20^th World Senior Chess Championship, 26th October to 6^th November 2010

A report by Tony Ashby

 

The 20^th World Senior Chess Championship took place recently in Arco, Italy. Arco is a small town to the north of Lake Garda, Northern Italy. Your reporter found himself to be the only English player who had entered, although Scotland was represented by Craig Pritchett, International Master. There were also other native English speaking players from Australia, New Zealand, USA and South Africa.

The number of entries was down slightly from two years ago in Germany, when I last played, but the overall standard seemed to be very much higher. Out of a total of 224 players in the men’s tournament there were 16 Grand Masters, 19 International Masters, 28 FIDE Masters and 2 Candidate Masters, of which I was one. Some 46 countries were represented overall. The playing conditions were excellent, being based in Arco’s grand Edwardian Casino building, with a vast playing hall, a cafe adjacent to the hall, and an analysis room. Daily bulletins, giving results and a number of games, were 1 Euro each.

The photo above is of the Casino Building in Arco.

Play started at 3 pm and the time limit was 40 moves in 90 minutes, + 30 minutes, with a 30 second increment after each move. There were 11 rounds for the men and 9 rounds for the women. The new FIDE regulation which defaults any player not at the board at the start of play was strictly enforced. In fact, there was a giant digital clock on the stage which counted down the last 5 minutes and as the clock reached zero the chief arbiter gave the command to start play. There has been a lot of debate about this rule, most of it uncomplimentary, but it seemed to work very well for this tournament. However, I can understand that for some competitions, such as team events where teams may have to be bussed in from outside town, it can be harsh if players are delayed from reaching the playing hall through no fault of their own.

Arco itself is a charming town, typically Italian, with piazzas, a large church in the centre, a small shopping street, and a number of cafes and restaurants. The main tourist attraction is an ancient castle high above the town. A very steep walk to the top of the hill gave wonderful views over the town and surrounding countryside and mountains. The menus in the restaurants had a strong Germanic slant to them. Apart from Pizzas and Pasta– which were of course excellent – you could also have escalopes, goulashes, and grilled meats. Meat was usually beef and pork, there was very little chicken or lamb. One restaurant had horse (chevalier) on the menu, which I don’t think I’ve seen when abroad for a very long time, even in France.

Arco attracts a large number of walkers, cyclists and climbers; in fact, next year it is hosting the World Climbing Championship. On most days the weather was warm enough to sit outside a cafe in the morning, sipping a cappuccino, trying to plan the afternoon’s strategy – or simply just idling. Pairings were usually posted up by 9 to 9.30pm the previous evening, giving time for those so inclined to spend the morning consulting chessbase, rybka and fritz. I tended to go for walks or bus trips most mornings and then spend 2 hours over lunch in my room looking my opponent up on chessbase and reading up on opening theory. Any more preparation and I find my eyes glaze over, my attention wanders, and it uses up energy that is better spent during the game. There was a good bus service to Riva del Garda, the northernmost town on Lake Garda, which has a large shopping centre, a very pleasant harbour front, and an excellent museum. The fare was 1.8 Euros return, definitely much cheaper than London fares! So, on to the play.

Round 1.  In round 1, I was paired against a French player, Monsieur C. Bardin (1796). [Figures given in brackets after a player’s name indicate his FIDE grade, not the year of his birth - we seniors may be old but we’re not that old...]. This was a fairly easy win for me, but given the difference in grade it should have been. (Although I have to say that grades were rarely a definite indication of a player’s ability. Many players played well above the standard of their published grade). Here is the first game:

 

A. C. Ashby,England (2149) - C. Bardin,France (1796)

 

20th World Seniors (1), 26.10.2010

 

Round 2. In round 2, I was Black against Raimundo Garcia (Argentina, IM, 2331).

 

R. Garcia (2331) - A. C. Ashby (2149)

20th World Seniors (2), 27.10.2010

 

 

Round 3. White against M. Rubinstein (Israel, 2010) I essayed my Wing Gambit against his French Defence and eventually won after 57 moves.

Round 4. I was Black against Francisco Trois (Brazil, IM, 2309). This was another long game (53 moves) and was one of the last games to finish in the playing hall after almost 5 hours play. This was a fairly typical example of Black manoeuvring behind a hedgehog setup, with both sides trying to improve their position before meeting head-on. To be frank, for most of the game I was defending but this time it was my opponent who made a mistake on his 41^st move, missing a not very obvious move that trapped his knight. However, I was pleased with the way I finished the game.

 

 

 

F. Trois,Brazil (2309) - A. C. Ashby,England (2149)

(4), 29.10.2010

 

 

 

 

Round 5. With 3/4 my next pairing saw me elevated to board 20 (out of a total of 112 boards) and on one of the boards which were being relayed live on the internet. Sadly I did not rise to the occasion and lost in 37 moves to Craig Pritchett (Scotland, IM, 2314). But Craig is a very strong IM who has played for Scotland many times in the Olympiads and going through the game with him afterwards was very instructive. I consoled myself with telling him that at least England always beats Scotland at football...

Round 6. No let up in the strength of my opponents, as I was paired against yet another 2300+ player, W. Wittmann, Austria, 2303. Looking him up on chessbase I found that he invariably played a specific line in the French Tarrasch. I had taken a DVD on the French Defence with me and found a line that seemed to guarantee at least a draw – with best play, of course. Usually I find my opening preparation is a waste of time but this game followed my preparations for the first 19 (!) moves.

 

 

 

 

W. Wittmann,Austria (2303) - A. C. Ashby (2149)

20th World Seniors (6), 01.11.2010

 

 

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This is where my preparation had finished; 19....Bf5 may be a slightly more precise move than Bd7 but Black’s position is very solid.  My opponent played on for a further 4 hours and a total of 68 moves [perhaps hoping his lower-graded opponent would make a mistake] but I made no mistakes and he eventually offered me a draw. Given the length of this game I won’t bore the readers with the whole score.

Round 7. Yet another strong opponent, this time K. Kunz of Germany, graded 2273. I was White, played 1 e4 met with the Sicilian Defence. This was a very complicated game and another long one – 66 moves this time – and for most of the game I was holding my own. But he played the ending better than me and at the end I had to give up my bishop for an advanced pawn. So 0-1 was the end result.

Round 8. This was a draw in only 19 moves against an Icelander, G. Finnlaugsson (2072). To be honest I was glad of a shorter game because I had entered the Blitz Tournament that same evening and the early draw gave me time to have a meal before play started at 9.30 pm.

Blitz Tournament.  This was played at the standard 5 minute time-limit, no increment.  I started the Blitz in blistering (ho,ho) form, winning the first 4 games. I was then paired against Larry Kaufman, an American GM (2413) who had won the World Seniors 2 years previously. I was Black and played a Blumenfeld Gambit and much to my surprise I completely outplayed him and he resigned with only seconds left on his clock - my reward was to have White in the next round against another GM, Dusan Rajkovic from Serbia (2443). This turned out to be very exciting. I played my pet line of 2 a3 against his Sicilian and sacrificed a piece to force his King in to the open. Unfortunately I became so involved in trying to weave a mating net around his King [which by now was on e5!] that I forgot to monitor my clock and I ran out of time. Sad to say I then proceeded to run out of steam as well and I lost the remaining 4 games, mainly through silly blunders, and ended up 8^th out of 18 players. Dusan came first on 8/9 with Kaufman a close second on 7.5. First prize was a giant salami (yes, seriously!) with prizes of bottles of wine for the runners-up. But it was good fun and at least I can now legitimately claim that I’ve beaten a World Champion.

Round 9. My opponent in round 9 was G. Schowalter (Germany, 1994), a distant relation, he claimed, of the famous American player Jackson Showalter (nicknamed the Kentucky Lion, partly because of his mane of hair and partly because of the aggressiveness of his play). At one stage I thought I had an easy win, with a passed c-pawn, but he found a very ingenious defence and after 43 moves I offered a draw which he accepted.

Round 10. This was a win for me in 41 moves [that number again!] against A. Ramusch (Austria, 1955). Not a very exciting game on either side but I seized my chance when it presented itself, winning two pawns and then the exchange.

Round 11.  Another tough game, when I had been hoping for a nice easy draw to finish the tournament with! I was White against N. Malmdin (Sweden, IM, 2300). This is a game I prefer to forget, as he completely outplayed me and I resigned after only 30 moves. Not one of my better efforts partly, I think, because I was feeling somewhat jaded after almost two weeks of chess.

So with 5.5/11 I had scored a point less than 2 years ago, but I had met some very strong opposition and overall I was happy with my play. More to the point, I had enjoyed meeting old friends from Norway, Australia and the USA and with one exception all of my opponents had played in a very sporting and friendly manner – albeit with no quarter asked or given!

At the top, 4 players tied for first place with 8.5/11 but the title and first prize went to Anatoly Vaisser of France on tie-break. The others on 8.5 were Vlastimil Jansa (Czech Republic), Viach. Dydshyko (BeloRuss) and Larry Kaufman (USA), all Grandmasters.  The Women’s Championship was won by WGM Tamara Khmiadashvili of Georgia, just ahead on tie-break of Nona Gaprindashvili, also of Georgia, who has of course been overall Women’s World Champion in the past.

The organisers arranged a concert in the playing hall on the last night, given by the “Casanova Venezia Ensemble”, dressed in 18^th Century costume. This was very good, but perhaps went on slightly too long, ending at 10.30 pm, after which we had a lengthy prizegiving and then a buffet. Those of us who had to meet the coach at 6 am the next morning to go to Milan airport decided to give the buffet a miss!

Finally, most tournaments have their characters, who make life interesting. One such at Arco was Mihai Suba, a Romanian GM, who came joint 1^st in the World Seniors 2 years ago with Larry Kaufman. In the 1980s Mihai sought asylum in England for a while and, if I remember right, even played for England in a European team championship. A very lively and friendly person his book “Dynamic Chess Strategy” has just been reprinted and is an excellent read. Mihai’s games were always worth watching as you could never guess how the games would end. More than once the spectators were absolutely convinced he only had a draw, when he would somehow pull the rabbit out of the hat and win. One game in particular, in round 5 on board 6, had us all completely bemused as he seemed to be totally lost [well, not seemed, was losing!], only to somehow conjure up counter-play and win. This is a long game but well worth playing through, if you have the time. At the end of the game, which went on until well after 8 pm, his opponent seemed to be completely bewildered as to how he could have failed to win!

 

 

 

B. Gruzmann (2235) - M. Suba (2460)

(5), 30.10.2010

 

 

 

 

For those of you who might be eligible and interested in playing (or interested in just following the games online), next year’s Championship is being held in Opatija, Croatia, from 14^th-27^th November. Website is www.rijekachess.com.

Tony Ashby

November 2010