BCC final round: unprecedented 9-way tie for first place, Duy victorious on tie-breaks

The final round of this 23rd edition of the Bangkok Chess Club Open delivered an unusually large share of suspense until the last minute. At the outset, seven co-leaders on 6,5/8 were vying for the final victory.

Well, maybe not quite. One of them, IM Ghosh Aronyak, had a different prize in mind: a draw against IM Suresh Harsh would secure him a precious GM norm. Suresh, it turned out, didn’t prove harsh at all and the point was quickly shared by mutual consent.

The game between Nigel Short and Ido Gorshtein developed slowly, with White enjoying some initial space advantage as well as offering an early draw. Though not devoid of imbalances, the position remained within drawing territory throughout the game and peace was concluded shortly after the time control.

On board 3, Lithuanian GM Titas Stremavicius faced a well-rested Khuong Dau with the white pieces. Fresh from his GM norm, the Vietnamese youngster defended confidently to reach a drawn Rook endgame in which his pawn deficit was of no consequence.

On board one, the first seed Loek Van Wely faced two-time BCC winner Surya Ganguly in what could prove the decisive game of the tournament. After fighting for initiative with some success, the Dutch grandmaster found himself down the exchange. Ganguly simplified to a safer position, but in which his extra pawn ultimately would not suffice for the win.

Van Wely, Loek (2621) – Ganguly, Surya Shekhar (2561)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be6 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Bd3 c6 8.h3 Be7 9.Nge2 Nh5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.g4 Nhf6 12.Qc2 O-O-O 13.O-O-O Kb8 14.Kb1 h5 15.g5 Ne8 16.h4 Nd6 17.f3 Nb6 18.Nf4 Bc8 19.Rhe1 Rhe8 20.Qf2 g6 21.e4 dxe4 22.fxe4 Ndc4 23.Ka1 Qb4 24.Bb1 Bg4 25.Rd3 Rd7 26.a3 Qa5 27.Ba2 Ka8 28.Nfe2 Ne5 29.Rdd1 Nec4 30.Rd3 Ne5 31.Rdd1 Nec4 32.Rc1 Red8 33.Rc2 Qa6 34.Rf1 Be6

White has dominated proceedings so far, but two consecutive mistakes allow Black to turn the tables. [diagr].

35.Nf4 Ne3 36.Qxe3 Qxf1+ 37.Rc1 Nc4 38.Bxc4 Qxc4 39.d5 Bg4 40.e5 cxd5 41.Ncxd5 Qa4 42.e6 Bxe6 43.Nxe6 fxe6 44.Nc7+ Rxc7 45.Rxc7 Qxh4 46.Qxe6 Kb8 47.Qe5 Qd4 48.Qe7 Qd1+ 49.Ka2 Qd5+ 50.Ka1 Qh1+ 51.Ka2 Qd5+ 52.Ka1 Qd1+ ½-½

After the game the two Grandmasters expressed their satisfaction, both with their overall play over the course of the event and with the pleasant atmosphere which prevailed throughout the tournament. They also underlined the toughness of the field, before concluding that playing in the BCC Open is well worth taking a long trip and that they would gladly return for the upcoming editions, time and family-related constraints permitting.

These results, added to the victories of Jacobson, Saydaliev mean that the tournament concludes on an unprecedented 9-way tie for first place, all with 7 points out of 9. The Sheraton resort and Spa Hua Hin’s event manager is scrambling to build a bigger podium as we write these lines.

Perhaps more to the point is the fact that the winner of this 23rd BCC Open on tie-breaks is Khuong Duy Dau, who consistently occupied the top tables for most of the event. He is followed by GMs Brandon Jacobson and Surya Ganguly. IM Dau achieved a unique feat of winning both the 23rd BCC Open and the 23rd BCC Blitz tournaments.

Other prize winners include WIM Hagawane Aakanksha (best female) while co-winner Nigel Short takes first place in the Senior category ahead of Loek Van Wely. On a very respectable 6,5/9 thanks to his strong finish, IM Prin Laohawirapap is the first Thai player in the overall rankings.

Finally, the Challenger group concluded with the expected victory of Adaljay on 8/9, ahead of Man Danushka, sole second on 7.5.

This concludes this year’s coverage of the Bangkok Chess Club Open. Please do follow us on www.bangkokchess.com for updates on the next edition!