Chess and poker have an affinity and not only via the significant number of master players who supplement a fluctuating tournament income by success at online cards. The world No6, Alexander Grischuk, plays poker to a high professional level, with at least one $25,000 prize to show for it. Almira Skripchenko, the 2001 European woman chess champion, ranks in the world top 50 at chess while her poker career winnings total more than $250,000.
So it was appropriate that this week’s PokerStars open at Douglas, Isle of Man, should be launched by chess-poker events. Jennifer Shahade, the two-time US women’s chess champion, author and commentator, won 5-1 playing simultaneously against three chess and three poker opponents, and this was followed by a tournament combining five rounds of blitz chess with a poker session.
The event marks the return of top chess to the Isle of Man, which used to have a strong annual international financed by aircraft and insurance firms and also hosted the 2005 British championship. With £18,000 prize money on offer, PokerStars has the No1s of England and France as the top seeds. The final rounds are free and live online this weekend (1.30pm start on Saturday, 12.30pm on Sunday).
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave shared the lead with England’s Gawain Jones and Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia on 5/6, while Michael Adams won smoothly in an early round. Black tried to follow a game from Wijk 2014 where White chose 12 Re1 but Adams’s 12 Bg5! is sharper, to meet f6 by 13 Bd2 when Black’s Nd5 is a target. Black was still in the game until 17...f6?? (h6) allowed a forced win. At the end if Qa7 22 Bxd5+ Kh8 23 Bd6 and White will be a piece up.
Michael Adams v Jorden van Foreest
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nge7 5 c3 g6 6 d4 exd4 7 cxd4 b5 8 Bc2!? d5 9 exd5 Nb4?! 10 Bb3 Nbxd5 11 0-0 Bg7 12 Bg5! Qd6 13 Nbd2 Bf5 14 Re1 0-0 15 Rc1 Rae8 16 Ne4 Bxe4 17 Rxe4 f6?? 18 Bf4 Qd8 19 Bxc7 Qa8 20 Rxe7! Rxe7 21 Rc5 1-0
GM Danny Gormally won this pretty miniature. Julio Granda Zúñiga, Peru’s No1, is a farmer as well as a GM so has little time to study opening theory and gets caught in a line where White scores around 75%. Black’s 4...a6 is too ambitious (c6 or e6) and 7...c6 is a better try to avoid the powerful 9 e6! when if fxe6 both 10 Ng5 and 10 Be2 are strong. Black could still have avoided the eye-catching game finish by 15...Bxf3! 16 Qxf3 Ra7 when he fights on.
Danny Gormally v Julio Granda Zúñiga
1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 a6 5 e4 b5 6 e5 Nd5 7 a4 Nxc3 8 bxc3 Bb7 9 e6 f6 10 Be2 Qd5 11 O-O Qxe6 12 Re1 Qf7 13 Nh4 b4 14 Nf5 a5 15 Bf3?! Nc6? (see puzzle diagram)
3379 16 Nh6! 1-0.The black queen is trapped, since if gxh6 17 Bh5. But objectively White should have played 15 Nh6! a move earlier.
