The quarterfinals of the 2020 Speed Chess Championship starts soon yet, so we’ll be reporting meanwhile about the 13th Pedro Lezcano Montalvo Memorial, one of the rare classic tournaments being held at the Grand Canary Island in Spain despite a COVID-19 resurgence in Europe.
The tournament is a classical 10-player single round robin event with a time format of 90 minutes base reflection time plus 30 seconds increment per move. It was organized in honor of Spanish poet, chess player and politician Pedro Lezcano Montalvo (1920-2002).
The players are in the order of their rankings are GMs Bojan Kurajica (2506), Nino Batsiashvili (2460), Rodrigo Vasquez Schroeder (2441) and Misa Pap (2426); FM Omar Garcia Blanco (2359), IM Jose Maria Hernando Rodrigo (2319), untitled Ismael Amador Garcia (2163), FM Raul Perez Guerra (2122), untitled Alberto Manchon Santana (2087) and WFM Carla Cristina Sosa Suarez (2063).
After seven rounds of play, Vasquez Schroeder of Chile is well on the way to winning the tournament with an impressive seven-game winning run and erecting a 1½-point lead over his closest pursuer. With two rounds to go, it is highly unlikely any of his opponents can catch him.
Standings after Round 7: 1. Vasquez Schroeder, 7; 2. Kurajica, 5½; 3. Batsiashvili, 5; 4. Pap, 4½; 5-6. Garcia Blanco, Perez Guerra, 3½; 7-8. Amador Garcia, Manchon Santana, 2; 9. Hernando Rodrigo, 1½; 10. Sosa Suarez, ½.
Kurajica, B (2506)-Pap, M (2426) [E60]
Gran Canaria (2.1) 2020
1.Nf3 c5 2.b3 Nf6 3.Bb2 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.c4 d6 7.d4 Nc6 8.d5 Na5 9.0-0 a6 10.Nbd2 b5 11.e4 Bg4 12.Qc2 Rb8 13.Rab1 e5 14.dxe6 Bxe6 15.cxb5 axb5 16.Ng5 Nc6 17.Nxe6 fxe6 18.e5 Nb4 19.Qd1 Nfd5 20.Ne4 dxe5 21.Nxc5 Qe7 22.a3 Qxc5 23.axb4 Nxb4 24.Ba3 Rfd8 25.Qg4 Qd4 26.Qxe6+ Kh8 27.Bb2 Qb6 28.Qxb6 Rxb6 29.Rfd1 Rbd6 30.Rxd6 Rxd6 31.Rc1 Bf6 32.Be4 Rd2 33.Rc8+ Kg7 34.Rc7+ Kg8 35.Bc1 Re2 36.Be3 Rb2 37.Rb7 Rxb3 38.Rxb5 Rb2 39.Bc5 Nd3 40.Bxd3 1-0
Vasquez Schroeder, R (2441)-Garcia Blanco, O (2359) [A84]
Gran Canaria (3.3) 2020
1.Nf3 f5 2.d4 Nf6 3.g3 g6 4.c4 Bg7 5.b4 d6 6.Bb2 0-0 7.Qb3 Kh8 8.Bg2 c6 9.Nbd2 Be6 10.0-0 Bg8 11.Qc2 d5 12.c5 Nbd7 13.Nb3 Ne4 14.e3 Qc7 15.a3 Rae8 16.Nc1 e5 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Nxe5 Bxe5 19.Ne2 h6 20.Nd4 Bg7 21.Rfe1 Bh7 22.f3 Ng5 23.f4 Ne4 24.Rac1 g5 25.Nf3 Rg8 26.a4 Qe7 27.Ne5 Rc8 28.Bd4 Bf6 29.Qb2 Rg7 30.Bxe4 fxe4 31.fxg5 hxg5 32.Rf1 Rf8 33.Nxc6 Bxd4 34.Rxf8+ Qxf8 35.Nxd4 Qe8 36.b5 Bg6 37.c6 Kh7 38.c7 Qc8 39.b6 axb6 40.Ne6 Re7 41.Nxg5+ Kh6 42.Qf6 Rxc7 43.Nf7+ 1-0
Garcia Blanco, O (2359)-Batsiashvili, N (2460) [C28]
Gran Canaria (6.2) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.d3 Bb4 5.Nge2 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.0-0 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Be7 9.f4 Na5 10.Bb3 Nxb3 11.axb3 exf4 12.Nxf4 0-0 13.Qf3 a5 14.Nd5 Bd6 15.Bf4 Ra6 16.Bxd6 Rxd6 17.c4 c6 18.Nc3 Rf6 19.Qe3 Re6 20.Qf2 Rg6 21.Ne4 f5 22.Nd2 f4 23.Kh1 Rh6 24.Nf3 g5 25.Qd4 Rd6 26.Qc5 Rf5 27.Qf2 Rh6 28.g4 Rf8 29.Qd4 Bxg4 30.Qxd8 Bxf3+ 31.Rxf3 Rxd8 32.Rxa5 Rg6 33.Re5 Rf8 34.Re4 Rgf6 35.d4 g4 36.Rd3 h5 37.Kg2 h4 38.d5 Rg6 39.Rd1 h3+ 40.Kg1 g3 41.Rd2 f3 42.hxg3 Rxg3+ 43.Kf1 f2 44.Rxf2 h2 45.Rxf8+ Kxf8 46.Kf2 Rg1 0-1
Vasquez Schroeder, R (2441)-Kurajica, B (2506) [E14]
Gran Canaria (7.1) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 b6 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 Bb7 7.e3 0-0 8.Be2 Ne4 9.Qc2 d6 10.b4 Nd7 11.0-0 f5 12.d5 exd5 13.Nd4 Qf6 14.cxd5 Bxd5 15.f3 Ng5 16.Bc4 Qf7 17.Bxd5 Qxd5 18.Qxc7 Ne5 19.f4 Rac8 20.Qe7 Nh3+ 21.gxh3 Rf6 22.Qxf6 gxf6 23.fxe5 fxe5 24.Nxf5 Rc7 25.e4 Qxe4 26.Bh6 Kh8 27.Rae1 1-0
Pap, M (2426)-Amador Garcia, I (2163) [C82]
Gran Canaria (7.2), 17.11.2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Bc5 10.Qd3 0-0 11.Nbd2 Nxd2 12.Bxd2 Ne7 13.Nd4 Bc8 14.a4 Rb8 15.Bc2 g6 16.axb5 axb5 17.Bg5 Qd7 18.b4 Bb6 19.Bf6 1-0
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qa1!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Sxg7, Bxg7 2.Bg5#; 1…Be7, Re7 2.Rg6#; 1…Bh7/f7 2.R(x)f7#; 1…Rxc6 2.Sd5#; 1…Rd7/xd8/xd4+, Re4+ 2.S(x)e4#; 1…Re5 2.dxe5#./PN
