Hastings Round 4 Valerij Neverov beat Simon Williams. Photo © Dave Clayton.

Out with the old

FM Steve Giddins reports on round 4 of the Hastings Masters

At the risk of sounding as though I am auditioning for a part on Grumpy Old Men, I have to say that New Year's Eve has always been one of my least favourite days of the year. There is something about the enforced frivolity of such occasions that always arouses my natural contrariness, but it goes deeper than that. TV schedules certainly do not help. I suspect I am still traumatised by childhood memories of the BBC's annual "Hogmanay Show", which featured a variety of so-called "family entertainers" from north of the border, led by a kilted character named Andy Stewart . I know we sassanachs are biased about such matters, but it is rather hard for the average 10-year old to come to terms with the sight of a large, hairy bloke, marking the start of a new year by dancing across a TV screen, singing about glens and claymores, and wearing what appears to be a skirt and knee-length socks. Adulthood at least brought the advantage of my own TV, and hence the opportunity to vote with my on-off button, whilst passing the 18-year mark also meant that the pub was an option. Even so, New Year's Eve has continued to disappoint. Paying to get into one's local, standing all night elbow to elbow with the local yobbery, and waiting 15 minutes to get served every time one's glass is empty, has never really been a great attraction. 

Of course, as an English chessplayer, one tends to be in Hastings on New Year's Eve. Indeed, I recently worked out that of the 47 New Year's Eves that I have lived through, no fewer than 26 have been spent in Hastings - no disrespect to this fine old town, but I cannot help feeling that this statistic does not mark me out as a well-travelled citizen of the world. Still, at least one gets to spend the day itself watching some fine grandmaster chess and we had plenty of that yesterday, in the fourth round of this year's Hastings Masters. The most-eye-catching game on the top boards was the encounter between  Neverov and Williams:

Neverov,Valeriy (2571) - Williams,Simon (2494) [E70]

Hastings Masters 2008

1.d4 Nf6

Already a surprise from Simon, who is rarely seen defending closed openings with his f-pawn still at home.

2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nge2

A relatively rare line, which was played quite a bit by certain Hungarian players, such as Gyozo Forintos. Against routine King's Indian play from Black, White plans direct action on the kingside, with moves such as Ng3 and h4. This can be extremely dangerous, as I have seen Simon himself demonstrate from the white side, and Black is well advised to adopt a slightly less stereotyped approach than in many KID variations.

5...a6 6.Ng3 h5

A typical reaction from Black, seeking to embarrass the knight.

7.Be2 c6 8.a4

That great demolisher of KIDs, Victor Korchnoi, has preferred 8.Be2 here. The text prevents Black's queenside expansion with b7-b5, but at the cost of ceding the b4 square to a black knight. 

8...a5 9.0-0 h4 10.Nh1 e5 11.Be3 Nbd7 12.f4

The position has now become very sharp. Black's main issue is what to do with his king, since castling short looks rather risky in view of the weakness of the h-pawn. Simon elects to leave it in the centre, but it will not feel terribly safe there either, as the further course f the game shows.

12...Qb6

12...Qxb2 looks very dangerous after 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Bd4.

13.fxe5 dxe5 14.c5 Qb4 15.Nf2 Bh6 16.Bxh6 Rxh6 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Qd6 Nfd7

19.Nb5!?

With all his pieces out, and the black king stuck in the centre, this move is very tempting, but it is not clear that it gives White an advantage.

19...cxb5 20.Bxb5 Rh5?!

This looks like a mistake.  Black should prefer 20...Nc6 21.Ng4 21...Rh5, which is quite unclear. In view of the threat to exchange queens on c5, White looks to have nothing better than 22.Rac1, when one possible line is 22...Rxc5 23.Nf6+ Nxf6 24.Rxc5 Nd7 25.Rxc6 bxc6 26.Qxc6 Rb8, when White has equality, at best.

21.Rad1 Ra6?

And this certainly loses. Here, too, 21...Nc6 was best, again with an unclear position.

 22.Qc7 Ra8

A dismal retreat, but 22...Qxc5+ 23.Qxc5 Nf3+ 24.gxf3 Rxc5 25.Bxa6 bxa6 26.Rc1 was no better.

23.Ng4 Kf8

Once again, there is no hope in 23...Qxc5+ 24.Qxc5 Nf3+, this time because of  25.Rxf3 Rxc5 26.Nf6+ etc.

24.Nxe5 Rxe5 25.Rxd7 Bxd7 26.Qxe5 Bxb5 27.Qh8+ Ke7 28.Qf6+ 1-0

The top-board encounter between Jones and Conquest ended in a draw, whilst on board 2, Hebden failed to justify his knight sacrifice against Kurnosov, and eventually lost after a considerable time-scramble:

Kurnosov,Igor (2606) - Hebden,Mark (2515) [C89]

Hastings Masters 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3 15.Qe2 Bg4 16.Qf1 Qh5 17.Nd2

This position has been reached several times before in games involving the "2700 Club", with Black almost invariably choosing 17...Rae8. However, Mark uncorked the novelty 17...Nf4!?

Nowadays, when a GM produces a new move in a variation so well-analysed as the Marshall, one can generally rest assured that it has been "Fritzed" (or "Rybka'd" to within an inch of its life, during home preparation. In the present case, however, I am not so sure, both because of the follow-up, and, most of all, the time usage.

18.gxf4 Bxf4 19.h4

After 19.Qg2 Bh3 20.Qxc6 Bxh2+ 21.Kh1 Bf4, Black has at least a draw.

19...Rae8?

Played after an extremely long think, which as I say, suggests that Hebden had not prepared this position very thoroughly, if at all. The best line for Black appears to be 19...Qxh4, after which the computer offers the following: 20.Qg2 Bh3 21.Nf3 Qh5 22.Bxf4 Bxg2 23.Kxg2. In the resulting position, White's three minor pieces are probably stronger than the black queen, but things remain relatively unclear. The text move, on the other hand, does not appear adequate. 

20.Ne4 Bb8 21.Qg2 Kh8

Another option is 21...Rxe4 22.Qxe4 Bf3, but then White has the nice shot 23.Bxf7+!, forcing a much better ending after either 23...Qxf7 24.Qe6, or 23...Rxf7 24.Qe8+.

22.Bg5 f6 23.Nxf6

Not forced, but the simplest practical decision, especially with both players short of time. White returns the extra piece and simplifies to a technically winning position.

23...Rxe1+ 24.Rxe1 gxf6 25.Re4 fxg5 26.Rxg4 Bf4 27.hxg5 Re8 28.Kf1 Bd2 29.Re4

With two extra pawns, White only needs to avoid the swindles, in order to reel in the point, and he duly succeeds in this.   

29...Rf8 30.Re2 Qxg5 31.Qxc6 Bf4 32.Re8 Bd6 33.Rxf8+ Bxf8 34.Qe6 a5 35.Qf7 Qg7 36.Qd5 a4 37.Bc2 Qh6 38.Ke2 Qf4 39.Qe5+ Qxe5+ 40.dxe5 Bh6 41.Bd3 Kg7 42.Bxb5 a3 43.b4 Bf4 44.e6 Kf6 45.Bd3 h5 46.Bf5 Bd6 47.Bh3 Ke5 48.Kd3 1-0

Young Karl McPillips, who had beaten Cherniaev with Black in the previous round, had another excellent result, holding David Howell to a draw. However, the GM appears to have missed a photogenic chance in the following position:

Howell played 25...Kh8, but my house-trained silicon dachshund  points out the very nice back-rank cheapo 25...Qe4!!, after which White seems to have nothing better than 26.Rg5+ Kh8 27.Qf3 Qxf3 28.Rxf3 c6, when Black should win the ending. Instead, in the game. White was able to retain the queens, and the exposed black king and opposite-coloured bishops gave him counterplay.

Wins for Gordon, Berg and Pavlovic kept them all in the hunt, but Gormally ended 2008 on a thoroughly bad note, being completely crushed by French IM Didier Leroy, after a tortuous opening with the white pieces.

And with that, we head into 2009. It is usual on such occasions to wish one's readers a happy and prosperous New Year, but the latter adjective sounds somewhat misplaced in the present economic climate. Nonetheless, I wish all readers of these reports the very best for 2009.

• All material © The Week In Chess
• Email Mark Crowther - TWIC
• Email London Chess Centre