GM Rodrigo Vasquez Schroeder has wrapped up the championship of the 13th Pedro Lezcano Montalvo Memorial, one of the rare classic tournaments being held in Europe at the Grand Canary Island in Spain amid the COVID-19 resurgence, with a round to spare.
Vasquez Schroeder chalked his eighth straight victory in the event by beating IM Jose Maria Hernando Rodrigo in Round 8 to maintain his 1½-point lead over his closest pursuer GM Bojan Kurajica who also won his Round 8 outing in beating FM Omar Garcia Blanco. All the Round 8 matches were decisive. Untitled Ismael Amador Garcia upset GM Nino Batsiashvili, WFM Carla Cristina Sosa Suarez crushed Alberto Manchon Santana, and GM Misa Pap demolished FM Raul Perez Guerra.
Standings after Round 8: 1. Vasquez Schroeder, 8; 2. Kurajica, 6½; 3. Pap, 5½; 4. Batsiashvili, 5; 5-6. Garcia Blanco, Perez Guerra, 3½; 7. Amador Garcia, 3; 8. Manchon Santana, 2; 9-10. Sosa Suarez, Hernando Rodrigo, 1½.
Kurajica, B (2506)-Garcia Blanco, O (2359) [A30]
Gran Canaria (8.1) 2020
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 a6 6.Nd6+ Bxd6 7.Qxd6 Qf6 8.Qd2 Nge7 9.Nc3 0-0 10.g3 b5 11.c5 Bb7 12.Bg2 Na5 13.Ne4 Qg6 14.f3 d5 15.cxd6 Nc4 16.dxe7 Nxd2 17.exf8Q+ Rxf8 18.Bxd2 f5 19.Nc5 Ba8 20.Be3 f4 21.Bf2 Qc2 22.Nd3 Re8 23.Rc1 Qa4 24.0-0 Qxa2 25.Ra1 Qe6 26.Nc5 Qc4 27.Rfe1 Rc8 28.Rxa6 b4 29.Bh3 1-0
Manchon Santana, A (2087)-Sosa Suarez, CC (2063)
Gran Canaria (8.2) 2020
1.d4 e6 2.c4 d5 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 Nxg4 8.Rg1 Qf6 9.Rxg4 Qxf3 10.Rxg7 Nf6 11.Rg5 Nd7 12.e4 h6 13.Bg2 Qf6 14.e5 Nxe5 15.dxe5 Bxe5 16.Rg4 Bxh2 17.cxd5 exd5 18.Qe2+ Be6 19.Rb4 0-0-0 20.Bd2 Rhg8 21.Bf1 d4 22.Ne4 Qe5 23.0-0-0 Bxa2 24.Re1 f5 25.Ng3 Qc5+ 26.Kd1 d3 27.Qxd3 Rxd3 28.Bxd3 Bxg3 29.fxg3 Rxg3 30.Bc2 Rg2 0-1
Amador Garcia, I (2163)-Batsiashvili, N (2460) [C78]
Gran Canaria (8.3) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.a4 Rb8 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bb6 10.a5 Ba7 11.Be3 Bg4 12.dxe5 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Nxe5 14.Qe2 Bxe3 15.Qxe3 0-0 16.Nd2 Re8 17.Rfe1 c5 18.f4 Nc6 19.Qf3 Qc7 20.Rad1 Nxa5 21.Ba2 Re7 22.g4 c4 23.Bb1 b4 24.Nf1 bxc3 25.bxc3 Qc5+ 26.Kh1 h5 27.g5 Ng4 28.Rd2 d5 29.h3 Nb3 30.Rde2 dxe4 31.Qg3 f5 32.hxg4 hxg4 33.Qh4 Rb6 34.Rh2 Kf7 35.Qh5+ g6 36.Qh8 Ke6 37.Rd1 Rd6 38.Rxd6+ Qxd6 39.Qc8+ Rd7 40.Qxc4+ Qd5 41.Qxd5+ Kxd5 42.Ba2 Kc4 43.Rb2 Rb7 44.Rxb3 Rxb3 45.Nd2+ Kxc3 46.Nxb3 e3 47.Kg2 Kb2 48.Nd4 Kxa2 49.Nxf5 e2 50.Kf2 a5 51.Nd4 a4 52.f5 Kb2 53.Nb5 1-0
Perez Guerra, R (2122)-Pap, M (2426) [B26]
Gran Canaria (8.4), 18.11.2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.Be3 Rb8 7.Qd2 b5 8.Nge2 Nd4 9.0-0 h5 10.h4 b4 11.Nd1 e6 12.a3 b3 13.c3 Nc2 14.Rc1 Nf6 15.Bg5 Qb6 16.Qf4 Ng4 17.Qd2 Ne5 18.Ne3 Qa6 19.c4 Nd4 20.f4 Nec6 21.f5 f6 22.fxg6 fxg5 23.Rf7 Rb7 24.e5 Rxf7 25.gxf7+ Kf8 26.exd6 Nxe2+ 27.Qxe2 Nd4 28.Qf2 gxh4 29.gxh4 Qxd6 30.Kh1 Rh6 31.Be4 Rf6 32.Qg2 Qf4 0-1
Vasquez Schroeder, R (2441)-Hernando Rodrigo, JM (2319)
Gran Canaria (8.5) 2020
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 c6 4.Qc2 f5 5.Bf4 Nf6 6.e3 Bd6 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Bd3 Bxf4 9.exf4 Qd6 10.g3 Na6 11.c5 Qc7 12.Bxa6 bxa6 13.0-0 Rb8 14.Rfe1 Bd7 15.b3 Ne4 16.Na4 Be8 17.Ne5 h6 18.f3 Nf6 19.Qd2 Nd7 20.Nd3 Rf6 21.Kg2 Nf8 22.Rab1 Nh7 23.h4 Qd8 24.Re2 Rb7 25.Rbe1 Nf8 26.Ne5 Re7 27.Nb2 Nh7 28.Nbd3 Rf8 29.Nb4 Qc8 30.Rh1 g6 31.Nbd3 Rg7 32.Qa5 Nf6 33.Kf2 Qb7 34.Qd2 Nh5 35.Kg2 Qe7 36.g4 fxg4 37.fxg4 Nf6 38.Qe3 h5 39.g5 Ne4 40.Nf2 Nxf2 41.Rxf2 Qb7 42.Qc3 Re7 43.Re1 Kg7 44.Re3 Qb5 45.Kg3 Rb7 46.Nd3 Bf7 47.Rfe2 Rbb8 48.Qc2 Qb7 49.f5 gxf5 50.Nf4 Rbe8 51.Kf3 Qd7 52.g6 Bxg6 53.Rxe6 Rf6 54.R6e5 Rxe5 55.dxe5 Re6 56.Qc3 Kh7 57.Nxe6 Qxe6 58.Qd4 f4 59.Qxf4 Qh3+ 60.Kf2 Be4 61.Qg3 Qf5+ 62.Kg1 d4 63.Rf2 Qd7 64.Rf8 Bg6 65.Rf6 Qe8 66.Qg5 d3 67.e6 a5 68.Kf2 d2 69.Qxd2 Qb8 70.Qd6 Qb4 71.Qc7+ Kh6 72.Qf4+ Kg7 73.Qxb4 1-0
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qe8!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Bh6/f6+/f8 2.B(x)f6#; 1…Be5 2.Qa4#; 1…Bh8 2.Qxh8#; 1…b5, Ke5 2.Bc5#./PN
