ČEZ Chess Trophy 2015

Wesley So on the road to triumph

[15.06.2015 00:00:00] - The ČEZ CHESS TROPHY 2015 festival continued on the third day, providing the chess enthusiasts with the same big portion of their beloved activity as in the previous days. The main Sunday event was preceded by an exhibition of historical Czech chess pieces from Petr Král’s collection.

“My aim is to make the public acquainted with a part of the chess history. The chess pieces known as ‘české klubovky’ have accompanied us since the end of the 19th century,” says the owner of the displayed pieces and adds that he has proofs of more than a hundred different kinds of them. Featuring for example the chess pieces used at the Czech zonal tournament in 1951, the chess pieces exhibition will be held in the foyer of Michna Palace until the last day of the festival.



As in the previous days, 4 PM marked the commencement of the second game of the match between the best Czech chess player, grandmaster David Navara, and his opponent, the ninth best chess player in the world, grandmaster Wesley So. Unfortunately, the second game did not end well for the Czech No 1. As in the first game, both players obviously surprised each other right at the beginning. A speeded up Dragon Variation with reversed colours must have been a surprise for everyone.



The opening created a slightly better endgame for the White. The White’s plan is to play on the queen’s wing, moving the white figures in that direction. After the 16.Sc5 move the White thinks about taking the d6 square and occupy the column c. David performed really well, showed a good defence and the game changed into this critical position.



Here the Czech player could choose between the 37…Vg7 move and a move in the game. He probably chose well, because after the 37…Vd7!? move, the game ended in a rook ending, where the Black had a good chance of a draw.
It is a shame that he could not capture the critical moment and consider his next move a lot more. Because it only took two moves and the game was over.



The critical rook endgame position. Unfortunately, David quickly played 46...Ve1+. If he had thought it over a bit more (he had enough time to do it), he would have surely found the strong 46...Vh1! The main problem is the bad position of the king on h6, with the move 46...Vh1 the Black plans 47...Vxh4+ and 48...Kg5, to make the black king finally join the game. 47. Kd5 e4 48. Ve7 Second critical position. 48…Va1 After this move, the game was easy to handle for the grandmaster So. After a 48...e3! he would have had a lot more work. 49. Kxd4 e2 with the aim to put the king into play via the h5 square. And in the right moment, play Va1 and Vxa3. 49. Vxe4 Vxa3 50. Vxd4 Kh5 51. Ke6 and the White won easily.

Today’s third game of the match, in which the best Czech player will be playing with white pieces, begins at Michna Palace again at 4 PM.

ČEZ Chess Trophy 2015 - schedule
Live 16.00 hodin
Results
Photogalery

| Václav Pech | visits(6584x)