Alekhine Memorial

The Alekhine Memorial split between Paris and St Petersburg has been won jointly by Lev Aronian and Boris Gelfand. The final scores (out of 9) were as follows: Aronian and Gelfand 51/2; Anand 5; Vitiugov, Fressinet, Kramnik, Adams and Vachier-Lagrave 41/2; Ding Liren 31/2 and Svidler 3. Britain’s Michael Adams got off to a blazing start, winning against both Anand and Svidler. However, these were to be his only two victories and his final placing was creditable rather than glorious. The concluding phase of his game against the world champion was instructive.

Anand-Adams: Alekhine Memorial, Paris/St Petersburg 2013 (see diagram 1)

Endgames often come down to a race between a mass of passed pawns and a rook. Inexperienced players often allow the pawns to triumph. Great precision can be required from the side with the rook while the player with the pawns has a far simpler task, namely pushing the pawns as quickly as possible in order to make a new queen. Michael Adams handled the conclusion of his game against the champion in perfect style. 50 … Kc3 51 Kg3 Re4 A key move, preventing the white king from advancing to f4 (after 51 … Kd4 52 Kf4) 52 Kh4 Kd4 53 Kg5 Ke5 54 Kg6 Re2 55 g5 Rxg2 56 h4 Kf4 White resigns Black’s winning plan is 57 Kf6 Kg4 58 g6 Kh5 59 g7 Kh6.

The next example shows precisely the reverse in action as Adams succumbs to Kramnik’s kingside pawn mass.

Adams-Kramnik: Alekhine Memorial Paris/St Petersburg 2013 (see diagram 2)

71 … Rg3 72 Rf8 After 72 Nxg3 fxg3 there is a similar pawn mass on the kingside as in the previous example but here it is too far advanced and the white king too far away.