19 June 2018

Another Cup Drifting to India

Eteri Kublashvili reports about the Belaya Ladya finale in Dagomys  

Here is Belaya Ladya taken once again by the Indian team from Chennai. The pupils of the Velammal Vidyacaya school have given yet another display of high class, winning match after match, whitewashing their opponents more often than not. They have scored as many as 33.5 points.  

The winning team, about which Vladimir Barsky interviewed one of its representatives during the previous event, was shared further by its coach and coordinator Velavan. According to him, chess in the Velammal Vidyacaya school (or rather, its more correct title is "educational trust" - EK) has been supported for 15 years now. A famous prodigy -- Praggnanandhaa -- is also their pupil. Board one Gukesh is a U12 Asian Champion. He is a gifted boy indeed! The coach thinks he can become the youngest world grandmaster, him having one GM norm under his belt already. Ravi Rakshitta, playing board three, is a U12 world champion and a very hardworking girl, and her parents are international masters. Shri Savitha is a prize-taker of the Asian Championship and champion of India in her age group. Meanwhile, board two - a charming Leon Luka Mendonca - is only taking baby steps on the way to success and is very fond of chess.  

Fully supported by the school, the pupils come up with such brilliant displays - in the coach’s opinion. The team is happy to become a two-time winner of Belaya Ladya. Velavan praised the way the RCF supports its players and schoolchildren.   

Besides taking the Cup and prizes, the champions are also entitled to take part in the upcoming Aeroflot Open.  

  



 

For a second time in a row the best result among the Russian teams has been demonstrated by Lyceum No. 180 Polyforum from Yekaterinburg. The silver winners have scored 25.5 points. 

The strongest Russian team is told about by grandmaster Andrey Shariyazdanov: 

– Our team is extremely strong. In April, Leia Garifullina became the Russian champion of among girls U15, and Artem Pingin took second in his age group. Roman Kuzmin and Aivaz Yadigarov’s rating is relatively high as well.  

Is special attention paid to chess in the Lyceum’s curriculum?

– Yes, it is. Our school in Yekaterinburg is a unique one, in which chess education has been up and running for more than ten years through the efforts of its director Alexei Krylov. That is, all elementary school children play chess despite it being part of an extra curriculum program only. This is an example of the Universal Chess Education in program in action.  

– Do you coach children there?

– No, I am not a member of its staff. I am here to assist children as a member of the regional chess federation. Those children, who show good results while in the Lyceum, transfer to specialized chess schools afterwards.  

  



 

The third place is with the representatives of secondary school No.31 featuring in-depth study of English (the Vasileostrovsky district of St. Petersburg). The schoolchildren of St. Petersburg are with 24 points. 

The team of School No. 49 of Ulan-Ude (the Republic of Buryatia) finished third among the Russian teams with 22.5 points.  

However, Belaya Ladya is known to be more than a tournament.  

As I mentioned in my previous materials, Oleg Pervakov, a three-time world chess composition champion, has visited Dagomys to start off with a master class for the children, followed up by an open competition in solving chess studies. Needless to say, children showed up in large numbers to compete in solving.  

With the author’s permission, we publish a small extract from his new book Composition and Game Are One. Chess Workshop of Oleg Pervakov and Mark Dvoretsky, to be published soon as part of RCF Library; its contents were partially used in Dagomys in giving lectures to young chess players. 

"Originality is the key criteria when evaluating the beauty of studies. Meanwhile, in practical games the most unexpected and worthy of admiration are unorthodox and rare ideas, rather than something complex and entirely original (the latter, probably, exists no longer). A degree of originality is known to be subjective to a certain extent.  

Tactics textbooks teem with vivid checkmating combinations that truly belong to the domain of composition. Below is one of them: 

  

Gauglitz — Horvath 

Debrecen, 1987 


1...?
 

Black is clearly well compensated for the missing exchange: he would not be worse even if it were his opponent’s move. However, there are no two alternatives to winning. 

43...e5!! 44.Qxe5

Black converts easier after 44.Qxd5 Qxf4+ or 44.Qd2 exf4 45.Rxh7 Qe5!? 

44...Qc2+ 45.Kg3 Rg1+ (it is for this check that the queen has been deflected from d4) 46.Kh3


1...?
 

This is the most challenging moment when calculating the tactical sequence. The black queen is en prise and has no sensible check to deliver. Useless is 46...Bg2+? 47.Kh4 Qf2+ 48.Rg3. 

46...Be6+! 47.Qxe6 Qxc5!!

This is the point! Now it is the white queen that has no sensible checks to deliver. Black also threatens to capture the rook, and the queen may defend it only by giving up control over the crucial f5-square. White resigns. 

In the following example an effective-looking queen sacrifice could have run into Black’s no less impressive counter sacrifice. 

  

Aues — Muller

Berlin, 1920 

  


  

After 1.Qxf6!, Black resigned in view of 1…gxf6 2.Rg3+ Kh8 3.Bxf6#. Meanwhile, 1…Qg4!! or even 1…Qd1+! 2.Kh2 Qg4!! would have given a completely different outcome.  

At last, this is how this idea is interwoven into the German-Russian duet’s study. 

  

M.  Minski, O. Pervakov

Chess Informant-50, 2016 

3rd prize

  



White to move and win

1.Rf2+

An attempt to cut the black king from his lawful residence on g8 is underwhelming: 1.Qxh7? Qxd6! 2.Qf5+ Qf6=. 

1...Kg8.



 

2.Qg6!! 

After 2.Qe6+? Kh8 3.Qe7 Qxe7 4.dxe7 Rf6 5.Bxc4 Rxf2 6.Kxf2 Be8 7.Kf3 g5 it is only Black who can play for the win. White can change the move order neither: 2.Bxc4+? Kh8 3.Qg6!? Rxd6!–+. 

2...Rb8! 

Defending the home rank. It is not difficult to see that 2...hxg6 3.Bxc4+ Kh7 4.Rh2+ is a checkmate next move. Alternatively, 2...Rxd6 3.Qf7+ Kh8 4.Qf8+ produces the same result. A prophylactic 2...Kh8 does not help in view of 3.Rh2 h6 (3...Qg8 4.Bxc4! Rxd6 5.Qf5!+–) 4.Rxh6+! gxh6 5.Qxh6+ Kg8 6.Bxc4#. 

3.Bxc4+ 

Premature is 3.Rh2? in view of 3...Qb6+!–+. 

3...Kh8 4.Bd3! 

4.Rh2? again fails to 4...Qb6+ 5.Kf1 Rf8+ 6.Ke2 Bd1+!–+. 



 

4...Qh4!! 

A reciprocal queen sacrifice! 4...hxg6 5.Rh2+ Kg8 6.Bc4+ Kf8 7.Rh8#; 4...Qg8 5.Rh2+–. 

5.Qf5! 

A cold-blooded refutation! 5.gxh4? hxg6=. 

5...Qxg3+ 

5...g6 runs into 6.Qxe5+. 

6.Kf1 Qxd3+! 

Black is keen on coming up with resources allowing him to stay in the game. 6...g6 7.Qf6+ Kg8 8.Bc4#. 

7.Qxd3 Bb5 8.Qxb5! axb5 

Tactical turmoil has been reduced to a rook ending. 

  


 

9.d4!! 

Clearing a way for the rook. 9.d7? Kg8–+. 

9...exd4 (9...Kg8 10.dxe5+–) 10.Rc2! 

10.d7? is again premature in view of 10...d3!–+, preventing the white rook from making it into the 8th rank. 

10...Rf8+ 

A last-ditch attempt. 10...d3 11.Rc7 Kg8 12.d7 Rd8 13.Rc8+–. 

11.Ke1! Kg8 12.d7 Rd8 13.Rc8" +–.

 

A chess composition contest was unfolding during the penultimate day of the tournament, July 7. The participants started off by solving puzzles and studies together, upon which eight best solvers were to compete to the elimination system. However, two solvers broke well away from the rest of the field, whereas eight solvers demonstrated slightly inferior but equal results. Therefore, a small qualifier was organized for those eight, followed up by the two best joining in.  

In the final match, Georgy Evstafyev (Republic of Bashkortostan) defeated Stepan Kharkevich (Republic of Khakassia). Meanwhile, the matchup for third saw a coach Vladimir Suchkov (Chuvash Republic) outperforming Rajana Gibadullina (Republic of Tatarstan). However, at the award ceremony, which took place in the morning before the final round, Vladimir passed on his cup to the girl.  

Those who were not part of the solving competition opted for football (semifinals and finals were held), played Mafia and other board games or simply went to the beach or the pool. The Russian team Noname became the football champion of Belaya Ladya. The second place is with the Franco-German-Russian team "Rothenburg", the third place is with "Rzeczpospolita" from Russia.  

  

Football players from various teams (photo credit: Sergey Kaverznev) 
 

In the evening of June 7, Alexander Morozevich again gathered a large number of those willing to listen to the famous grandmaster's lecture, and the maestro presented his books with an autograph to the most devoted and active participants. 

Running in parallel was a bughouse knockout tournament, featuring as many as 60 teams. Triumphing were Roman Kitaev and Vadim Bobkov (Samara Oblast). The second place was taken by Alex Buvaev and Bogdan Masterskih (Republic of Kalmykia). Tumen Tsybikov and Kirill Bazyrtsyrenov (Republic of Buryatia) shared the bronze medal.  


The best in the bughouse chess (photo credit: Sergey Kaverznev)

  

This is how the chess vacation period has come to an end for our athletic schoolchildren. We hope that this event has turned for the children and accompanying persons not only into a lot of pleasure and fun, but also into a baggage of new knowledge, giving a new impetus to their professional growth. The World Olympiad among school teams is not something out of the question, the dream voiced at the opening by Anatoly Avraamovich Bykhovsky, one of Belaya Ladya’s founders. Something to look forward to and get prepared for.  

Pictures by Eteri Kublashvili