WORLD’S number 11 player Anish Giri won for the second consecutive year the Mr. Dodgy Blitz Invitational Tournament which ended May 16 at the chess24.com server.
This 16-player knockout blitz event had a strong all-GM field that consisted of Simon Williams, Peter Heine Nielsen, Nils Grandelius, Jorden van Foreest, Daniil Dubov, Vidit Gujrathi, Alexei Shirov, David Howell, Laurent Fressinet, José ‘Pepe’ Cuenca, David Navara, Baadur Jobava, Peter Svidler, Baskaran Adhiban, Alexander Grischuk and, of course, Giri. The knockout matches consisted of 12 blitz games (five minutes for the game, no increments). Giri went on to beat the comebacking Jobava via a 7-3 final tally.
The Dutch top player reached the final after eliminating Cuenca, Grandelius, and Dubov – the same guy who knocked out Magnus Carlsen at the quarterfinals of the Airthings Masters last year. Jobava, on the other hand, defeated second seed Alexander Grischuk, former finalist David Navara, and Vidit Gujrathi en route to the final showdown with Giri.
The final was a close match and was tied at 2-2 after the fourth game with the duo trading wins. Things took a bad turn for Jobava who suffered a mouse slip in Game 5 and probably suffered the psychological effect of that technical defeat – losing three and drawing two of the next five games for the final count. Giri pocketed the $2,500 champion’s purse.
Giri, A (2780)-Jobava, B (2603) [C42]
chess24.com (4.1) 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.Nc3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Bf5 12.Bg5 Qc7 13.Nh4 Bc8 14.h3 Bh2+ 15.Kh1 Bf4 16.Nf3 Nd7 17.Re1 Bxg5 18.Nxg5 Nf6 19.Qd3 h6 20.Nf3 Nd5 21.Bxd5 cxd5 22.Re3 Be6 23.Rae1 Rac8 24.Ne5 Rfe8 25.Qd2 f6 26.Ng6 Kf7 27.Qc2 Qd7 28.Nh4 Kg8 29.Qd3 Bf7 30.Nf5 Rxe3 31.Rxe3 Re8 32.Rg3 g5 33.Nxh6+ Kg7 34.Nf5+ Kf8 35.Ne3 Kg7 36.Kg1 Bg6 37.Qd1 Re4 38.Qb3 Bf7 39.Rg4 Rxg4 40.hxg4 Be6 41.f3 Kf7 42.Kf2 Qc6 43.Qc2 Kg7 44.Nf1 b5 45.Ng3 Bf7 46.Nf5+ Kf8 47.Qb2 Qd7 48.Qa3+ Kg8 49.Qe7 Qxe7 50.Nxe7+ Kf8 51.Nc6 a6 52.Nb4 a5 53.Nc6 a4 54.a3 Be8 55.Nb4 Bf7 56.f4 Ke7 57.Kf3 gxf4 58.Kxf4 Kd6 59.g5 fxg5+ 60.Kxg5 Be6 61.g4 1-0
Jobava, B (2603)-Giri, A (2780) [E60]
chess24.com (4.2) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.d5 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Nf3 e6 7.dxe6 Bxe6 8.Be2 Nc6 9.0-0 Re8 10.Re1 Bg4 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Nd7 13.Be3 Nb6 14.c5 dxc5 15.Bxc5 Nd4 16.e5 Nxf3+ 17.Qxf3 Qc8 18.Bd4 c5 19.e6 Rxe6 20.Rxe6 cxd4 21.Re7 Qf8 22.Rxb7 dxc3 23.bxc3 h5 24.Re1 Re8 25.Rxe8 Qxe8 26.Rxa7 Qe6 27.g3 Nc4 28.Kg2 Nd2 29.Qb7 h4 30.gxh4 Ne4 31.Qb8+ Kh7 32.Qf4 Nf6 33.Qf3 Bh6 34.a4 Kg7 35.a5 Nd5 36.a6 Nf4+ 37.Kh2 Qd6 38.Rxf7+ Kxf7 39.a7 Kg7 40.a8Q Ne2+ 41.Kg2 Nf4+ 42.Kf1 1-0
Jobava, B (2603)-Giri, A (2780) [D70]
chess24.com (4.4) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 c6 5.dxc6 Nxc6 6.Nf3 e5 7.Bg2 exd4 8.0-0 Bg7 9.e3 Bg4 10.exd4 0-0 11.Nc3 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Qxd4 13.Be3 Qb4 14.Qb3 Qxb3 15.axb3 a6 16.Rfd1 Rfc8 17.Kg2 h5 18.Rd6 Ne8 19.Rd7 Ne5 20.Rxb7 Nxf3 21.Kxf3 Bxc3 22.bxc3 Rxc3 23.Rd1 Nf6 24.h3 Rc6 25.b4 Re8 26.g4 hxg4+ 27.hxg4 Rc4 28.Rd4 Rxd4 29.Bxd4 Nxg4 30.Rb6 Ne5+ 31.Bxe5 Rxe5 32.Rxa6 Rb5 33.Ra4 Kg7 34.Ke4 g5 35.Kd4 g4 36.Kc4 Rf5 37.Ra2 Rf4+ 38.Kc5 Rf5+ 39.Kc6 Rf6+ 40.Kc7 Rf3 41.Rb2 g3 42.fxg3 Rxg3 43.b5 Rc3+ 44.Kd6 Rd3+ 45.Kc6 Rc3+ 46.Kd5 Rd3+ 47.Kc5 Rc3+ 48.Kd4 Rc8 49.b6 f5 50.b7 Rb8 51.Rb6 f4 52.Kc5 f3 53.Kc6 f2 54.Rb1 Rf8 55.Rf1 Rf6+ 56.Kc7 Rf7+ 57.Kb6 Rf8 58.Ka7 Rf7 59.Ka8 1-0
Jobava, B (2603)-Giri, A (2780) [E60]
chess24.com (4.8) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.d5 Bg7 5.Bg2 d6 6.Nc3 Qa5 7.Bd2 Qb6 8.Nf3 0-0 9.0-0 Qxb2 10.Rb1 Qa3 11.Nd4 Qc5 12.dxc6 bxc6 13.Ndb5 Ne8 14.Nd5 cxd5 15.Be3 d4 16.Nxd4 Qxc4 17.Bxa8 Nd7 18.Nc6 Bf6 19.Nxa7 Qxa2 20.Bd5 Qa6 21.Qc2 Nc5 22.Bxc5 dxc5 23.Qxc5 Bh3 24.Rfe1 Nd6 25.Nc6 Bd7 26.Nb8 Qc8 27.Nxd7 Qxd7 28.e4 Rc8 29.Qe3 e6 30.Qf3 Bg7 31.e5 Nf5 32.Be4 Nd4 33.Qf4 h5 34.Rb7 Rc7 35.Rxc7 Qxc7 36.Bg2 Qc3 37.Qe4 Kh7 38.h4 Qc5 39.Qe3 Qa5 40.Kh2 Nc2 41.Qf4 Nxe1 42.Qxf7 Nxg2 43.Kxg2 Qd5+ 0-1
Jobava, B (2603)-Giri, A (2780) [E60]
chess24.com (4.10) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.d5 Bg7 5.Bg2 d6 6.Nc3 Qa5 7.Bd2 Qb6 8.Nf3 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.Nd4 Qc5 11.dxc6 bxc6 12.Ndb5 Na6 13.Be3 Qxc4 14.Qxd6 0-0 15.Qxc6 Qxc6 16.Bxc6 Bf5 17.Bxa8 Bxb1 18.Bb7 Nb4 19.0-0 Bxa2 20.Ra1 Rb8 21.Nxa2 Rxb7 22.Nxb4 Rxb5 23.Nc6 Rb7 24.Bxa7 h5 25.Bc5 e6 26.f3 Kh7 27.Bd4 Nd5 28.Kf2 Rc7 29.Bxg7 Kxg7 30.Ne5 Nf6 31.e4 Nd7 32.Nd3 Rc2+ 33.Ke3 Rc7 34.Kd4 Nf8 35.Nc5 Nd7 36.Nd3 Nf8 37.e5 Nd7 38.Ra6 Nb8 39.Rb6 Nc6+ 40.Ke4 Ne7 41.Nf4 Rc4+ 42.Kd3 Ra4 43.Rb7 Kf8 44.Rb8+ Kg7 45.Rb7 Kf8 46.Nh3 Ra3+ 47.Ke4 Ra4+ 48.Kd3 Ra3+ 49.Kc4 Rxf3 50.Ng5 Rf5 51.Nh7+ Kg7 52.Nf6 Nc6 53.Ne8+ Kf8 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qa1!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…b2 2.Rc5#; 1…Nb4 2.axb4#; 1…Nc3+/c1 2.Q(x)c3#./PN
