GM HELGI Gretarsson showed the brilliance of his yesteryears in beating former World Championship candidate GM Johann Hjartarson, 1½-½, in their tiebreak match to advance to the next round of the 2021 Icelandic Cup-World Cup Qualifier in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The 44-year-old Gretarsson – the 1994 World Junior Chess Champion and 1998 FIDE World Chess Championship Knockout contender –pulled the rug under the 3rd seed Hjartarson by sticking to his pet Modern Defense and winning the second tiebreak game in a wild and wooly fight.
The semi round pairings will pit Gretarsson versus 2nd seed GM Hannes Stefansson, while another Gretarsson – top seed GM Hfinaljorvar Gretarsson – will meet 4th seed IM Gudmundur Kjartansson. Here’s the complete score of the Gretarsson-Hjartarsson duel:
Gretarsson, He (2440)-Hjartarson, J (2525) [D24]
Reykjavik (1.2) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 b5 6.e5 Nd5 7.Nxb5 Nb6 8.Be2 Nc6 9.0-0 Be7 10.Qd2 0-0 11.Rd1 Rb8 12.Nc3 Nb4 13.Qf4 Nc2 14.Rb1 Nd5 15.Qd2 Nxc3 16.Qxc3 Na3 17.Ra1 Bb4 18.Qe3 Nc2 19.Qe4 Nxa1 20.Ng5 g6 21.Qh4 h5 22.Bxh5 Qe7 23.Be2 f6 24.Ne4 fxe5 25.Qg3 exd4 26.Bh6 Bb7 27.Qxg6+ Kh8 28.Bxf8 Rxf8 29.Ng5 Nc2 30.Bxc4 Bd5 31.Rd3 Ne3 32.Rxd4 Nf5 33.Rd3 Qg7 34.Rh3+ Kg8 35.Qxe6+ Bxe6 36.Bxe6+ Rf7 37.Bxf7+ Qxf7 38.Nxf7 Kxf7 39.g4 Ne7 40.f4 Bd6 41.f5 Kf6 42.Kg2 Nd5 43.Kf3 Nb4 44.Rh6+ Kg7 45.g5 Nd3 46.f6+ Kf7 47.Ke4 Ke8 1-0
Hjartarson, J (2525)-Gretarsson, He (2440) [B06]
Reykjavik (1.3) 2021
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6 5.Qd2 b5 6.h4 Nf6 7.f3 h5 8.0-0-0 c6 9.Kb1 Qc7 10.Qe1 Nbd7 11.Nh3 Bb7 12.Ng5 c5 13.d5 Ne5 14.f4 Neg4 15.Bc1 Bc8 16.Ne2 Nd7 17.Ng3 Nb6 18.Be2 Nc4 19.Bd3 0-0 20.e5 dxe5 21.f5 e4 22.Bxc4 bxc4 23.fxg6 fxg6 24.d6 Qb7 25.N3xe4 Bf5 26.Qe2 Ne5 27.Nxc5 Qc8 28.dxe7 Re8 29.Rd5 Rxe7 30.Bf4 Bg4 31.Qf2 Nc6 32.Bd6 Re2 33.Qf7+ Kh8 34.Qxg6 Qe8 35.Qh7# 1-0
Gretarsson, He (2440)-Hjartarson, J (2525) [E12]
Reykjavik (1.3) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Ba6 5.Qc2 c5 6.d5 exd5 7.cxd5 g6 8.Nc3 Bg7 9.g3 0-0 10.Bg2 d6 11.0-0 Nbd7 12.h3 Re8 13.Re1 b5 14.e4 Qc8 15.Bf4 b4 16.Na4 Bb5 17.axb4 cxb4 18.Qxc8 Raxc8 19.Bxd6 Nxe4 20.Bxb4 Rc4 21.Bc3 Rxa4 22.Rxa4 Bxa4 23.Bxg7 Kxg7 24.Nd4 Nef6 25.Rxe8 Nxe8 26.b3 Bxb3 27.Nxb3 Kf6 28.Na5 Nc5 29.Nc6 a6 30.f4 Nd6 31.Kf2 Ncb7 32.g4 a5 33.g5+ Kg7 34.Ke3 a4 35.Kd4 a3 36.Nb4 f6 37.Bf1 h6 38.gxh6+ Kxh6 39.Bd3 Kh5 40.Bb1 f5 41.Ke5 Nc4+ 42.Kf6 Nbd6 43.Ba2 Ne4+ 44.Ke7 Ncd6 45.Nc2 Kh4 46.Nxa3 Kxh3 47.Nc4 Nxc4 48.Bxc4 Kg3 49.d6 Nxd6 50.Kxd6 Kxf4 51.Kd5 g5 52.Kd4 g4 53.Bd5 Kg3 54.Ke3 f4+ 55.Ke2 f3+ 56.Kf1 Kf4 57.Bc6 g3 58.Bb7 Ke3 59.Bc6 g2+ 60.Kg1 Ke2 61.Bb5+ Ke1 62.Ba6 ½-½
Hjartarson, J (2525)-Gretarsson, He (2440) [B06]
Reykjavik (1.4) 2021
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Qe2 0-0 6.e5 dxe5 7.dxe5 Nd5 8.h3 Be6 9.0-0 Nd7 10.a4 c6 11.Re1 Qc7 12.Bd2 a5 13.Nc3 N7b6 14.Bxd5 Bxd5 15.Nxd5 cxd5 16.Be3 Nd7 17.Bd4 e6 18.c3 Rfc8 19.h4 Qc4 20.Qe3 Nb8 21.h5 Nc6 22.g3 Qb3 23.Re2 Ne7 24.hxg6 fxg6 25.g4 Qc4 26.Kg2 h6 27.Nd2 Qa6 28.f4 h5 29.Rf2 hxg4 30.Qg3 Kf7 31.Qxg4 Nf5 32.Nf3 Rc4 33.Kg1 Rh8 34.b3 Rcc8 35.Rd1 Rh6 36.Rdd2 Rch8 37.c4 dxc4 38.bxc4 Bf8 39.Ng5+ Ke8 40.Nf3 Bb4 41.Rc2 Qc6 42.Rh2 Nxd4 43.Nxd4 Bc5 44.Rcd2 Rxh2 45.Qxg6+ Kd8 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Rg2!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Ke5 2.Re2#; 1…Kf3 2.Bb7#; 1…Kd3 2.Bf5#./PN
