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IM Igor Khmelnitsky
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Chess and
Soccer -
Ukraine is in the News! |
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IM Igor Khmelnitsky
Igor is a winner of many national and
international tournaments in Europe and the United States.
At various points during his career, he has won individual
encounters with many of the game’s best players.
In total, Igor has beaten over 30 different Grandmasters. He
has been a participant in the Ukrainian National Championship as
well as a three times contestant in the US National Championship.
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The time really flies. This year my family celebrated 15th
anniversary of our emigration from Ukraine to the United States. I’ve played a
lot of chess on the junior level traveling across Ukraine, participating in
various training camps as a student and, later, as a coach. These days, I am
trying as best as I can to stay on top of what is happening in Ukraine and to
stay in touch with my former teammates and opponents.
Since I consider myself a product of Ukrainian
(technically, Russian, since Ukraine didn’t become independent until we left)
chess school, I am always rooting for them in various team competitions. With
one exception - when they compete against team USA.
It was great to see Ukraine winning
the men’s Chess Olympiad
two years ago in Calvia. In Turin, two months ago, the Ukrainian women won
the Chess
Olympiad as well. This is a great success for Ukrainian chess. Now, we are
witnessing a first super-tournament held in Ukraine – under the sponsorship of
the Ukrainian airline Aeroswit. Here is the link to the
official
website.
In spite of a couple of last minute replacements, the 12
players participating are a tremendous group, blending youth and experience and
playing creative exciting chess.
The hero of the start with 4 out of 5 was
GM
Bologan. He is a very creative player and is extremely dangerous to
any opponent. Of course having a little bit of luck never hurts – in the first
round Ukrainian prodigy GM Karjakin blundered in a nearly equal
endgame:
Black to Move
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Bologan,V (2666) -
Karjakin,S (2661) [E15]
Aerosvit-2006 Foros (1), 17.06.2006
Black is a little worse here, but nothing too serious.
After a solid 32...Rf8, the problem with the pin is solved. Instead
Karjakin played...32...c3?? 33.Rxc3 Perhaps, the plan was to play
33...Rb1+ 34.Kg2 Bh3+ aiming at 35...Rxa8, but the Bf3 defends it and
after 35.Kxh3 White is up a Bishop. Also, near miss is 33...Bh3, since
after 34.Rxd8 Rb1+ 35.Rd1 the Bf3 defends the same rook but on a different
square. So, with both counterstrikes failing, suddenly Black found himself
not only losing a pawn, but also the pinned Bc8.
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GM Rublevsky, on the other hand, started slowly – 0.5
/ 2, but then went on a amazing streak – five wins in a row, including
one over Bologan with Black in a long endgame. Here is one of his victories - a blowout of Indian
super-star GM Harikrishna:
White to Move
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Rublevsky,S (2687)
- Harikrishna,P (2680)
Aerosvit-2006 Foros (7), 24.06.2006
After 20.Qa1 Ra8, Rublevsky didn’t hesitate
to give up his Queen for a Rook, a Bishop and a full control over the 7th
rank. 21.Rxb7 Rxa1 22.Rxa1 c4 23.Rxc7 cxb3 24.Rxd7 Qc8 25.Rxf7 Rg7
26.Rxg7 Kxg7 27.c4 bxc4 28.Nxc4
1:0
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After 7 games, Rublevsky has
a 1-point lead with 5.5
/ 7. Sitting on 4.5 out of 7 are Bologan and
Ivanchuk.
After losing to Rublevsky in round 6, Bologan nearly
bounced back at the expense of GM Shirov, but missed a surprising
defense:
Black to Move
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Shirov,A (2699) -
Bologan,V (2666) [B12]
Aerosvit-2006 Foros (7), 24.06.2006
Black has tremendous compensation for the Bishop. Two
central pawns, well placed pieces and a very strong attack. After Rxh2
White should probably resign soon, but...21...Qe5+ [21...Rxh2] 22.Qe2!
This unexpected reply creates big problems for Black. Now, he must
trade the Qs and all of his advantage disappears. 22...Qxe2+ [22...Nxe2??
23.Rxh8+ Kc7 24.Bxe2+-] 23.Bxe2 Rxh2 24.Nf3 Rh5 25.Ne5 Rh1+ 26.Bf1+/= After
interesting struggle, the game ended in a Draw on move 73 1/2-1/2
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Also, tied for 2 with +2=4 is GM Ivanchuk. I am big
fan of Ivanchuk as we are of similar age and played in the same Ukrainian
junior events (even played against each other a couple of times) and were
members of various Ukrainian junior teams. However, soon thereafter at a very
young age, Ivanchuk became a super-star and the #1 player of the
Ukrainian chess. To this day, he remains a super-star, but now shares spotlight
with the fellow Ukrainian – GM Ponomariov. Ivanchuk’s two victories came in a similar fashion
- as a result of executing flawless strategy in a static position with
advantage.
Black to Move
Mamedyarov,S (2699) - Ivanchuk,V
(2731)
Aerosvit-2006 Foros (4), 20.06.2006 |
With opposite color bishops, neither K should feel
secure, but Black has an obvious advantage due to much more active Queen
and a better pawn structure. Having extra pawn on the Q-side is nice and
it insures various favorable endgames, but will not be playing any role in
the near future. Black's plan is to attack White K and destroy what is
left of it's coverage. A little accuracy is required to make sure that
the White Q remains tied to the 1st rank.37...b5
38.axb5 axb5 39.Bd5 Be5 40.Bb3 f5 41.Bd5 b4 42.Bb3 Kh7 43.Bd5 Kh6 44.Qc1+
Bf4 45.Qd1 Kg5 46.Bb3 Kh4 47.Bf7 g5 48.Bb3
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Diagram Now it is time! 48...Qg3 49.Kg1 Qh2+ 50.Kf1 Qh1+
51.Kf2 Bg3+ 52.Kf3 g4+ 53.hxg4 fxg4+ 54.Ke3 Qxg2 55.Bd5 Qb2 0-1 |
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In the 7th
round Ivanchuk’s victim was Romanian GM Nisipeanu
White to Move
Ivanchuk,V (2731) - Nisipeanu,L (2695)
Aerosvit-2006 Foros (7), 24.06.2006
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Another fairly static position. Black's Q-side pawns
are paralyzed. Pawn c7 and pawn d5 are weak, but defended well and it
is not easy for White to add more pressure. White executes a slow but very
strong strategy - a pawn attack on the K-side in order to generate even
more weaknesses as well as to create a safe path for White's K to the center
and K-side. 25.h4 Ke8 [25...a5 26.Rxb6] 26.h5 h6 27.b4
Kd8 28.Kf3 Re7 29.g4 Kd7 30.b5 Kd8 31.a4 Kd7 32.Kf4 Re6 33.Rxe6 fxe6 [33...Kxe6
34.Rc6+ Kd7 35.Ke5] 34.Ke5 a6 35.Rc6 axb5 36.axb5 Re8 37.f3 Re7 38.f4
Re8 39.g5 Re7 40.gxh6 gxh6 41.Kf6 Soon White's K will be arriving safely
at it's destination! 41...Re8 42.Kf7 Re7+ 43.Kg6 Re8 The rest is
uneventful. 44.Kxh6 Rg8 45.Kh7 Rg3 46.Rc3 Ke7 47.Rxc7+ Kf6 48.h6 Rg1
49.Rb7 Ra1 50.Rb8 Ra7+ 51.Kg8 Kg6 52.Re8 Kf6 53.Rb8 Ra1 54.Rf8+ 1-0 |
Overall, the
tournament is very lively with a lot of fighting happening in every round. A
couple of examples from the games of young super-stars.
First, GM Mamedyarov demolishes GM
Areshchenko’s King-side:
Black to Move |
Areshchenko,A (2660) - Mamedyarov,S
(2699)
Aerosvit-2006 Foros (3), 19.06.2006
Black's pieces are very dangerously placed. At the same
time, White King is only protected by pawns. Therefore we are witnessing a
small 'explosion' 43...Nxh3+! 44.gxh3 [44.Kf1 Qh2; 44.Kh1 Nxf2+] 44...Qg5+
45.Kf1 Rxh3 46.Ke1 Rh1+ 47.Nf1 Qg2 0:1
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Then GM Harikrishna does the same to Mamedyarov:
White to Move |
Harikrishna,P (2680) - Mamedyarov,S
(2699)
Aerosvit-2006 Foros (6), 22.06.2006
Let's see how elegantly Harikshina opens the long
diagonal for the Q+B tandem. 24.f5 Rxf5 25.Nh6+ gxh6 26.Qd4 threatening
mate in 2 - Qh8+ and Qg7# 26...Ne6 27.Qh8+ Kf7 28.Rxf5+ Bxf5 29.Qf6+
Kg8 30.Qxf5 Nf8 [30...Rf8 The best practical chance. After 31.Qxe6+
Qxe6 32.Rxe6 Rf4 Black has some drawing chances. White should play instead
31.Qg4+ After 31...Kf7 Black would hope to get his K out of the danger
zone. 31.Qg4+ Kf7 32.Qh3+/-; 30...Re8 31.Qg4+ Kf8 32.Rf1+] 31.Qd5+ Qf7
32.Re7 1-0
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So, overall – Ukrainian first chess super-tournament is
off to a great start, let’s see what happens in the remaining 4 rounds.
This article wouldn’t have been complete if I didn’t
mention a real football (soccer in the US). While chess is hot in Ukraine, all of
the attention these days is to Germany where the Ukrainian national soccer team
participates in its first ever World Cup. After a disappointing loss in the first
game (Spain 4:0), Ukraine won two matches, took the 2nd place in the group and
qualified to play Switzerland for the spot among the top eight teams. I used to be a
huge football fan back in Ukraine, attending many matches with my father and my
friends. Ukrainian head coach Blokhin was a famous striker and I
saw many of his games live at the stadium. Honestly, I have seen very little
soccer over the past 15 years (my sport of choice these days is American
football), but watching Ukraine
in the World Cup brings back some great memories. I will be watching the game
today (Monday, 6/26 at 3PM Eastern) and I wish them the very best!
Yahoo
provides excellent coverage of the World Cup!
=====================================================================
For comments send email or
this
form.
I am looking for 'Ukrainian'
copy of British Chess Magazine from last year. If anyone has an extra one,
please contact me via my website www.IamCoach.com.
You might want to take a look at my new
Tactical test. Try the demo as I am looking for more data to refine
my statistics. The full version is also available at a nominal fee.
More on chess training (serious and enlightening):
Chess Exam and Training
Guide:
Rate Yourself and Learn How to Improve
IM
Igor Khmelnitsky's book, Chess Exam and Training
Guide: Rate Yourself and Learn How to Improve (2004, IamCoach
Press) - winner of Book of the Year from CJA - Chess Journalists
of America (2005).
"...will quickly and
accurately test your
combinational ability, positional judgment and endgame expertise...
Instructive and Entertaining!" - Alex Yermolinsky, Grandmaster,
former US Champion and Olympic team member. |
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See more articles at Chessville by IM Igor Khmelnitsky
Center
Squares
Copyright © 2005-2006 by Igor Khmelnitsky &
www.IamCoach.com and is used here by
permission.
It may not be reprinted or reposted in any format without
the express written permission of the author.
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