Round two of the Masters Matches in The Hoogeveen Chess Tournament, was played on Monday 17th October.
The events of this round would leave the scores in both matches level. Jorden Van Foreest used his White pieces to full effect against Ivan Sokolov. Perhaps Sokolov’s opening choice of the Philidor’s Defence was a little tame, and White easily obtained the best of things and a slight pull. However, White’s choice of 16.Qh3 over 16.e5 saw his initiative lessen rather dramatically. Van Foreest wanted to focus on his Kingside plans, but sometimes in chess one just has to play the best move, and that seems to have been 16.e5, which maintained momentum. As it was, Black was able to gain some active ground and make his own threats.
However, just on the verge of equality, Sokolov made a fatal error and took his eye off his King. 20…Ra5 or 20…Ne8 were playable, but the Dutchman opted to push with 20…d5?? This was severely out of context, as Van Foreest demonstrated with 21.Nxg7! From here, the game belonged to White and Van Foreest showed just how dangerous a player he is, punishing Sokolov forcefully. A nice game!
Hou Yifan did rather less well with her game as White against Nigel Short. Infact, the Englishman blunted her game completely in the French Defence, a trusted weapon of his throughout his career. Queens came off the board early on and from here the position became such that there was an undeniable impasse. The players shuffled about a bit, but there was very little potential without one of them taking a risk — which neither did and the game was drawn without much event. If I was White I would be rather disappointed.
This leaves both matches drawn at a point each. The next round will be played on Tuesday 18th October after which there will be a rest day.
Standings after 2 rounds:
Short 1 vs 1 Hou
Sokolov 1 vs 1 Van Foreest
[Site “Hoogeveen NED”]
[Date “2016.10.17”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Van Foreest, Jorden”]
[Black “Sokolov, Ivan”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “2623”]
[BlackFideId “14400030”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[ECO “C41”]
[EventDate “2016.10.16”]
[Opening “Philidor”]
[Variation “Improved Hanham variation”]
[WhiteElo “2615”]
[WhiteFideId “1039784”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 { Philidor’s Defence, not highly seen in top level chess, it is a little bit tame. After this game, Sokolov might also think twice about employing it further. } 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Nb6 7.Bf4 Be7 8.O-O-O Nxc4 9.Qxc4 O-O ( 9…Be6 10.Qb5+ Nd7 11.e5 { White does not really want to take on b7 — after …Rb8 all he has done is open a file for Black towards his own King. } 11…d5 12.h4 { with a slight pull. } ) 10.Rhe1 { White concentrates on nice sensible development. } 10…Be6 11.Qf1 { Qb5 or Nd5 was a bit more positive than this, but White is still doing fine. } 11…Qc8 12.Nd4 Bd7 { The game had been following Dourerassou-Markus from 2015, which had continued 12…Nd7, but here Sokolov takes things in to new territory. } 13.f3 Rb8 14.g4 b5 { The nature of positions with opposite side castling is very often a King hunt. Both sides tend to employ pawn storms — with this not affecting their own King, who remains tucked up in safety, this is a nuance of such positions. The objective is to open lines towards the opponent’s King. The advantage will go to the player who makes the opponent take time out from their own plans. } 15.Nf5 Bd8 { Further to my previous comment, here Sokolov wants to avoid capturing the knight, thus opening the g-file for his opponent. } 16.Qh3 { White is in absolutely no mood to mess about, he is going for the King. e5 was also possible, here, and seems good for White, but Van Foreest had obviously decided on his theatre of campaign and did not want to deviate. } ( 16.e5 dxe5 17.Rxe5 { The best recapture, preparing for the Nc3 to hop to d5. } 17…b4 18.Nd5 Nxd5 { It is wise to make this exchange, White has quite some forces massing. However, this hands White the d-file. } 19.Rexd5 Bxf5 { The upside is that Black can now take this knight with a clear conscience, due to White’s rooks being out of position to capitalise on the g-file. Infact, White will probably choose to recapture with his rook and leave the g-file closed. } 20.Rxf5 { And White is the more active and holds the initiative. He will try to get his Kingside pawns moving to probe the Black King position. } ) 16…b4 { This is the drawback for White of his refusal to play e5, it allows Black to push forward. Interestingly, White’s initiative has evaporated since refusing to play e5. } 17.Ne2 { Nd5 was also fine. } 17…Qa6 { Black now makes his own threats } 18.Kb1 Be6 19.b3 Rb5 { …Bxf5 was also a valid option, but as with earlier in the game, gxf5 gives White something along the g-file, especially with his rooks now back on the back rank. } 20.Be3 d5 { This is out of context. Correect was for Black to push on with …Ra5 to continue his counterplay or to defend White’s threats towards g7 with …Ne8. } 21.Nxg7 { ! I assume that this came as quite a big shock to Ivan Sokolov, Van Foreest picks up material, and all of a sudden the initiative is firmly with him again. } 21…Kxg7 { there was no alternative to this other than to just resign. } 22.Bh6+ Kg8 23.Bxf8 Kxf8 24.Qh6+ Ke8 25.Nd4 Ra5 { This is ineffectual, but there were no really good options, Black’s position has disintergrated and Van Foreest finishes things nicely. } ( 25…Rb6 26.g5 Ng8 27.Qxh7 Ne7 28.exd5 Nxd5 29.Ka1 { and Black is barely hanging on here. } ) 26.Nxe6 { Ripping open the centre, to where he has pushed the enemy King. } 26…fxe6 27.exd5 e5 28.Rxe5+ Kd7 29.Re6 { And Ivan Sokolov resigned, White’s advantage is overwhelming. After the Queen moves, he has options of Qg7+ or taking on f6, gaining two pieces for his rook. Black has no defence against his marching Kingside pawns. A very nice game from Van Foreest. } 1-0
[Event “Short-Hou Yifan m”]
[Site “Hoogeveen NED”]
[Date “2016.10.17”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Hou, Yifan”]
[Black “Short, Nigel D”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2670”]
[BlackFideId “400025”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[ECO “C11”]
[EventDate “2016.10.16”]
[Opening “French”]
[Variation “Steinitz, Boleslavsky variation”]
[WhiteElo “2649”]
[WhiteFideId “8602980”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 b5 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Bd3 Qb6 11.Bf2 Bxf2+ 12.Qxf2 Qxf2+ 13.Kxf2 Ke7 { A rare line, the most popular continuation being …Nc5 Ke3. } 14.a3 Nb6 15.Rhe1 Bd7 16.Ne2 Rag8 { The game had transposed to a few different games, but here we are in unknown territory. I am not sure that Short had serious intentions with this move, he could also have been seeing how Hou would proceed in the game, as well as perhaps wanting to provoke her next move. } 17.h4 { Resolving things on the Kingside, at least for now. } 17…h5 18.Ned4 Nxd4 19.Nxd4 Na4 20.b3 Nc5 21.Ke3 { The position is about equal, here. The problem is that it is also somewhat mutually limiting. The players shuffle and maneuver, with possibly no more idea as to what is going on than you or I. } 21…Rb8 22.Re2 f5 23.Kd2 Rhc8 24.Re3 Rc7 25.c3 g6 26.Bc2 Be8 27.Kc1 Bd7 28.Kb2 Be8 { Perhaps these bishop moves are an invitation to repeat, the position certainly seems to be at quite an impasse. The potential of the game will boil down to whether one of the players is up for taking a risk, otherwise it’s going nowhere. Neither is, as it turns out, and this shuffling continues for a bit until they agree the draw. Not a very eventful game. } 29.Rc1 Kf7 30.Rg3 Ke7 31.Rd1 Rbc8 32.Ne2 Nd7 33.Rc1 Nb6 34.Nd4 Nd7 35.Re3 Nb6 36.Bd3 Rb8 37.Be2 Rc5 38.Kc2 Rc7 39.Ra1 Kf7 40.Kd2 Ke7 41.Kc2 Kf7 42.Kd2 1/2-1/2
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