The Czech Republic appears to be leading the way for the return of over-the-board classical chess tournaments amid the Covid-19 pandemic with the conduct of the 31st Czech Open Chess Tournament – one of the many held in that country over the past couple or so months.
The event, with a time control of 90 minutes plus 30 minutes to finish plus 30 seconds increment per move, got underway September 18th at Pardubice City with some 123 local and foreign masters taking part. The tournament’s Covid-19 protocols seem lenient, and players are not required to wear masks, although they should bring one to the competition. The spectators, however, are mandated to wear masks at all times. The 31st Czech Open is part of the Czech Tour 2020/2021 where an array of chess events are scheduled to take place for the duration of 2020 up to next year.
After three rounds of play five players, led by top seed GM Jiri Stocek, are leading the event with perfect scores. Sharing the lead with Stocek are 3rd seed GM Lucas van Foreest, 4th seed IM Christopher Noe, 7th seed GM Martin Petr, and 9th seed IM Robbie Kevlishvili.
Stocek, J (2595)-Mica, M (2290) [E54]
Pardubice (2.1) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.e3 0-0 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 c5 8.0-0 cxd4 9.exd4 b6 10.Bg5 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Ba6 12.Bxa6 Nxa6 13.Ne5 Qc7 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Ng4 f5 16.Nf6+ Kg7 17.Nh5+ Kh8 18.Qd3 Nb8 19.d5 Nd7 20.Rfe1 Rae8 21.c4 Qd6 22.Rad1 Nc5 23.Qb1 Qe7 24.Qa1+ e5 25.d6 Qe6 26.Nf4 Qf6 27.d7 Rd8 28.Nh5 Qg5 29.Rxe5 f6 30.Re8 Rdxe8 31.dxe8R Rxe8 32.Nxf6 Rc8 33.Ne8+ Kg8 34.Qe5 Qg6 35.Nf6+ Kh8 36.Qe7 f4 37.h4 f3 38.g3 Qf5 39.Rd5 Qb1+ 40.Kh2 Qc2 41.Rd8+ Rxd8 42.Qxd8+ Kg7 43.Qe7+ Kh6 44.Ng4+ Kg6 45.Qf6+ 1-0
Van Foreest, L (2531)-Kueppers, T (2277) [B22]
Pardubice (2.3) 2020
1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 e6 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 d6 7.Bc4 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qe2 b6 10.Nbd2 Bb7 11.Ne4 Nc6 12.Rd1 Rc8 13.h4 Qc7 14.exd6 Bxd6 15.Nxd6 Qxd6 16.Bd3 h6 17.a3 Nf4 18.Bxf4 Qxf4 19.g3 Qg4 20.Qe3 Ne7 21.Ne5 Qh3 22.Be4 Bxe4 23.Qxe4 Rfd8 24.Qb7 Re8 25.Rac1 Rxc1 26.Rxc1 f6 27.Qd7 Rf8 28.Ng6 Nxg6 29.Rc7 Ne7 30.Qxe7 Qg4 31.Kg2 e5 32.d5 e4 33.d6 f5 34.d7 Qf3+ 35.Kg1 Qd1+ 36.Kh2 Qd4 37.Kg2 f4 38.Rc8 f3+ 39.Kh3 1-0
Peycheva, G (2270)-Noe, C (2519) [E32]
Pardubice (2.4) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.e4 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 d6 7.Bd3 e5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.0-0 exd4 10.cxd4 Nb4 11.Qb3 Nxd3 12.Qxd3 h6 13.Ng3 b6 14.Bb2 Ba6 15.Rac1 d5 16.exd5 Qxd5 17.Rfd1 Qg5 18.d5 Rfe8 19.Qf3 Ng4 20.Nf5 Ne5 21.Bxe5 Rxe5 22.d6 Rf8 23.Ne7+ Kh7 24.Qd3+ f5 25.Nd5 Re6 26.h4 Qg4 27.Nxc7 Rg6 28.Qd5 Bc8 29.g3 f4 30.Rd3 fxg3 31.Rxg3 Qf4 32.Rxg6 Qxc1+ 33.Kg2 Qf4 34.h5 Qxf2+ 35.Kh1 Qf1+ 36.Kh2 Qh3+ 0-1
Petr, M (2484)-Sernecki, F (2248) [B11]
Pardubice (2.7) 2020
1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Ne4 5.Ne2 Qb6 6.d4 e6 7.Ng3 c5 8.Bd3 Nxg3 9.fxg3 cxd4 10.0-0 Nc6 11.Qe2 Be7 12.Ng5 Nxe5 13.Qxe5 f6 14.Qe2 fxg5 15.Qh5+ Kd8 16.Bxg5 Bd7 17.Rf7 Bxg5 18.Qxg5+ Kc7 19.Qxg7 Rhd8 20.Re1 Rac8 21.Qe5+ Qd6 22.Qxe6 Rf8 23.Qxd6+ Kxd6 24.Rxf8 Rxf8 25.Bxh7 b5 26.h3 b4 27.g4 1-0
Kevlishvili, R (2478)-Ochedzan, T (2214) [B90]
Pardubice (2.9) 2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nf3 Qc7 8.a4 Be6 9.Be2 h6 10.0-0 Qc6 11.Nd2 d5 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Bf3 Nd7 14.Nxd5 Bxd5 15.Bxd5 Qxd5 16.Qg4 Nf6 17.Qg3 0-0-0 18.b3 Bd6 19.Nc4 Bc7 20.Bb6 Ne4 21.Qg4+ Kb8 22.Bxc7+ Kxc7 23.Rad1 Nf6 24.Rxd5 Nxg4 25.Rc5+ Kb8 26.f3 Nf6 27.Rxe5 Rd7 28.Rfe1 Rhd8 29.Re7 b5 30.axb5 axb5 31.Na3 b4 32.Nc4 Kc7 33.Kf2 Nd5 34.Rxd7+ Rxd7 35.Ra1 Kb7 36.Rd1 Kc7 37.Ne5 Rd6 38.Nxf7 Rd7 39.Ne5 Rd8 40.Nc4 Rd7 41.Ne3 Ne7 42.Rxd7+ Kxd7 43.Ke2 Kc6 44.Kd3 Kc5 45.g4 g6 46.h4 Nc6 47.f4 Nd4 48.Ke4 Nc6 49.f5 g5 50.hxg5 hxg5 51.f6 Nd8 52.Ke5 Kc6 53.Nf5 Kd7 54.Nh6 Ne6 55.Nf7 1-0
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.N4xe3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Sa3 2.Ba5#; 1…Sd2 2.Sd5#; 1…Bd2 2.Rdc7#; 1…Bf2, Sf2 2.Bf6#./PN
