Round 7: Back to playing chess
Over the past two days, we've spent some time appreciating the beautiful—but to outsiders sometimes completely incomprehensible—dialect of Zeeland. At least I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to be looking at when a colleague once nudged me and said, "Kiek, guus in de dulve." So today we'll focus mainly on the language of chess, with expressions like 18...Bxf1 or 23.Nxg7!! Henk from Ovezande may have no idea what we're talking about, but we chess nerds understand each other immediately.
There was far too little fighting spirit at the top of the standings in Round 6. On the first ten boards, we saw no fewer than five draws lasting 15 moves or fewer. Since Daniel Fernandez was the only one who actually won, all of his closest rivals suddenly found themselves a full point behind and had no choice but to go all out today if they still wanted a shot at first prize. Every disadvantage has its advantage.
Laura Unuk outplayed her opponent today
I didn't want to disturb tournament philosopher Daniël Zevenhuizen, especially since he had already landed in a difficult position early in his game against Laura Unuk, but I do think there's a lot of truth in that famous "every disadvantage has its advantage" quote by Willem van Hanegem, who was born in the Zeeland town of Breskens. Oh dear, hadn't I just promised to stick to chess today? Right then, on to 10...f5?!
GM Raunak Sadhwani clearly understood the assignment. Well rested after two ultra-short draws in Rounds 5 and 6, he was ready for a real battle against tournament leader GM Daniel Fernandez. Fortunately for him, Fernandez showed no intention of defending his lead with cautious play.
Sadhwani – Fernandez
With 10...f5?!, Fernandez made it clear that he wanted a genuine fight. Another critical moment came a few moves later. 11.exf5 Nxf5 12.Bf4 d6 13.Rad1 e5 14.Bxf5 exf4 15.Bxc8
Sadhwani – Fernandez
Fernandez chose 15...Rxc8, but after 16.Qe6+ Kh8 17.Ne4 Re8 18.Qf5 Re5 19.Qxf4, Sadhwani had a small advantage which he converted impressively into a full point.
According to Mr. Stockfish, Black could have limited the damage with 15...Qxc8 instead. I can understand that 16.Qe6+ is no longer possible, allowing Black to continue with 16.Rxd6 f3!. However, why the resulting endgame after 17.Qe6+ Qxe6 18.Rxe6 fxg2 19.Kxg2 Rf4 is evaluated by the engine as 0.00 is far beyond me. As consolation, I tell myself that even the 2024 tournament winner apparently didn't dare go down that road.
Ikonnikov – Beukema
Another player who was well rested after two 14-move draws was GM Slava Ikonnikov. Perhaps that helped him stay alert when IM Stefan Beukema decided to stir things up.
Beukema – Ikonnikov
17.f4?! 17.Bg2 would have maintained equality. 17...Rad8 18.fxg5? A better way to sacrifice the exchange was 18.c4 Qb6+ 19.Qd4 Qxd4 20.Nxd4 Bxf1 21.fxg5 Bh3 22.e4, when the blocked center would make it very difficult for Black to make progress. 18...Qxf1 19.Qxf1 Bxf1 20.e4 Bh3
Beukema – Ikonnikov
After 21.c4, the position would resemble the previous variation, although Black can now immediately play ...Be6 with a slight advantage. Even so, it would have offered White the best practical chances. Instead, 21.Bxb7? Be6! immediately prevented White from blocking the d-file. The game continued: 22.Rc1 Rd7 23.Ba6 Rb8 24.c4 Rc7 25.Bb5 Rb6 26.e5 g6
Beukema – Ikonnikov
A serious blunder now had the one advantage of shortening the suffering considerably:
27.Nd2?? Rxb5 0–1
With this victory, Ikonnikov joined Sadhwani and Fernandez at the top of the standings with 5/6. GM Max Warmerdam also moved into the leading group after bouncing back strongly from his loss in the previous round.
It's been a long time since I regularly played the Volga Gambit myself, and I know theory has developed in some surprising directions since then, but the way Frank Agter handled it today certainly won't be recommended in the latest books. The compensation Black is normally expected to receive almost automatically for the sacrificed pawn never materialized. On the contrary, from move eight onward Warmerdam had everything firmly under control.
Eelke had a difficult time.
Anyone who has been counting carefully—and hasn't accidentally misplaced a few zeros—will now arrive at four tournament leaders. Almost, almost, another surprising name could have joined them. WFM Emmanuelle Hng completely dismantled IM Eelke de Boer's position.
Hng – De Boer
Here Emmanuelle played: 20.Ndxf7! Nxf7 21.Rxd7 Qf6 22.Nxe6 Rfe8
Hng – De Boer
Now the Singaporean player could have crowned her excellent play with 23.Nxg7!! Admittedly, it requires calculating a great many variations, but they all end with a substantial advantage for White. For example: 23...Rxe4 24.Qa7! Rf8 25.Rxf7 Rxf7 26.Bxf7+ Kxg7 27.Qxa8 Qxf7 28.Qxe4. Instead, White played 23.e5, and after 23...Nfxe5 24.fxe5 Nxe5, Eelke escaped the danger. He even went on to win the game later, bringing his score to 5½/7. That puts him level with GMs Erwin l'Ami and Sandipan Chanda, whose encounter ended peacefully after neither player managed to upset the balance.
Also on 5½ points is German GM Daniel Hausrath, who had little trouble defeating Gerrit Meine Muis. The game was largely one-way traffic, but the final position is certainly worth showing.
Muis – Hausrath, White to move
The highest-ranked player from Zeeland, FM Joey Grochal, could do no better than a draw—and he could count himself fortunate. Felix Wahl held the advantage for almost the entire game and even had a winning opportunity deep into the endgame.
Wahl – Grochal
Here Felix played 40.Kg2?, and after 40...gxf4 41.gxf4, all the life had gone out of the position.
The well-known—and notorious—lamentations of Grochal would certainly have been heard throughout Zeeland had Felix instead chosen 40.f5!!. The threat is obviously 41.fxe6, and if Black recaptures, the b-pawn queens with check. After 40...Kh6 (stepping out of the check), White's king simply marches to the queenside while Black's king is powerless to stop it. For example: 41.fxe6 fxe6 42.Kf2 Kh5 43.Ke3 Kg4 44.Ra4! or 41.fxe6 fxe6 42.Kf2 g4 43.Ke3 Kg5 44.Kd3 Kf5 45.Kc3 Rb1 46.Kd4 Rb3 47.Kc5 Kxe5 48.Ra5!
Wahl – Grochal (analysis)
With two rounds remaining, plenty of players are still in contention for the tournament title. Anyone who wants their name engraved on the trophy will not only have to work hard but also be willing to take some risks.
Who has the courage to do just that?
We'll find out tonight in Round 8.
Report: René Tiggelman
Photos: Tina Rouwendal