Chess: Ukraine strikes gold in Russia

Position No. 6128: White to play and win. From the game Shane Matthews-Pradeep Seegolam, 39th Olympiad, Khanty-Mansiysk 2010.

Solution to Position No. 6127: White wins with 1 Bxf7!, as 1…Rxh1 allows 2 Bxe6! Qxe6 3 Qc7 mate.

Ukraine, the second seed, won the 39th Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The five-man team went undefeated, winning eight matches and drawing three in the 148-team competition.

Ukraine was led by Vassily Ivanchuk, whose 8-2 score (a 2890 performance) on first board earned an individual gold medal. Fourth board Zahar Efimenko also excelled, taking a silver medal with 81/2 -21/2.

Top-seeded Russia settled for second place with eight match wins, two ties and a loss to Hungary. Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik did about as expected (51/2 -31/2). The team’s star was Ukraine native Sergey Karjakin, who married a Russian woman and now plays for Russia. He took the gold medal on fourth board with 8-2, a 2859 performance.

Israel edged Hungary on tiebreak for third place. After a poor start (two ties and a loss in the first five rounds), the Israelis won five consecutive matches, then drew Ukraine in the final round. Emil Sutovsky had a sensational 2895 performance, the best in the Olympiad, and took the gold medal on second board for his 61/2-11/2 score.

The U.S. men tied for fifth place with China, Russia-2, defending champion Armenia, Spain and France. After tiebreaks, the ninth-seeded U.S. officially ended up in ninth place.

Hikaru Nakamura ( Missouri) scored 6-4 on first board and Gata Kamsky ( New York) scored 7-3 on second board. Both gained rating points against stiff opposition. Alexander Onischuk (Virginia), 51/2 -41/2 on third board, Yury Shulman ( Illinois), 51/2 -41/2 on fourth board, and Robert Hess (New York), 3-1 as reserve, had respectable results. However, the team could not equal its bronze-medal finishes in the previous two Olympiads.

Russia was more successful in the 115-team women’s section, winning all 11 matches. Women’s world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk was rusty and had a modest result on third board, but the Kosintseva sisters Tatiana and Nadezhda (ranked fourth and fifth in the world) capably handled duties on first and second board.

China (nine wins, two losses) was second. The sixth-seeded U.S. team tied for third place with Georgia, Cuba, Poland, Azerbaijan and Bulgaria. Officially, Georgia won bronze medals and the U.S. finished fifth.

Individual scores: IM Irina Krush (New York), 7-4; IM Anna Zatonskih (New York), 61/2 -31/2; Tatev Abrahamyan ( Glendale), 6-4; Camilla Baginskaite ( South Dakota), 6-2; and Sabina-Francesca Foisor ( Maryland), 3-2.

Local news

The Los Angeles Open begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday in the Hilton Hotel, 5711 W. Century Blvd. in Los Angeles. Randy Hough will run the tournament in place of organizer John Hillery, who died in September.

The five-round tournament will have an Open section and an Amateur (under-1800) section. Entrants who do not want to play Friday evening may play two quicker games on Saturday before joining the main event.

Two side events (a five-round scholastic and a three-round 90-minute tournament) are scheduled for Sunday.

The system for online entries, set up by Hillery, is no longer functioning. Players should mail their entry fees to SCCF, c/o Randy Hough, P.O. Box 205, Monterey Park, CA 91754.

Games of the week

GM Gata Kamsky (U.S.A.)-Namkhai Battulga (Mongolia), 39th Olympiad, Khanty-Mansiysk 2010: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 a4 e6 Black prefers the Scheveningen Sicilian to the Najdorf, 6…e5. 7 Be2 Be7 8 f4 Qc7 9 Be3 b6 Less popular than 9…Nc6 and 9…0-0. 10 Bf3 Bb7 11 f5!? e5 12 Nde2 Discouraging 12…0-0, as 13 g4 attacks strongly. h5 An overreaction. Instead, 12…Nbd7 13 g4 h6 14 Ng3 Qc4 is satisfactory. 13 0-0 Nbd7 14 Ng3 Nc5?! Not bad is 14…h4 15 Nh5 Nxh5 16 Bxh5 Rc8, giving up on castling. 15 Nxh5 Nxh5 16 Bxh5 Nxe4 17 Nd5! Qc6 18 c4 Nf6?! Black must settle for 18…Bd8 19 Rc1 Nf6 20 Bf3 e4. 19 Bf3 e4 20 Nxe7 Kxe7 21 Be2 Intending 22 Qd4. Black’s pawns at b6 and d6 are vulnerable, and he cannot use his Bishop. Nd7?! His last hope is 21…d5 22 Qb3! Qd6, although 23 Qa3 dxc4 24 Bxb6 is very annoying. 22 a5! bxa5 No better is 22…b5 23 Rc1 bxc4 24 Rxc4 Qd5 25 Rd4 Qc6 26 Qd2, planning 27 Rd1. 23 Rxa5 Nc5 24 Qe1 Kf8 25 Qg3 Nd3 26 Rd5! Qxc4 After 26…Rd8 27 f6 g6 28 Bxd3 exd3 29 b3 Kg8 30 Rd1, both d-pawns will fall. 27 Rxd6 Rc8 28 f6 g6 29 Bg4 Re8 30 Bd7! Foreseeing back rank threats by 30…Re5 31 Bd4 Reh5 32 Bf5! Qc7 33 Bb6. Ra8 31 Be6! As 31…fxe6 32 Qxg6 Qc7 33 Bh6+ leads to mate. Qb5 32 Rd7 Ne5 33 Rxf7+! Nxf7 34 Qxg6, Black Resigns. The most attractive finish would be 34…Qh5 35 Bh6+! Ke8 36 Qxh5.

GM Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine)-GM Alexander Beliavsky (Slovenia), 39th Olympiad, Khanty-Mansiysk 2010: 1 c4 c6 2 e4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 4 d4 Nf6 5 Nc3 An unusual move order produces the familiar Panov-Botvinnik Attack. Nc6 6 Bg5 dxc4 Alternatives include 6…e6, 6…Be6 and 6…Qa5. 7 Bxc4!? Offering a pawn for rapid development. Botvinnik won with the similar gambit 7 d5 Ne5 8 Qd4 Nd3+ 9 Bxd3 cxd3 10 Nf3 in caveman days, 1933. Nxd4? Practically a losing move. Black nearly equalizes with the sharp 7…Qxd4 8 Qxd4 Nxd4 9 0-0-0 e5 10 f4 Bg4, while 7…e6 8 Nf3 Be7 is safest. 8 Nf3 Nxf3+ Black cannot stand 8…Nc6 9 Qxd8+ Nxd8 10 Nb5. 9 Qxf3 Qc7 The natural 9…e6? loses instantly to 10 Bb5+ Bd7 11 Bxf6 gxf6 12 Rd1. 10 Bb5+ Bd7 11 0-0 Bc6 12 Bxf6 gxf6 13 Rad1 e6 14 Nd5! Both flashy and, arguably, more effective than 14 Bxc6+ Qxc6 15 Qxf6 Rg8 16 g3 Bg7 17 Qh4. 0-0-0 After 14…exd5 15 Rfe1+ Be7 16 Qxf6, Black cannot stand 16…Rg8? 17 Bxc6+ bxc6 18 Rxe7+! Qxe7 19 Qxc6+ or 16…Bxb5? 17 Qxh8+ Kd7 18 Rxd5+ Kc6 19 Qc3+. Nor can he salvage the endgame reached by 16…0-0-0 17 Rxe7 Qd6 18 Qxd6 Rxd6 19 Bxc6 Rxc6 20 h4! Rc2 21 Rxd5 Rxb2 22 Ra5! Kb8 23 Rxf7. 15 Bxc6 exd5 Against 15…Qxc6, simply 16 Rc1 wins the Queen or a piece (by 16…Bc5 17 Nxf6 Qb6 18 Qa3). 16 Bxd5 Material is even, and Black is still suffering. His pawns at b7, f7 and h7 make easy targets. Kb8 17 Rc1 Most forcing, although 17 g3 and 17 Bxb7 Bd6! 18 Bd5 Bxh2+ 19 Kh1 Be5 20 Rd3 should win too. Qd7 18 Rcd1?! Perhaps Ivanchuk rejected the obvious 18 Rfd1 Bh6 19 Qg3+ Qd6 because he foresaw 20 Qb3?! Qb6 and missed the superior 20 Rc8+! Kxc8 21 Bxb7+ Kc7 22 Rxd6 Rxd6 23 Be4, which soon costs Black another pawn. Be7 19 g3 Qc7 20 Rc1 Qd7 21 Rfd1 No harm done! White is still winning, as 21…Qb5 22 Rc3 is useless for Black. Rc8 22 Bxb7! Rxc1 Also easy for White is 22…Qxb7 23 Qxb7+ Kxb7 24 Rd7+ Kb6 25 Rxc8 Rxc8 26 Rxe7 Rc2 27 Rxf7 Rxb2 28 Rxf6+. 23 Rxc1 Qxb7 24 Qf4+ Ka8 25 Rc7, Black Resigns. If 25…Qb4, then 26 Qe3 recovers the piece.