Pay for play in Canada

If you pay them, they will come.This year’s Canadian Open, which concluded Sunday in Edmonton, Alberta, attracted an unusually stellar field, including 2700-plus GMs Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, Spain’s Alexei Shirov and Moldova’s Viktor Bologan. Also in the 215-player field were former U.S. champ Alex Shabalov, reigning Canadian champ Pascal Charbonneau and three grandmasters from the visiting Indian national team.

It turns out that organizers were barred from using some of the sponsorship fees for prize money, and so they plowed the cash into appearance fees for a crush of top players. There were few complaints from the lower brackets, however, as players got to see some great battles and test their skills against the world’s best.

Shirov and Shabalov, two of the game’s most uncompromising tacticians, did not disappoint in their Round 8 game, which proved critical to the final standings. The two trade haymakers in an Advanced French before Shirov’s mating attack proves the more potent.

With 9. Nc2 Qb6 10. 0-0 Na5, Shirov as Black prepares to trade off his problem French bishop, but Shabalov responds aggressively with 11. g4!? Ne7 12. Nfe1 Bb5 13. Nd3. Black’s 17. b4 Qd8! is a nicely timed repositioning, trying to exploit the king-side weaknesses caused by Shabalov’s 11th move.

In the subsequent play, White grabs the f-file and Black the g-file, and both sides play for checkmate: 18. Bg4 Nxe3 19. fxe3 Qg5 20. h3 (Kh1 g6 busts open the position anyway) Rxh5 21. Qf3, when the defensive 21…Qg6? loses material to 22. Qxf7+! Qxf7 23. Rxf7 Kxf7 24. Rxh5.

But Black is not interested in defense — 22…Rxh3! 23. Qxe6+ Kb8 24. Rxf8! Rg3+! (and not 24…Rxf8?! 25. Qd6+ Ka8 26. Qxf8+ Nb8 27. Nf2, and White covers up nicely) 25. Kf2 Rxg4.

White comes within one move of mate, but Black’s heavy pieces prove too strong in the end: 27. Rxd8+ Nxd8 28. Qd7 (loses despite the threat of 29. Qc8 mate, as does 28. Nf4 Qh4+ 29. Kf3 Qg3 mate) Rg2+ 29. Ke1 Qg3+ 30. Kd1 Qf3+. White resigns, as the coming combination is child’s play for both players: 31. Kc1 Rxc2+!! 32. Kxc2 Qe2+ 33. Kc1 Qxe3+ 34. Kb2 Qd2+ 35. Kb1 Bxb3 mate.

Ivanchuk, Shirov and Bologan finished in a five-way for first with Canadian GM Mark Bluvshtein and Indian IM Saptarshi Roy Chowdhury, all at 8-2.

You can cast GM Arkady Naiditsch in the German-language remake of “Rocky” after his stunning upset triumph in the Category 19 Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting earlier this month.

The lowest-rated player (2612) in one of the year’s strongest fields, the 19-year-old German went 51/2-31/2 to edge Bulgarian Veselin Topalov, France’s Etienne Bacrot and Dutchman Loek Van Wely by a half-point. He is the first German to win the long-running elite event.

Classical world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia could manage only a level 41/2-41/2 score, with losses to Bacrot and Israel’s Emil Sutovsky, while Hungary’s Peter Leko, who nearly took Kramnik’s title late last year, limped home with a 4-5 result.

Naiditsch’s best effort came at the Hungarian’s expense in Round 3, capped by a pair of slick tactical finesses. In a Rossolimo Sicilian, the young German gets a small but persistent edge out of the opening and finds a clever way to exploit Black’s cluttered pieces.

Thus: 25. Qd5! (a strong centralization) Rd7? (see diagram; an uncharacteristic oversight from the solid Leko, though White still is pressing on 25…Re6) 26. Bxa6!, winning a clear pawn. The point of the move becomes clear on 26…bxa6 27. Qxc6!! Qxc6 28. Rb8+ Bf8 (if the Black rook was on e6, the back-rank threat would be blocked now with 28…Re8) 29. Bh6, with mate on the horizon.

Having snatched a pawn, Naiditsch shows excellent technique in securing the point. He is unafraid to trade down to a queen-and-pawn ending with 46. Bxd5 Nxd4 47. Bxf7+! Kxf7 48. Qxd4, as his king is safe and the White queen cuts off Leko’s king from the queenside.

After 58. Qe6+ Kf8 59. Qc8+, the c-pawn will break through on 59…Ke7 60. Qb7+ Qxb7 61. cxb7. Leko resigned.

Canadian Open, Edmonton, Alberta, July 2005

ShabalovShirov

1. e4e616. a4Bc4

2. d4d517. b4Qd8

3. e5c518. Bg4Nxe3

4. c3Nc619. fxe3Qg5

5. Nf3Bd720. h3Rxh5

6. Be2Nge721. Qf30-0-0

7. Na3cxd422. Qxf7Rxh3

8. cxd4Nf523. Qxe6+Kb8

9. Nc2Qb624. Rxf8Rg3+

10. 0-0Na525. Kf2Rxg4

11. g4Ne726. Qd6+Ka8

12. Nfe1Bb527. Rxd8+Nxd8

13. Nd3h528. Qd7Rg2+

14. gxh5Nf529. Ke1Qg3+

15. Be3Nc630. Kd1Qf3+

White resigns

2005 Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting, Dortmund, Germany, July 2005

NaiditschLeko

1. e4c531. Be3Ra8

2. Nf3Nc632. h6Bf8

3. Bb5g633. Qb5Ne7

4. 0-0Bg734. Bd3Ra3

5. c3Nf635. Rb3Rxa2

6. e5Nd536. Qxb7Ra1+

7. d4cxd437. Kg2Qa5

8. cxd40-038. Qb4Qh5

9. Nc3Nxc339. Rb1Rxb1

10. bxc3d640. Bxb1d5

11. Re1Qc741. c5Bxh6

12. exd6exd642. Bxh6Qxh6

13. Bf4Bf543. Qb8+Qf8

14. Qa4Rfd844. Qd6Qe8

15. Qa3a645. Ba2Nc6

16. Bf1Rac846. Bxd5Nxd4

17. Nd2Na747. Bxf7+Kxf7

18. Rac1Nb548. Qxd4Qc6+

19. Qb3Na749. f3Ke6

20. Ne4Bxe450. g4Qa6

21. Rxe4Re851. Qe4+Kf6

22. Rxe8+Rxe852. c6Qa2+

23. Rb1Re753. Kg3Qa7

24. h4Nc654. g5+Kf7

25. Qd5Rd755. Qd5+Ke7

26. Bxa6Na556. Qe5+Kf7

27. Bf1Bf857. Qf6+Kg8

28. g3Rd858. Qe6+Kf8

29. c4Nc659. Qc8+Black

30. h5Bg7resigns

David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by e-mail at dsands@washington times.com.