SEVEN of the first games between the 16 combatants in Round 5 of the FIDE Open World Cup at Krasnaya Polyana in Russia, ended peacefully, and only Armenia’s Haik M. Martirosyan scored the only decisive game versus Iran’s M. Amin Tabatabaei.
The victory meant Martirosyan needs only to draw the second game to advance to the Round of 8. All of the opening games in the Round of 16 matches were hard-fought, with the underdogs defending well. Thus, top seed world champion Magnus Carlsen was held by Andrey Esipenko; Velimir Ivic held his own versus Vladimir Fedoseev; Vasif Durarbayli drew Santosh Gujrathi Vidit; Kacper Piorun drew with Etienne Bacrot; Jan-Krzysztof Duda held his own against Alexander Grischuk; Maxime Vachier-Lagrave halve the point with Sergey Karjakin; and Sam Shankland defended well against Peter Svidler.
The second game of these matches will be very interesting indeed.
Carlsen,M (2847)-
Esipenko,A (2716) [E10]
Krasnaya Polyana (5.1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.Bc3 c5 9.Nbd2 b6 10.Ne5 Bb7 11.Nxd7 Qxd7 12.dxc5 bxc5 13.cxd5 exd5 14.e3 Rfd8 15.Re1 a5 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Rc1 Qb5 18.Qb3 Qb4 19.Qb4 ab4 20.Rc5 Bb2 21.Rb5 Bc6 22.Rc5 Bb7 23.Rb5 Bc6 24.Rc5 Bb7 ½-½
Svidler,P (2714)-
Shankland,S (2709) [B51]
Krasnaya Polyana (5.1) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.0-0 a6 5.Bd3 Ngf6 6.Re1 e6 7.c3 Be7 8.Bc2 b5 9.d4 Bb7 10.Nbd2 Qc7 11.Nf1 0-0 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bd2 Rfc8 14.Rc1 Qb6 15.Ng3 cxd4 16.cxd4 b4 17.Qe2 a5 18.Bd3 Rxc1 19.Rxc1 Ba6 20.Bxa6 Qxa6 21.Qxa6 Rxa6 22.Rc8+ Kh7 23.Kf1 Ra7 24.Ke2 Nb6 25.Rc6 Rb7 26.Kd3 Kg8 27.b3 Nfd7 28.Nf1 Kf8 29.Ne3 Nb8 30.Rc2 Ke8 31.g4 Kd7 32.h4 Na6 33.h5 Nc7 34.Rc1 Rb8 35.Ne1 d5 36.f4 dxe4+ 37.Kxe4 Ncd5 38.Nd3 Bd6 39.f5 Nxe3 40.Bxe3 Nd5 41.Ne5+ Bxe5 42.dxe5 Nxe3 43.Kxe3 Rb5 44.Ke4 f6 45.exf6 gxf6 46.fxe6+ Kxe6 47.Rc6+ Kf7 48.Rc7+ Kg8 49.Rc8+ ½-½
Fedoseev,V (2696)-
Ivic,V (2582) [D80]
Krasnaya Polyana (5.1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bd2 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.Bxc3 0-0 8.Qd2 c5 9.d5 e6 10.Bc4 exd5 11.Bxd5 Nc6 12.Nf3 Bg4 13.Bxg7 Kxg7 14.Bxc6 Bxf3 15.gxf3 bxc6 16.Qxd8 Rfxd8 17.Rc1 Rab8 18.Rc2 Rd4 19.Ke2 Ra4 20.b3 Ra3 21.Rd1 a5 22.Rdd2 a4 23.bxa4 Rxa4 24.Rxc5 Rba8 25.Rcc2 c5 26.h4 c4 27.Kf1 c3 28.Re2 Kf6 29.f4 Ra3 30.Re3 R8a4 31.Kg2 Rb4 32.Kg3 Rb2 33.Rcxc3 Rxc3 34.Rxc3 Rxa2 35.h5 Ra1 36.Kg2 Kg7 37.Rc7 Re1 38.f3 Re2+ 39.Kg3 Re1 40.e5 Rh1 41.e6 Kf6 42.Kg2 Re1 43.exf7 Kg7 44.h6+ Kf8 45.Rc8+ Kxf7 46.Rh8 Re2+ 47.Kg3 Re1 48.Rxh7+ Kf6 49.Kf2 Rh1 50.Ke3 Rh4 51.Rh8 Rh1 52.Ke2 Rh2+ 53.Kd3 Rh1 54.Rh7 Rh4 55.Rh8 Rh1 56.Rh7 Rh4 57.Ke4 Rh5 58.Kd4 Rh4 59.Kd5 Rxf4 60.Ra7 ½-½
Grischuk,A (2778)-
Duda,J-K (2738) [D37]
Krasnaya Polyana (5.1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bxc4 Nxe4 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Qa4+ Nc6 9.Bg5 Bxc3 10.bxc3 h6 11.Bh4 0-0 12.Rad1 Ne7 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Qc2 Rb8 15.a4 a6 16.Rfe1 b5 17.Ba2 Kg7 18.Nh4 Qd6 19.Rd3 f5 20.axb5 axb5 21.Rg3+ Kh7 22.Qe2 Bb7 23.Qh5 Ra8 24.Bb1 Qf4 25.h3 Kh8 26.Rxe6 fxe6 27.Ng6+ Nxg6 28.Qxg6 Rg8 29.Qf6+ Kh7 30.Qf7+ Kh8 31.Qf6+ Kh7 32.Qf7+ Kh8 33.Qf6+ ½-½
Tabatabaei,MA (2613)-
Martirosyan,HM (2632) [E46]
Krasnaya Polyana (5.1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd2 c5 6.a3 Bxc3 7.Bxc3 Ne4 8.Ne2 b6 9.d5 Ba6 10.b3 b5 11.Qd3 Nxc3 12.Nxc3 bxc4 13.bxc4 exd5 14.Qxd5 Qa5 15.Qd2 Nc6 16.Be2 Rab8 17.0-0 Ne5 18.Rfc1 Rb3 19.f4 Nc6 20.Kf2 Rd8 21.Ra2 Rxa3 22.Rxa3 Qxa3 23.Nd5 d6 24.Rc3 Qa1 25.Rc1 Qa3 26.Rc3 Qa1 27.Qc1 Qxc1 28.Rxc1 Bc8 29.Ra1 Kf8 30.Bf3 a6 31.Rb1 Be6 32.Rb7 Na5 33.Ra7 Nxc4 34.Nc7 Nd2 35.Bd5 Bxd5 36.Nxd5 Rb8 37.Rxa6 Ne4+ 38.Ke2 f5 39.Kd3 Rb7 40.Kc4 Kf7 41.Ra8 h5 42.h4 g6 43.Rh8 Nd2+ 44.Kd3 Ke6 45.Nc3 Nb1 46.Nd1 Na3 47.Rg8 Rb3+ 48.Ke2 Kf7 49.Rd8 Nc4 50.Rd7+ Ke6 51.Rg7 Kf6 52.Rd7 Ra3 53.g3 Ra2+ 54.Ke1 Rg2 55.Rh7 Ke6 56.Rg7 Kf6 57.Rh7 Rxg3 58.Kf2 Rh3 59.Nc3 Nxe3 60.Nb5 Nd5 61.Nxd6 Rxh4 0-1
Vachier-Lagrave,M (2749)-
Karjakin,S (2757) [C67]
Krasnaya Polyana (5.1) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ke8 10.Nc3 h5 11.Bf4 Be7 12.Rad1 Be6 13.Ng5 Rh6 14.Rfe1 Rd8 15.Rxd8+ Kxd8 16.g4 hxg4 17.hxg4 Nd4 18.Rd1 c5 19.Nxe6+ Rxe6 20.Ne2 Kc8 21.Nxd4 cxd4 22.Rxd4 g5 23.Bg3 Ra6 24.a4 Rc6 25.c3 Rb6 26.b4 Rc6 27.Rd3 Rc4 28.Rf3 Kd7 29.Rxf7 Ke6 30.Rh7 Rxc3 31.b5 Rc4 32.Rh6+ Kd5 33.Rh7 Ke6 34.Rh6+ Kd5 35.Rh7 Ke6 ½-½
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Ne4!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Bxd4 2.Rc5#; 1…Qxe7+ 2.Nxe7#; 1…Qxd4 2.Nef6#; 1…b4 2.Qc4#; 1…Bxe4 2.Qxe4#./PN
