FM Steve Giddins reports from the Staunton Memorial tournament 2006

Today’s 6th round marked the end of the first half of the tournament, with the three top seeds all winning, amidst another round full of fighting chess. The only quiet game was Levitt-Speelman, which did little to stir the blood, but both players have had a rocky start to the event, and were probably glad to escape into the rest day and regroup.

Once he gets up a head of steam, there are few more powerful players than Ivan Sokolov, who is capable of putting together strings of victories, with both colours. He did so at Hastings a few years ago, and is repeating the act here. Today he faced his fellow Dutchman, Yge Visser, with the Black pieces. The latter eschewed a theoretical battle in the Ruy Lopez, and chose instead a slow form of the Bishop’s Opening, perhaps an appropriate choice in a tournament dedicated to one of the 19th century’s greatest players. However, in the 21st century, such openings offer few chances of an advantage, and Sokolov equalized without trouble. White secured the bishop pair, but in the IQP structure which arose, this was not significant, since the structure tends to offer good outposts for the enemy knights. Having used up a good deal of time in the search for some advantage, Visser erred badly with 22 Qf3?, after which the thematic knight sacrifice on f2 proved deadly. Sokolov thus heads into Sunday’s rest day with a splendid 5½ / 6, a full point clear of the field.

Adams-Lanchava saw a Pirc Defence line, in which Adams has great experience. Lanchava’s 14...bxc4 was a novelty, but does not seem to change theory’s verdict that White stands better. Adams maintained pressure against Black’s weak queenside pawns, but it is not clear how much he would have had after 29...Kh8. Instead, Lanchava played 29...Rc6?, which could have been met by the immediate 30 Nxf7!. Adams played the less incisive 30 Rfd1?!, when 30...Bf6 would have left Black still very much in the game. Unfortunately, Lanchava played 30...Bh6?, which again allowed the sacrifice on f7, and this time, Adams did not miss his chance.

The best spectator entertainment of the day was provided by the game Timman-Day. This was another Modern Defence, again handled in original fashion by the Canadian IM. This is no coincidence, since in the 1960s, Day was greatly influenced by his countryman Duncan Suttles, one of the most interesting and creative GMs of the post-war period, and a pioneer of the Modern Defence. Frankly, Timman-Day is a game best commented on by the players themselves, because it was desperately unclear for much of the afternoon. Timman’s 15 g4 was the start of a bold attacking plan, but his follow-up looked over-optimistic, especially after Day’s cold-blooded defensive idea 21...Kd7! A quiet move like 24...Kc8 seems to leave White in trouble, but instead, Day snatched a very hot-looking pawn on b2, after which White’s initiative grew more alarming. By move 30, White was winning, but he still had to tread very carefully in the face of Day’s resourceful defence. However, Timman played the rest of the game very well, and finally hauled in the full point.

The other long game of the day was a battle royal between Howell and Werle. Once again, the players are best-qualified to say what was really going on, but after a long struggle, Howell looked to be winning around move 50, as Black’s weak queenside pawns started dropping off. However, he snatched the material too early (55 Bf1! looks better), after which Black’s counterplay on the other wing proved too strong. The final error was 59 Qd4+? (59 Kf1 preserves the possibility of checks on d7 or e8, and offers better drawing chances), after which Black was able to shield his own king and create decisive threats against White’s. This must have been a very tough and dispiriting loss for David Howell, but he can console himself with the thought that he has already played most of the higher-rated players, so the second half of the event should not be quite so tough (not that there are any easy games here).

Sunday 20th August is a rest day, when the tournament transfers to Wellington College in Berkshire, where play resumes at 14.00 on Monday.