Despite the raging Covid-19 virus, the 6th Vergani Cup got underway in Cattolica, a town in the Province of Rimini, Italy, with 124 players from all over the world taking part in a 9-round Swiss classical chess competition vying for a share of the €10,000 prize fund. The modest prize fund, however, did not preclude many strong grandmasters from joining the fray.
And after three rounds of play, three of them have emerged undefeated and are sharing the lead. They are
Anton Korobov (2699), M. Amin Tabatabaei (2643) and Vitaliy Bernadsky (2599). Each has 3 points and currently leading the standings. Half-a-point behind with 2½ points and in solo 4th place is Nigel Short (2633). And its nice to see that Short has recovered from the corona virus after being infected some 3 weeks ago.
Four players with 2 points each are bunched up sharing 5th to 8th places – GMs Zdenko Kozul (2625), Hans Moke Niemann, and Maxime Lagarde (2633, and IM Lorenzo Lodici (2544). GM Jesper Sondergaard Thybo is in solo 9th spot with 1½ points.
Korobov,A (2699)-Bharath, SH (2479) [D52]
6th Vergani Cup January 2022 Cattolica (3.1) 2022
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 Qa5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qd2 Bb4 9.Rc1 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Ba3 11.Rb1 b6 12.Qd3 0-0 13.Be2 Re8 14.0-0 Bf8 15.e4 e5 16.Bd2 h6 17.Qc4 Bb7 18.a4 Rad8 19.Rfe1 c5 20.Qb3 Bxe4 21.Bc4 Bxb1 22.Bxf7+ Kh8 23.Qxb1 Re7 24.Bc4 exd4 25.Nh4 Rxe1+ 26.Qxe1 Nf6 27.cxd4 Qxa4 28.Ng6+ Kh7 29.Qb1 Rxd4 30.Nxf8+ Kh8 31.Qh7+ Nxh7 32.Ng6# 1-0
Ioannidis,E (2454)-Niemann,HM (2645) [D15]
Cattolica (3.2) 2022
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 a6 6.b3 b5 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.Qc2 Bb7 9.0-0 Be7 10.Rd1 0-0 11.Ne5 h6 12.Nxd7 Nxd7 13.e4 c5 14.cxb5 cxd4 15.bxa6 Bxa6 16.Bxa6 Rxa6 17.Nb5 e5 18.exd5 Nf6 19.Qe2 Rb6 20.Bd2 Qxd5 21.Nxd4 Qxd4 22.Ba5 Qc5 23.Bxb6 Qxb6 24.Qxe5 Ng4 25.Qxe7 Nxf2 26.Kf1 Ng4 27.Rd2 Nxh2+ 28.Ke2 Qb5+ 29.Kd1 Qb6 30.Kc2 Ng4 31.Kb2 Ne3 32.Rc1 Ra8 33.Rd7 Kh8 34.Qxf7 1-0
Tabatabaei,M. A (2643)-Pranesh, M (2437) [E32]
Cattolica (3.3) 2022
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.e4 d5 6.e5 Ne4 7.Bd3 c5 8.Nf3 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Nd7 10.Bf4 Qh4 11.g3 Qh5 12.0-0 g5 13.cxd5 Bxc3 14.bxc3 exd5 15.Be3 Nxe5 16.f3 Nc5 17.Be2 b6 18.g4 Qg6 19.Qxg6+ fxg6 20.Bxg5 Bd7 21.Kg2 Kg7 22.Rad1 Rae8 23.Kg3 Nc4 24.Rfe1 Ne3 25.Bxe3 Rxe3 26.Bb5 Rfe8 27.Rxe3 Rxe3 28.Bxd7 Nxd7 29.Nb5 a6 30.Kf2 Re7 31.Nc7 Ne5 32.Nxa6 Rf7 33.Rxd5 Nxg4+ 34.Kg3 Ne3 35.Rd3 Nf5+ 36.Kf2 Kf6 37.f4 g5 38.fxg5+ Kxg5 39.Nb4 Kg4 40.Ke2 h5 41.c4 h4 42.Nd5 Rb7 43.a4 Kg5 44.Kd2 Nd6 45.Kc3 Ne4+ 46.Kb4 Rf7 47.Re3 Nf2 48.Nxb6 Ng4 49.Re2 Kf4 50.a5 Kf3 51.Ra2 h3 52.a6 Ra7 53.Kb5 Nxh2 54.Rxh2 1-0
Pantzar,M (2420)-Lagarde,M (2638) [A80]
Cattolica (3.4) 2022
1.d4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5 d5 4.e3 Be6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 g6 7.0-0 Bg7 8.Ne2 c5 9.dxc5 Nxc5 10.Ned4 Qb6 11.Nxe6 Qxe6 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Bb5+ Kf8 14.c4 Qb6 15.Rc1 dxc4 16.Bxc4 Rd8 17.Qe2 Qxb2 18.Rc2 Qb6 19.a3 Kg7 20.h4 Rd6 21.Ng5 Rf8 22.Ba2 Qa5 23.Rd1 Bxg5 24.hxg5 Qxa3 25.Rxd6 exd6 26.Qd1 Nd3 27.Qa1+ Ne5 28.Rc7+ Kh8 29.Rxh7+ Kxh7 30.Bg8+ Kxg8 31.Qxa3 Nf7 32.f4 a6 33.Qa1 Nd8 34.Qd4 Ne6 35.Qxd6 Re8 36.Qd7 Ng7 37.Kf2 b5 38.Qb7 Re6 39.Kf3 Kf8 40.Qc8+ Kf7 41.Qd8 Re8 42.Qf6+ Kg8 43.Qxa6 Re6 44.Qxb5 Kf7 45.Qb3 Kf8 46.g4 Ke7 47.gxf5 gxf5 48.Qd5 Kf8 49.Qa8+ Kf7 50.Qd8 Kg6 51.Qf8 Rb6 52.e4 Rb3+ 53.Ke2 Rb6 54.exf5+ Nxf5 55.Qe8+ Kg7 56.Kf3 1-0
Sarrau,J (2406)-Bernadskiy,V (2599) [A25]
Cattolica (3.5) 2022
1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 d6 4.Nc3 g5 5.d3 Bg7 6.e4 h6 7.Nge2 Nge7 8.0-0 Nd4 9.Nxd4 exd4 10.Ne2 f5 11.h3 fxe4 12.Bxe4 0-0 13.g4 d5 14.cxd5 Nxd5 15.Qb3 Be6 16.Qxb7 Qd6 17.Qb5 h5 18.Ng3 c6 19.Qa5 hxg4 20.hxg4 Bxg4 21.Bxg5 Ne3 22.Bxe3 dxe3 23.Qg5 exf2+ 24.Kg2 Qf4 25.Qxf4 Rxf4 26.Rxf2 Bh3+ 27.Kxh3 Rxf2 28.Rc1 Rc8 29.Nf5 Rc7 30.Nxg7 Kxg7 31.Rxc6 Rxc6 32.Bxc6 Kf6 33.Kg3 Rxb2 34.a4 Rb6 35.Be8 Ke7 36.Bb5 a5 37.Bc4 Rb4 38.Kf3 Rxa4 39.Ke3 Rb4 40.Kd4 a4 41.Kc3 Rb6 42.Ba2 Kd6 43.Bc4 a3 44.Bb3 Kc5 45.d4+ Kb5 46.d5 Kc5 47.Kc2 Rh6 0-1
Short,ND (2633)-Bhambure,S (2377) [B12]
Cattolica (3.6) 2022
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Be3 Nh6 6.Nf3 Nf5 7.a3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Nxe3 9.fxe3 Bf5 10.Bd3 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 e6 12.0-0 Be7 13.Nc3 0-0 14.Rad1 f5 15.exf6 Bxf6 16.e4 Qd7 17.g3 g6 18.Kg2 Rad8 19.e5 Be7 20.Rf2 Rf5 21.Rdf1 Rdf8 22.Nd1 Kg7 23.Ne3 R5f7 24.h4 h5 25.Kh3 Bd8 26.g4 hxg4+ 27.Nxg4 Rf4 28.Qe3 R8f5 29.Nf6 Bxf6 30.exf6+ Rxf6 31.Ne5 Nxe5 32.dxe5 Rxf2 33.exf6+ Rxf6 34.Qe5 Qe7 35.Kg4 Kf7 36.Rc1 Qd8 37.Rc7+ Kg8 38.Rxb7 Rf7 39.Rb8 1-0
******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE, MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Rh8!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Kxg6 2.Nfe7#; 1…Rd2 2.Nd4#; 1…Rxe2 2.Ne3#.
