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GMs Darmen Sadvakasov and Yury Shulman finished tied for 1st with 7½/9
GM Darmen Sadvakasov came from behind to catch GM Yury Shulman in the final round, and then he took the Foxwoods Open Champion title by beating Shulman in an Armageddon Play-Off.
Shulman had been leading the tournament from the start and had a half-point lead over his nearest rivals going into the 9th and final round. However, he could only manage a draw with GM Jaan Ehlvest, which meant that the door was open for either Sadvakasov or IM Alex Lenderman who were playing each other on board 2.
Playing a solid Exchange Slav, Lenderman ended up getting into a bad ending, a dreadful bishop against a marauding knight, that allowed the Kazakhstani GM the chance to slowly grind away at the position with no risk of losing.
IM Alex Lenderman-GM Darmen Sadvakasov, Round 9
Position after 27.Bxc3
This position looks harmless enough and should not be lost. I think Lenderman thought the same and started to relax, making moves very quickly as each player reached the first time control with an hour to spare.
27… Nb8 28. Kf2 Nc6 29. e4 f6 30. Ke3 Kf7 31. g4 Kg6 32. h4 h5 33. exd5 exd5 34. Kf4 hxg4 35. fxg4 Kf7 36. g5 g6 37. gxf6 Kxf6 38. Kg4 a5 39. Be1 a4
Position after 39…a4
We are only 13 moves on from the position shown earlier and already Sadvakasov has made significant progress. The white bishop will be continuously tied down to defending pawns. Now if only the black king could somehow get into the white camp.
40. Kf4 Nd8 41. Kg4 Nf7 42. Bd2 Nd6 43. Be3 Nc4 44. Bc1 Na5 45. Bd2 Nb3 46. Be3 Na1 47. Bd2 Nc2 48. Kf4 Ke6 49. Bc3 Na1 50. Bd2 Nb3 51. Be3 Na5 52. Bd2 Nc4 53. Bc1 Nd6 54. Be3 Kf7 55. Bd2 Kf6 56. Be3 Nf5 57. Bf2 Ng7 58. Kg4 Ne6 59. Be3 Ke7 60. Kf3 Kd7 61. Ke2 Ke7 62. Kf3 Kd6 63. Ke2 Kd7 64. Kf3 b4 65. Ke2 b3
Position after 65…b3
The b-pawn advances to b3, which creates some tactical threats. However, it is likely that this should still not be enough to win although Sadvakasov keeps pressing.
66. Kd3 Nd8 67. Bg5 Nc6 68. Kc3 Ke6 69. Bh6 Kf5 70. Bg7 Ke4
Position after 70…Ke4
Sadvakasov’s king marches into the position. Lenderman’s king and bishop become overworked and something has to give.
71. Bf6 Ke3 72. Bg7 Ke2 73. Bh6 Ne7 74. Kb4 Kd3 75. Bg5
Position after 75.Bg5
75… Kc2!
There is no stopping the capture of the b2 pawn and the black pawn will queen.
76. Bxe7 Kxb2 0-1
This win catapulted Sadvakasov into a share with Shulman which meant an Armageddon blitz tie-break game. Shulman won last year’s title the same way and once again had the better tie-breaks and elected to have the white pieces. This year though the time control was slightly different with white having 5 minutes to black’s 3 minutes and both sides having a 5-second delay. Black would be declared the winner if the game was drawn. On the line was the title of Foxwoods Open Champion 2009 and a complimentary hotel room for next year’s event.
I won’t go into analysing the play-off game as I didn’t think it was too interesting. Sadvakasov seemed to be in control, trading off pieces at every opportunity. After about 19 moves both players had about 1:30 remaining and to me it didn’t seem to be as exciting as a normal blitz game, primarily due to the 5-second delay. Of course both players were moving quickly, probably forgetting they could relax a little, but the usual time scramble tension just never materialized. There was however one moment of tension when in the following position Sadvakasov nearly blundered.
GM Yury Shulman-GM Darmen Sadvakasov, Armageddon Play-Off
Position after 29.b3
Here Sadvakasov picked up his bishop and was just about to release it on c8 when he realized that 30.f6+ would net Shulman a piece. He managed to keep hold of the bishop, eventually placing it on a6 and then went on to easily hold the ending. Eventually Shulman offered a draw with both players having 7 or 8 seconds left but Sadvakasov was starting to get on top and with the 5-second delay, there was no hope for him to win on time.
Finishing in sole 3rd place with 7/9 was Dutch GM Loek Van Wely who managed to beat his good friend Jorge Sammour Hasbun in the final round. The final position recorded was not the final position in the game as Sammour Hasbun managed to blunder a piece in an eventual time scramble.
Just another half-point behind Van Wely was a group of seven players that included the aforementioned Lenderman and GMs Julio Becerra, Jaan Ehlvest, Alex Shabalov and Josh Friedel, IM Jay Bonin and FM Farai Mandizha.
On the norm front, IM Robert Hess sort of overshadowed the tournament itself as he secured his 3rd and final GM norm with a quick draw against Toshiyuk Moriuchi. Hess had a great tournament, beating GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Ehlvest and drawing with GMs Varuzhan Akobian, Shulman and Van Wely. Only an 8th round loss to Sadvakasov prevented him from being in contention for the tournament itself although that particular result worked in his favor, at least from a norm perspective, as the pairing Gods performed a miracle to give him 3 foreigners in the final 3 rounds. This capped an amazing few previous weeks for Hess after winning the Spice International and the K12 Supernationals tournaments just prior to this event. It also meant he had come full circle in just one year after earning his 1st GM norm by finishing tied for 1st in last year’s Foxwoods event.
Another norm was also earned by FM Tegshsuren Enkhbat who secured a draw in the final round against GM Pascal Charboneau. This is Enkhbat’s 2nd IM norm, the previous one also earned at Foxwoods last year. The only person missing from completing an amazing deja vu of last year’s norms was Chris Williams!
Thanks to everyone who participated in this year’s exciting event and we look forward to seeing you next year.
GM Yury Shulman, current US Champion and winner of last year’s Foxwoods Open after a blitz tie-break game, is coasting into yet another 1st place finish after crushing GM Alex Shabalov on board 1 in round 7. Shulman’s devastating attack was too much for the former US Champion to handle.
GM Yury Shulman-GM Alex Shabalov, Round 7
br1bqr1k/3R4/2p4p/2P1ppp1/4B3/P4N2/1P3PPP/2QR1K2 w – – 0 30
Position after 29…g5
30. R1d6 Be7 31. Rxh6+ Kg8 32. Qc4+ Qf7 33. Qxf7+ Rxf7 34. Nxe5 Rf6 35. Rg6+ Kf8 36. Rxf6+ Bxf6 1-0
This win leaves Shulman with 6½/7 a half-point clear over IM Alex Lenderman who sits all by himself on 6/7 after his excellent win over GM Varuzhan Akobian.
GM Varuzhan Akobian-IM Alex Lenderman, Round 7
5rk1/5q1p/2p2r2/p1Pp2p1/P2Pp1b1/4P1P1/NR3PP1/4KQ1R b K – 0 27
Position after 27.Na2
Here Akobian offered Lenderman, which Lenderman turned down by playing…
27…Qa7!
A cruel move for Akobian to meet while in severe time pressure. Look at how the white queen has no squares!
28.Nc3 Rb8 29. Rxb8+ Qxb8 30. Nb5
1q4k1/7p/2p2r2/pNPp2p1/P2Pp1b1/4P1P1/5PP1/4KQ1R b K – 0 30
Position after 30.Nb5
30…Bd7!
Black can play 30…cxb5 but after 31.Qxb5 white has play fot the piece even though black still probably has an edge. The move played by Lenderman is best as the white knight cannot escape, e.g. 31. Nd6 Qb1+ 32. Kd2 Qb2+ 33. Ke1 Qc3+ 34. Kd1 Bg4+
31. Kd2 cxb5 32. axb5 Bxb5 33. Qb1 Rxf2+ 34. Kc3 Re2 0-1
A great game by Lenderman who has everything to play for in terms of the tournament, but unfortunately nothing left in terms of norms as he will not have played enough foreigners.
On the next two boards, the two longest games of the night were taking place. IM Robert Hess, luckily paired against the Dutch GM Loek Van Wely to keep his norm hopes alive, at least from the foreign opposition perspective, managed to save a pawn down position to see himself onto 5½/7. This draw for Hess would be good enough for a GM norm but he has to play 2 foreigners in the final two rounds. Time to start praying to the pairing Gods, although he will meet one in round 8 as he and GM Darmen Sadvakasov are the only two players in the 5½ score group.
On board 4, GM Hikaru Nakamura was unable to convert a won position against GM Josh Friedel. In the end Nakamura had to try and win a rook and knight versus rook ending, theoretically drawn but not always so easy in practice. However, Friedel showed that he knew enough about the ending to hold it and in the middle of the night a draw was reached on the 50 move rule.
The final day’s play is going to see Lenderman play Shulman and Sadvakasov play Hess on boards 1 and 2 respectively. Play starts at 10:00 am EST so be sure to tune in and follow all the action.
The top two boards in round 6 of the Foxwoods Open were quickly agreed drawn so that the players could go and get some much needed rest before they continued the battle at the top of the standings this evening. This meant that GM Yury Shulman would at least retain a half-point lead over his rivals and guaranteed that the other 3 players, GMs Varuzhan Akobian and Alex Shabalov, along with IM Robert Hess, would all still be just half-point back of the US Champion.
This did, however, also mean that all the boards from 3 down were tense fights, with players trying to score the win. There were 7 player on 4/5, meaning a win would catapult them into the group of players just half-point off the lead.
The only player to do so was young IM, Alex Lenderman. Lenderman scored the following victory of GM Alex Yermolinsky on board 4.
IM Alex Lenderman-GM Alex Yermolinsky, Round 6
r4bk1/1p3N2/2ppq2p/7Q/p1P5/6r1/PP4P1/3R1R1K w – – 0 34
Position after 33…Rg3
34. Rxd6!
A nasty move to meet in time trouble. “Yermo” had about 3 minutes to reach move 40.
34…Bxd6 35. Nxh6+ Kg7 36. Nf5+ Kg8 37. Nxg3 Bxg3 38. Qg5+ Kh7 39. Qxg3 Re8 40. c5 Re7 41. Qd3+ Qg6 42. Rf5 Kg7 43. Qd4+ Kg8 44. Qc4+ Kg7 45. Qd4+ Kg8 46. Qf4 Qe6
6k1/1p2r3/2p1q3/2P2R2/p4Q2/8/PP4P1/7K w – – 0 47
Position after 46…Qe6
47. Qg4+ 1-0
47…Rg7 is met by 48.Rf8+ winning the queen.
The sad news, for both Lenderman and Hess who have both put in great tournaments so far, is that there is a lack of foreign players at the top of the standings. This probably means that despite their great results, they sadly could be out of norm contention.
Moving ominously into the 4½ point score group after round 6 are GMs Hikaru Nakamura, who bounced back with a win against IM Dean Ippolito, and Loek Van Wely. Van Wely finished off IM Justin Sarkar in the following game.
GM Loek Van Wely-IM Justin Sarkar, Round 6
rn3r2/3qppk1/7p/pp1P2p1/4P3/4QN2/5PPP/2R1R1K1 w – – 0 22
Position after 21…Kxg7
22. Nxg5! hxg5 23. Qxg5+ Kh7 24. Qh5+ Kg7 25. Re3 Ra6
1n3r2/3qppk1/r7/pp1P3Q/4P3/4R3/5PPP/2R3K1 w – – 0 26
Position after 25…Ra6
26. Rc6!
This move had to be seen before sacrificing the knight on g5.
26…Rxc6 27. dxc6 Qxc6 28. Rg3+ Qg6 29. Qe5+ Kg8 30. Rxg6+ fxg6 31. Qxb5 Rc8 32. h4 1-0
Also joining them is GM Julio Becerra who seems to have recovered from an earlier upset loss to IM Ray Robson. (Can we stop calling losses to Hess, Lenderman, Robson and IM Sam Shankland upsets?)
GM Julio Becerra-FM Alex Betaneli, Round 6
2rb2k1/1rq2ppp/p2p1n2/1b1Pp3/1Pp1P3/2P1B2P/R1BNQPP1/R5K1 w – – 0 28
Positon after 27…Bd8
28. Rxa6! Bxa6 29. Rxa6 Qe7 30. Ba4 Bc7 31. Bc6 Bb8 32. Bxb7 Qxb7 33.Ra2 1-0
Round 7 starts at 6:00 pm EST and then we’ll just have one final day’s play tomorrow with round 8 starting at 10:00 am EST and the final round at 4:30 pm EST.
After 5 rounds of the Foxwoods Open 2009, GM Yury Shulman leads the way with a perfect 5/5. In round 4 he defeated GM Darmen Sadvaksov and in round 5 he took out 2nd seed, GM Loek Van Wely. Shulman has a half-point lead over GMs Varuzhan Akobian and Alex Shabalov, and IM Robert Hess.
Shulman started the day with the black pieces on board 1 against GM Darmen Sadvakasov. Playing his usual French Defense, Shulman sacrificed a pawn that provided compensation in Sadvakasov’s ruined pawn structure. In the end this lead to Shulman getting his sacrificed pawn back plus an extra one, which he managed to convert in true GM fashion.
In the 5th round Shulman got the white pieces against Van Wely. Play developed out of the opening with Van Wely obtaining an extra pawn but unable to castle.
GM Yury Shulman-GM Loek Van Wely, Round 5
5k1r/p4p2/3Np2p/3bP3/7b/3RBP2/1r4P1/2R3K1 b – – 0 27
Position after 27.Rc1
Here Van Wely blundered with 27…Bg3? allowing Shulman to finish off the game quickly with 28.Rxd5 exd5 29.Nf5 (threatening 30.Rc8#) Ke8 30.Nxg3 Kd7 31.Bd4 Rbb8 32.Ra1 1–0
Of the group of people on 4½, IM Robert Hess probably caused the biggest sensation by beating GM Hikaru Nakamura in round 5. Nakamura employed yet another gambit, this time from the English, and eventually an equal position was reached where he managed to regain the gambitted pawn. However, Nakamura then proceeded to play a couple of inaccuracies and Hess’ position came to life with his queen and bishop gaining way too much activity and pressure against an open king.
GM Hikaru Nakamura-IM Robert Hess, Round 5
3q4/1p3k1p/5pp1/p1P1pb2/1P6/Q4B2/P4PPP/2K5 b – – 0 30
Position after 30.b4
30…Qd4!
Activity is the key. Black’s queen dominates despite the fact that all his queenside pawns will disappear.
31. bxa5 Qxf2 32. Qb3+ Kg7 33. Qxb7+ Kh6 34. Qb2 Qxc5+ 35. Kd1 e4!
Closing in the bishop and winning White’s remaining queenside pawn. Black will soon be two pawns to the good in a totally winning position.
36. Be2 e3 37. Ke1 Qxa5+ 38. Kf1 Qc7 39. Qd4 Qc1+ 40. Qd1 Qb2 41. a4 Qb4 42. Kg1 Bd7 43. Qa1 Qf4 44. Qf1 Qxf1+ 45. Kxf1 Bxa4 46. Bd3 Bd1 47. Be2 Bc2 48. Bb5 f5 49. g3 g5 0-1
Another key victory was scored by GM Alex Shabalov against GM Alex Ivanov on board 4. Shabalov’s e and f pawns formed a formidable battering ram into Ivanov’s position and a couple of sacrifices later the full point was wrapped up although officially Ivanov lost on time after he left himself with only 30 seconds remaining to make another 10 moves before the first time control.
Other key results from the day were IM Ray Robson’s win over GM Julio Becerra in round 4 only to follow that up with a loss in round 5 to Akobian, while IM Sam Shankland put up a brave fight against Van Wely in round 4 only to go down in the longest game of the round. Shankland did pick himself up from that setback though and drew GM Jaan Ehlvest in round 5, although Shankland immediately pointed out a cute win to Ehlvest that was available a couple of moves before the draw was agreed.
IM Sam Shanland-GM Jaan Ehlvest, Round 5
2r3k1/1p6/p3p1p1/1n1pP2p/rR3P2/2P2KPP/1PN5/3R4 b – – 0 38
Position after 38.Rb4
Shankland just played 38.Rb4 and immediately spotted a move that would have given Ehlvest a possibly winning edge. Thankfully Ehlvest only had a couple of minutes to reach the time control and played 38…Rxb4 and after 39.Nxb4 a draw was agreed.
Ehlvest of course should have played the neat tactic 38…Nxc3! winning at least a pawn.
Saturday’s action starts at 11:00 am EST and live games can be followed here at www.foxwoodsopen.com. All of the above games, plus many more (102 in total) are available by downloading the PGN file.
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
1r2k1nr/1b2ppbp/pn1p2p1/1pq1P1B1/5P2/PPN2B2/2PQ2PP/3RK1NR w Kk – 0 14
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
5rk1/7p/6pb/1R2P3/3N2P1/1P3p2/2P4P/4K3 w – – 0 35
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.
The 11th Annual Foxwoods Open got underway on Wednesday with over 120 players competing in the 9 round Open Section. This year’s event is a tough competition with 14 GMs, 14 IMs, 22 FMs, 3 WIMs and 1 WFM, a total of over 50 titled players, among the list of competitors battling it out for the biggest money on offer (at least $70,000) in the chess world over the Easter weekend.
Here at the Foxwoods Casino Resort, it is getting harder and harder to navigate the boundaries of chess and poker as most of the top players in the tournament can all be heard whispering about how good or bad they are doing at the tables. In fact, on the first day of the event a World Poker Tour event was wrapping up it’s final day up in the Grand Ballroom, which is were the chess tournament is located from round 3 onwards, or the entire events for those in the Under 2100 section or below.
To concentrate more on the chess tournament, the Foxwoods Open serves as a different type of event from the usual major weekend swisses across the country as it is 9 rounds and, much to the liking of many players, there is only one possible schedule. This means that all the players get to play all 9 rounds together and also that players cannot come sneaking into the top of the standings in later rounds by virtue of some quick games.
Another benefit to all the strong players being available to everyone for the whole event is for norm purposes. Inevitably, players get a crack at picking off a strong player or two and, more importantly, the chance of scoring a GM or IM norm. The only sad news on the norm front for this year’s event is that we are a couple of titled foreign players short of using the “foreign waiver” rule. This means all Americans will need to play at least 4 foreign players.
After 2 rounds of play, 21 players still have a perfect score. Amongst them are some players you may have heard of before such as GMs Nakamura, Van Wely, Shulman, Becerra, Akobian, Ehlvest, Shabalov, Sadvakasov, Perelshteyn, Ivanov, Yermolinsky, Friedel and Charbonneau. In fact the only GM not on a perfect score is GM Giorgi Kacheishvili who now has to play a “Swiss Gambit” after giving up a half-point to Canadian FM Michael Dougherty in round 1.
Also included in the group is IM Robert Hess. Hess was the joint winner at Foxwoods last year, securing his first GM norm. He recently scored his 2nd GM norm at the Texas Tech Invitational, which also put his rating above the required 2500 FIDE mark. Will he complete the Foxwoods circle at this event and get his 3rd and final norm? It would be great if he could, made even more special by the fact that all his norms would have been scored on American soil, something that most don’t think is possible.
The lowest rated player on 2 points is young FM Darwin Yang. Yang has proved himself more than worthy of the FM title that was bestowed upon him at a world youth tournament some time ago and in round 2 he scored one of very few upsets so far, beating seasoned IM Bryan Smith. His reward being a drop down to the next score group in round 3 to play Kacheishvili. At least he’s foreign.
There was a lot of interesting action over both the initial rounds but unfortunately it seems I don’t have that particular stuff in the tournament database yet. Hopefully that little problem will be solved soon. However, I will leave this particular report with the following neat finish from Varuzhan Akobian in round 1.
Varuzhan Akobian-Jonathan Hilton, Round 1
2brr1k1/p2Rp2p/1pn1PppB/2p5/2B5/8/PQ3PPP/6K1 w – – 0 23
Position after 22…Bc8
Here Akobian finished off the game in style with 23.Qxf6! exf6 24.e7+ Kh8 25.exd8(Q) 1-0. For more on this game please see Jonathan’ own blog at Chess Life Online.
Keep tuned to www.foxwoodsopen.com for live games and more reports over the next few days.
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Mask Requirements Please note that the mask requirements for individual events are constantly changing. Please check the Tournament Information link for each event to obtain the latest information regarding the mask requirements.
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