Pursuits: Chess
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Your support makes all the difference.SERGEI FEDOROV won the 10th Goodricke Open in Calcutta on Tuesday at a canter, having already secured first place with a round to spare. His run of five straight wins ended on Monday in a draw with me, after I managed to trick him to gain some advantage but then stupidly lost two whole tempi and in annoyance proposed peace.
Dolmatov and Sorokin had already split the point, so this guaranteed him victory. In the last round Fedorov drew quickly to end on 9/11, well clear of Dolmatov, Sorokin and Ehlvest on 7.5; nine players, including me, finished with 7.
The sponsors, the Goodricke tea company, will have been delighted by their 10th edition which not only saw uncompromising fighting chess but also gave rise to three or (depending on a technicality) four international master titles, a second IM norm for DK Sharma and, for the world girls' under-12 champion, Kaneru Humpy, her first women's international norm.
On Tuesday, I most unfairly gave Fedorov's only loss. Here, in recompense, are two of his eight wins.
White: Sergei Fedorov
Black: Narayanan Neelakanthan
King's Gambit
1 e4 e5
2 f4 exf4
3 Nf3 Be7
4 Bc4 Bh4+
5 Kf1 d5
6 exd5 Be7
7 d4 Bd6
8 Bb3 Bg4
9 c4 b6
10 Nc3 Ne7
11 Bc2 h6
12 Qe1 0-0
13 Qh4 Qd7
14 c5! bxc5
15 dxc5 Bxf3?
16 cxd6 Ng6
17 Bxg6 Bxg2+
18 Kxg2 fxg6
19 Qe7 Qg4+
20 Kf2 Rf6
21 Ne4 Qh4+
22 Kf1 Qh3+
23 Ke1 Rf7
24 Qe8+ Rf8
25 Nf6+ gxf6
26 Qxg6+ Kh8
27 Rg1 1-0
Black was quickly overrun by the tactics. The critical blunder was 15 ...Bxf3? after which White wins a piece. Instead, a move earlier he should have played 14 ...Ng6! 15 Bxg6 Be7! when 16 c6 Bxh4 17 cxd7 Bxf3 18 Bf5 Bh5 19 Bxf4 Bg6 20 Bh3 f5 is still a fight.
White: Sergei Fedorov
Black: Aleksander Wojtkiewicz
Sicilian Najdorf
1 e4 c5
2 Nf3 d6
3 d4 cxd4
4 Nxd4 Nf6
5 Nc3 a6
6 f3 Nc6
7 Be3 d5
8 Nxd5 Nxd5
9 exd5 Qxd5
10 c3 e5
11 Nb3 Qxd1+
12 Rxd1 Be6
13 Bb6 Be7
14 Bd3 Rc8
15 0-0 Nb8
16 Rfe1 Nd7
17 Bf2 f6
18 f4 Kf7
19 f5! Bxb3
20 axb3 Rhd8
21 b4 Nf8
22 Be4 Rxd1
23 Rxd1 Rb8
24 Ba7 Ra8
25 Bb6 Rb8
26 g4 Ke8
27 Kf2 Nd7
28 Be3 h6
29 Kf3 Bd8
30 c4 Rc8
31 c5 Rc7
32 Rd6 Be7
33 Re6 Kd8
34 h3 Nb8
35 Rb6 Kc8
36 b5 axb5
37 Rxb5 Nc6
38 Bd5 Kb8
39 Ke4 Na7
40 Ra5 Nc6
41 Ra4 Na7
42 Rc4 Nb5
43 Rc1 Rc8
44 Kd3 Rd8
45 Kc4 Na7
46 b4 Nc6
47 Be4 Nd4
48 Ra1 Bf8
49 Ra2 Rd7
50 b5 Rd8
51 b6 Rc8
52 Bxd4 exd4
53 Ra7 Rxc5+
54 Kxd4 Re5
55 Rxb7+ Kc8
56 Rc7+ Kd8
57 Bd5 Re7
58 Ra7! 1-0
In a queenless middlegame Fedorov got control after 18 ...Kf7 19 f5. Black should have tried 18 ...Bxb3 19 axb3 exf4 to get e5 for his knight. If 36 ...Nd7 37 Re6! - mate threat - Nxc5 38 Rxe7 Rxe7 39 Bxc5 Rc7 40 b4 should win. The rest was torture.
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