GM David Navara affirmed his top ranking in his country by winning the 2020 Czech Republic Men’s Chess Championship ended Monday, August 31st, in the City of Pilsen.
Navara, the only Czech player rated over Elo 2700, finished the 76-player, 9-round Swiss competition with 7½ points, half-a-point ahead of the country’s number two player GM Viktor Laznicka, also the only Czech player rated over Elo 2600.
The tournament was part of the 2020 Pilsen Chess Festival which featured five other events – Open, two youth competitions, Fischerandom and lightning chess.
Navara’s victory, although expected, didn’t come easy for the 36-year old grandmaster who ceded three draws and won six games.
Competition was tough as it should be, considering all of the top players of the Czech Republic played.
The top 11 finishers are: 1. Navara 7½; 2. Laznicka 7; 3-7. GMs Zbynek Hracek, Jiri Stocek, Nguyen Thai Dai Van, IM Milan Orsag, FM Daniel Sorm 6½; 8-11. IM Karl Malinovský, FM Daniel Kožúšek, FM Josef Havelka. FM Vojtěch Říha 6.
Incidentally, the tournament was a regular face-to-face over the board competition – no face masks, no face shields, no social distancing – just your usual event which seems to underscore the Czech Republic’s conquest of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Navara, D (2719)-Michalik, P (2593) [E21]
Plzen (7.2) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 d5 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.e3 0-0 7.Qc2 a6 8.Bd2 Bd6 9.a3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 e5 11.d5 Ne7 12.h3 b5 13.Ba2 Bb7 14.e4 b4 15.axb4 c6 16.Bg5 cxd5 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.exd5 Rc8 19.0-0 Bxb4 20.Rfd1 Ng6 21.h4 h5 22.Bb1 Re8 23.Qb3 Bxc3 24.Bxg6 fxg6 25.d6+ Kh8 26.Qxb7 Rb8 27.Qf7 Bxb2 28.Rxa6 Rf8 29.Qxg6 Qd7 30.Qxh5+ Kg7 31.Nh2 Bd4 32.Rd3 Rg8 33.Rg3+ Kf8 34.Rxg8+ Kxg8 35.Ng4 1-0
Babula,V (2571)-Laznicka,V (2638) [A81]
Plzen (9.3) 2020
1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.b3 Bg7 5.Bb2 d6 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.Nbd2 a5 9.c4 Na6 10.Qc2 Qc7 11.a3 Re8 12.c5 Kh8 13.Rfe1 d5 14.Ne5 Nd7 15.Nxd7 Bxd7 16.Nf3 b6 17.cxb6 Qxb6 18.Rab1 f4 19.Ne5 Bf5 20.Nd3 Qb5 21.e4 fxe3 22.Rxe3 Rab8 23.Bf1 c5 24.dxc5 d4 25.Rf3 Qxb3 26.Rc1 Qxc2 27.Rxc2 e5 28.Rxf5 gxf5 29.Nxe5 Rxe5 30.Bxa6 d3 0-1
Orsag, M (2300)-Polak, T (2563) [A46]
Plzen (9.5) 2020
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b5 3.Bg5 Bb7 4.Nbd2 a6 5.e3 e6 6.a4 b4 7.c4 h6 8.Bh4 d6 9.h3 Nbd7 10.Bd3 g5 11.Bg3 Bg7 12.Qc2 Qe7 13.0-0 0-0 14.Bh2 Rac8 15.Rad1 Rfd8 16.Qb1 Nb6 17.b3 Nbd7 18.Rfe1 Qf8 19.Rc1 a5 20.Red1 c5 21.Ne4 Bxe4 22.Bxe4 cxd4 23.Nxd4 Nxe4 24.Qxe4 Nc5 25.Qb1 f5 26.f3 Rd7 27.Rd2 f4 28.Re1 Re8 29.Kh1 Qf7 30.exf4 gxf4 31.Red1 d5 32.Ne2 dxc4 33.Rxd7 Nxd7 34.bxc4 Nb6 35.Bxf4 Nxa4 36.Qc1 Qg6 37.Qe3 Nb2 38.Rd7 a4 39.Qa7 Nxc4 40.Qxa4 Nb6 41.Rxg7+ Kxg7 42.Qa7+ Kg8 43.Qxb6 Qd3 44.Ng3 Rf8 45.Qxe6+ Rf7 46.Be5 Kf8 47.Bd6+ 1-0
Simacek, P (2474)-Sorm, D (2343) [D20]
Plzen (9.6) 2020
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 b5 4.a4 c6 5.axb5 cxb5 6.b3 e5 7.Nf3 Nf6 8.bxc4 Nxe4 9.Bd3 Bb4+ 10.Nbd2 Nc5 11.Bb1 exd4 12.0-0 0-0 13.cxb5 Bb7 14.Qc2 d3 15.Qc4 a5 16.Ba3 Qd5 17.Rc1 Nbd7 18.Bxb4 Qxc4 19.Rxc4 axb4 20.Rxa8 Rxa8 21.Rxb4 Ra3 22.Kf1 Kf8 23.Ke1 Bd5 24.Kd1 Rc3 25.Ne1 Nb6 26.Rd4 Bb3+ 27.Nxb3 Nxb3 28.Rxd3 Rc1+ 29.Ke2 Rxb1 30.Rd6 Nc4 31.Rd5 Nba5 32.Nd3 Ke7 33.g4 f6 34.f4 Ke6 35.Rc5 Kd6 36.h4 Nb2 37.Rh5 Nxd3 38.Kxd3 h6 39.g5 hxg5 40.hxg5 Rxb5 41.Rh7 Rb7 42.Ke4 Ke6 43.f5+ Kd6 44.Kf4 Kd5 45.Kg4 Ke5 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Nd6! Black’s futile options are: 1…Bxd6 2.Rxd6#; 1…Kxd4 2.Sf3#; 1…Ke6 2.Sg4#; 1…Rxd4+ 2.Sec4#.
