rxd1 Bd2 16. Nf3 Qe3+ 17. Kg3 Qf4+
18. Kh3 h5 19. Ne5+ Nxe5 20. Be2 Qe3+ 0-1 [Event "Thailand op 15th"]
[Site "Pattaya"]
[Date "2015.04.14"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Barbosa, Oliver"]
[Black "Short, Nigel D"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D30"]
[WhiteElo "2501"]
[BlackElo "2664"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "129"]
[EventDate "2015.04.12"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.23"]
{This game was perhaps the first big surprise on the very top boards - in this
round top seed Wang Hao and Surya Shekhar Ganguly were also held to draws.} 1.
d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 a6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 b5 6. Ne5 c6 7. a4 Bb7 8. Nc3 f6 9.
Nf3 b4 10. Na2 c5 11. O-O cxd4 12. Qxd4 Qxd4 13. Nxd4 Bxg2 14. Kxg2 Kf7 15. Be3
Nd7 16. Rfd1 Ne5 17. Rac1 Rc8 18. Nf3 Be7 19. Rd4 c3 20. bxc3 {Nigel had
outplayed his opponent to this point, but makes a rare blunder.} Nc4 $2 (20...
b3 21. Nb4 Nxf3 22. Kxf3 Nh6 {would favour Black somewhat as the b-pawn is
extremely strong.}) 21. cxb4 Nxe3+ 22. fxe3 {And it turns out the c1-rook is
still protected by the a2-knight.} Nh6 23. Rdc4 Rxc4 24. Rxc4 Nf5 25. Kf2 Rb8
26. Nd4 Nd6 27. Rc7 Rb7 28. Rxb7 Nxb7 29. Ke1 Bd6 30. Kd2 Ke7 31. Kc3 Kd7 32.
Nc1 Bb8 33. Ncb3 Ba7 34. Kd3 e5 35. Nf3 Nd6 36. e4 h5 37. h3 f5 38. Nbd2 Ke6
39. exf5+ Kxf5 40. e4+ Ke6 41. Nc4 Nf7 42. b5 axb5 43. axb5 Bf2 44. g4 hxg4 45.
hxg4 Bc5 46. Kc3 Bd6 47. Kb3 Nh6 48. g5 Ng4 49. b6 Nf2 50. Ncd2 Kd7 51. Ka4 Kc6
52. Ka5 Bb8 53. Nh4 Nh3 54. g6 Nf4 55. Nb3 Ne6 56. Ka6 Nf4 57. Na5+ Kd7 58. Kb7
Bd6 59. Nc4 Bc5 60. Nxe5+ Ke6 61. Nef3 Kd7 62. Ka6 Bf2 63. Ne5+ Kc8 64. b7+ Kc7
65. Nc6 1-0 [Event "Thailand op 15th"]
[Site "Pattaya"]
[Date "2015.04.14"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Ikeda, Junta"]
[Black "Dragun, Kamil"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B40"]
[WhiteElo "2403"]
[BlackElo "2558"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2015.04.12"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.23"]
{After four rounds, Junta Ikeda was the leading Australian on 3.5/4 thanks to
the following neat win.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Be2 Nc6 4. O-O Nf6 5. Nc3 Qc7 (
5... e5 6. Bc4 Be7 7. d3 d6 8. Ng5 O-O 9. f4 {would be a funny transposition
to a line of the Anti-Sveshnikov!}) (5... d5 6. exd5 exd5 7. d4 Be6 8. Bg5 {is
quite pleasant for White.}) 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 a6 8. Be3 Be7 9. f4 d6 10. Kh1
O-O 11. a4 Rd8 (11... Re8 {is the main line.}) 12. Bf3 Na5 (12... Ne5 {would
have justified the rook's placement on the d-file.}) 13. Nde2 b6 14. b3 Bb7 15.
Qd4 Nd7 16. Bd2 Rac8 17. Rac1 Nc6 18. Qf2 Nb4 19. f5 exf5 20. exf5 d5 {White
has failed to come up with a convincing plan and Black now has the initiative
in the centre.} 21. Nd4 Nf6 22. Nce2 Qd7 23. Qg3 Bd6 24. Qh4 Re8 25. Ng3 Na2
26. Rce1 Nc3 27. Rxe8+ Qxe8 28. Bg5 Nce4 {After this mistake White gets very
serious counterplay against White's king, and} (28... Be5 {would have kept a
clear advantage.}) 29. Bxe4 Nxe4 30. f6 Bxg3 (30... Nxg3+ 31. hxg3 g6 {would
still be nice for Black, who can cover the weak g7-square by means of ...Bf8.})
31. hxg3 g6 32. g4 Rc3 33. Kg1 Qf8 {A blunder; correct was} (33... Bc8 {and
only then ...Qf8.}) 34. Ne6 {A nice move, on which Black resigned as any queen
move runs into Qh6, and taking the knight loses to f7.} 1-0 [Event "Thailand op 15th"]
[Site "Pattaya"]
[Date "2015.04.15"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Gustafsson, Jan"]
[Black "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A35"]
[WhiteElo "2639"]
[BlackElo "2708"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2015.04.12"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.23"]
{No one was left on a perfect score after 5 rounds, due in part to the
following Board 1 draw:} 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 e5 4. e3 Nf6 5. Be2 d5 6.
d4 exd4 7. exd4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 dxc4 9. Nxc6 Qxd1+ 10. Nxd1 bxc6 11. Bxc4 Bb4+ 12.
Nc3 Ne4 13. O-O Nxc3 14. Re1+ Be6 15. a3 Be7 16. Bxe6 fxe6 17. bxc3 Kf7 18. Re4
Rab8 19. Be3 Rb3 20. Rc4 c5 21. Bxc5 Rc8 22. Rf4+ Bf6 23. Bd4 Rc4 24. g3 Ra4
25. Kg2 Raxa3 26. Rxa3 Rxa3 27. Bxf6 gxf6 28. Rh4 Kg6 29. Rg4+ Kf7 30. Rh4 Kg6
31. Rg4+ Kf7 32. Rh4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Thailand op 15th"]
[Site "Pattaya"]
[Date "2015.04.16"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Swapnil, S Dhopade"]
[Black "Illingworth, Max"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D31"]
[WhiteElo "2450"]
[BlackElo "2489"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2015.04.12"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.23"]
{I'll take the opportunity to share some details about just how fantastic the
venue was. The hotel had delicious breakfast, lunch and sometimes even dinner
buffets with an eclectic range of food, and the venue was very spacious with
pleasant air conditioning. I was in a lovely sea view room with a direct view
of the whole beach. With this win I claimed a share of the tournament lead.} 1.
d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 e6 {This Triangle setup took my opponent by surprise.} 4.
e3 Bd6 (4... f5 {might run into} 5. g4 {which isn't as bad as it looks.}) 5.
Bd2 f5 (5... Nf6 6. Qc2 O-O 7. Nf3 Nbd7 8. O-O-O {was perhaps the more
standard alternative, transposing to a sideline of the Semi-Slav.}) 6. g4 {
Anyway!} Nh6 {I felt I could also be creative :)} 7. gxf5 (7. g5 Qxg5 8. e4 {
would have been a quite fun line, but the middlegame arising in the game was
also pretty fluid.}) 7... Nxf5 8. Qc2 O-O 9. O-O-O Bd7 {I wasn't sure what to
do so I developed my pieces, but with the kings castled on opposite wings it
was time to start an attack, even at the price of a pawn:} (9... b5 10. cxb5 a6
11. bxc6 ({or} 11. bxa6 Nxa6 12. a3 c5) 11... Nxc6 12. f4 Bd7 13. Nf3 Nb4 14.
Qb1 Qc7 {and Black's initiative is worth more than a pawn.}) 10. Bd3 (10. Kb1 {
was more natural.}) 10... Qf6 {Not a great square for the queen, but I was
worried about a coming e4 break.} (10... Na6 11. a3 c5 {was the correct
response, and would be quite good for Black after} 12. Nf3 (12. dxc5 Nxc5 {
tactically works for Black in light of} 13. cxd5 exd5 14. Nxd5 Ba4) 12... dxc4
13. Bxc4 cxd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. exd4 Rc8 {because of the open c-file leading
toward White's king.}) 11. Nge2 Na6 12. a3 Be8 13. e4 (13. cxd5 cxd5 14. e4 {
would be more effective as compared to the game I don't have the ...dxc4
bailout, although after} Nxd4 15. Nxd4 Qxd4 16. Be3 Qf6 17. exd5 Rc8 {the
threat of ...Bxa3 keeps Black afloat.}) (13. c5 Bc7 14. f4 {bothered me a lot
more during the game as my knight is horrible on a6 and I don't have a good
pawn break.}) 13... dxc4 14. Bxc4 Nxd4 15. Nxd4 Qxd4 16. Bxa6 (16. Bxe6+ Kh8
17. Be3 Qe5 18. Bf5 {with equality was better.}) 16... bxa6 17. Be3 Qe5 18. f4
Rxf4 {I had foreseen this exchange sacrifice, which gives me beautiful
compensation.} 19. Bxf4 Qxf4+ 20. Kb1 Rb8 21. Ka1 Be5 {My bishop on e5 is as
good as any White rook, as the White rooks don't have any entry points into my
position and my bishop pair can come to life with ...c5 and ...Bc6.} 22. Rd2 c5
23. Rhd1 Bd4 24. Rxd4 {My opponent can't stand my bishop and exchanges his
positional disadvantage for a material one, but if he held his ground with} (
24. Qd3 Qe5 25. Rc2 {I didn't see an immediate way to crash through on the
queenside.}) 24... cxd4 25. Rxd4 h6 {Again, I didn't see a way to make huge
inroads into White's position so I made some incremental improvements, which I
felt would be a much more unpleasant approach in my opponent's time pressure.}
26. Rd2 a5 27. Qd3 Rc8 28. Rc2 Qe5 {Continuing the policy of steadily building
up, although} (28... Qg5 {was also pretty strong, to prepare ...Bg6.}) 29. Qa6
Rc7 30. Ka2 {A blunder, but White was already in quite a difficult situation.}
Bb5 {White resigned.} 0-1 [Event "Thailand op 15th"]
[Site "Pattaya"]
[Date "2015.04.17"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Illingworth, Max"]
[Black "Short, Nigel D"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C82"]
[WhiteElo "2489"]
[BlackElo "2664"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "127"]
[EventDate "2015.04.12"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.23"]
{In the next round I faced Nigel Short, and after we both paced our way
through the opening, the game ended in a fairly correct draw:} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3
Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Bc5
10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Bc2 Nxf2 12. Rxf2 f6 13. exf6 Bxf2+ 14. Kxf2 Qxf6 15. Nf1 Ne5
16. Be3 Rae8 17. Bc5 Nxf3 18. gxf3 Rf7 19. Kg1 Qxf3 20. Qxf3 Rxf3 21. Re1 g6
22. Re3 Rxe3 23. Nxe3 a5 24. Bd3 c6 25. Kf2 a4 26. Nc2 Bd7 27. Nd4 Kf7 28. Nf3
Bg4 29. Nd4 Bd7 30. b3 axb3 31. axb3 h6 32. Nf3 Bg4 33. Bd4 Bxf3 34. Kxf3 Re1
35. b4 Rh1 36. Kg3 Re1 37. Kf4 Rh1 38. Kg3 Re1 39. Kf2 Rh1 40. Kg2 Re1 41. Bf1
Re4 42. Kf3 g5 43. Bh3 Ke7 44. Bc5+ Ke8 45. Bd4 Ke7 46. Kg3 h5 47. Bf5 Rf4 48.
Bg6 Rg4+ 49. Kf3 Rh4 50. Kg2 Rg4+ 51. Kh1 Rh4 52. Bf2 Rh3 53. Bc5+ Ke6 54. Bd4
g4 55. Kg2 Ke7 56. Bg7 Kd7 57. Be5 Ke6 58. Bd4 Ke7 59. Bg7 Kd7 60. Bf5+ Ke7 61.
Be5 Re3 62. Bd4 Rf3 63. Bg6 Rh3 64. Bg7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Thailand op 15th"]
[Site "Pattaya"]
[Date "2015.04.19"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"]
[Black "Wang, Hao"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C42"]
[WhiteElo "2603"]
[BlackElo "2713"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "137"]
[EventDate "2015.04.12"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.23"]
{Although I fell out of contention for first place with a painful loss to GM
Francisco Vallejo Pons, I won my last-round game to finish on 6.5/9 and equal
fifth place, winning a modest prize and being the top-scoring Australian. The
next-best Australian was Anton Smirnov on 6/9, followed by Junta Ikeda, Ari
Dale, Jack Puccini and Matthew Drummond on 5.5/9. Also noteworthy was Patrick
Gong's 5/9 which saw him gain over 100 rating points! Now let's turn to the
Round 9 games that decided the tournament. Leading this last round was Wang
Hao on a fantastic 7/8, but there was a large chasing pack that included Surya
Shekhar Ganguly. So let's see what happened...} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6
4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 {Most people would play something more aggressive in a
must-win game, but Ganguly takes the opposite approach of heading straight for
a queenless middlegame. One might think of Kasparov's approach to his must-win
games against Karpov in World Championship Matches, where he would opt for
strategically unbalanced positions where it wasn't possible to immediately
simplify the struggle.} Qe7 6. d3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10.
h3 a6 11. Re1 Nc6 12. a3 Re8 13. Be3 Bd7 14. d4 Bf8 15. Bg5 Ne4 16. Nxe4 Rxe4
17. Bd3 Rxe1+ 18. Rxe1 h6 19. Bd2 Be6 {White can try to claim an edge because
of his space advantage, but realistically it's pretty equal.} 20. c3 Na5 21. g4
Bd5 22. Kg2 Nb3 {Black goes for a fairly dynamic approach; after something like
} (22... Nc4 23. Bc1 b5 {it isn't immediately clear how White makes progress.})
23. Be3 b5 24. Kg3 Re8 25. Bf4 Rxe1 26. Nxe1 Na5 27. Nc2 Nc4 28. Bc1 Nb6 29.
Ne3 Bb3 30. Nf5 Nd5 31. Be4 Ne7 32. Nxe7+ Bxe7 33. Bb7 a5 34. Bc6 Bc4 35. h4 g5
36. hxg5 hxg5 37. d5 Kg7 (37... Be2 38. f3 Kg7 39. Kf2 Bc4 40. Ke3 a4 {was the
way to ensure the draw - White has no way to make inroads on the queenside as
Kd4 is met with ...Bf6.}) 38. Kf3 Bb3 $6 39. Ke4 Bc2+ 40. Ke3 Bb3 41. Bxb5 Bxd5
42. b4 {Black has slipped up a little and suddenly White's 'outside' queenside
majority gives him some real chances. Black doesn't react so well to this
sudden change from what seemed like a certain draw only some moves back.} c6
43. Be2 Bd8 (43... axb4 44. cxb4 Bb3 {keeps the a-pawn in check and should be
sufficient for a draw.}) 44. c4 Be6 45. Bb2+ f6 (45... Kf8 46. Bd4 Ke7 {was a
better defence, bringing the king to take care of the queenside.}) 46. Bc3 Bb6+
{But this is a real mistake which gives White a strong passed pawn and serious
winning chances.} (46... axb4 47. Bxb4 Bb6+ {was a better defence; after} 48.
Kd3 c5 49. Bc3 d5 50. cxd5 Bxd5 {Black's pieces hold up the a-pawn well enough.
}) 47. c5 {A great move, after which Black's problems amplify.} dxc5 48. bxa5
Ba7 49. f3 {Now the a7-bishop is very tied up and the doubled c-pawns could
easily become a target if White can reroute his c3-bishop.} Kf7 50. Bd1 Bc4 51.
Bc2 Ba6 (51... Ke7 {was a more tenacious defence, so that} 52. Ba4 Bd5 {is a
defence.}) 52. Ba4 {Now Black is forced to let White's pieces in.} c4+ (52...
Bb5 53. Bxb5 cxb5 54. Ke4 Ke6 55. a6 {and Ba5-d8 is winning for White, and}) (
52... Bb7 53. Ke4 c4 54. a6 Bxa6 55. Bxc6 {is also not looking great, though
Black may be able to draw by a sliver due to the reduced material.}) 53. Bd4 c5
54. Bc3 Ke6 55. Bc6 {Now that White has a plan of a4/Bb5/a6 and a penetration
path for his king, he should be winning.} f5 56. gxf5+ Kxf5 57. Bd7+ Kg6 58.
Be6 {Now Black's king is completely cut off from the queenside and it's just a
matter of bringing White's king in.} Bb8 59. Ke4 Bf4 (59... Bc7 60. Kd5 Bb7+
61. Kxc4 Bxf3 62. Bd5 g4 63. Be1 Bxd5+ 64. Kxd5 g3 65. a6 g2 66. Bf2 Bb6 67.
Kc6 Ba7 68. Kb7 c4 69. Bxa7 c3 70. Bd4 c2 71. a7 c1=Q 72. a8=Q {is a winning
endgame for White.}) 60. a4 Bc1 61. Kd5 Bb7+ 62. Kxc4 Bxf3 63. Kxc5 {Black is
simply lost as he is unable to stop White's passed a-pawn once he blocks with
the bishops.} g4 64. Bd4 (64. a6 Be3+ 65. Bd4 Bxd4+ 66. Kxd4 g3 67. Ke3 {
followed by Bc8-b7 was technically more efficient.}) 64... Ba3+ 65. Kb6 g3 66.
a6 g2 67. Bd7 Bb2 68. Bg1 Kf6 69. Bc6 {Black resigned as there's no way to
stop the a-pawn from queening. And so Ganguly reached a score of 7.5/9 for his
share of first place.} 1-0 [Event "Thailand op 15th"]
[Site "Pattaya"]
[Date "2015.04.19"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Dragun, Kamil"]
[Black "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E53"]
[WhiteElo "2558"]
[BlackElo "2708"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2015.04.12"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.23"]
{The second player to reach 7.5/9 was Polish GM Kamil Dragun, who after losing
to Junta won all of his remaining games, including this big scalp.} 1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nf3 d5 6. Bd3 b6 7. O-O c5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. a3
Bxc3 10. bxc3 c4 11. Bc2 Bg4 12. Qe1 Bh5 13. Ne5 Nfd7 14. f4 f6 15. Qh4 fxe5
16. Qxh5 Nf6 17. Qxe5 Re8 18. Qg5 Nc6 19. Rf3 Na5 20. Rg3 Qe7 21. Rb1 Nb3 22.
a4 Qf7 23. Qf5 Rad8 24. Bxb3 cxb3 25. Rxb3 Rc8 26. Bb2 Rc4 27. Ra3 Ne4 28.
Qxf7+ Kxf7 29. Rh3 Kg6 30. g4 Nf6 31. Rg3 Ne4 32. Rg2 Rec8 33. h4 Kf6 34. h5
Nxc3 35. Bxc3 Rxc3 36. Rga2 Rxa3 37. Rxa3 Rc2 38. Rb3 Ra2 39. Rc3 Rxa4 40. Rc6+
Kf7 41. Rc7+ Kg8 42. Rb7 Ra2 43. Kf1 h6 44. g5 hxg5 45. fxg5 Rh2 46. g6 Kf8 47.
Rf7+ Ke8 48. Rxg7 Rxh5 49. Rxa7 Kf8 50. Rb7 Rf5+ 51. Ke2 Rf6 52. Rd7 Rf5 53.
Kd3 Kg8 54. Kc3 Rf3 55. Kd3 Rf5 56. Rd6 b5 57. Kc3 Rf3 58. Re6 Rf1 59. Re5 1-0 [Event "Thailand op 15th"]
[Site "Pattaya"]
[Date "2015.04.19"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Ghosh, Diptayan"]
[Black "Short, Nigel D"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E21"]
[WhiteElo "2512"]
[BlackElo "2664"]
[Annotator "Illingworth,Max"]
[PlyCount "140"]
[EventDate "2015.04.12"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "THA"]
[Source "Chessbase"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.23"]
{The third and final player to reach 7.5/9 was Nigel Short, who also happened
(somewhat unexpectedly) to have the best tiebreak, meaning he got to take home
the large trophy en route to his exhibition match against Garry Kasparov in St.
Louis. The arising bishop endgame from this game was probably a draw with best
play, but after a mistake by his opponent (who just missed out on his final GM
norm if I'm not mistaken) Short was merciless.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4
4. Nf3 b6 5. Bg5 Bb7 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 d6 9. Nd2 g5 10. Bg3 Nbd7
11. f3 Qe7 12. e4 Nh5 13. Bf2 f5 14. Qc2 O-O-O 15. O-O-O fxe4 16. Nxe4 Ndf6 17.
Ng3 Kb8 18. Re1 Qf7 19. Be3 Nf4 20. h4 Rhg8 21. hxg5 hxg5 22. Qd2 e5 23. Nf5
Qd7 24. dxe5 Qxf5 25. exf6 Qxf6 26. Qd4 Qf7 27. Bxf4 gxf4 28. Rh4 Rdf8 29. Rh6
Re8 30. Rxe8+ Qxe8 31. Qd2 Qe7 32. Bd3 Qg5 33. Re6 Bc6 34. Re2 Qc5 35. Kb2 Qg1
36. Bh7 Rg5 37. Bc2 a5 38. a3 Kc8 39. Qxf4 Rxg2 40. Rxg2 Qxg2 41. Qg4+ Qxg4 42.
fxg4 Kd7 43. Kc1 Ke6 44. g5 Ke5 45. Kd2 Bd7 46. Ke3 Bf5 47. Bd1 Be6 48. Bc2
Bxc4 49. Bb1 Be6 50. Bd3 Bf5 51. Bb5 Bg6 52. Bd7 Bf7 53. Kf3 Be6 54. Be8 Kf5
55. g6 Kf6 56. Ke4 Bb3 57. Kd4 Be6 58. Ke4 Ba2 59. Kd4 Bb3 60. c4 Bd1 61. Ke4
Be2 62. Kd4 c5+ 63. Kc3 Bg4 64. Kb3 Be6 65. Kc3 Bf5 66. Kb3 Bxg6 67. Bxg6 Kxg6
68. Ka4 Kf5 69. Kb5 Ke5 70. Kxb6 a4 {All in all, I had a great time in
Thailand (it's hard not to with such fabulous playing and living conditions)
and I look forward to playing the tournament again in the future! One tip I
would give to those thinking of playing this event once in their life is -
choose Pattaya!} 0-1 