{"id":9486,"date":"2019-06-03T14:58:27","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T12:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mvlchess.com\/?p=9486"},"modified":"2019-06-03T15:27:06","modified_gmt":"2019-06-03T13:27:06","slug":"top-12-asnieres-le-promu-est-vice-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mvlchess.com\/en\/2019\/06\/03\/top-12-asnieres-le-promu-est-vice-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 12: promoted Asni\u00e8res vice champion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For the second year Brest, France\u2019s most western city – at the tip of Brittany – was hosting the Top 12, Elite division of the French Team Championships. So twelve squads of eight players each fought in an 11-round robin tournament, May 18-28. For the first time, I was playing for Asni\u00e8res, newly promoted from Nationale 1 division, but who offered solid guarantees though, with the arrivals of Matthieu Cornette, Jules Moussard, Pentala Harikrishna and myself…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s\nbeen a while since I last stayed during the whole Top 12, and I have\nto say it was pretty cool and refreshing, compared to the usual Top\ntournaments; indeed, I came across a lot of old acquaintances, that I\nrarely get the chance to see elsewhere!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most\nAsni\u00e8res players were accomodated in a big house at the seaside,\njust a 30-minute drive away from the playing hall. The place was\nnice, which is quite important for such a long stay. Besides chess\npreparations for the games, we could easily entertain ourselves;\nbillard, card games, board games (Time’s Up!\u00ae and especially\nBluffer\u00ae have prevailed!). We sometimes had small getaways outside\non the coast, including a few aborted climbing tries with buddy Jules\n(Moussard), which I will not elaborate on!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"View
View from the garden\u2026 (Photo: P.Harikrishna).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s have a look at the 5 games I played in Brest:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

METZ-ASNIERES\n(Round 1)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malakhov\n(2660) – MVL 1\/2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nvery average start, as I messed up badly in the opening!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Malakhov-Mvl,
Malakhov-Mvl, round 1.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here, I played 13…Qa5 against Nakamura, in the decisive game of the 2018 Grand Chess Tour final, and I quickly lost<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I changed with 13…e6?!<\/strong>, which is not really better and above all, was not the intended improvement! After 14.Nd2 Nd7 15.Bf3<\/strong>, I understood that my position was becoming troublesome, and I decided to give a pawn. The ensuing ending was still a tough one to defend, but I ultimately succeeded, in spite of a few scares (1\/2, 56 moves).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ASNIERES-CLICHY\n(Round 4)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mvl-Amin\n(2704) 1-0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\ntime, the opening went very well, against the Spanish Breyer of\nAfrica #1. I was able to rely on an old prep, according to which\nblack is in serious trouble if he can\u2019t prevent white to play f4\nunder good circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mvl-Amin,
Mvl-Amin, round 4.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\nAfter\n25…exf4\n26.Bxf4 Nf6 27.Qf1 Nfd7?!<\/strong>\n(he had to look for counterplay with 27…b4) 28.Nhf3<\/strong>,\nwhite has a huge advantage (1-0, 42 moves).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GRASSE-ASNIERES\n(Round 5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santos\nRuiz (2549)-Mvl 1\/2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nwas very surprised by the young Spanish GM\u2019s choice of 1.e4<\/strong>.\nTherefore, I decided to deviate from my usual repertoire in the\nNajdorf 6.h3<\/strong>,\nwith 6\u2026e5\n7.Nde2 b5<\/strong>\n(instead of 7\u2026h5), which was probably not a great idea. On move 28,\nI felt that I should avoid to go crazy, that I would never win this\ngame anyway, and thus I offered a draw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apr\u00e8s 25…exf4 26.Fxf4 Cf6 27.Df1 Cfd7?!<\/strong> (il fallait tenter le contre-jeu par 27…b4) 28.Chf3<\/strong>, les blancs ont un net avantage (1-0, 42 cps).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\nSelfie
Selfie with Harikrishna and Almira Skripchenko (Photo: Club d\u2019Asni\u00e8res).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\nNICE-ASNIERES\n(Round 8)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mvl-Lagarde\n(2600) 1-0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against\na dangerous team, it had been decided that I would go down on board 2\nwith white. I liked what I got from the opening, but Maxime reacted\nvery, very well, especially when he sacrificed a pawn\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mvl-Lagarde,
Mvl-Lagarde, round 8.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

15.dxc5 Na6!<\/strong>. Until then, I thought my position was fine, but I have to admit I missed this move. By the way, I never felt worse in the whole game, which probably helped me! However, I probably face a few problems objectively after 15…Na6!, even though the position remains highly complicated. If 16.cxb6 Nb4 17.Bf1 (I rejected on principle 17.cxd5 Nd3 18.dxe6, a line the machine serenely considers though!) 17…d4! didn\u2019t appeal to me, and so I chose to give back the pawn with 16.c6<\/strong>. With Maxime taking a lot of time thereafter, I tried to take benefit from his zeitnot, and we probably both missed things. I won the exchange, but thanks to a very strong pawn on f3, it is likely that black had enough compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mvl-Lagarde.\"
Mvl-Lagarde.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here, with very little time left, and complicated choices to make for his last three moves before the time control, I did suspect that Maxime\u2019s task would be tough. And he actually collapsed on move 40 \ud83d\ude42 ; after 38…g4<\/strong> 39.Re3 Qd7 40.Ne4 h5?<\/strong> (40…Qf5!) 41.Nxc5 Qf5 42.Ne6!<\/strong>, black\u2019s position is in ruins (1-0, 46 moves).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis rather incredible that, despite Hari and me winning on the first\ntwo boards, we still lost the match!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
The whole Asni\u00e8res team is in the house\u2026 (Photo: Club d\u2019Asni\u00e8res).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\nBISCHWILLER-ASNIERES\n(Round 10)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mvl-Fressinet (2640) 1\/2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once\nagain, I played on board 2 with white, in a match that would be\ndecisive for the title. I think we chose a good team composition,\nwhich I had been making the previous evening. For the sake of\nefficiency, I didn\u2019t take into acount any colour data from the\nprevious nine rounds\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\ndidn\u2019t really expect to play against Laurent (Fressinet) on board\n2, so I hadn\u2019t focused on him during the preparation. Still, the\nSpanish Moeller was one of the options I had vaguely considered. I\nmust admit I didn\u2019t get a lot from the opening, but anyway, I\nmanaged to put a little bit of pressure progressively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mvl-Fressinet,
Mvl-Fressinet, round 10.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here, I didn\u2019t play 36.axb5 axb5 37.Ne4 because of 37…b4, and I preferred 36.Ce4<\/strong> immediately. Though I had totally forgotten 36…bxa4!?<\/strong> played by Laurent, it doesn\u2019t change the whole evaluation that white remains slightly better. Unfortunately, I took a wrong decision at a critical juncture a few moves later\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mvl-Fressinet.\"
Mvl-Fressinet.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Should white\u2019s King go to e4, or to g4? I had foreseen 45.Kg4 Re2 46.Nxh6 Re4+ 47.Kh3 (47.Kf3 Re3+ 48.Kf4 Be5+ 49.Kxe3 Bxc7 should be a draw) 47…Re5 48.g4 Re3+ and black escapes. That\u2019s the reason why I finally chose 45.Ke4?<\/strong>, but after 45…Re2+ 46.Kd3 Rg2 47.g4 Be5 48.Rxc5 Ff4<\/strong>, black sets a fortress much easier to defend than I thought it would be. I can never implement the winning plan of bringing my King to g6. In view of the match situation, I still tried for a long time, all the more so since it is never easy for black to defend on the board, but Laurent was up to the task\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Decisive
Decisive endgame against Laurent Fressinet.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s only after the game was over that I was told about the sequence 45.Kg4 Re2 46.Rc8+! Re8 47.Rc6! followed by 48.Nxh6, which is certainly winning, because c5 is under control, the King will activate through the white squares, and the h pawn is a terror. This little Rook manoeuver is not so difficult to understand, the only thing is to be able to consider it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All\nthat remains is to congratulate Bischwiller\u2019s team, who kept his\nnational title in an indisputable way, if you look at their 11 wins\nfor as many matches! For our part, the team had a very fine first\nhalf, with victories without any scare, if not brillant.\nUnfortunately, we cracked in the last third, against Nice and\nBischwiller\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\nbeing said, to be vice champion when the team has just been promoted\nin the Top 12, remains a very fine result for Asni\u00e8res. I hope that\nthe town, as well as our partners, will continue supporting us in\n2020, when we will again fight for the French champion title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n