SAM Shankland produced the only decisive game in Round 3 to seize solo leadership of the ongoing 3rd Prague International Masters Tournament after all of the round’s other matches were drawn.
Shankland defeated David Navara in 34 moves of a sharp English Four Knights and handed Czech Republic’s top player an embarrassing third straight loss in the Category 18 (average Elo: 2677) event. The other Round 3 matches turned out to be hard-fought point-splitters. Top seed Jan Krzysztof Duda and Nijat Abasov fought a fierce Queen’s Gambit Declined that ended in a draw after 63 moves; Radoslaw Wojtaszek held second seed Jorden Van Foreest in 47 moves of an interesting Nimzo-Indian, and Thai Dai Van Nguyen held his own with the black pieces against Nils Grandelius and got the draw in a fighting Queen’s Gambit Accepted.
Standings after Round 3: 1. Shankland, 2½; Abasov, Wojtaszek, 2; 4-6. Van Foreest, Nguyen, Duda, 1½; 7. Grandelius, 1; 8. Navara, 0.
Duda, J-K (2729)-Abasov, N (2665) [D35]
Prague (3.1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 c6 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.Nge2 Nf8 9.0-0 Ne6 10.Bh4 0-0 11.f3 Re8 12.Kh1 b5 13.Bf2 b4 14.Na4 c5 15.Nxc5 Nxc5 16.dxc5 Bxc5 17.Nd4 Bd7 18.Rc1 Qb6 19.Bb1 Rac8 20.Qd2 a5 21.h3 Qd6 22.g4 Bb6 23.Kg2 Rxc1 24.Rxc1 Bc7 25.Rh1 g6 26.Bd3 Bb8 27.Bb5 Bxb5 28.Nxb5 Qa6 29.Nd4 Qd6 30.Qc2 Qe5 31.Qc5 h5 32.Nc6 Bd6 33.Nxe5 Bxc5 34.Rc1 Ba7 35.Nc6 Bxe3 36.Re1 Re6 37.Rxe3 Rxc6 38.g5 Nh7 39.Re8+ Kg7 40.Bd4+ f6 41.Re7+ Kg8 42.gxf6 Nxf6 43.Kg3 g5 44.h4 gxh4+ 45.Kh3 Kf8 46.Ra7 Ke8 47.Rxa5 Kf7 48.Rc5 Rxc5 49.Bxc5 Nd7 50.Bxb4 Ne5 51.a4 Nxf3 52.a5 Nd4 53.a6 Nb5 54.Bc5 Nc7 55.a7 Ke6 56.b4 Kd7 57.Kxh4 Kc6 58.Kxh5 Kb7 59.Kg4 Na6 60.Kf5 Nxb4 61.Bxb4 Kxa7 62.Ke5 d4 63.Kxd4 ½-½
Van Foreest, J (2701)-Wojtaszek, R (2687) [E54]
Prague (3.2) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 c5 6.Nf3 d5 7.0-0 dxc4 8.Bxc4 cxd4 9.exd4 b6 10.Bg5 Bb7 11.Ne5 Nbd7 12.Nxf7 Rxf7 13.Bxe6 Qf8 14.Qb3 Bxc3 15.bxc3 Re8 16.Bxf7+ Qxf7 17.Qxf7+ Kxf7 18.c4 Rc8 19.Rfc1 Ba6 20.c5 Nd5 21.Rab1 bxc5 22.dxc5 Nxc5 23.Be3 Nxe3 24.fxe3 Ke6 25.Rb4 g6 26.h3 Ke5 27.Rf4 Ke6 28.Rc3 Nd3 29.Rxc8 Bxc8 30.Rf8 Bb7 31.Rh8 Bd5 32.Rxh7 Bxa2 33.Rxa7 Bc4 34.Ra4 Ne5 35.Kf2 Kf5 36.Ra8 Ke4 37.Re8 Bb5 38.Re7 Kf5 39.g4+ Kf6 40.Rb7 Bc6 41.Rb8 g5 42.Kg3 Bd7 43.Rb6+ Be6 44.h4 gxh4+ 45.Kxh4 Nxg4 46.Rxe6+ Kxe6 47.Kxg4 Ke5 48.e4 Kxe4 ½-½
Grandelius, N (2670)-Nguyen, TDV (2577) [D26]
Prague (3.3) 2021
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Nc3 a6 8.Re1 b5 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.a4 bxa4 11.Qxa4 Be7 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.Rd1 Qc7 14.Ne4 Be7 15.b3 Nxe4 16.Bxe4 0-0 17.Bb2 Rac8 18.h4 Rfd8 19.h5 h6 20.Rxd8+ Qxd8 21.Rc1 Nd4 22.Rxc8 Nxf3+ 23.Bxf3 Bxc8 24.Be2 Bb7 25.Bd4 Qa8 26.Bf1 Bf8 27.Qa5 Qc8 28.b4 Qc1 29.Qd8 Qc8 30.Qxc8 Bxc8 31.Bc3 Bd6 32.Bd3 e5 33.f3 Kf8 34.Kf2 Ke7 35.g3 f6 36.f4 Bb7 37.Ke2 Kd7 38.Kf2 Kc7 39.b5 axb5 40.Bxb5 Kd8 41.Bd3 ½-½
Navara, D (2697)-Shankland, S (2691) [A29]
Prague (3.4) 2021
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Bc5 7.0-0 0-0 8.d3 Re8 9.Bg5 Nxc3 10.bxc3 f6 11.Bc1 Be6 12.Bb2 Bf8 13.Qc2 Qd7 14.Rfd1 Qf7 15.e4 Na5 16.Nd2 Rad8 17.d4 c6 18.f4 exf4 19.gxf4 f5 20.e5 c5 21.Nf3 Be7 22.Kh1 Nc4 23.Qe2 Qh5 24.a4 Nb6 25.dxc5 Bxc5 26.Qb5 Be3 27.Rxd8 Rxd8 28.a5 Nc4 29.a6 bxa6 30.Qxa6 Bd5 31.Rd1 Bd2 32.Bc1 Kh8 33.Rxd2 Nxd2 34.Qa5 Rd7 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Rf3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…e5, Kxf3 2.Ng5#; 1…Ng4/f1 2.R(x)g4#; 1…Nxf3 2.Qh7#; 1…Bc2/b3/a4/e2 2.R(x)e2#; 1…Bxf3 2.Qb1#./PN
