Sitges: Himanshu best among Indians; Volkov winner
by Atul Dahale - 05/08/2016
Sitges is a coastal town in Spain's Catalonia region, southwest of Barcelona. Backed by the mountainous Parc Natural del Garraf, it's known for its Mediterranean beaches and seafront promenade lined with grand mansions. The city hosted a beautiful tournament with many Indians competing for norms and points. Atul Dahale brings you a richly illustrated report.
Sitges: Himanshu best among Indians; Volkov winner
Sitges is a coastal town in Spain's Catalonia region, southwest of Barcelona. Backed by the mountainous Parc Natural del Garraf, it's known for its Mediterranean beaches and seafront promenade lined with grand mansions.
The famous parish church of Sant Bartomeu I Santa Tecla.
Luke Leon Mendonca, one of India's young talents, was playing in this tournament, and he was accompanied by his father Lyndon Mendonca, who made a beautiful video of Sitges, where he covered the tournament hall, churches, its surroundings, shops, busy streets and what not!
Sitges has 17 sand beaches. During the tournament, I visited Sant Sebastia Beach, which was indeed a very beautiful experience! I have recorded a video for you people.
Okay, back to the tournament:
Experienced Russian GM Sergey Volkov made it look like an easy task as he stormed into the lead with 5.0/5, and then he won a crucial 7th round game against the tournament's top seed former world junior champion GM Cori Jorge (2602) and then drew last two games to clinch the title on better tie-break.
Champion GM Sergey Volkov with trophy
Let’s look at his important win against GM Cori Jorge (2602).
[Event "42 Open Internacional d'Escacs Vila de "] [Site "Sitges (Barcelona)"] [Date "2016.07.28"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Cori, Jorge"] [Black "Volkov, Sergey"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D10"] [WhiteElo "2602"] [BlackElo "2591"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2016.07.22"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "CAT"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 a6 {a6 slav has become very famous recently. .} 5. Bd3 b5 6. b3 Bg4 7. Nge2 Nbd7 (7... e6 8. Qc2 Bh5 9. Nf4 Bg6 10. Nxg6 hxg6 {would have been another story..}) 8. O-O e5 {opening up the position right away!} 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. f3 Be6 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Bb2 {new move!} (12. Nd4 Bc5 13. Nce2 O-O 14. Bb2 Qd6 15. Kh1 Rac8 16. Nf4 Rfe8 17. Rc1 Bb6 18. Qd2 Rxc1 19. Rxc1 Bd7 20. Bc3 {1/2-1/2 (20) Korotylev,A (2440)-Ovsejevitsch,S (2515) Ukraina 1999}) 12... Bc5 13. Nd4 Bxd4 14. exd4 Nxd3 15. Qxd3 Qb6 16. Qd2 a5 17. a4 b4 18. Nb5 O-O 19. Rac1 Rfc8 20. Qf4 Ne8 21. Qe3 Bd7 22. Rc5 Bxb5 23. Rxb5 Qd8 24. Rc5 Nc7 {It seems this knight is better than white's bishop.. but black also has weak d5 pawn.} 25. Qe5 f6 26. Qf5 g6 27. Qg4 Qe7 28. h4 { trying to break black's pawn shelter.} (28. Bc1 {bringing back bishop into game would have been a better choice!}) 28... Qe3+ $15 {now black is slightly better..} 29. Kh2 f5 (29... Ne6 30. Rxd5 Rc2 31. Bc1 Rxc1 32. Rxc1 f5 33. Rxf5 Qxc1 34. Rxa5 Qc7+ 35. Re5 Ng7 $15) 30. Qg3 Ne6 {finally} 31. Rxd5 Rc2 32. Re5 Qxb3 33. Ba1 Ng7 34. Rfe1 Rf8 35. Rc5 Qxa4 36. Qe5 b3 37. Rxa5 Qd7 38. Rd5 $2 ( 38. Rb5 $1 Qd8 39. Qe7 f4 40. Qxd8 Rxd8 41. Rxb3 $14) 38... Qb7 39. Rc5 Re8 40. Qg3 Rxe1 41. Rxc2 $2 bxc2 42. Qxe1 Qc7+ 0-1
Armenian GM Karen Movsziszian (2485) scored 7.5/9 and ranked second on tie-break! He finished his tournament with 4 wins in last 4 rounds!
India’s GM-elect Himanshu Sharma continued his dream run.
He scored 7.0/9 and ranked third and most importantly, he gained 23 Elo rating points from this tournament, moving closer to 2500!
In this game, Black played an interesting idea of exchanging the bishop for c3 knight and then exerting pressure along the c-file.
[Event "42 Open Internacional d'Escacs Vila de "] [Site "Sitges (Barcelona)"] [Date "2016.07.26"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Himanshu, Sharma"] [Black "Vera Siguenas, Deivy"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B70"] [WhiteElo "2389"] [BlackElo "2492"] [PlyCount "124"] [EventDate "2016.07.22"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "CAT"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nge2 {Flexible move.. white can go for close sicilian by playing g3 Bg2 or if black doesnt play e5 then he can open with d4 transposing to Open sicilian lines!} d6 4. d4 {here we go!} cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. g3 g6 7. Bg2 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Bg7 9. Bg5 (9. O-O $1 {is more common choice here!} O-O 10. Qb4) (9. e5 {is interesting GM Onischuk has applied this few times successfully!} Nd7 10. Qa4 O-O 11. exd6 Nc5 12. Qa3 exd6 13. O-O Bf5 14. Bf4 Bxc2 15. Rac1 Bf5 16. Rcd1 Bd3 17. Rfe1 Qb6 18. Nd5 Qxb2 19. Qxb2 Bxb2 20. Bxd6 Rfd8 21. Bxc5 Bc2 22. Be7 Bxd1 23. Bxd8 Rxd8 24. Rxd1 {1-0 (24) Onischuk,V (2593)-Miroshnichenko,E (2602) Kocaeli 2014}) 9... O-O 10. Qd2 Be6 11. O-O Nd7 12. Rad1 Rc8 13. Bh6 Bxc3 {Interesting idea.. Black wants to take advantage of white's shattered pawn structure..} 14. bxc3 Re8 15. f4 Qc7 (15... f6 $5) 16. e5 Qc5+ 17. Kh1 Qxc3 $6 (17... b6 18. exd6 exd6 19. Qxd6 Qxc3 20. Bg5 Bf5 $15) 18. exd6 Qxd2 19. Rxd2 b6 20. Bb7 Rc5 21. dxe7 Rxe7 {black is having slight pull but this should be equal..} 22. Bf3 Bh3 23. Rfd1 Rc3 24. Rd3 Rxd3 25. cxd3 Re3 26. Be4 Nc5 27. Kg1 Bg4 28. Rc1 Nxd3 29. Bxd3 Rxd3 30. Rc7 $11 Bd7 31. Rxa7 f6 32. Kf2 Kf7 33. Ke2 Rd5 34. g4 Ke6 35. Ke3 f5 36. g5 Rd1 37. Bg7 Re1+ 38. Kf2 Rh1 39. Ra6 Kd5 40. Kg2 Rb1 41. Kf3 Bc6 42. Be5 Rh1 43. Kg3 Kc5 44. h4 Rg1+ 45. Kh3 Rh1+ 46. Kg3 Rg1+ 47. Kh3 Rg4 48. Ra7 Kd5 49. Rxh7 Ke4 50. Rc7 Bb5 51. Rc1 Bd3 52. a4 Kf3 53. h5 gxh5 54. Bc7 Ke2 55. Bxb6 Rxf4 56. a5 Re4 57. g6 Re8 58. Kh4 f4 59. Kxh5 Re5+ 60. Kg4 Bxg6 61. Kxf4 Re6 62. Rc3 Bd3 1/2-1/2
IM Ortega Mariano from Cuba scored 7.0/9 to finish fourth on the tie-break. He has sent us his favorite game of this tournament. [PC: Organiser]
[Event "Sitges International Open 2016"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.07.28"] [Round "7"] [White "Pogorelov, Ruslan"] [Black "Ortega, Mariano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D43"] [WhiteElo "2345"] [BlackElo "2465"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2015.11.13"] [EventType "team"] [EventRounds "9"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 dxc4 5. Qa4+ {Not so popular variation!! usually in this position.. e4 or e3 is more common!} (5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3) (5. e3 a6 6. a4 c5 7. Bxc4 Nc6 8. O-O cxd4 ( 8... Be7 9. Qe2 cxd4 10. Rd1 e5 11. exd4 exd4) 9. exd4 Be7 {Typical Queens gambit accepted position.}) 5... c6 6. Qxc4 b5 7. Qd3 Nbd7 8. e4 b4 9. Na4 Bb7 10. b3 $146 (10. Bg5 {usual developing move!} Qa5 11. b3 c5) (10. Be3) 10... c5 {Black continues with the plan!} 11. e5 Ne4 12. Be3 Rc8 13. Be2 Be7 14. O-O O-O {both sides have almost completed their development!} 15. Rfd1 $6 (15. Rac1 Bd5 $11) 15... Nb6 $1 16. Nxc5 Nxc5 17. dxc5 Qxd3 18. Bxd3 Bxc5 19. Bxc5 Rxc5 { Now the e5 pawn is a target.} 20. Rac1 $2 (20. a3 {would have been better but still after} bxa3 21. Rxa3 Bxf3 22. gxf3 Rxe5 23. Rxa7 Rb8 $15 {due to white's wrecked pawn structure Black will have some chances in endgame!}) 20... Bxf3 21. gxf3 Rxe5 $17 22. Be4 f5 23. Bb7 Kf7 24. Rd4 Rb8 25. Rc7+ Kf6 26. f4 (26. Rxb4 Nd5) 26... Re2 27. Bf3 Rxa2 28. Rxb4 Rd8 29. Rc1 Rdd2 30. Rf1 Ra5 { the rook on b4 suddenly feels uncomfortable!} 31. Kg2 Ke7 {King is coming for the kill!} 32. Rd1 {forced..} Rxd1 33. Bxd1 Kd6 34. Rd4+ Rd5 $19 35. Rxd5+ Nxd5 36. Kf3 Kc5 37. Be2 Kb4 38. Ba6 Kxb3 39. Bc8 Nc7 40. Ke2 a5 41. Kd2 a4 42. Kc1 Kc3 43. Kb1 Kd2 44. Kb2 Ke2 45. Ka3 Kxf2 46. Kxa4 Ke3 47. Ka5 Kxf4 48. Kb6 Nd5+ 49. Kc5 Ke5 {quite an interesting game!!} 0-1
IM Vera Siguenas Deivy managed to score 7.0/9 as well and ranked fifth after the tie-break.
In one of his games, he played an interesting sacrifice and showed the power of pawns in the endgame! Let’s have a look at this fascinating game by Vera.
[Event "42 Open Internacional d'Escacs Vila de "] [Site "Sitges (Barcelona)"] [Date "2016.07.27"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Vera Siguenas, Deivy"] [Black "Rios, Cristhian Camilo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B80"] [WhiteElo "2492"] [BlackElo "2484"] [PlyCount "145"] [EventDate "2016.07.22"] [EventRounds "9"] [EventCountry "CAT"] [SourceDate "2003.06.08"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 a6 7. Qf3 Qc7 8. Qg3 b5 9. a3 Bb7 10. f3 Nbd7 11. O-O-O Rc8 12. Bxb5 $1 {Typical sacrifice in Sicilian .. white sacricifices a piece and in return he gets 3 passed pawns on the queenside.! Quite a good deal..} axb5 13. Ndxb5 Qb8 14. Nxd6+ Bxd6 15. Qxd6 Qxd6 16. Rxd6 Ne5 {this is the position white was aiming for.} 17. Rb6 Nc4 18. Rxb7 Nxe3 19. Re1 Nxg2 20. Rg1 Ne3 21. Rxg7 Nd7 22. f4 h5 23. Rg3 Nf1 24. Rg2 h4 25. Nb5 Rd8 26. Nd6+ Ke7 27. Nc4 {now Black's knight on f1 is in danger.} h3 28. Rf2 Ng3 {last trick!} 29. Ne5 $1 Nxe4 30. Re2 f5 31. Nc6+ Kf6 32. Nxd8 Rxd8 33. Rb3 Rg8 34. Re1 Rh8 35. Rf3 e5 36. Ref1 Rh5 37. a4 {everything is set now its time for white's pawns to roll..} exf4 38. a5 Ndc5 39. Rxf4 Ke5 40. R4f3 Na6 41. c3 Nd6 42. Re1+ Ne4 43. Ref1 Nd6 44. Kc2 Rg5 45. b4 {Its a difficult task to stop these connected passed pawns!} Ne4 46. Kd3 Nd6 47. Rxh3 Rg2 48. Re3+ Kd5 49. Re2 Rg4 50. Ref2 Kc6 51. Rxf5 Nxf5 52. Rxf5 Rh4 53. b5+ Kb7 54. Rf7+ Ka8 55. bxa6 Rxh2 56. Kc4 Ra2 57. Kb4 Rb2+ 58. Kc5 Rh2 59. c4 Kb8 60. Kb6 Rb2+ 61. Kc6 Rc2 62. c5 Rh2 63. Rb7+ Ka8 64. Kb6 Rh6+ 65. Kb5 Rh5 66. Rd7 Rh2 67. c6 Rb2+ 68. Kc5 Rc2+ 69. Kd6 Rd2+ 70. Ke7 Re2+ 71. Kd8 Rh2 72. c7 Rc2 73. Rd6 1-0
Former World Junior Girls champion WGM Cori T Deysi was awarded the best Woman Player prize. She scored 5.0/9.
Juliette Auvray from France
WFM Roque Sola Gisela from Mexico
Rising talent From India Ra. Harikrishnan made his second IM norm in this tournament. He scored 6.0/9 points and received the first prize in below 2200 rating category.
Fernandez Fernando From Peru achieved an IM norm as well. He scored 6.5/9 and was ranked ninth in the tournament.
The arena
The tournament hall was unique with the national flags of all the participating countries! Even the ceiling of the hall was painted beautifully. It gave a great feeling to play in such an artistic hall. In fact, it was a theatre!
The Cori siblings (Jorge and Deysi) are both World Junior champions are seen here with Mr. Cruz.
The Vea Blikra family of Norway.
ABOVE: MR.Blikra Per (on the left) with Mads (friend), (daughter) Eldbhorg and (son) Tormund! Mr. Blikra’s eldest son Odin Vea Blikra (2266), wearing a cap, is the strongest player in the family!
This cute 11-years kid Daniel Dardha (2035) from Belgium played really well in the tournament scoring 5.5/9 points. He increased 120 rating points in the process!
WCM Saloni Sapale From India scored 4.5/9 gave a 2255 rating performance. She was the highest rating gainer of the tournament with +122 points.
Prince Bajaj from India had a good tournament with 6.0/9 points and he finished 16th.
He played a brilliant attacking game in last round against Cori T Deysi. He has analysed the game for CB India.
I started this tournament with 0.0/2 and was very sad. That day after the second round, coming back from the game I decided to do something good so I started writing my Sant Marti report. Shyam Sundar was the champion in Sant Marti, and we were discussing his games from the tournament. He asked me about how the Sitges tournament was going. I felt terrible. The positive man he is, Shyam motivated me to play at my best. He asked me to watch some serials, take proper rest Also, he asked me to look at my best games before the round, and said that you could now do a 7.0/7! I was amused.
Surprisingly, I managed to score 6.0/7 in last seven rounds, even winning against two IMs on the way, and increased my rating by 56 points!
As we all know, 'Tumhe tabtak koi nahi haraa sakta, jabtak tum apne aapse na haar jao!'
I was particularly inspired by the movie 'Sultan'. Not everything is fought on the board. After any failure or setback, it's up to us whether to get back and fight or not.
{This was 5th round I was on 2/4 and wanted to fight till the end!} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 Bxc3+ {I was surprised by this move.. usually black takes on c3 after a3 is played!} 5. bxc3 d6 6. Bd3 c5 7. Ne2 {I was confused whether to put knight on e2 or f3.. both looked good... but I thought now Black's Idea is to play Nc6-e5.. in that case I wanted to play e4 and then f4 opening up my bishops.. actually this is not so good plan!} (7. Nf3) 7... Nc6 8. O-O e5 9. e4 O-O 10. f4 {this is not a wise plan.. white's position is not ready yet! f3-Be3-Qd2 completing the development and then going for the attack was better choice!} (10. f3 b6 11. Be3 h6 12. Qd2 Re8 13. Rad1 Ba6 14. a4 Na5 15. Qa2 Rc8 16. d5 Nh5 17. g4 Nf6 18. Ng3 Nh7 19. Nf5 Nf8 20. h4 Ng6 21. g5 h5 22. Rf2 Rc7 23. Rh2 Nf4 24. Bxf4 exf4 25. Qd2 g6 26. Nh6+ Kg7 27. Qxf4 Bxc4 28. Bb1 Bb3 29. Rf1 Nc4 30. Rg2 Qe7 31. Kh1 Bxa4 32. Nf5+ gxf5 33. exf5 Qe5 34. Qxc4 Bd7 35. f6+ Kf8 36. Qd3 Bf5 37. Qxf5 Qxf5 38. Bxf5 b5 39. g6 fxg6 40. Be6 {1-0 (40) Laznicka,V (2679)-Korobov,A (2680) Dubai 2014}) 10... exd4 11. cxd4 cxd4 {My opponent quickly played this.. now I understood my mistake.. I cant play f5 as he will get e5 square and I need to cover g4 square stopping knight jumping of from g4!} 12. h3 Re8 13. Ng3 Nd7 $1 14. Ba3 Nf8 {surprise! i thought his idea is to play Nc5 blocking my bishop and keeping pressure!} ( 14... Nc5 {after this my plan was to play} 15. Bxc5 dxc5 16. e5 $11 {and suddenly my pieces are playing!}) 15. Rb1 {with the idea to get rook on kingside!} Rb8 (15... a6 {possible..}) 16. Rb5 {first rook lift.. going for d6 weakness!} Qc7 17. Nh5 {bringing yet another piece!} f6 18. Rf3 {another rook lift.. calling everyone for the party..} Qe7 19. Rd5 Rd8 20. Rg3 g6 21. c5 $2 ( 21. f5 $1 {stopping Be6 and knight on h5 will have a good suare on f4..} Kh8 22. Nf4 g5 23. Nh5 $18 {again back.. white can open up kingside with h4 now..}) 21... Be6 $2 (21... Kh8 $5 {this was a good move.. I need to give up my knight but still I have a lot of attack! his king is not so safe!} 22. cxd6 Qf7 23. f5 gxh5 24. Bc4 $13) 22. cxd6 Qf7 23. Bc4 $1 {now its very difficult for black !!} Kh8 24. f5 Bxd5 $2 25. Bxd5 Qe8 26. fxg6 hxg6 27. Nxf6 {Its all over now!} Qe5 28. Rf3 Nd7 29. Ng4 Qh5 30. Bxc6 bxc6 31. Qxd4+ Kg8 32. e5 {Black resigned!} 1-0
Players enjoying snacks and drinks
This tournament was organized very smoothly by TD Francesc Gonzalez-Alonso and arbiters IA Jordi Chalmeta Ugas and IA Manuel Navarro Perez and team.
Kudos to organisers for conducting such a tournament in a beautiful venue i.e. Casino Prada! Looking forward to return next year!
Atul Dahale
Atul Dahale is one of the first Internationally FIDE rated players from Parbhani, Maharashtra. He loves the game of chess and enjoys the fact that he can travel to different places, meet people and make new friends thanks to the game. He is a successful coach currently based in Pune, Maharashtra. You can contact him on atuldahale64@gmail.com.
