Author: BCC

BCC Open Round 9: Evgeny Romanov wins outright with 8/9

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The 22nd edition of the Bangkok Chess Club Open concluded with the undisputed victory of Macedonian GM Evgeny Romanov. Facing the young FM Ern Ang from Malaysia with the Black pieces, Romanov quickly obtained a promising position in which his doubled pawns were of little significance in view of the juicy outposts available to his minor pieces. After the game, he praised his opponent for his very tricky style and attributed his victory to the fact that he probably felt more at ease with the unusual pawn structure which resulted from the opening.

Ang, Ern Jie Anderson (2286) – Romanov, Evgeny (2590)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Bd6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O Nc6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Nc3 h6 9.Nb5 Bf5 10.Nxd6 cxd6 11.Bf4 Re8 12.h3 Qd7 13.g4 Be4 14.e3 a5 15.Nd2 Bd3

16.Re1? Nb4 17.Bf1 Bc2 18.Qf3 Ne4 19.Qe2 Bd3 20.Qd1 Rac8 21.Nxe4 dxe4 22.Bxd3 Nxd3 23.Re2 h5 24.Rd2 d5 25.Bg3 Rc6 26.f4 Rec8 27.Kh2 hxg4 28.hxg4 f5 29.Bh4 fxg4 30.Rg2 Rh6 31.Kg3 g5 32.fxg5 Rxh4 33.Kxh4 Kg7 34.Rxg4 Qd6 35.Rg2 Rh8+ 36.Qh5 Rxh5+ 37.Kxh5 Qf8 38.Rg3 Qh8+ 0-1

Romanov precedes Filipino IM Paulo Bersamina by a half point, as the latter managed to convert a winding Rook endgame against 2024 winner GM Bernadskyi.

On 7/9 follows a group of five players: FM Ang, Filipino IM Concio as well as GMs Lalit, Ganguly and Short, who also tops the ranking in the Senior citizen category.

Other prize winners, include IM Prin Laohawirapap as best player under the Thai federation on 6/9, and WGM Julia Ryjanova among ladies with a total of 5.5.

In the Challenger group, the final round began under similar auspices with two players on 7/8 chased by a trio on 6.5. Following their draw on board 1, Khalid Azzamy and Nguyen Tran are joined on 7.5/9 by John De Guzman, with Azzamy winning on tiebreak.

This concludes this year’s coverage of the Bangkok Chess Club Open and Challenger tournaments. Please follow us on www.bangkokchess.com for announcements regarding the next edition!

BCC Round 8 : draw at the top, GM comebacks and an Easter egg on board 2

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The tournament entered its final stretch and dying hours as this penultimate round will be followed in quick order by the dreaded 9:00 game on Monday morning.

The game on board 1 between the leader Evgeny Romanov and Babu Lalit was wrapped up peacefully after a couple of hours. The position stayed well within drawing parameters and left both opponents undefeated in this tournament, with two and three draws respectively.

On board 2 GM Stephen Gordon was facing the round’s surprise package in the person of Ern Ang. The young FM from Malaysia chalked his sixth successive win after his Mancunian opponent had missed the tactical shot 24… Bg3, which won the exchange and then some.

On the third table, Indian GM Ganguly carefully nursed his advantage – until he didn’t. The complications arising from his Rook sacrifice 35…. Rxf2 resulted in a drawn position, whereas doubling Rooks on the f-file first would instead have given Black a decisive advantage.

Michael Concio outlasted James Morris in a position where White’s Queen and Knight decided against Black’s two extra pawns and lone Queen.

The face-off between untitled Latvian Batashevs Arsens, 2176, and IM Bersamina from the Philippines was in equilibrium until the time scramble, with 34. Rdd3 landing White in a passive position causing the loss of a piece.

Other winners on this round include GMs Bernadskyi, Short and Gustafsson, who called upon a time-honoured mixture of knowledge, experience and guile to move up the ranking table.

BCC round 7: Saturday, bloody Saturday – Evgeny Romanov sole leader with Ang, Gordon and Lalit in pursuit

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In a first this year around, the top three boards had six GMs battling it out today. Battling being the operative word: no grandmasterly draws here, Sir!

On board 1 Evgeny Romanov uncorked a deep and powerful combination to bring down Surya Ganguly following a balanced middle game contest in which the Indian GM declined a draw offer by move 25.

Ganguly, Surya Shekhar (2572) – Romanov, Evgeny (2590)

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 Nge7 7.O-O Nf5 8.dxc5 a5 9.Bd3 Bxc5 10.a4 h6 11.Nbd2 Bb6 12.Nb3 Nh4 13.Nxh4 Qxh4 14.Qe2 O-O 15.Be3 Qd8 16.Bc2 Bxe3 17.Qxe3 f6 18.exf6 Rxf6 19.Nc5 b6 20.Nxd7 Qxd7 21.Rae1 Qd6 22.Qd3 g6 23.Re3 Qc5 24.Rh3 Kg7 25.Qd2 Rh8 26.Rb1 Ne5 27.b4 Qc7 28.bxa5 bxa5 29.Rb5 The start of the decisive manoeuvre, allowing the doubling of the Rooks on the f-file.
29..h5 30.Rg3 Rhf8 31.Qd4 Rxf2 32.Rxg6+

32..Kh7 The crux. Seldom does one see a King go willingly into a vortex of discovered checks, and emerge triumphant.
33.Rg3+ Rxc2 34.Qd1 Kh6 35.h3 Qa7+ 36.Kh2 Qf2 37.h4 Rf4 38.Kh3 Rg4 0-1

At board 2, Stephen Gordon was hanging on in spite of undergoing some time and positional pressure at the hands of Nigel Short. Things then took a turn for the worse for him after the capture of a forbidden pawn on c2, after which it appeared White’s two minor pieces would have dominated Black’s Rook. Instead Black invaded White’s first rank, won White’s Bishop and converted the win after liquidating into a won pawn endgame.

On board 3, Babu Lalit overcame the resistance of Jozsef Horvath with a timely Queenside breakthrough culminating with a triple battery of White’s heavy pieces on the a-file.

They are joined in 2-4 places by junior FM Ern Ang from Malaysia, who managed to defeat IM Hafiz.

Games: https://www.chess.com/events/2025-bangkok-open/games
Credits: www.bangkokchess.com
Picture database: https://lightboxproductions.pixieset.com/bangkokchessclu…/
Open section: https://chess-results.com/tnr1137279.aspx?lan=1
Challenger section: https://chess-results.com/tnr1137307.aspx?lan=1

Cooling off on the River of Kings

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This tournament’s yearly photo opportunity took place – predictably – on the Chao Phraya river, courtesy of the Royal Orchid Sheraton Riverside Hotel management who put their luxurious ferry boat at the disposal of the organisers.

Under a bright morning sun, the whole family of Indian GM Surya Ganguly posed for the photographers as the boat departed to the massive Icon Siam commercial center situated across the hotel. 

Three games were then played underway to the Thaksin bridge and back, with defending champion GM Vitaliy Bernadskyi facing WFM Aleksandra Samaganova before leaving the board to GMs Evgeny Romanov and Nigel Short.  

In the remaining game, GM Jan Gustafsson managed to reach a promising position against Nina Tuorila, the tournament director’s daughter.  He did however chicken out and offered a draw, keeping with the tradition that every game played during BCC photo ops must end with a peaceful result.

BCC Open round 5: Thai ace Prin comes close while none of the leaders emerges unscathed

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Mid-tournament syndrome is that moment in the week when games get evenly matched, and hence the action doesn’t decant quite as quickly. For the correspondent, it’s usually that time when one realises he actually needs that other cup of coffee or that extra kick of insulin. When things are quiet in the press room, and one would wish Yasser Seirawan were there to delight the audience with some witty anecdote from the defunct century.

Round 4 had left us with a trio of leaders, two of whom were squaring off on the top board. The game between GM Babu Lalit from India and Indonesian IM Ariz Abdul Hafiz, was a finely balanced affair although Black’s Queen had ventured off to snatch a pawn as early as move 4.

On board two, Macedonian GM Romanov made short work of the third co-leader, FM Arca from the Philippines after the white Queen went on an unsuccessful fishing expedition on the Kingside.

Meanwhile, Thai star Prin Laohawirapap was facing a resurgent Nigel Short. After dominating the opening phase with the Black pieces, Prin got low on time and struggled to maintain his advantage before going astray wih 24… h5, when the position became level but with the momentum firmly on White’s side. There were a couple more plot twists, with White going astray shortly after entering a 4-Rook endgame. Black however failed to capitalise, capturing the wrong pawn (35…. Rxd4 instead of … Rxb2) after which the soon to be sexagenarian grandmaster had no difficulty steering the position towards a peaceful conclusion.

Short, Nigel D (2594) – Laohawirapap, Prin (2380)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bd3 g6 7.O-O Bg7 8.Kh1 O-O 9.f4 Nbd7 10.Qe1 Nc5 11.Nf3 b5 12.Bd2 b4 13.Nd1 Bb7 14.Nf2 a5 15.e5 Nfd7 16.Be2 Qc7 17.exd6 exd6 18.c3 Rfe8 19.Qd1 Na4 20.Rb1 Ndc5 21.Bb5 Bc6 22.Bxc6 Qxc6 23.Nd4 Qd5 24.f5 h5 25.fxg6 fxg6 26.Qc2 Ne4 27.Nxe4 Rxe4 28.Qxa4 Bxd4 29.cxd4 Re2 30.Rf3 Rxd2 31.Re1 Kg7 32.Qd7+ Kh6 33.Qe7 Qg5 34.Qxg5+ Kxg5 35.h3

35…Rxd4 (…Rxb2!) 36.Re6 Rg8 37.b3 Rd2 38.Kh2 Rg7 39.Rf8 Rxa2 40.Rxd6 Ra3 41.Ra6 h4 42.Rd8 Rxb3 43.Rxa5+ Kh6 44.Rb5 g5 45.Rd4

1/2-1/2

As several players on 3.5 points came out victorious, we enter tonight’s blitz final stage – as well as round 6 – with an unexpectedly large squad of competitors leading with 4.5/5.

Games: https://www.chess.com/events/2025-bangkok-open/games
Credits: www.bangkokchess.com
Open section: https://chess-results.com/tnr1137279.aspx?lan=1
Challenger section: https://chess-results.com/tnr1137307.aspx?lan=1

BCC round 4: grandmasters bite the dust amidst a Makruk invasion

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Today’s round was preceded by a colourful display of some thirty Thai children in traditional costumes in the playing hall. Not as late entries to the BCC Open mind you, but to take part in a junior Makruk (Thai chess) tournament organised by the eponymous association.

For those BCC participants who are eager to discover this interesting chess variant, the Thailand Makruk Association will organise two separate tournaments on April 19 and 20 starting at 9:00am. These events will consist of 6 rounds with a tempo of 15 minutes with 5 second increments and will take place in the BCC Open analysis room, also known in the Sheraton vernacular as the Pompadour room.

One would have been forgiven for thinking that many of the day’s games would be expedited in anticipation of tonight’s blitz qualifiers which will see a capacity crowd of 112 battle it out for the privilege of a spot in tomorrow’s final.

But the opposite happened, and this round was not a walk in the park for any of the leaders by any stretch of the imagination. Board 1 ended in a draw between GM Romanov and IM Bersamina.

BCC champions Bernadskiy and Ganguly pressed hard against Hafiz Arif and Michael Concio respectively. The reigning champion could not take advantage of his opponent’s time pressure woes and ended in a lost pawn endgame. The 2016 and 2020 winner was more fortunate, scoring a hard-fought draw.

On board 4, Lalit Babu produced a positional gem against Alexander Chernyavsky. But yet another upset came on the fifth table, at the hands of FIDE Master Arca:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. e3 Bf5 6. Nh4 Bg4 7. Qc2 e6 8. h3 Bh5 9. g4 Ng8?!

OK, so here’s one for the conspiracy theorists: Black keeps the Knight because it is the key piece in the ensuing endgame. 10. Nf3 And here’s one for the others: White could refute it by playing 10. Qb3 here instead. 10… Bg6 11. Qb3 Ra7 12. Ne5 Nd7 13. Nxg6 hxg6 14. e4 dxc4 15. Bxc4 b5 16. Be2 c5 17. d5 c4 18. Qc2 Bc5 19. Bf4 e5 Black concedes a passed pawn but crucially starts to win the battle for the dark squares. 20. Bg3 g5 21. a4 Rb7 22. axb5 axb5 23. b3 Castling was a lesser evil. 25… Bd4 24. Rc1 Nc5 25. bxc4 b4 26. Nb5 b3 27. Qb1 Nf6 28. f3 O-O 29. Nxd4?! (Kf1 and White retains a fighting chance). Qa5+ 30. Kf1 exd4 31. Bf2 31… b2 32. Rd1 Na4 33. Bxd4 Nc3 34. Bxc3 Qxc3 35. Qd3 Qe5 36. Rb1 Rfb8 37. Bd1 Nd7 38. Qe3 Rb4 39. h4 Nb6 40. c5 Nxd5 0-1

Games: https://www.chess.com/events/2025-bangkok-open/games
Credits: www.bangkokchess.com
Picture database: https://lightboxproductions.pixieset.com/bangkokchessclu…/
Open section: https://chess-results.com/tnr1137279.aspx?lan=1
Challenger section: https://chess-results.com/tnr1137307.aspx?lan=1