John Nunn, the previous top-10 participant and writer of a number of tutorial books, recovered the type of his best possible years at age 67 final week when the grandmaster from Bude in Conrwall gained the arena 65+ senior championship in Assisi, Italy. Nunn scored 9 out of eleven, and gained all his six video games with White, together with an important win in what had appeared a drawn ultimate spherical queen and knight v queen and bishop finishing.
The championship was once a aggressive tournament of 192 gamers, the place Nunn’s best defeat, in spherical 8 to Jens Kristiansen, can have proved pricey. The Danes led by means of part some extent going into the general spherical, and had the easier tiebreak. Then Kristiansen didn’t discover a hidden drawing useful resource in his personal endgame with bishops of reverse colors, was once stuck by means of the pack, and completed out of the medals. A Fide on-line document offers fuller main points, plus pictures from the award rite.
2022 has proved a antique yr for England’s seniors, part a century after the Bobby Fischer v Boris Spassky fit in Reykjavik which sparked many chess careers. Nunn in his adolescence was once a arithmetic prodigy, and when he went to Oxford at 15 was once the youngest undergraduate since Cardinal Wolsey in 1520, a file damaged later by means of Ruth Lawrence. He become a lecturer at Oriel however in 1981 switched to skilled chess.
In June this yr England’s 50+ and 65+ squads gained the arena senior groups at Acqui Terme, Italy, whilst final month England 50+ gained the European name in Dresden, Germany. It was once placing how Michael Adams, 51, and Nigel Short, 57, who of their top challenged for global crowns, raised their sport at vital moments when the gold medals appeared in peril.
There is a sense some of the survivors of England’s silver technology, who completed 2d to the previous Soviet Union in 3 successive Olympiads within the Eighties, that the ultimate prize of completing in entrance of the USSR unjustly escaped them. In 2004 Adams would generally have anticipated to defeat Rustam Kasimdzhanov and so qualify for a name unifying fit with Garry Kasparov, for which plans had been already smartly complicated in London.
Another pivotal second was once the tenth spherical of the Dubai Olympiad in 1986. At the top of spherical 9 England had been transparent leaders, a complete level in entrance of america and two forward of the USSR. They had overwhelmed the Americans and drawn with the Soviets, so had been additionally forward on fit issues.
Excitement was once construction in London as chess fanatics noticed the consequences. The Guardian was once getting ready a piece of writing praising England’s success and calling for higher govt reputation.
England had already met their 3 nearest competitors, so had been paired with Spain in 5th position. After spherical 10 were given beneath manner, the Spanish captain and instructor, the Soviet GM Tamas Georgadze, started chatting with each Spanish and USSR gamers. Georgadze was once then observed discussing a transfer with Spain’s board two, to whom Nunn had simply introduced a draw, which was once refused. The England group had been psyched out, and had been overwhelmed 3.5-0.5. Spain later collapsed and completed twenty fourth, and stricter laws had been presented for the remainder of the Olympiad, however the harm was once finished.
At the top, the Soviet group, led by means of Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov at their height, gained gold with 40/56 sport issues, with England 2d on 39.5. If, as occurs now, Olympiad fit issues had taken precedence over sport issues, England would have taken gold with 12 wins, a draw with the USSR, and the arguable loss to Spain. Nunn and Short each performed on that England group in Dubai 36 years in the past, so it’s comprehensible that they had been extremely motivated in 2022.
Magnus Carlsen was once a last-minute change within the on-line 32-player Mr Dodgy Invitational final week when David Howell had web connection issues. The tournament, now in its 3rd yr and gained two times in the past by means of Anish Giri, is the brainchild of Michael Duke, a Scottish resident of Sweden who has transform a cult determine for his witty feedback on chess web site feedback pages, and who in my view selects the gamers. . The cut-off date is a looking out 5 mins each and every, with out a in line with transfer increment.
That Carlsen agreed a week-long dedication at minimum understand to one of these match with, for him, a modest $15,000 prize fund, presentations that the arena champion in point of fact loves the sport. Of his 15 nice predecessors, most likely best Mikhail Tal would have acted in a similar fashion.
At the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad, the highest groups together with the USSR and USA had been accommodated on the Hotel Astoria within the middle of the town. There had been a few units and forums in the living room, the place each evening the good names would accumulate for five-minute blitzes, watched by means of an admiring throng of masters. Tal, Viktor Korchnoi, and Tigran Petrosian had been there from the Soviet group, Fischer and William Lombardi from the American, and Miguel Najdorf from Argentina.
The layout was once easy. If a participant didn’t win, he would vacate his seat and get replaced. The high quality of the video games was once prime, and the sextet had been calmly matched, despite the fact that over many evenings Petrosian simply shaded it. Tal and Korchnoi had been continuously the final to complete, nonetheless blitzing away at 1am.
On the morning of the general day, sooner than the final rite, there was once an reputable Olympiad blitz. Tal had misplaced to England’s Jonathan Penrose the day gone by, however nonetheless grew to become up for this tournament. He had one memorable sport there, towards Manuel Aaron. The Indian, who had overwhelmed former global champion Euwe within the Olympiad correct, survived a misplaced place by means of catching Tal in a stalemate entice.
Carlsen gained his Mr Dodgy initial crew with 11.5/13 in spite of a loss to England’s Gawain Jones, who wrote “I finally managed to take down Magnus”, a connection with Wijk aan Zee 2018, the place Carlsen blundered a work early on however nonetheless created a To set up swift profitable assault.
In the knockout levels, the arena No 1 was once imperious, beating Egypt’s Salem Saleh 7-0 then impressively trouncing the emerging US superstar Samuel Sevian, 21, by means of 7-1.
Carlsen met his aide Daniil Dubov, who were in just right shape, in Thursday’s ultimate. It was once any other one-sided stumble upon, 6.5-1.5, because the champion finished his week’s paintings with an 80% general over 49 video games.
3844 1 gxh7+! Kxf7 (if Kxh7 2 Rcg6! and Rh4+ forces mate) 2 Rf6+! Kxf6 3 Rg8 and the pawn queens.
