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Biel Masters 2019: Brkic and Donchenko blaze out of the blocks with 4.5/5!

by Tanmay Srinath - 27/07/2019

The Biel Grandmaster tournament has entered its only rest day, after 5 grueling days of chess. Along with this flagship event, a 9 round Master tournament is being organised for players above 2000 elo. The top seed is newly minted 2700 Jeffery Xiong, who faces stiff competition from fellow American Gata Kamsky and Israeli Tamir Nabaty. With 34 GMs and 22 IMs there are a lot of norm chances as well! After 5 rounds, Croatian surprise package Ante Brkic and German Alexander Donchenko lead the tournament with 4.5 out of 5, followed by a host of players on 4. In this report from Biel Tanmay Srinath brings you games, critical positions and photos, with a glimpse of the excursion organised for the GM tournament participants on their rest day. 

While the Grandmaster tournament is definitely the cynosure of all eyes, the strong Master Open has made steady progress since day 1. It has seen upsets, misses and clinical finishes since the beginning, and with 4 rounds to go enters its rest day on 27th. Gata Kamsky started very strongly with 3.0/3 and so did Alexander Donchenko, but while Gata made two draws in the next two rounds, Donchenko continued to play fabulously and went on to 4.5/5, where he was joined by Ante Brkic, who managed to beat Salem Saleh in Round 5. Xiong and his countryman Kamsky join a host of players trailing the leaders by a half point, and with 4 rounds to go this is shaping up to be an exciting tournament! Here are some of the fascinating moments:

 

The first round witnessed an upset and a half(!) with two 2200+ beating and holding Grandmasters respectively. Let us take a look at those positions:

 

Cohen-Sedlak

Black outrates his opponent by a whopping 332 points, yet was completely outplayed in an Advance Caro-Kann. Sedlak managed to escape to this ending, where he hoped he would have opportunities to draw owing to his R+B being theoretically superior to R+K. However, White now showed surprisingly good technique to covert this endgame. The objective assessment - White is probably close to winning, as his doubled passed f-pawns are more of an asset than a liability.

In the other mini upset, GM Jaime Santos Latasa couldn't make the best use of the chances he got, and in the endgame he fluffed a big one:

 

Santos Latasa-Baltic

White is definitely better in this ending, as Black's pawns are rather weak and his pieces are passively placed. Here the best plan to advance was Kf3 followed by attacking the artificially isolated d4 pawn. It then becomes very difficult for Black to find a good defense. Instead, the inaccurate plan started with Bc6 allowed the 2203 Baltic to hold on.

There was another curious game, where GM Jumabayev was struggling to outplay WIM Gulmira Dauletova. It took an error from White in the endgame for Black to finally get an advantage:

 

Dauletova-Jumabayev

Here the best way to curtail Black's initiative on the kingside was with Bf1! followed by slowly advancing the queenside pawns. There I can see no way for either side to claim an advantage. White started to go astray with Rb1?! and it allowed Black to slowly outplay his weaker opponent and win the game.

Round 2 saw Dronavalli Harika hold on in a worse position against Salem Saleh:

 

Harika-Salem

Saleh had to go Re7! defending the e6 pawn tactically. He is then ready to improve his king, while White's pieces are already well placed, with no scope of improvement. This factor could have given Black great winning chances. Instead, Nh6? allowed White to simplify favourably with Rxe6 and Harika managed to save half a point.

Salem is not having a great tournament - with a loss and a draw to lower rateds he is on 3.5/5. | Photo: Baku Olympiad Twitter.

Vaibhav Suri attacked ferociously as Black against Rahul Srivatshav and won a piece, but couldn't consolidate when it mattered most:

 

Srivatshav-Suri

Here Black had to bring the last piece into play with Rc8, in order to meet Qe5 with f6! after which White's best move appears to be resigns! Instead, the immediate f6? played in the game allowed Rahul to generate serious counterplay with Qc4+! Kg7 Qxf4, and the youngster's efforts were not in vain - Suri allowed the perpetual with an inaccuracy and the game ended up as a draw. 

The youngster channeled his inner Houdini when it mattered most! | Photo: Nikilesh Jain

Jeffery Xiong won an instructive double rooks and opposite coloured bishop endgame by understanding the subtleties better than his opponent - here is the critical juncture of the game:

 

Xiong-Notkevich

Here Black must have expected Xiong to retreat with the bishop, maintaining the bishop pair. Instead, Jeffery played the surprising Bxd5! giving up the bishop pair to enter an opposite coloured bishop situation. The idea behind this move is very simple - White wants to attack the overextended kingside, and he removes an important defender. Now Black will face problems irrespective of the way he chooses to recapture. The pawn capture maintains material equality, but severely restricts the light squared bishop. In the game Black chose Qxd5!? but it didn't help much -Jeffery soon won a pawn and the game.

The top seed is playing steady chess - he is on an unbeaten +3 so far. | Photo: US Chess Federation Twitter

Ante Brkic had slipped under the radar so far, but he announced his ambitions with a striking 19 move miniature over the tournament 2nd seed Nabaty:


Nabaty-Brkic

It was time for damage control - dxe5 Nxe5 Be2 with equality. Instead, Qxb7? was overly ambitious, and Tamir was punished for his pluck after Na5!, with the game ending a few moves after.

GM Ante Brkic making a statement in Biel - shared 1st with 4.5/5! | Photo: Flickr

Another 2600 bit the dust - Amin Tabatabaei lost control in a Reti Opening as early as move 12:

 

Tabatabaei-Mastrovasilis

Ne1! was essential, intending after Bxd3 to go Nc3 and complete development, where White has enough compensation for the 3 pawns to claim a slight edge! Instead, Na3? allowed Qxd3! after which Black is better, and he went on to win in 28 moves.

There are a lot of youngsters playing in the event, the pick of the lot being Gukesh D and Vincent Keymar. Both are performing rather well at the moment - Keymer is on tied 2nd with 4.0/5 while Gukesh is a half point behind, having beaten Vaibhav Suri before losing to co-leader Donchenko in round 5.

 

Gata Kamsky started strong as well, with 3.0/3. Here is the turning point of his 3rd round game against GM Moussard:

 

Moussard-Kamsky

Black is slightly better, but has no clear plan to break through. White should be fine as long as he keeps the rooks on the board. b3!? a waiting move made some sense here. Instead, he blundered with Rf1? and after e5! Kamsky managed to exchange rooks and invade White's position.

The former World Championship challenger is on 4.0/5. | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival.

Round 4 saw draws on the top two boards, while Xiong won to join the leaders. There were a few decisive results lower down, notably Gukesh's win against Suri:

 

Gukesh-Suri

Bf6! was a better way of asking White to prove his compensation for his missing pawn. Instead, after Bf8 Gukesh got a soaring initiative with Bf4! and never looked back.

The 2nd Youngest GM in the history of the game has played well so far. Can he go further in the last 4 rounds? | Photo:Niklesh Jain

Round 5 saw a lot of action on the leaderboard. The first two boards ended in tame draws : Erdos - Xiong and Petrosyan - Kamsky. Brkic continued his fine run with a counterpunching as Black in a Ruy Lopez against Salem:

 

Salem-Brkic

As scary as White's position appears, the best way to defend and attack (yes, the e6 pawn is a major factor!) was with g3!. It looks counterintuitive to allow the Black queen full access to h3, but White's initiative with his passed e-pawn should not be underestimated. The position remains a mess, but only White can be better! Instead, Ng3?! allowed Black to slowly round up the e-pawn with Rb7! after which he steadily accumulated his advantages to win. 

Donchenko out-muscled Gukesh in a Maroczy after the latter went wrong in the early middlegame:

 

Donchenko-Gukesh

Something has gone wrong for Black in the opening - he is unable to play both Qb6 and Nc5 in time. Here it was better to bring the knight immediately to c5 and hope White messes up. Ne5!? was interesting, but allowed c5! after which White is clearly better. Alexander converted flawlessly from there on.

The rising young German is playing fascinating chess! | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Vincent Keymer came to life in this round, destroying Martirosyan's King's Indian with a nearly perfect game! Here is the only chance he gave Black:

 

Keymer-Martirosyan

Here the only realistic chance for Black lies in counter intuitively exchanging a pair of knights - Nxe4! Nxe4 b4! and the disadvantage is curtailed to manageable levels. Instead Ne6? allowed Vincent to activate his queen, after which he ruthlessly executed the Black king.

Germany's greatest hope at work! | Photo: Grenke Chess 2019

With 4 rounds to go, the tournament promises an exciting conclusion!

Let us return to the GM group players. On the 26th a few of them took part in an excursion planned by the Biel Chess Organisers. Here are some pictures from the excursion:

The players enjoying lunch at Hotel Bozingeberg. | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

A cheerful Vidit with Leko and his wife. | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Mountain Chasseral of the Jura Mountain range. | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Lake Biel and Lake Murten. | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

The new headquarters of the Swauch Group. | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

The energetic Leko giving an interview even on the rest day! | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

The players, commentators and other members. | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Playtime?! Vidit discussing a few things with Tal Baron | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

About the Author

Tanmay Srinath is an 18-year-old chess player from Bangalore, Karnataka, currently pursuing both chess and engineering at BMSCE Bangalore. Tanmay is also a Taekwondo Black Belt, who has represented the country in an International Tournament in Thailand. He is a big fan of Mikhail Tal and Vishy Anand, and sincerely believes in doing his bit to Power Chess in India!


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