A Joy of Less

Michael Adams – Nils Axel Grandelius
16th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival; Catalan Bay, February 1, 2018
Sicilian Defence B52

Armenian Grandmaster Levon Grigori Aronian won the 16th Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival after tie-break against French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, replicating the outcome of the 7th Chess World Cup’s semifinal, so that he will likely face the next Candidates Tournament in the best possible mood! Among the non-winners, English Grandmaster Michael Adams was remarkable as usual, if nothing because he made the same score as the winner (7½ points out of 10)! 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Nxd7 5. 0-0 Ngf6 6. Re1 e6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Be7 9. c4 0-0 10. b3 Re8 11. Bb2 Nc5!? 11. ... a6 after 12. Nc3 Bf8 13. Qd2 Rc8 14. Rad1 Qc7 15. Nf3 Qb8 16. h3 b5 may transpose into Hammer – Nakamura, 3rd Norway Blitz Chess Tournament 2015. 12. Nc3 d5?? This is really an awful mistake that makes Black’s position disintegrate in a few moves. Among other moves, 12. ... Qb6!? 13. Qd2 Ng4 deserved consideration here. 13. exd5 exd5 14. Nf5 Bf8. Not 14. ... dxc4?? 15. Rxe7! winning on the spot. 15. Rxe8 Qxe8 16. Nxd5 Nxd5

17. Nh6+! Giving the last nail one last tap, but even without this pretty “intermezzo” White shouldn’t have to be worried about the final result. 17. ... Kh8. Not 17. ... gxh6?? because of 18. Qg4+ followed by mate. 18. Qxd5 Qe6 19. Nxf7+ Kg8 20. Qxe6 Nxe6 21. Ne5. With two Pawns minus (one on each wing), Black could well resign here. 21. ... Rd8 22. Bc3 Bc5 23. Kf1 Bd4 24. Bxd4 Rxd4 25. Re1 Nc5 26. Nf3 Rd6 27. Ng5 Rd8 28. g3 h6 29. Ne6 Nxe6 30. Rxe6 Kf7 31. Re5 Rd2 32. a4 Rb2 33. Rb5 b6 34. h4 Ke6 35. h5 Kd6 36. a5 Kc6 37. axb6 axb6 38. Kg2 1 : 0.

Michael Adams vs. Nils Grandelius. Photo © John Saunders.