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FIDE Open
Report
by John Saunders |
The London Chess Classic was not just about
super-grandmasters. The congress was remarkably inclusive
and catered for chessplayers of all abilities, from children
who had just mastered how the ‘horsey one’ moved, right up
to the world rated number one.
Ranked immediately below the Classic itself was the London
Festival FIDE-Rated Open, a nine-round Swiss tournament
which ran from December 8-15 (with rounds four and five both
played on Friday 11 December). With a first prize of £2,500,
and overall prize fund of £8,250, it attracted a strong
field of 125 players, including nine grandmasters and 17 IMs.
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The FIDE Open took place in the
East Hall |
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The highest rated competitor was Jon Ludvig Hammer of
Norway, and he was expected to be pursued by a posse of
2500+ rated England grandmasters, namely Stuart Conquest,
Simon Williams, Mark Hebden of England and a few others of a
slightly lesser rating. One of the aforementioned posse was
sensationally unhorsed in the first round by an English
amateur: Stuart Conquest lost to the 61-year-old, 2119-rated
Alan Barton of Hastings Chess Club.
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Top seed and winner: Jon Ludvig GM Hammer, 2588,
NOR, 8.0/9 |
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The posse never quite caught up with the Norwegian
thoroughbred. Jon Ludvig is just a few months older than his
superstar compatriot who was busy winning the Classic in the
next room. He won his first four games, drew with Hebden,
and then won games against three titled players: Loeffler,
McDonald and Cherniaev. A last-round draw put him one point
ahead of the field. His 8/9 was enough for a TPR of 2756.
Second place was shared by Simon Williams, Mark Hebden and
Jovanka Houska. This was a particularly good result for the
2008 and 2009 British Women’s Champion. Jovanka also has a
connection with Norway, of course... she is married to a
Norwegian and now lives there. She survived two long
defensive games against GMs Hebden and Wells and won her
final game for a TPR of 2520.
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No. |
Player |
Pts |
Nat |
Rtng |
Perf |
WWe |
| 1 |
GM Hammer, Jon Ludvig |
8.0 |
NOR |
2588 |
2756 |
+1.46 |
| 2 |
GM Williams, Simon K |
7.0 |
ENG |
2550 |
2616 |
+0.78 |
| 3 |
GM Hebden, Mark L |
7.0 |
ENG |
2522 |
2610 |
+1.02 |
| 4 |
IM Houska, Jovanka |
7.0 |
ENG |
2391 |
2520 |
+1.51 |
| 5 |
GM Wells, Peter K |
6.5 |
ENG |
2489 |
2504 |
+0.30 |
| 6 |
GM Cherniaev, Alexander |
6.5 |
RUS |
2465 |
2465 |
+0.26 |
| 7 |
GM Arkell, Keith C |
6.5 |
ENG |
2464 |
2440 |
-0.13 |
| 8 |
GM McDonald, Neil |
6.5 |
ENG |
2412 |
2481 |
+0.91 |
| 9 |
IM Pcola, Pavol |
6.5 |
SVK |
2386 |
2434 |
+0.76 |
| 10 |
GM Conquest, Stuart C |
6.0 |
ENG |
2563 |
2380 |
-1.64 |
| 11 |
IM Berzinsh, Roland |
6.0 |
LAT |
2424 |
2404 |
-0.11 |
| 12 |
IM Barle, Janez |
6.0 |
SLO |
2420 |
2368 |
-0.49 |
| 13 |
IM Loeffler, Stefan |
6.0 |
GER |
2416 |
2419 |
+0.04 |
| 14 |
IM Ferguson, Mark |
6.0 |
ENG |
2410 |
2365 |
-0.44 |
| 15 |
IM Crawley, Gavin |
6.0 |
ENG |
2407 |
2369 |
-0.33 |
| 16 |
IM Gullaksen, Eirik |
6.0 |
NOR |
2400 |
2394 |
+0.04 |
| 17 |
IM Buckley, Graeme N |
6.0 |
ENG |
2388 |
2396 |
+0.25 |
| 18 |
IM Ansell, Simon T |
6.0 |
ENG |
2387 |
2325 |
-0.60 |
| 19 |
IM Rendle, Thomas E |
6.0 |
ENG |
2382 |
2492 |
+1.42 |
| 20 |
IM Cox, John J |
6.0 |
ENG |
2377 |
2423 |
+0.56 |
| 21 |
FM Lagerman, Robert |
6.0 |
ISL |
2358 |
2312 |
-0.33 |
| 22 |
Collyer, Curt D |
6.0 |
USA |
2294 |
2335 |
+0.64 |
| 23 |
Rowe, Duane |
6.0 |
JAM |
2194 |
2299 |
+1.06 |
Here's a nice game we spotted in the
Open. It sees the former British Champion Michael Hennigan
succumb to some original play by the Polish IM Roland
Berzinsh.
Hennigan,Michael T (2385) -
Berzinsh,Roland (2424) [A07]
London Classic FIDE Op London Olympia
(6), 12.12.2009 [John Saunders]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0-0 0-0
5.d3 d5 6.Nbd2 Nc6 7.c4 d4 8.a3 a5 9.b3 Nd7 10.Rb1 Nc5
11.Ne1 e5 12.Nc2 f5 13.b4 axb4 14.axb4 Na4 15.Bb2 e4 16.Nb3
Nxb2 17.Rxb2 Kh8 18.Rb1 exd3 19.exd3 f4 20.Nc5 Ra7 21.Ra1
Rxa1 22.Qxa1 f3 23.Bh1
23...Nxb4! A bolt from the blue
and the beginning of an extraordinary concept. 24.Nxb4
Qe7! 25.Qa7. The only good way to defend the c5 knight.
But now the queen finds itself out of play on the wrong side
of the board. 25...b6 26.Nca6 Bh3! Having lured the
queen and knights to the queenside, Black strikes at the
kingside. 27.Rb1. 27.Qxc7 Qe2 28.Ra1 Re8 would force
White to give the piece back with 29.Nc2 Qxc2 and his
position would then be hopeless. 27...Re8 28.Nc2 Qe2
29.Nab4
Now Black finds a very precise move.
29...h5! 30.Qa1. White thinks his queen has arrived back
in time to join the defence but it is already too late.
30...Qxf2+!! 31.Kxf2 Re2+ 32.Kxf3
[32.Kg1 f2#] 32...Bg4+. Revealing the point of
29...h5, which was to support this check. 33.Kf4 Bh6#
An exquisite finish. 0-1. (Click
to replay)
Additional pictures
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Second place: GM
Simon Williams, 2550, ENG, 7.0/9 points
Simon Williams playing Russian GM Alexander
Cherniaev (who finished sixth) in round 7
GM Mark Hebden, rated 2522, who came third with
7.0/9 points
Richard Almond, 2174, vs IM Hovanka Houska, 2391
(0-1 in 67 moves)
Fourth: IM Jovanka Houska, 2391, ENG, 7.0/9
points (photo John Nunn)
Fifth place: GM Peter Wells, 2489, ENG, 6.5/9
points
Ninth place: IM Pavol Pcola, 2386, SVK, with
6.5/9 points
Despite the loss 10th place for GM Stuart
Conquest, 2563, ENG, 6.0/9
16th place: IM Eirik Gullaksen, 2400, NOR, 6.0/9
24th place: GM Aaron Summerscale, 2449, ENG,
5.5/9 points
29th place: IM Odion Aikhoje, 2252, NGR, 5.5/9
43rd place: Terry Chapman, 2222, ENG, 5.0/9
points
44th: WIM Natasha Regan, 2170, ENG, 5.0/9 points
60th: Alan Barton, 2119, ENG, who beat GM Stuart
Conquest in round one
63rd: Brandon Clarke, 2056, ENG, 4.5/9 points
105th place: Lovina Sylvia Chidi, 1819, GER,
3.0/9 points
All photos (unless otherwise specified) by
John Saunders |
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FIDE Open
All
games in PGN
PGN:
Round 1
Round 2
Round
3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Replay:
Round 1
Round
2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Full
details of all pairings and
results
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