Who could stop Deep Sengupta? That seemed like a legitimate question when after 20 or so moves we took a look at the position at the top board of the Open tournament. But Jan Werle had polished this tactical skills for this tournament, and he immediately grabbed the first small chance he was offered. And so the Indian grandmaster proved to be fallible after all, and Werle took the lead. No less than nine players are trailing him by half a point.
Photo: Frans Peeters
Werle - Sengupta
Black has built up quite some pressure. ‘I had absolutely zilch in the opening’, Werle admitted. ‘I had already offered a draw somewhere.’ (on move 17)
Here Black can already grab a pawn with 22...Nxa4! 23.bxa4 Rac8, and 23.Bxd5 Nxb2 24.Bxa8 Nxd1 also doesn’t work for White. Werle himself was expecting 22…Le4 23.Qe2 Qb7 24.f3 Bd5 ‘and I didn’t know yet what I was going to play here.’
22...Bxc4!? 23.Qxc4 Rac8 24.Rd2!
The right idea.
24...Kh7?!
It turns out that Black should have played 24...Ne4! here anyway. After 25.Qxc8 Rxc8 26.Rxc8+ Kh7 27.Rdc2 Qd6 and ...Qd5, he has the initiative. In this position the queen is stronger than the two rooks because it is nimbler, and, especially, because b3 remains weak.
25.Rdc2
25...e5?
Black could still reinforce c5 here with the hard-to-find move 25...Rd5, as now 26.e4? is no good due to 26...Rdd8! and everything in White’s camp is ‘loose’.
26.Qb5!
Now the pin along the c-file is lethal.
26...Qd6 27.Nf3 e4 28.Bxf6 Qxf6 29.Nd4 Nd3 30.Rxc8 Qxf2+ 31.Kh2 Rxd4 32.R1c2 Qf1 33.exd4
There is no attack.
33...e3 34.Re8 f5 35.Rxe3 Qf4+ 36.Rg3 1–0
The Indian grandmasters Vishnu and Gupta didn’t hurt each other on board 2. Benjamin Bok did hurt Erwin l’Ami a little, one board down. Against the Caro-Kann he used the same Short Variation that Jorden van Foreest also played twice against Timman in their match. Commentator Cor van Wijgerden refused to analyse this opening with the ironic remark ‘I don’t understand anything of this anyway.’ The plan with b2-b3 and c3-c4 surprised l’Ami. ‘After that I had to defend pretty heavily’, the black player said. Luckily for him, Bok sank into deep thought in a good position and then offered a draw.
Antonios Pavlidis joined the pursuers by beating the strong Czech grandmaster Jiri Stocek. He had a slight advantage when they entered the final phase of the game, but Stocek himself gave the decisive push.
Stocek - Pavlidis
Black is a little better here – how should he profit?
26...f4
This makes the game more attractive than the slightly favourable rook ending after 26...Qxd5 27.Nxf5 Qxf5.
27.Rd1 Ba4! 28.b3 fxe3
The strike on f7 is not a great problem.
29.Qxf7+ Kh8 30.Ne2
Of course not 30.bxa4 e2!.
30...Re7 31.Qf3 Bxb3 32.Rd4 Rae8 33.d6 Rd7 34.Rc1 Qe5 35.Rd3 Rf7
36.d7? Rxf3 37.gxf3
In time-trouble Stocek must have thought that he could play 37.dxe8Q+ Qxe8 38.gxf3, but then 38...Qg6+ 39.Kh1 Qxd3 wins decisive material.
37...Rd8 0–1
Debashis-Bogner
30.Re3!?
A pretty intuitive decision, Debashis said. ‘After 30...axb4 31.cxb4 Nxb4 32.Qc4 White has a strong bishop on a1 without a counterpart, and all his pieces are active. That must be enough compensation, I didn’t calculate any further.’ After, for instance, 32...Nc6 33.Rc1, White also has annoying pressure along the c-file.
30…Kg7 31.Rd1 Rbd8 32.Rxd8 Rxd8 33.Nd3
33...Nf3+?!
In time-trouble it is now Black who sacrifices a pawn – at least in the long term. It looks better to ‘fill’ the long diagonal with 33...axb4 34.cxb4 Nd4. Then White has a strong passed pawn on the queenside, but Black has central play.
34.Bxf3 gxf3 35.b5 Nb8 36.c4
First gain space on the queenside and put pressure on e5. In the long term, the f3-pawn cannot be held.
36...Nd7
37.Nf4 Nc5 38.Nxg6 Kxg6 39.Rxf3
Simple chess. Black loses a pawn and he has a number of weaknesses in return for it.
39...f6 40.Bc3 Qe6 41.Bxa5 Rd4 42.Bxc7 Rxc4 43.Rc3 1–0
The following game was submitted for the round prize. Under ‘Date’ the black player had written ‘the future’. For today was the date at which the time travelers Marty McFly and Doctor Emmett Brown arrived in the film ‘Back to the Future’.
Kouwenhoven - Losekoot
Black leaves the exchange for what it is, and now he strikes on the queenside:
15...Bxb2
The direct 15...Ba6! was even better, in order to make a real sacrificial game of it.
16.Rd1?
Relatively best was 16.0–0, after which White remains a healthy pawn behind. Now the fireworks start.
16...Qc7 17.Bxf8 Ba6! 18.c4 Bxc4 19.f4
19...Bf6
Threatening, for example, 20...Rb2, but also 20...Bh4+. In fact, anything but taking back a bishop.
20.g3 Rb2 21.Qe3 Qa5+ 22.Rd2 Rxd2
Followed by winning the queen. White resigned.
