THE NINE-MAN logjam for the leadership of the on-going 2021 Asian Hybrid Continental Chess Championship at tornelo.com playing platform was trimmed to only two at the end of Round 3 with GMs Nodirbek Yakubboev of Uzbekistan and Yunglun Xu of China scoring their third straight win to share the lead of the nine-round, 82-player Swiss event.
A group of 11 players are, however, hot on the heels of the duo. Half-a-point behind the leaders with 2½ points apiece and sharing 3rd to 13th places are GMs Ehsan Ghaem Maghami, Shanglei Lu, Temur Kuybokarov, M. Amin Tabatabaei, Javokhir Sindarov, Novendra Priasmoro, and IMs Sugar Gan-Erdene, Seyed Khalil Mousavi, Jingyao Tin, Yiping Lou, and untitled Bobir Sattarov. A larger group of 21 players with two points each and sharing 14th to 34th places closely trail the second score group. This includes top seed GM Parham Maghsoodloo who has apparently recovered from his Round 2 upset loss.
Meanwhile, the 15 Filipinos playing in the event are still struggling for form. IM Daniel Quizon has 1½ points and is mired in 35th to 50th places with compatriots and fellow IMs John Marvin Miciano and Michael Concio Jr., and untitled Arjie Bayangat.
Urtnasan, N (2460)-Yakubboev, N (2605) [D23]
tornelo.com (3.2) 2021
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Qc2 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bg4 6.Nbd2 Nbd7 7.g3 e6 8.Bg2 Be7 9.0-0 0-0 10.b3 a5 11.Ne5 Bh5 12.Ndf3 a4 13.bxa4 Nb6 14.Qb3 Rxa4 15.Rb1 Rb4 16.Qc2 Rxb1 17.Qxb1 Qc7 18.Bd2 Ra8 19.Qb3 Ra3 20.Qc2 Nfd5 21.Rb1 Nd7 Black offered a draw. 22.Nxd7 Qxd7 23.Qb2 Bxf3 24.Bxf3 b5 25.Qc2 g6 26.e3 Qb7 27.Bd1 Qa6 28.Rb2 b4 29.Kg2 c5 30.dxc5 Bf6 31.e4 Bxb2 32.exd5 Bc3 33.Bf4 exd5 34.Qc1 Rxa2 35.Qe3 Qe6 36.Qxe6 fxe6 37.c6 Kf7 38.c7 Ra8 39.Bd6 b3 40.Bxb3 Ba5 0-1
Xu, Y (2554)-Bilguun, S (2454)
tornelo.com (3.3) 2021
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.e4 Bg7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 d6 8.Be2 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 0-0 10.Qd3 Be6 11.0-0 Nd7 12.b3 Nc5 13.Qc2 Rc8 14.Rad1 a5 15.Nd5 Bd7 16.Bg5 Re8 17.Bh4 Ne6 18.Qd2 Nd4 19.Qe3 Nxe2+ 20.Qxe2 Be6 21.a4 Rc5 22.Ne3 Qb6 23.Qd3 Rh5 24.Bg3 Bb2 25.f4 f5 26.Bf2 Qc6 27.exf5 Bf7 28.fxg6 hxg6 29.Nd5 Bg7 30.Rfe1 e6 31.Ne3 e5 32.Nd5 Kh7 33.Re3 Qc8 34.fxe5 dxe5 35.Rde1 Rd8 36.Kh1 Bxd5 37.cxd5 Qd7 38.Rd1 Bh6 39.Re4 Bf4 40.Bg3 Qg4 41.Kg1 Rd6 42.Rf1 Rf5 43.Bxf4 exf4 44.Qd4 Qg5 45.Rfxf4 Rxf4 46.Rxf4 Qxd5 47.Rh4+ Kg8 48.Qh8+ Kf7 49.Rf4+ Ke7 50.Qg7+ Ke6 51.Rf6+ Ke5 52.Rxg6+ Kf4 53.Qf8+ Ke3 54.Rxd6 1-0
Tabatabaei, M.Amin (2613)-Siddharth, Jagadeesh (2331)
tornelo.com (3.5) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.0-0 0-0 8.c4 c6 9.Qc2 h6 10.Bxe4 dxe4 11.Qxe4 Re8 12.Qh4 Qxh4 13.Nxh4 g5 14.Nf3 Bf5 15.b3 g4 16.Nh4 Bd3 17.Bxh6 Be7 18.Re1 Na6 19.Rxe7 Rxe7 20.Nc3 Rae8 21.Be3 Nb4 22.Rd1 Bh7 23.g3 Rd7 24.Ng2 Be4 25.Nxe4 Rxe4 26.Rd2 c5 27.d5 b6 28.Nf4 f6 29.Kg2 Na6 30.Ne2 f5 31.a3 Re8 32.h4 Kf7 33.Nc3 Rc8 34.Nb5 Re8 35.h5 Rh8 36.h6 Kg6 37.Bf4 Re8 38.Rd1 Re2 39.Rh1 Re8 40.d6 Nb8 41.Nc7 Re2 42.Nd5 Nc6 43.Be3 Rb2 44.Ne7+ Kh7 45.Nxc6 Rxd6 46.Ne7 Rxb3 47.Nxf5 Rf6 48.Ne7 Rxa3 49.Nd5 Rf7 50.Rh4 Rb3 51.Rxg4 Rb2 52.Nf4 Re7 53.Nd5 Rf7 54.Re4 Kg6 55.Re6+ Kf5 56.Re7 Kg6 57.Nf4+ Kf6 58.Re6+ Kf5 59.Kh3 1-0
Sattarov, B (2459)-Megaranto, S (2550)
tornelo.com (3.6) 2021
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Bc4 Bf5 6.g4 Be4 7.Nf3 Bd5 8.Bd3 e6 9.Bd2 Qc7 10.Qe2 Bd6 11.0-0-0 Bf4 12.Rhe1 Nd7 13.Ng5 Bxd2+ 14.Rxd2 Ndf6 15.f4 h6 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Nxe6 fxe6 18.Qxe6+ Kf8 19.Rde2 Qe7 20.Qg6 Qd7 21.Bc4 Ngf6 22.Re6 b5 23.Bb3 Re8 24.Qf5 Rxe6 25.Rxe6 Qc7 26.Bxd5 cxd5 27.g5 hxg5 28.fxg5 Rh5 29.h4 Qf7 30.b3 Ne8 31.Qxd5 Rxh4 32.Kb2 g6 33.Qc5+ Kg8 34.Re7 Qf8 35.Qd5+ Kh8 36.Qd8 1-0
Quizon, D (2320)-Lou, Y (2472)
tornelo.com (3.15) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.Nxe5 Nxe5 8.d4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 d6 10.f4 Nc6 11.Qc3 Ne7 12.e5 Ne4 13.Qe3 d5 14.Nc3 Bf5 15.Rd1 c6 16.Nxe4 Bxe4 17.Bd2 0-0 18.Qc5 Qd7 19.h3 Ng6 20.Qf2 f6 21.Qe3 Qa7 22.Qxa7 Rxa7 23.Be3 Raa8 24.exf6 Rxf6 25.g3 h5 26.h4 Ne7 27.Bc5 Nf5 28.Kf2 Re8 29.a4 Rfe6 30.Re1 Nh6 31.axb5 axb5 32.c3 Ng4+ 33.Kg1 Bf5 34.Rxe6 Rxe6 35.Bd4 Re2 36.Kf1 Bd3 37.Kg1 Be4 38.Kf1 Bf3 39.Bg1 Rxb2 40.Bd1 Bxd1 41.Rxd1 Rc2 42.Bd4 Nh2+ 43.Ke1 Nf3+ 44.Kf1 Nxd4 45.cxd4 Kf7 46.Ra1 b4 47.Ra7+ Kf6 48.Rb7 Rc4 49.Rc7 b3 50.Rb7 Rc3 51.Kf2 g6 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qc5!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Be7, Re5, Be6 2.Q(x)e5#; 1…Bf6, Rf5, Bf7 2.Q(x)f5#; 1…Bc7/xb6, Re7, Rf6 2.Nxg5#; 1…Re6, Rf7, Bh7 2.Qxc4#; 1…Rf4 2.Ng3#; 1…Rxf3 2.gxf3#; 1…Bd5 2.Qxe3#; 1…Qxc5 2.c4#; 1…Qd4/xe2 2.Q(x)d4#; 1…Qc3 2.Nxc3#; 1…Qxc2+ 2.Bxc2#; 1…Qd3 2.cxd3#; 1…Qxb3+ 2.cxb3#; 1…exf2 2.Nd2#./PN
