GM Alexei Shirov is on a roll at the 85th Spanish Chess Championship in Linares, Spain notching his third straight victory to seize the solo leadership of the 139-player, nine-round Swiss classical event with only a round to go.
The 48-year old Shirov defeated Round 7 co-leader GM Ivan Salgado Lopez in 49 moves of a Ruy Lopez Berlin to build a half-point spread over top seed GM David Anton Guijarro and GM Jaime Santos Latasa who share second to third places.
Shirov has seven points and remains undefeated while Anton Guijarro and Santos Latasa each has 6½. The loss of Salgado Lopez, on the other hand, dropped him into a five-way tie for fourth to eighth slots with IMs Iñigo Argandona Riveiro, Pedro Antonio Gines Esteo, Andres Merario Alarcon and FM Alex Garrido Outon. Each has six points.
Shirov, Anton Guijarro and Santos Latasa remain the only undefeated players in the event. Shirov has amassed six wins against two draws while Anton Guijarro and Santo Latasa accumulated five wins against three draws apiece.
Shirov, A (2647)-Salgado Lopez, I (2584) [C65]
Linares (8.1) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.0-0 d6 9.Bg3 Nh5 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.Nxe5 dxe5 12.Qxh5 Qxd3 13.Qxe5 Re8 14.Qd4 Qc2 15.Qd2 Qxe4 16.Re1 Qg4 17.h3 Qd7 18.Qxd7 Bxd7 19.Nd2 Rac8 20.Nc4 Be6 21.Na5 c5 22.Nc6 Bf6 23.Be5 Bd5 24.Bxf6 Bxc6 25.Be7 c4 26.Rad1 f6 27.Re6 Ba4 28.Rd2 Bb5 29.Re3 a6 30.f3 Kf7 31.Bc5 Re5 32.Rxe5 fxe5 33.Re2 Kf6 34.Re4 Rd8 35.Bf2 Rd1+ 36.Kh2 Rd2 37.Bg3 Rd5 38.a4 Bxa4 39.Rxc4 Bd1 40.Rc6+ Rd6 41.Rc5 Re6 42.Rxc7 a5 43.c4 e4 44.fxe4 Rxe4 45.Bf2 g5 46.c5 Re6 47.c6 Re2 48.Rc8 Ke6 49.Rd8 1-0
Alsina Leal, D (2484)-Anton Guijarro, D (2688) [B56]
Linares (8.2) 2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.f3 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be3 Be6 9.Nd5 0-0 10.c3 Nb8 11.Bc4 Nbd7 12.Qd3 a6 13.Rd1 Nxd5 14.Bxd5 Qc7 15.0-0 Nf6 16.c4 Rac8 17.Rc1 Bd7 18.Qd2 b6 19.Qb4 Rb8 20.Nd2 Rfc8 21.Rc3 Qd8 22.a4 Nxd5 23.cxd5 b5 24.axb5 Bxb5 25.Rfc1 h5 26.b3 Rxc3 27.Qxc3 Bg5 28.Kf2 h4 29.Bxg5 Qxg5 30.Qe3 Qe7 31.Nc4 Qd8 32.h3 g6 33.Kg1 Kg7 34.f4 Bxc4 35.bxc4 Qf6 36.fxe5 Qxe5 37.Qa7 Rf8 38.Qxa6 Qxe4 39.Rf1 Qe5 40.Qa1 Qxa1 41.Rxa1 Kf6 42.Ra7 Rc8 43.Ra4 Ke5 44.Kf2 f5 45.Kf3 g5 46.Rb4 Ra8 47.Rb3 Kd4 48.Rb6 Ra3+ 49.Kf2 Ke5 50.Rb4 g4 51.hxg4 fxg4 52.Rb8 g3+ 53.Ke2 Ra2+ 54.Kf3 Rf2+ 55.Ke3 Rxg2 56.Rh8 Rh2 57.Rh5+ Kf6 58.Rh6+ Kg5 59.Rxd6 g2 60.Kf2 h3 61.Rd8 Rh1 62.Rg8+ Kf6 0-1
Perez Candelario, M (2604)-Martin Duque, J (2402) [B42]
Linares (8.3) 2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0-0 Qc7 7.Qe2 d6 8.c4 g6 9.Nc3 Bg7 10.Nf3 Nc6 11.Bf4 Nd7 12.Rac1 0-0 13.Rfd1 Nde5 14.b3 Bd7 15.Bb1 Rad8 16.h3 Qb8 17.Be3 Nxf3+ 18.Qxf3 b5 19.Qe2 Na5 20.cxb5 axb5 21.Qd2 b4 22.Ne2 Bc6 23.Nd4 Ba8 24.Qe2 e5 25.Nf3 Nc6 26.Qa6 Rc8 27.Qb6 Bb7 28.Bd3 Qa8 29.Bc4 Nd4 30.Nxd4 exd4 31.Bxd4 Bxd4 32.Qxd4 Bxe4 33.Bf1 Rxc1 34.Rxc1 d5 35.Qxb4 Qxa2 36.Qc3 Qa3 37.Ra1 Qd6 38.Qd4 Rb8 39.Rc1 Bf5 40.Rc5 Qb6 41.Bb5 Be6 42.b4 h5 43.g4 hxg4 44.hxg4 Qxb5 45.Rxb5 Rxb5 46.Kg2 Rb8 47.f3 Kh7 48.Kg3 g5 49.b5 Kg8 50.b6 Rb7 51.Qc5 Rb8 52.Qd6 Rb7 53.Qc6 Rb8 54.b7 1-0
Lianes Garcia, M (2351)-Santos Latasa, J (2588) [B90]
Linares (8.4) 2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 Nc6 7.g4 g6 8.Bg2 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Bg7 10.Be3 0-0 11.Qd2 Be6 12.0-0 b5 13.f4 Rc8 14.Nd5 Bxd5 15.exd5 Nd7 16.c3 Nb6 17.Qe2 Nc4 18.Rad1 Nxe3 19.Qxe3 a5 20.Rfe1 b4 21.cxb4 axb4 22.a3 bxa3 23.bxa3 Bc3 24.Re2 Qa5 25.Qxe7 Qa4 26.Rd3 Qxf4 27.Qe3 Qc4 28.Bf1 Be5 29.Kh1 Qa4 30.Rf2 Rc4 31.Qd2 Rfc8 32.Be2 Bf4 33.Bd1 Qb5 34.Qb2 Qc5 35.Kg2 Be5 36.Qb7 Rc7 37.Qb8+ Kg7 38.Bb3 Rc3 39.Rxc3 Qxc3 40.Rf3 Qd2+ 41.Rf2 Qc1 42.Rf1 Qe3 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Kc3! Black’s futile options are: 1…Sb6 2.Ba4#; 1…Qc6+ 2.Bc4#; 1…Qxe5+ 2.Rd4#; 1…Be2/d1 2.R(x)e2#; 1…d2 2.Qxd2#./PN
