Generation Chess International Tournament
Round Seven


The top story is IM Eugene Perleshteyn's draw and first GM norm! The 23-year old has played very well in this tournament as is evidenced by "norming" the tournament with two rounds remaining. Krush continues to impress with a win over Yudasin and still has a chance at a GM norm. Both Bluvshtein and Simutowe will have to wait another day for their chance at a norm… their 7th round encounter which started out exciting, has tamely drawn. The three draws this round may be an indication that the players may be tiring.

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Ehlvest-Akobian, ½-½. A very exciting game. Many spectators were implying that the French Defense is a bit too stodgy, but this game proves that games featuring the opening can be quite exciting. Ehlvest chose a move order that transposed into the Tarrasch. This line is highly tactical and there are many land mines for white if he's not careful. Akobian move of 7…f5!? showed that it would be more of a closed game, but the Estonian Grandmaster sought to mix it up with 10.Rg1 and 11.g4!? Despite this aggression, the position remained closed.

There were probing moves such as the Karpov-like 16.Qh1! (and black's 17…Ba3). After the first pawn was exchanged with 16…bxc3, pieces started to zip around behind a wall of pawns. Ehlvest was more active in probing for weaknesses in black's broken pawn structure but decided to raise the stakes with 30.Rb4!? Qxa2 (Fritz 0.44). Ehlvest's repositioning of his rook between moves 33-35 was instructive… deftly repositioning his rook  on a6.









Game start 5 back 1 back 1 forward 5 forward Game end flip board autoplay

Move

The young Akobian hunkered down in what he knew would a fierce onslaught. He played 36…Rb7 to build a fortress, but Ehlvest may've missed his best opportunity with 37.Nxc4! Ehlvest played Qa1-h1-a1 maneuver which gave Akobian time for 38…Nxf4! Around this time, Akobian was in terrible time pressure and opted for 40…Nxe2 instead of the stronger 40.Nd3+. To relieve pressure, Akobian played 41…Rb2+ to trade rooks and placed his faith in his passed pawn. However, he would not be able to use it since Ehlvest found an ingenious drawing method which continually threatened mate. A three-fold repetition was made on move 51. Exciting battle!

Yudasin-Krush, 0-1. This was really a puzzling game. This Closed Sicilian is an example of powerful and energy by IM Irina Krush. Her play has really picked up as she seems to have learned her lessons well about the importance of initiative.  Krush's pieces zipped around the board as Yudasin went into defense mode. Her 29…Ne2+ was another hammer blow… winning the two bishops and stalemating the sick knight on a1 (!). After this combination, she shifted back to the queenside and weaved a net around the knight… the white queen tried to defend, but the knight was taken by force with 33…Qb4 34. Qa2 Bb2 35. Qb1 Qc3 36. Qa2 Qc1+. Powerful performance! Krush can win her 2nd IM norm if she scores 1½ points against Paschall and Muhammad.  These two players may prove to be difficult since they are at the bottom of the field and are trying to leave the tournament on a respectable note.

Perelshteyn-Christiansen, ½-½.
This  game earned Perelshteyn his first GM norm (an earlier norm was disqualified). He has been (by far) the most consistent in the tournament and his performance certainly shows that he was focused on his goal. In fact, he came close to winning this encounter with Christiansen. Out of a Pirc,  there seemed to be nothing special in the game, but Perelshteyn found a way to take control of the queenside and stifle black's counterplay. However, only a draw was need so Christiansen did the professional thing and effectively offered a draw by repeating moves and the game ended on move 39. This exceptional case states that a three-fold repetition is allowable if the player can prove that and other moves will make him worse off. The arbiter agreed and this was the first such case in the tournament.  Congratulations to IM Perelshteyn!

Bluvshtein-Simutowe, ½-½. Both of these young stars were still in the hunt for a GM norm, but neither of them seem to have the fighting spirit in this game. This does not mean the game was without intrigue. Simutowe is primarily a Sicilian aficionado, but he trotted out the Caro-Kann and they both deviated early from more standard play. The game had its first thrust into enemy territory with Bluvshtein's 16.f5. However, the moves following were forcing and what resulted was a dead drawn ending after the queens came off. In fact only Simutowe may have had a slither of a chance with his two bishops (see Kastanieda-Simutowe,  Olympiad, Istanbul, 2000 for an example of why Simutowe may play on). However, he played 28…Bxf3 giving up hope for a slight advantage and the game ended in a dead opposite-colored bishop draw.

Paschall-Muhammad, 0-1. Back to business. Muhammad reverted back to the more reputable lines of the King's Indian and took advantage of Paschall's unambitious play in the opening. The break 12…b5! demonstrated that Muhammad wanted to win this game at all costs. He carried out his queenside campaign creating weaknesses and then blasted open the center with 25…e5! The board cleared and Paschall was left with a wretched pawn structure but sought to use his access to the 7th rank to conjure up trouble. Muhammad defended with 30…Rf8 but then moved in for the kill with 31…Qh3! (diagram).  Unaware of the dangers, Paschall grabbed another pawn and was shocked by 32…Bxf2+! 33.Kxf2 Rb2+ 34.Re2 Rxe2+ 35.Kxe2 Qxg2+ The white king began to run for its life, but got tired and decided to surrender.

Muhammad cracks the whip with 32…Bxf2+!

Muhammad cracks the whip with 32…Bxf2+!

Cross Table
Round Seven Games (playable and downloadable)

All Games (PGN download)

Standings: Perelshteyn, 6; Christiansen, Krush, ;  Yudasin, 4; Bluvshtein, Ehlvest,  Simutowe, ; Akobian, ;  Muhammad, Paschall, .

Drum Reports

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