IM Robert Hess came into this tournament on the back of his 7-0 performance at SuperNationals the weekend prior. After 3 rounds he’s now made it 10 in a row and, more impressively, 23 wins from his last 26 games, which includes the SPICE Invitational. Hess was also quick to inform me that his win means that for the last 3 Foxwoods Opens he has started each one 3-0, with a win over a Grandmaster in round 3 each time!
His round 3 encounter with GM Jaan Ehlvest was particularly pleasing for him as Ehlvest usually has his number. However, in the following position, Hess stunned the GM.
IM Robert Hess-GM Jaan Ehlvest, Round 3
Position after 13…Rb8
14.Bxe7!
A positional sacrifice that made Ehlvest think.
14…Nxe7
14…Kxe7 is probably better but Hess reeled off a line of analysis to me that explained he was willing to give up the piece for two pawns and the black king stuck in the middle of the board.
15.Bxb7 Qxa3
If 15…Rxb7 then 16.Ne4 is deadly.
16.Ne4 0–0 17.Qxd6 Qxd6 18.Nxd6 Nf5 19.Bxa6 Ne3 20.Rd2 Ra8 21.Bb7 Ra1+ 22.Ke2 Nf5 23.g4 Nxd6 24.Rxd6 Nc8 25.Ra6 Rc1 26.Kd2 Rf1 27.Ne2 Rxh1 28.Bxh1
Hess has consolidated his material advantage and now the dust has settled he is just two pawns to the good. The rest was simple, but for one small trap that was avoided.
28…g5 29.Ra5 gxf4 30.Rxb5 Ne7 31.Be4 Ng6 32.Bxg6 fxg6 33.Nd4 f3 34.Ke1 Bh6
Position after 34…Bh6
35.e6
Not 35.Kf2? which loses to 35…Be3+!
35…Bd2+ 36.Kf1 Bc3 37.e7 Re8 38.Nc6 1–0
Joining Hess on a perfect score after 3 rounds are GMs Shulman, Akobian and Sadvakasov and another young IM, Sam Shankland. Shankland is fresh from his US Championship qualification tournament victory, the State Champion of Champions event, that was played online. He has flown in under the radar so far but in round 4 he’ll get to play Dutch GM, Loek Van Wely.
In other news from the round, GM Hikaru Nakamura ensured we got to see the King’s Gambit on board 1. Not sure how often that happens nowadays but it was refreshing. Unfortunately the game against GM Alex Ivanov fizzled out very quickly and they soon agreed to a draw.
IM Ray Robson managed to hold a tough position against GM Alex Shabalov while FM Darwin Yang lost his perfect score thanks to some sacrifices from Georgian GM, Giorgi Kacheishvili. GM Darmen Sadvakasov’s kingside onslaught was too much for IM David Vigorito to handle and GM Pascal Charbonneau blundered to give GM Varuzhan Akobian a relatively easy win, at least for an all GM match-up.
All the above games are included in the PGN Database for your pleasure. We also now have a small photo gallery for you to view and hope to increase the size of that over the next few days.