Chess

The European Individual Chess Championship is under way in Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second city. Scotland is represented by FM Alan Tate, who continues his quest for the additional rating points that would earn him the international master title.

Tate is a fine player but he is facing a formidably strong field – almost 200 grandmasters are competing and, for example, former FIDE world champion Alexander Khalifman is only the 48th seed.

Top seed in Plovdiv is 19-year-old Fabiano Caruana. Caruana was born and raised in the USA, but chose to represent Italy. The Italian warmed up for Plovdiv by winning a strong open event in Reykjavik. Caruana managed to draw from a lost position in the final round against women’s world champion Hou Yifan, but he was far more convincing in an earlier round against a Bulgarian star.

White: I. Cheparinov; Black: F. Caruana. Opening: Grünfeld Defence.

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 The Grünfeld Defence is a Caruana speciality and one of the most aggressive replies to 1 d4. 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Bb5+ c6 8 Ba4 0–0 9 Ne2 c5 10 0–0 Nc6 11 Be3 Na5 12 dxc5 Qc7 13 Bb3 Bg4 14 f3 Bd7 15 Qb1 e6 16 Rd1 Rfd8 17 Kh1 Be8 18 Qb2 Bf8 19 f4 Bxc5 20 Nd4 Bf8 21 f5 Black’s bishops look feeble now, but Caruana is saving them for later use. 21...Nxb3 22 axb3 e5 Now Black has a bishop against knight imbalance to exploit. 23 Nf3 f6 24 c4 Bc6 25 Qc2 The four rooks have equal merit, so Caruana clarifies his bishop vs. knight advantage by removing them from the board. 25...Rxd1+ 26 Rxd1 Rd8 27 Rxd8 Qxd8 28 fxg6 hxg6 29 Bxa7 Caruana has calculated that he will regain the sacrificed pawn by force, as e4 cannot be held. 29...b6 30 c5 b5 31 b4 Bh6 32 Kg1 Kg7 Simple little moves like this are vital – the king steps away from any diagonal checks and defends the pawns, so White will have no counterplay. 33 Kf2 Qa8 34 Qa2 Bxe4 Cheparinov is a world-class player but Caruana, without any flashy moves, crushed him strategically – the two bishops and passed e-pawn combine to deadly effect. 35 Qa5 Qb7 36 Bb6 Qd7 37 Qa7 Bb7 38 Bd8 e4 39 Ne1 Qd2+ 40 Kg3 Qf4+ White resigned, as 41 Kh3 allows many wins, including 41...Qf5+ 42 Kg3 Bf4+ 43 Kf2 Bb8+.