Grandstand finish in prospect at Simpsons

Loek van Wely set up an exciting final round at the 2008 Staunton Memorial, by closing to within half a point of Michael Adams - and, in the final round, the two will face off against one another!

Van Wely made the most of the white pieces against Alexander Cherniaev, although the Russian looked to stand well in the early middlegame. However, he failed to make anything of his penetration down the open c-file, and once the white knights took aim at the weak d5 pawn, Black was in trouble. Black's resignation may look a trifle premature, but he had no compensation for his pawn deficit.

Meanwhile, Michael Adams had what looked like a close call against Sokolov. Adams offered a draw at move 20, but after White's next move, he realised that he had significant problems, so much so that after the game, he even apologised to his opponent for the draw offer. Black's king came under a strong-looking attack, but Adams defended well and it does not appear that Sokolov ever had a real chance to achieve anything substantial. He was eventually forced to make a draw by perpetual check.

The game Wells-Speelman was not one to set the blood racing. L'Ami-Timman was rather more interesting, but also agreed drawn soon after the opening. Jan Werle crushed Bob Wade in rather gruesome style, after the latter landed in a very bad Stonewall structure. But the game of the day was played by Jan Smeets, who made a determined effort to deprive his countryman of the weapons grade aluminium on offer for the Brilliancy Prize:

Staunton Memorial (10), 16.08.2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7 12.Nbd2 exd4 13.cxd4 Re8

13...Nc6 is much more common here, but in recent years, theory has swung in favour of White. In general., it has to be said that Black's entire plan of exd4 looks strategically rather suspect, and in this game, Smeets gives a classic demonstration of the dangers that Black's king can face in such positions.

14.dxc5 dxc5 15.e5

Depriving Black's knight of the f6 square, and thus setting up potential attacking ideas against h7.

15...Nf8 16.Qe2 Bb7 17.Ne4 Ne6 18.h4!

Smeets was very pleased with this move after the game. The tactical justification is that 18...Bxh4? loses to 19.Nd6 Rf8 20.Nxb7 Nxb7 21.Qe4 winning.

18...Qc7 19.Neg5 Bxg5 20.Nxg5 Nxg5 21.Bxg5 h6

22.Qd3!

A sacrifice which yields a very strong attack. Black is forced to accept, since 22...g6 just loses the h-pawn.

22...hxg5 23.Qh7+ Kf8 24.Qh8+ Ke7 25.Qxg7 Rg8

After the game, Smeets said that he rather expected 25...Kd8, trying to evacuate the king from the danger zone. However, after the reply 26.Bf5 (which Smeets had intended), the black king still faces a vicious attack.

26.Qf6+ Kf8 27.e6

27...Nc6?!

27...Qe7 was probably the only hope, although Black's position is extremely unenviable after 28.Qh6+ Rg7 29.Rad1.

28.hxg5 Rd8 29.Qh6+ Rg7 30.g6 fxg6 31.Qh8+ Rg8 32.Qf6+ Ke8 33.Bxg6+ Rxg6 34.Qxg6+ Kf8 35.Re3 1-0

A brilliant effort by Smeets, who later described the game as one of his best ever.

So, going into the final round, the scores are: Adams 7.5, Van Wely 7, Smeets and Timman 6, Sokolov 5.5,  Werle 5, L'Ami Speelman and  Short 5, Wells 4.5, Cherniaev 3.5, Wade 0. In the top game, Adams has White against Van Wely, and a draw will secure outright tournament victory for the English no 1. Play starts two hours earlier than usual, at 12 noon.