Alberta Chess Report

Alberta Chess Report ● August 2013 18
GM Eric Hansen
exits in the first
round of the
World Cup
By: Vlad Rekhson
In Memoriam
RIP Chris Kuczaj
10.28.1944-05.18.2013
By Jim Daniluk
Calgarian Eric Hansen
is currently the
highest rated player in
Canada and last year
he proved his status as
he qualified to the
World Cup by taking
one of the four
available spots at the
Pan-American
Championship.
The World Cup is a very unforgiving
event where 128 players play in a knockout
format. Eric first took part in this
tournament two years ago when he was
overmatched by the Azerbaizhani Super-
Grandmaster Vugar Gashimov.
This time Eric certainly had a lot more
going for him, as he had a much higher
rating and a ton more experience playing
in top events.
In the first round Eric who is rated 2584
was facing the 33rd ranked Russian-
Vladimir Malakhov (2707). One
interesting fact about GM Malakhov is that
he also used to be a nuclear physicist;
however, he only does it part time now, as
in Russia a strong chess Grandmaster
earns considerably more than a physicist!
In the first game, Eric had the black pieces
and it appeared that he had a decent
position out of the opening. After some
complications, Eric got a bishop for three
pawns. It appeared that this was a good
trade-off, but that is when the Super
Grandmaster showed his ability as it
quickly turned out that the central
connected passers were virtually
unstoppable.
In the second game, Eric was in a must
win situation. He bypassed the Berlin
defense by playing d3 and entered a
promising looking position.
Unfortunately, he missed a winning
chance that he had and had to settle for a
draw, thus ending his event. Still, his
performance was considerably better than
two years ago, and losing to a very strong
Grandmaster after a good fight is nothing
to be ashamed of as Eric enters the
professional European season.
GM Hansen interviewed by Susan Polgar
Photo credit: Paul Truong
Hansen,Eric (2584) -
Malakhov,Vladimir (2707)
WorldCup 2013 (2.31), 12.08.2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5
5.c3 0–0 6.0–0 Re8 7.Re1 Bf8 8.d4 exd4
9.e5 Nd5 10.Qb3 Nb6 11.cxd4 d5 12.Bg5
Qd7 13.Rc1 a6 14.Bxc6 bxc6 15.Nbd2 a5
16.Qc2 Bb7 17.a4 Nc4 18.Nf1 Qe6 19.b3
Nb6 20.Ng3 Nd7 21.Be3 c5 22.Qc3 c6
23.dxc5 Nxe5 24.Nxe5 Qxe5 25.Bd4 Qg5
26.Re1 h5 27.h3 h4 28.Nf1 Rxe1 29.Rxe1
Bc8 30.Nh2 Bd7 31.Nf3 Qh6 32.Ne5 Be8
33.Ng4 Qf4 34.Re5 f5
35.Be3?
[35.Ne3 g6 36.Rxd5!! Bf7 (36...cxd5
37.Nxd5 Qb8 38.Nf6+ Kf7 39.Qc4+ Ke7
40.Nd5+ Kd8 41.c6 Qd6 42.c7+ Kc8
43.Nb6+ Kb7 (43...Qxb6+-) 44.c8Q+
Rxc8 45.Qxc8+ Ka7 46.Qa8#) 37.Rd7
And White has a healthy extra pawn]
35...d4 36.Qc4+ Bf7 37.Qxf7+ Kxf7
38.Bxf4 fxg4 39.hxg4 g6 40.Kf1 Ra7
41.Bd2 Rb7 42.Bxa5 Rxb3 43.Bb6 d3
44.Re1 ½–½
It is with a great deal of sadness that I
announce the passing of Chris Kuczaj. He
was a fixture of our chess community for
decades and was one of the stronger
Alberta Players in the 1970s winning the
1972 and 1975 Alberta Open. Chris was an
electrical engineer by trade and he enjoyed
mathematics, as well as chess. Chris had a
substantial chess library which after his
passing was spread around the Alberta
Chess community, with some of the books
going to the Calgary Chess Club, as well
as other clubs in the province. We would
like to thank the Kuczaj family for their
support in the matter. Chris will be greatly
missed by those who knew and played
against him over the years.
McLean,Nathan (1945) -
Kuczaj,Chris (2120) [B80]
Battle of AB (2), 1997
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6
5.Nc3 d6 6.g3 a6 7.Bg2 Bd7 8.0–0 Nf6
9.Kh1 Be7 10.f4 0–0 11.f5 Nxd4 12.Qxd4
exf5 13.exf5 Bc6 14.Bf4 Qc7 15.Rad1
Bxg2+ 16.Kxg2 Qc6+ 17.Kh3 Rfd8 18.g4
d5 19.g5 Bc5 20.Qd2 d4 21.Ne2 Ne4
22.Qd3 g6 23.f6 Qe6+ 24.Kh4 Rd5
25.Ng3 h5 26.h3
Nxf6 27.Rfe1 Qc6 28.Ne4 Nxe4
29.Qxe4 Qd7 30.c4 Rf5 31.a3 a5
32.Re2 Rd8 33.Kg3 Bd6 34.Rf2
Rxg5+ 35.Kh4 Rf5 36.Kg3 Rxf4
37.Rxf4 g5 38.Rg1 Bxf4+
39.Kf3 Qxh3+ 40.Kf2 Qe3+ 0–1