Setting Standards

Steve Giddins reports on round four of the Fifth Staunton Memorial tournament 

If one were to sum up the atmosphere of the Staunton Memorial tournament in a single word, that word would have to be "elegance". The beauty of the surroundings here at Simpsons makes the tournament unique in the chess calendar. That elegance extends even to the chess sets used. The lobby of Simpsons contains a display cabinet, exhibiting a chess board and set that has belonged here since the middle of the 19th century, and was played on by later generations, such as Lasker and Tarrasch.

As used by Zukertort, Lasker, Tarrasch....

The sets used in the tournament are equally beautiful, large wooden Staunton pattern pieces, supplied for the event by their manufacturers, House of Staunton. At the conclusion of the tournament, the players will sign the boards used, and both boards and sets will be available for purchase from House of Staunton. So, if you wish to own a unique souvenir of the strongest international chess tournament held in London for some 20 years, this is your chance.

One of the beautiful House of Staunton sets being used in the tournament.

"Turning reluctantly to the play", as the late Harry Golombek was wont to say, round 4 of the 2007 Staunton Memorial tournament turned out to be the quietest so far, A plethora of intra-national clashes saw three short and uneventful draws, in the games Wells-Adams, Timman-Sokolov and Houska-Speelman. However, the other three games all produced interesting fights.

Loek van Wely made the most of the chance to catch up with Adams and Wells, at the head of the table, by beating his fellow-countryman Jan Werle, with the black pieces. Van Wely's Meran QGD produced an interesting middlegame:

Here, van Wely continued 19...Qc7, allowing his kingside pawns to be broken up. Werle replied 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Nd7, which gave rise to a rather curious situation in the tournament hall. At the moment this move was posted on the demonstration board, there were no less than three white knights standing on the square d7 (the other two being in Smeets-McNab and Wells-Adams)! Objectively, though, Werle's knight is rather preacriously placed, with no obvious escape route. After the further moves 21...Be7 22.Rd3 Kh7 23.Rfd1 Qc6 24.Qxc6 Bxc6 25.c4 Rac8 26.g3 Ba4 27.R1d2 Kh8! (avoiding any Nf6+ discoveries) 28.Kg2 Rc7, the errant white knight was forced to retreat, disgorging a pawn in the process. After 29.Nc5 Rxd3 30.Nxd3 Rxc4, Black was a pawn up, and Loek eventually ground out a win in the endgame.

Van Wely (left) beat Werle, to join the leaders

The Dutch gained another point in the team contest, when Jan Smeets defeated Colin McNab. The latter's Kan Sicilian led to a sharp battle, with White castling queenside, and in the end, everything was decided in a very hectic time-scramble:

With both players down to just a few minutes on the clock , play continued 30.fxg6 fxg6 31.Qh3 c5 32.Qh6 Qb7? Too passive. Instead, the counterattack 32...Qb3 keeps Black well in the game. 33.Rc1 Qb5 34.Qg7?! The computer strongly prefers the prophylactic 34 Ka1, but this is not the sort of move one plays with one's flag hanging. Both players were now moving instantaneously. 34...Rf8 35.Qc7 Qd7? Again, too passive. 35...Qxd3+ 36.Ka2 Qb5 is better. 36.Qxc5 Rxf4? 37.Qb6! Suddenly it is all over. 37...Rf2 38.Qb8+ Ke7 39.Rc7 Rf1+ 40.Ka2 1–0 At this point, Black's flag fell as he was in the act of playing 40...h5, and after reconstructing the scoresheets, he was adjudged to have lost on time. Of course, his position is lost anyway.

Jan Smeets, on his way to a time-scramble win over Colin McNab

The other Dutch-UK clash was between Erwin L'Ami and Gawain Jones. After a quiet opening, the former tried to press a small advantage in the queenless middlegame, but Jones defended very well and it eventually became clear that he even stood better.

Here, the Dutch GM was forced into the horribly passive move 42.Nh1. Jones replied 42...e4 43.a6 Nb4, going after White's a-pawn. White is actually losing a pawn here, but he found the sequence 44.Rb7 Nxa6 45.Rb5 Nc7 46.Rc5 Ra7 47.Rc6 Kf7 48.Rd6, when Black is very tied up and can make no progress. After some thought, Jones continued 48...Ne8 49.Rxd5 Nf6 50.Rd4 Ra2 51.Ng3 Nxg4 and offered a draw, which was accepted immediately. ½–½

It appears that Jon Speelman cannot stand the sight of the move 1.e4.