BCC Open round 2: Grandmasters held to a draw… and an unlikely derby

BCC News

The second round of the BCC Open’s Masters tournament started with a slight delay, due to the enhanced security and anti-cheating measures implemented by the organisers. No metallic object, telephone, smartwatch nor, much less so, suspicious transmitting beads made it through to the tournament halls. Even GM Romanov’s trademark thermos bottle was thoroughly checked.

Although not as lopsided as on the initial round, today’s pairings still mostly featured rating gaps of more than 250 points. Many games on the top boards unfolded in similar fashion, with the underdogs holding the favourites through balanced opening and middlegame positions, albeit at the cost of widening deficits on the clock. The late Simon Webb put it best in his classic “Chess for Tigers”: a tiger will stalk its prey for as long as necessary to make sure he doesn’t go hungry.

But every rule has its exceptions, and, as Webb cunningly noted, even rabbits can have surprisingly sharp teeth when cornered. Top seed GM Loek Van Wely was made to labour a pawn down against Nithin Babu before transposing into a drawn 3 vs. 4 + Rook endgame.

Meanwhile, GM Romanov drew from an inferior position against Jianwen Wong after pressing for a win earlier on.

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.Nf3 e4 5.Nd4 Qb6 6.Nb3 a5 7.d3 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 a4 9.Nd2 exd3 10.O-O O-O 11.exd3 Qa5 12.a3 Bxc3 13.bxc3 d6 14.Rb1 Nbd7 15.Ne4 Nxe4 16.dxe4 Qc7 17.Bf4 Ne5 18.Qd4 c5 19.Qd5 Ra6 20.Rb5 Rc6 21.Rfb1 b6 22.Qd1 Qa7 23.Bc1 Bd7 24.Bf1 Bg4 25.Be2 Bxe2 26.Qxe2 Re8 27.Bf4 Ng6 28.Qd3 Re6 29.f3 Rf6 30.Qd2 h6 31.Kg2 Qc7 32.R5b2 Qd8 33.Kh1 Ne7 34.Kg2 g5 35.Be3 Ng6 36.Qd5 Qc7 37.h3 Re6 38.Qd1 Qa7 39.Qd5 Ne7 40.Qd3 Nc8??

Here the engine gives White a decisive advantage after 41.h4, taking advantage of the lack of coordination between Black’s pieces while creating more weaknesses on the Kingside.

41.Rh1?! Rc7 42.g4 Ne7 43.h4 h5 44.gxh5 g4 45.Rg1 Qb7 46.Kh2 f5 47.exf5 Qxf3 48.Rxg4+ Qxg4 49.Rg2 Qxg2+ 50.Kxg2 Nxf5 51.Qxf5 Rxe3 52.Qd5+ Kh7 53.Kf2 Re5 54.Qd3+ Kh8 55.Qg6 Rce7 56.Qxd6 Rf5+ 57.Kg2 Rg7+ 58.Kh3 Rf3+ 59.Kh2 Rf2+

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A few hours earlier, the Challengers section witnessed a first in BCC Open history when two Irish players, after braving swarms of drones and related hazards on their way to Hua Hin, squared off today on board 46, in what posterity might remember as Shamrocks at Dawn.

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