- Analysis by FM Ron Simpson and Expert John Timmel
- Computer Analysis by Charles Roberson
- PGN file
The Land of the Sky chess tournament is now a Heritage event, celebrating twenty five years of excellence in chess competition. The 25th event hosted four top Grandmasters; Alexander Ivanov 2606, Alexander Shabalov 2622, Surgey Kudrin 2617, and Timur Gareev 2743. Their reputations and ratings were built over many years. Rarely do these men give up a point to opponents three to four hundred rating points below them. Imagine or think back when you had to face someone so much stronger than yourself. Did you mentally give up, expecting to lose quickly, or just move the pieces waiting to be beaten? Practically speaking who could blame you. Your friends probably gave you the try hard speech with the pat on the back and the dead man walking look. Yep, strong chess players do have that effect. But there is a well kept secret in chess, something that every master knows to be true; if you want to be a strong chess player you need to play stronger chess players. You must play with courage and conviction. You must have faith in your training and never enter the game feeling defeated. Take on the spirit of David as he faced Goliath. GMs are human and they can be beaten.
This is the first game in a series from the tournament showing how hard we masters tried when pitted against these GMs. In many of the games you will read the master’s thoughts that played the game. I have provided analysis with an emphasis on why the moves were played and Charles Roberson has provided some really excellent computer analysis.
Our first game is between Alexander Ivanov 2606 and John Timmel 2178. John is looking at a rating difference of 428 points and John was playing with the black pieces. Statistically the white pieces win most of the games. So Timmel needed a really big slingshot with some big stones.
What should Black play?
Before proceeding through the game score, stop and study this instructive position. White has played 22.Rde1. You will find a detailed discussion of this position below in the Chess-Flash game viewer.
I think Timmel played courageously, taking risk at times, and making decisions which went against conventional thinking. The last recorded position revealed that black should be able to hold the position regardless of the rating difference. In talking with Timmel after the game it was obvious that he was happy with the outcome. But more importantly he was focused on where he could have played better. Introspection is a clear sign of strong chess players. John Timmel will be a Chess Master in the very near future.