Michael Adams victorious in Dortmund
Malcolm Pein hails a brilliant tournament win for England's number one
4:45PM BST 05 Aug 2013
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The England number one, Michael Adams, neatly channelled his last-round game against Vladimir Kramnik to a draw and secured the half point he needed to win the Dortmund Sparkassen tournament with an unbeaten 7/9. This was one of Adams’s finest career moments and the most outstanding tournament performance by an English player in recent memory. Adams ended half a point ahead of Kramnik, for whom Dortmund is almost a second home. The 14th world champion has won the event no less than 10 times, but he was denied by Adams, who pulled out a string of victories over elite players.
M. Adams - V. Kramnik
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 Bg7 7.Qb3 Nb6 8.a4! d6 (8...a5 9.d5 threatening Be3) 9.a5 Be6 (9...N6d7 10.Ng5 e6 11.a6! with all kinds of nasty tricks: 11...bxa6 12.Qf3; 11...Nxa6 12.Bxa6 bxa6 13.Qf3; 11...Qb6 12.Qxb6 axb6 13.Na3 bxa6 14.Nb5) 10.Qb5+ Bd7 11.Qb3 Be6 12.Qb5+ Bd7 13.Qb3 (White has some initiative after 13.Qd3 Nd5 14.Qb3 Bc6 15.Bc4 e6 16.0–0 0–0 17.Bg5 but a draw secured first prize) 13...Be6 14.Qb5+ Bd7 draw
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 Bg7 7.Qb3 Nb6 8.a4! d6 (8...a5 9.d5 threatening Be3) 9.a5 Be6 (9...N6d7 10.Ng5 e6 11.a6! with all kinds of nasty tricks: 11...bxa6 12.Qf3; 11...Nxa6 12.Bxa6 bxa6 13.Qf3; 11...Qb6 12.Qxb6 axb6 13.Na3 bxa6 14.Nb5) 10.Qb5+ Bd7 11.Qb3 Be6 12.Qb5+ Bd7 13.Qb3 (White has some initiative after 13.Qd3 Nd5 14.Qb3 Bc6 15.Bc4 e6 16.0–0 0–0 17.Bg5 but a draw secured first prize) 13...Be6 14.Qb5+ Bd7 draw
At the British Championships, David Howell took a half-point lead over the field by defeating Peter Wells to reach 5.5/6. His round three win was over a former British winner:
C. Ward - D. Howell
Nimzo Indian
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 5.e4 d6 6.e5 dxe5 7.dxe5 Ng4 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.Qxc3 Nc6 10.Nf3 f6 11.exf6 Nxf6 12.Be3 e5 13.Rd1 Qe8 14.Be2 Bg4 15.h3 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Nd4 17.Rxd4 exd4 18.Qxd4 c6 19.0–0 Qe7 20.b4 Rfd8 21.Qc5 (21.Qc3!?) 21...Qxc5 22.Bxc5 Rd3 23.b5 Nd7 24.Bb4 a5! 25.bxa6 Rxa6 26.c5 Rdxa3! (The c5 pawn will fall and the endgame is a technical win) 27.Be2 R3a4 28.Bc3?! Ra8 29.Rd1 Nxc5 0–1
Nimzo Indian
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 5.e4 d6 6.e5 dxe5 7.dxe5 Ng4 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.Qxc3 Nc6 10.Nf3 f6 11.exf6 Nxf6 12.Be3 e5 13.Rd1 Qe8 14.Be2 Bg4 15.h3 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Nd4 17.Rxd4 exd4 18.Qxd4 c6 19.0–0 Qe7 20.b4 Rfd8 21.Qc5 (21.Qc3!?) 21...Qxc5 22.Bxc5 Rd3 23.b5 Nd7 24.Bb4 a5! 25.bxa6 Rxa6 26.c5 Rdxa3! (The c5 pawn will fall and the endgame is a technical win) 27.Be2 R3a4 28.Bc3?! Ra8 29.Rd1 Nxc5 0–1
J. Friedland - T. Thorpe
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bg5 Nbd7?! 6.Be2 0–0 7.Qd2 Re8? 8.h3 b6??
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bg5 Nbd7?! 6.Be2 0–0 7.Qd2 Re8? 8.h3 b6??
White to play and win
Answer:
9.e5 dxe5 10.dxe5 Nh5 11.g4 Bb7 (The knight is trapped) 12.gxh5 Nxe5 13.Qe3 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Nc4 15.Qc1 Ne5 16.Bg2 Rb8 17.0–0 gxh5 18.Rd1 Qc8 19.Nd5 1–0
9.e5 dxe5 10.dxe5 Nh5 11.g4 Bb7 (The knight is trapped) 12.gxh5 Nxe5 13.Qe3 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Nc4 15.Qc1 Ne5 16.Bg2 Rb8 17.0–0 gxh5 18.Rd1 Qc8 19.Nd5 1–0
