CHESS#1230

Various sections at the London Chess Classic are heading for tight finishes. In the premier, (10-player round robin) Wesley So leads with 4.5 points from 6 rounds. The Filipino-American GM has broken into the elite rating level of 2800-plus. So is followed by his compatriot, the Italian American GM, Fabiano Caruana (4/6). "Fab" is the world#2 and his performance here (Elo running at 2830) is bringing him within touching distance of Magnus Carlsen (2840). Vladimir Kramnik (3.5/6) is the only other player on a plus score.

There are four players tied on 50 per cent with 3 points. That includes Viswanathan Anand, Hikaru Nakamura, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian. Michael Adams and Veselin Topalov trail. So has produced with wins against the Japanese-American GM Nakamura, Adams and Topalov. Caruana has also struck with a magnificent queen sacrifice against Nakamura. There is little love lost between the three Americans, as was obvious when they pooled their efforts to win the Baku Olympiad. They came and went to Baku by separate flights and they prepared separately.

Anand's form has been uncertain. He has produced one neat win against Vachier Lagrave and one  loss against Nakamura where he missed chances. He also overlooked a simple tactic in an advantageous position against Adams.

Chess

In the LCC Open, the 17-year-old GM, Aravindh Chithambaram, has produced a great performance so far. The teenager has run up 6.5 points from 7 rounds so far and is the clear leader. The Indian Champion Murali Karthikeyan (5.5), who is also 17, shares third place, along with Abhijeet Gupta and many others.

The DIAGRAM, WHITE TO PLAY, (White: Caruana Vs Black: Nakamura London 2016) is a wild Sicilian position. Black has sacrificed a piece and after 18—e5, White's queen is hit, along with the Bg4 and black expects to recover the piece.

White played the stunning 19.Qxf6!? Bxf6 20.Nd5 Qd8 21.Nf5. At this stage, white has just two minor pieces for the queen.[ He keeps pressure after 21.— Bxf5 22. Bxf5 when he can try for Rd3-a3, Rh1-d1, etc. The white square bind, safe king, etc. is decent compensation. ]

Black tried the sensible looking 21.— Rb8 22.Nxf6+ Qxf6 23.Rxd6 Be6. The loss of the d6 pawn hurts since the black king is unsafe sandwiched between open files. White continued 24.Rhd1 0–0 25.h5 Qg5+ 26.Be3 Qf6 27.Nxh6+ Kh8 28.Bf5 Qe7 29.b5? Qe8. White wasted the last move because the Nxf7 idea was already on.

But it's winning anyway with  30.Nxf7+! Rxf7 [ If 30.—Bxf7 31. Rh6+ Kg7 32. Rg1+] 31.Rxe6 Qxb5 32.Rh6+ (1–0).  The forced line is 32.— Kg8 33. Rg1+  Kf8 34. Rh8+ Ke7 35. Rxb8 Qxb8 36. Bc5+  and white wins.

Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player