The Hastings International Chess Congress

The last round of any Swiss is always somewhat artificial, but here there were few bloodless draws. Instead we had the unusual statistic of several Bf5 Caro Kan games on the top boards. But White went down different routes in each case.

Sundar Shyam (6½) v Yue Wang (7) – the young Indian needed a draw for his GM norm. Perhaps Wang took advantage of this, taking some liberties with knight manoeuvres in the middlegame, assuming he could always bail out with a draw offer if things went wrong. But White wasn’t having any shenanigans.

Thus three members of the Indian youth team secured norms as N Krithika Pon gained a WIM norm on a lower board. This probably means we can expect an invasion next year as well.

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With an event being played over the New Year it is hardly surprising that there are always a few withdrawals. This year there have only been about 5, possibly due to the very mild weather.

Most of the top games were wins. This contrasts sharply with the ‘good old days’ when there would be many drab draws. Of course I may be writing too soon; we still have the ninth round to come. But we have a hidden weapon. Unlike most events the last round starts at the same time as all the others. Seville which starts on Saturday has rounds 1-8 at 5pm and the last round at 9.30am. Of course we have other events on in the morning. Here the Prizegiving will take place at approximately 9.30pm of course in Horntye Park.

Wang Yue (6) v Andrey Vovk (5½) – the younger Ukrainian brother felt his position was fine. We didn’t discuss it for long; one doesn’t with somebody who lost. It was only tonight that I realised they were unaware of the nature of the Commentary Room. My apologies for that. 10…d5 would not have been to my taste before completing his development, but what do I know. Chris criticised 16…Bf5, but Black disagreed. Andrey felt 23…Re7 was incorrect and 23…b6 should have been played.

Sundar Shyam (5½) v Romain Edouard (5½) – it is likely that there was a theoretical novelty as soon as 7 h3; certainly both players played slowly at this juncture. Perhaps 9…Nd7 was better than the text. Surely 13…h5 was too slow. Sundar joined us in the Commentary Room and he felt that after 14 Bd1 he had the game in the bag. 16 Ne6! is certainly very convincing and he had wrapped up the game by move 21.

Babu Lalith (5½) v Deep Sengupta (5½) – 31…Re6 was a terrible blunder in a difficult position.

Andrei Istratescu (5) v Glenn Flear (5) was an engrossing game. Andrei secured the bishop pair and a big centre. The pressure enabled Andrei to win a pawn, but we thought 39…f5 might have presented him with more problems. It is difficult in a Commentary Room to come to definitive conclusions. After that Andrei wrapped it up clinically.

Yuri Vovk (5) v Simon Williams (5) – perhaps Simon went wrong on move 1! After all, he could have played the Dutch. The older brother again played well after a poor start to the tournament.

The English do not play together as a formal team. Nonetheless they generally have very good personal relationships. Usually this works out to their benefit. But this year in Hastings perhaps the relatively poor results have had a domino effect. Still, the year is young.

Babu Lalith (5) v Yue Wang (5½) was not the most exciting of games, but extremely professional. The young Indian didn’t seem particularly ambitious in his play and the Chinese player could make no progress.

Deep Sengupta (5) v Sundar Shyam (5) – an all-Indian derby. Deep again came into the Commentary Room to discuss his game. 10 N3h2 is an interesting concept. 12 g4 would perhaps have been better. 14 Bxh6 might have been the way to go. It seems odd to sacrifice a piece and immediately offer a draw, but Deep felt Black stood better. To draw in 16 moves in such a lively position seems utterly absurd.

Romain Edouard (4½) v David Haydon (4½) – Chris feels that playing a Isolated Queen’s Pawn game a tempo behind is unwise. White achieved dream positions for his knights and Black’s position became untenable.

Jovica Radovanovic (4) v Yuri Vovk (4) – Yuri was proud of this encounter and has entered it for the Best Game Prize. It escaped Chris’s eye, but I spent some time in the Travelodge late at night discussing it and other matters with the brothers. One interesting story will have to suffice. Their father worked in Israel as part of the Peace-keeping Force of the time. Their mother and 6- month-old Andre joined him. But Yuri refused to go and had forgotten his baby brother when they returned nearly two years later. Yuri was 4 years old(!) and stayed with his grandparents. 14…b5 was very provocative. 15 Ncxb5 Qb6 16 Nxd6 Qxd4 17 Nxe8 Nxe8 and 2 pieces are often better than a rook and 2 pawns. 17 Nb3 followed by Na5 was dubious because, as we all know, a knight on the rim is dim. 21…Nh6 would have given Black a greater advantage than the text 21…Nxf2, but this was more fun. 24 Rh1 led to a poor position for Black. 28…Rxe4 would have been an easy win for Black. Later allowing White to promote with check is unusual. Black couldn’t be prevented promoting later.

Andrey Vovk (4½) v Frank Holzke (4½) – it would have been an imposition to analyse the younger brother’s game as well. Also I hadn’t realised how interesting it was. I think White should have been able to draw quite late into the game. I will leave you to write your own notes.

Simon Williams (4½) v Mark Hebden (4½) – these two met twice the previous evening in the blitz. A fascinating encounter that was only agreed a draw on move 97. Black sacked a pawn as early s move 18. 22 fxg4 felt unusual. 28 h3 instead of Bc4 may have been better. 28…Nxd5 runs into Bc4. 43 Ne5ch looked inviting, but bxa6 would have been better. After that it was a fair draw.

Jack Rudd (3) v Paul Helbig (3) – Jack came in to show us his good, clear game.

Glenn Flear (4) v Alexander Longson (4) – this caught Chris’s eye as a swashbuckling encounter. Unfortunately the wireless board played up and we couldn’t follow the game. 15 Nxf7 was an engrossing sacrifice. The Black king never reached safety. The closing sacrifice was unnecessary – but fun.