AN OBSCURE Armenian GM won the 2021 Armenian Rapid Chess Championship which ended on March 3 in Yerevan.
GM Hrair Simonian took the champion’s trophy after finishing half-a-point ahead of first-day leader GM Manuel Petrosyan in the two-day, nine-round, 148-player Swiss event. The 30-year old Simonian, whose only claim to international fame was reaching the final of the 2011 Internet Chess Club Blitz Open tournament and holding GM Hikaru Nakamura to a 3-3 draw in a match 3-3, tied for first in the 72nd Armenian Chess Championship and shared the gold with GM Karen Grigoryan. Simonian is also known as a seasoned blitz player.
The top twelve in the final standings: 1. H. Simonian, 7½; 2. M. Petrosyan, 7; 3-4. S. Ter-Sahakyan, T. Petrosian, 6½; 5-6. L. Babujian, D. Shahinyan, 5½; 7. G. Harutjunyan, 5; 8. G. Alaverdyan, 4½; 9-12. R. Vaganian, H. Martirosyan, E. Ohanyan, A. Mikaelyan, 4.
Harutjunyan, G (2439)-Babujian, L (2455) [E05]
Yerevan (6.3) 2021
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.d4 dxc4 7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Bxc6 Rb8 10.Nc3 Nd5 11.e4 Nb4 12.Bb5 e5 13.dxe5 Bh3 14.Bxc4 Bxf1 15.Qxf1 Bc5 16.Kg2 Bd4 17.Bf4 Nc6 18.Rd1 Rxb2 19.Ne2 Rb4 20.Bd5 Ne7 21.a3 Ra4 22.Bb3 Rxa3 23.Nxd4 Qa8 24.Qd3 Kh8 25.Nb5 Ra5 26.Nxc7 Qb7 27.Qd6 Qxe4+ 28.Kg1 Ng6 29.e6 fxe6 30.Nxe6 Re8 31.Qc7 Ne7 32.Qxa5 h6 33.Qe5 Qg6 34.Bc2 Qg4 35.Nc7 Rb8 36.Qxe7 h5 37.Rd8+ 1-0
Petrosian, TL (2601)-Simonian, H (2430) [A05]
Yerevan (7.2) 2021
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b3 b6 3.Bb2 e6 4.e3 Bb7 5.Be2 Be7 6.d3 d5 7.Nbd2 c5 8.a3 Nbd7 9.c4 0-0 10.Qc2 Qc7 11.0-0 e5 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Nc4 Bf6 14.Rac1 Rfc8 15.Qb1 a5 16.a4 Re8 17.Nfd2 Rad8 18.Bf3 g6 19.Na3 Qb8 20.Nb5 Bc6 21.Ne4 Be7 22.d4 f5 23.Nd2 e4 24.Be2 Bf6 25.dxc5 Nxc5 26.Bxf6 Nxf6 27.Nd4 Bd5 28.b4 Nd3 29.Bxd3 exd3 30.bxa5 Ng4 31.N2f3 bxa5 32.Rfd1 Qxb1 33.Rxb1 Be4 34.Rb5 Rb8 35.Rxa5 Rb2 36.Nd2 Reb8 37.Rb5 R8xb5 38.axb5 Ne5 39.f3 Bd5 40.Nf1 Bc4 41.Nc6 Rxb5 42.Nxe5 Rxe5 43.Nd2 Bb5 44.Rb1 Rxe3 45.Rxb5 Re1+ 46.Kf2 Re2+ 47.Kg3 Rxd2 48.Rb7 h6 49.Rd7 Kf8 50.h4 Ke8 51.Rd6 Ke7 52.Rd4 Ke6 53.Kf4 Rxg2 54.Rxd3 g5+ 55.hxg5 hxg5+ 56.Ke3 f4+ 57.Kd4 Re2 58.Ra3 Kf6 59.Ra6+ Kf5 60.Rh6 Rd2+ 61.Kc4 Rf2 62.Rh3 Rd2 63.Kc3 Re2 64.Kd3 Re3+ 65.Kd4 Kg6 66.Kd5 g4 67.Rh4 Rxf3 68.Rxg4 Kf5 69.Rg8 Rd3 70.Kc4 Rd1 71.Rf8 Kg4 72.Rg8 Kf3 73.Kc3 Kf2 74.Kc2 Rd5 75.Kc3 f3 76.Kc4 Rd1 77.Kc3 Kf1 78.Kc2 Rd5 79.Rd8 Rxd8 0-1
Petrosyan, M (2628)-Ohanyan, E (2255) [A28]
Yerevan (7.1) 2021
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 0-0 6.Nd5 d6 7.a3 Ba5 8.b4 Bb6 9.Ng5 g6 10.Nxb6 axb6 11.Bb2 h6 12.Nf3 Qe7 13.d3 Bf5 14.Qc3 Rfe8 15.Be2 Rad8 16.0-0 Kh7 17.Rad1 Rg8 18.b5 Nb8 19.d4 e4 20.Nd2 d5 21.c5 Bg4 22.Rfe1 Bxe2 23.Rxe2 h5 24.a4 Nfd7 25.Ba3 Qe6 26.Rc1 bxc5 27.Bxc5 c6 28.Ba3 cxb5 29.axb5 Nb6 30.Ree1 Rc8 31.Qa5 Nc4 32.Nxc4 Rxc4 33.Rxc4 dxc4 34.Bb2 Qd5 35.Bc3 Nd7 36.Qb4 Re8 37.Ra1 Nb6 38.Ra7 Rc8 39.Qe7 Nd7 40.h3 Kg8 41.b6 Rb8 42.Ra5 Qc6 43.d5 Qc8 44.Qxe4 Qd8 45.Qd4 f6 46.Qe4 Qe8 47.Qxc4 Nxb6 48.Qb3 Nd7 49.Ra7 Qc8 50.d6+ Kg7 51.Bd4 Qc6 52.Qe6 Rf8 53.Kh2 Qb5 54.Ra3 Rf7 55.Rb3 Qa6 56.Rc3 Nf8 57.Bxf6+ Kg8 58.Qd5 Nd7 59.Rc8+ Nf8 60.Rc7 1-0
Vaganian, RA (2516)-Petrosian, TL (2601) [A41]
Yerevan (8.4) 2021
1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.e3 e6 4.Be2 Be7 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 0-0 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.b4 a5 9.b5 Nb6 10.Nd2 Bxe2 11.Qxe2 c5 12.dxc5 dxc5 13.Rd1 Qc7 14.Bb2 Rfd8 15.Nce4 Nxe4 16.Nxe4 f5 17.Ng3 Na4 18.Rac1 Nxb2 19.Qxb2 Bf6 20.Qc2 g6 21.Rxd8+ Rxd8 22.Rd1 Kf7 23.Ne2 Qe5 24.Rxd8 Bxd8 25.Qd1 Ke7 26.Qc1 Bc7 27.g3 Qe4 28.Qc3 Be5 29.Qxa5 Qxc4 30.Nf4 g5 31.Nh3 h6 32.f4 Bd6 33.Qb6 Qd5 34.Nf2 gxf4 35.gxf4 c4 36.Qa5 e5 37.a4 exf4 38.exf4 Kd7 39.Qc3 Bc5 40.Kf1 Bd4 41.Qc2 Kd6 42.Ke2 Qg2 43.Qxc4 Qxf2+ 44.Kd3 Qe3+ 45.Kc2 Qe4+ 0-1
Babujian, L (2455)-Simonian, H (2430) [A08]
Yerevan (9.1) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.Nbd2 Bd6 6.Bg2 Nge7 7.0-0 0-0 8.c3 Bc7 9.Re1 b6 10.e5 Ba6 11.Nf1 d4 12.c4 Ng6 13.Ng5 Ncxe5 14.f4 h6 15.Nh3 Nxc4 16.dxc4 Bxc4 17.Bxa8 Qxa8 18.b4 Rd8 19.bxc5 bxc5 20.Ba3 Bb6 21.Rc1 Qd5 22.f5 exf5 23.Nd2 Ba6 24.Qf3 Qxa2 25.Bxc5 Bxc5 26.Rxc5 Qxd2 27.Qf2 Qxf2+ 28.Nxf2 d3 29.Rd1 d2 30.Rc2 Ne5 31.Ra1 Nf3+ 32.Kh1 Bb7 33.Rb2 Be4 34.Nd1 Rd7 35.Kg2 Ne1+ 36.Kf1 Nf3 37.Ke2 Rc7 38.Rba2 Nd4+ 39.Kf2 Nb3 40.Rxa7 Rc1 41.Ke3 Nxa1 42.Kxd2 Nb3+ 43.Ke2 Rc2+ 44.Ke3 Rxh2 45.Nf2 Nd2 46.Ke2 Nf3 47.Rd7 Ne5 48.Rd8+ Kh7 49.Kf1 Ng4 50.Kg1 Rg2+ 0-1
Davtyan, A (2462)-Ter-Sahakyan, S (2640) [D37]
Yerevan (9.5) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 a6 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 Be6 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.Bf4 Bxf4 10.exf4 Bg4 11.Qe2+ Kf8 12.0-0 g6 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 c6 15.Rad1 Qb6 16.Ne2 Re8 17.f5 Qc7 18.Nf4 g5 19.Nh5 Nxh5 20.Qxh5 h6 21.Rde1 Kg7 22.f4 Rxe1 23.Rxe1 Qxf4 24.Re7 Qxd4+ 25.Kh1 Ne5 26.Bc2 b5 27.b3 Kf6 28.Rc7 Qb6 29.Rxf7+ Nxf7 30.Qg6+ Ke7 31.Qe6+ Kf8 32.f6 Qd8 33.Bg6 Qe8 34.Bxf7 Qe6 35.Be6 h5 36.Bd7 c5 37.Bc8 a5 38.Bd7 b4 39.Be6 d4 40.Bc4 Rh6 41.f7 Rd6 0-1
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PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Rg3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Bg7 2.Qe6#; 1…Bf6, Kxe8 2.Qg8#; 1…Kf6 2.Rf8#./PN
