Drum Majors at Spain’s Málaga Open!
(clockwise L-R) IM Emory Tate, GM-elect Amon Simutowe, GM Pontus Carlsson, GM-elect Amon Simutowe, IM Emory Tate, GM Pontus Carlsson
The Málaga Open kicked off in Spain and three players certain to add excitement to the event are IM Emory Tate (USA), GM Pontus Carlsson (Sweden) and GM-elect Amon Simutowe (Zambia). The three will join a strong field with three very different objectives. Tate is looking for a GM norm, Carlsson is looking forward to a 2600 ELO while Simtuowe is attempting to close the book on his GM title by gaining ELO points toward 2500.
Tate will bring his swashbuckling style to the field and his games will no doubt attract interest. Carlsson has been in top form lately and has played more aggressively in recent tournaments with good results. His performance in Corus “C” was solid and he told The Chess Drum in an interview that he hopes to raise his level. Simutowe just arrived from Cappelle La Grande in France where he put in a 6½-2½ performance. He will arrive in Spain with an idea of playing good chess and from there he will compete in Reykjavik, Iceland. Let’s root for the Drum Majors!
IM Emory Tate giving greetings in Spanish!
Video by ajedrezmalaga (YouTube)
It would be great to have a tournament with the likes of GM Maurice Ashley, GM Pontus Carlsson, GM-elect Amon Simutowe, IM Emory Tate, IM Stephen Muhammad, IM Watu Kobese, FM William Morrison, FM Norman Rogers with perhaps IM Kevin Denny and IM Robert Gwaze.
Simutowe will need to get his GM title officially so we could offer GM norms (need three GMs). This would be another historic tournament like the Wilbert Paige Memorial. The problem with having it in an Olympiad year is that non-US players will have to take vacation twice. Rising star Kayin Barclay has asked me about another “Wilbert Paige” and opportunities to help him and Jimmy Canty make National Master. Lot of possibilities.
Tate gave me the following update:
“Pontus, Tate and now Simotouwe in the same event. Simotouwe arrived late, but has 1.5, Tate at 3 and Pontus carlsson with 4.5 of 5!”
Tate seems very excited about this “reunion.” I had talked to Simutowe and he told me he was trying to work out something with the organizers, but I suppose he was unsuccessful. I hope the official site fixes their glitches. I am trying to get some pictures. Tate got a smashing win in round 3…
Tate,E (2390) – Rodriguez Gonzalez,A (2060) [B07]
XI Malaga open Malaga (3.20), 24.02.2008
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Bg5 c6 5.Qd2 b5 6.Bd3 Nbd7 7.f4 Qb6 8.Nf3 b4 9.Na4 Qa5 10.b3 Rb8 11.a3 d5 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.0-0 f6 14.Bh4 Bh6 15.Bg3 0-0 16.Bc4 Kg7 17.Qe1 N7b6 18.Nc5 Re8 19.Ne5 Nxc4 20.bxc4 Qb6 21.cxd5 fxe5 22.f5 Bf4 23.Bxf4 exf4 24.Qe5+ Kg8 25.Rxf4 cxd5 26.f6 Bf5 27.Rxf5 gxf5 1-0 (see game)
…but his opening experiment ran awry against the Polish Grandmaster.
Tate,E (2390) – Jedynak,R (2525) [B10]
XI Malaga open Malaga (4.6), 25.02.2008
1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Bd2 Nf6 4.Nc3 Qb6 5.b3 e5 6.h3 Nbd7 7.Qf3 Bb4 8.Nge2 Qc5 9.0-0-0 d4 10.Nb1 a5 11.g4 Bxd2+ 12.Rxd2 a4 13.Kb2 Qa5 14.Nc1 Nc5 15.g5 Nfd7 16.Qg3 Ne6 17.h4 Nf4 18.Bh3 Nc5 19.Bxc8 Rxc8 20.h5 Ra8 21.Rh4 Nce6 22.Ka1 Qd8 23.h6 g6 24.Ne2 Qd6 25.Nxf4 exf4 26.Qg2 Ra5 27.Rg4 0-0 28.Re2 Rfa8 29.b4 Qxb4 30.a3 Qc5 31.f3 Rb5 32.Qf2 Ra6 33.Rg1 Rab6 34.c4 Rxb1+ 35.Rxb1 Qxa3+ 36.Ra2 Qc3+ 0-1 (see game)
The second Tate game featured above is an example of how NOT to play the opening in Chess wats the 3.Bd2 about???
I suppose that he was trying to throw his opponent off. I have seen many games where he is successful in doing so, but I believe if he just played “Tate chess” with regular openings, his creativity would shine through. Many of his famous tactial games are from main lines. I think he won round 6 and is on 4-2. No updates, but he sent me a message saying “everything is under control.” 🙂
I just put the Emory Tate video up. He’s giving the greetings in Spanish. Those you who know Emory may not know that he is fluent in Russia, but also has a command of other languages. I heard him speak Italian during a blitz session years ago at the World Open and I believe he has some German and French. It seems as if he’s enjoying himself… great to see! 😀
Finally a good picture of Amon Simutowe… nice backdrop!
Photo from ajedrezmalaga.org.
Not a good shot of Emory Tate. Apparently not the intended target.
Photo from ajedrezmalaga.org.
Pontus Carlsson playing his pet Dragon. Wild game!
Photo from ajedrezmalaga.org.
Pontus wins again and is joint first on 6½-2½! He will play Tate is 5½-2½ and Simutowe is surging after four wins against overmatched opponents. He came in round four and can still end up with +3 before going to Iceland. Tate drew with GM Carlos Matamoros Franco and will end the tournament playing GM Manuel Rivas Pastor. Carlsson plays an in-form GM Jedynak in the last round.
Carlsson got joint 1st in the Málaga Open with an undefeated 7-2. A good performance for the rising star. He actually placed 2nd with the tiebreaks. Simutowe ended 6-3 after demolishing his weaker opposition in the last six rounds. Tate ended on +2 with a loss to GM Manuel Rivas Pastor. The game was very interesting after Tate maintained a slight spatial advantage, but then sacrificed and exchange for a passed pawn. Toward the end, Tate had drawing chances, but black’s passed pawn became a tower of strength.
Tate,E (2390) – Rivas Pastor,M (2505) [D00]
XI Malaga open Malaga (9.9), 01.03.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.Bxf6 exf6 4.e3 Be6 5.Nd2 c6 6.Bd3 Nd7 7.Ne2 f5 8.c4 Nf6 9.Qb3 Qd7 10.Nf4 Bd6 11.cxd5 Bxd5 12.Nxd5 Nxd5 13.Nc4 g6 14.0-0 0-0 15.g3 Rad8 16.Rfd1 Bb8 17.Bf1 Rfe8 18.Rac1 Re7 19.Bg2 Qe8 20.Na5 Rdd7 21.Qd3 h5 22.Nc4 h4 23.a3 hxg3 24.hxg3 Kg7 25.b4 Rd8 26.Bxd5 Rxd5 27.Kg2 b6 28.Nd2 Re6 29.Rh1 Be5 30.Rc3 Bf6 31.Nf3 a5 32.bxa5 Rxa5 33.Rb3 Qd8 34.Rd1 b5 35.Rc3 Qd5 36.Rdc1 Be7 37.R1c2 Ra8 38.Rc5 Bxc5 39.Rxc5 Qe4 40.Qxe4 fxe4 41.Ng5 Re7 42.Rxc6 Rxa3 43.Rb6 Rb3 44.g4 Rb2 45.Nh3 Re6 46.Rb8 Rf6 47.Re8 b4 48.d5 b3 49.Rb8 g5 50.d6 Rxd6 51.Nxg5 Rg6 52.Rb5 Rc2 53.Nxe4 b2 54.g5 Ra6 55.Ng3 Ra5 56.Nf5+ Kh7 57.g6+ Kxg6 58.Ne7+ Kh7 0-1
GM-elect Amon Simutowe gives a parting shot!
Video by ajedrezmalaga.org.
Carlsson and Simutowe left Spain for Iceland to play in the Reykjavik Open: https://www.skaksamband.is/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=5752&Itemid=418 and also https://chess-results.com/tnr11080.aspx?tnr=11080 .
Yep! Simutowe is looking to gain some points in a challenging field. The field is lead by GMs Wang and Wang of China which is a refreshing occurance. However, Wang Yue lost in the first round to a 2300 ELO from Finland. I see Fabiano Caruana is there too. Maybe Carlsson can get his revenge from Caruana after losing to him at Corus “B”.
Do you have any results for Tate’s last tournament in Europe? I think he was playing in the Netherlands last week…Thanks
Richard,
You can check the ChessBase report here… scroll down. Tate got +2.
https://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4567
Interesting that a 13-year old Indian boy named Anish Giri won the INTOMART GfK Open over seven GMs. They list him as being from Russia, but that doesn’t appear to be correct unless he moved to Russia to develop his talents. There is no way that “Anish” is a Russian name… it’s as Indian as curry masala.
Here is one of Tate’s game… a win over WGM Anna Zatonsikh.
Zatonskih,A – Tate,E [B00]
Intomart GfK Open Hilversum (6), 10.04.2008
1.e4 c5 2.c3 b6 3.d4 Bb7 4.Bd3 Nf6 5.Nd2 e6 6.Ngf3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Ba6 8.Bxa6 Nxa6 9.0-0 Be7 10.d5 Qc8 11.d6 Bd8 12.b3 Qb7 13.Qe2 Nc5 14.Re1 0-0 15.Ba3 Na6 16.Rac1 Rc8 17.Rxc8 Qxc8 18.Rc1 Qb7 19.Nd4 Re8 20.Nb5 Nb8 21.Nc7 Rf8 22.b4 a6 23.Bb2 b5 24.e5 Nd5 25.Qe4 Bxc7 26.Rxc7 Qa8 27.Rc3 a5 28.Rh3 h6 29.Nf1 Na6 30.bxa5 Rc8 31.Rg3 Rc4 32.Bd4 Nab4 33.Qh4 Qf8 34.h3 Nc6 35.Rg4 g5 36.Bb2 Rc2 37.Ng3 Rxb2 38.Ne4 Nxe5 39.Rxg5+ hxg5 40.Qxg5+ Ng6 41.h4 Re2 0-1