Hotshots of Andorra

I sinned when I totally neglected top of the table of recently finished Open Andorra so let's take a look at the play of the winners.

Yugoslavian//Serbian WGM Milunka Lazarevic, one of the best women chess players ever said once - primo 1980's when he made comeback from self-imposed retirement (only to retire again when they banned smoking!) - well, she said:
- I am dreaming of equal position after opening, so that the better player wins.

30 years ago I thought everything was in the openings. Borislav Ivkov complained that he can't reach equal position in the opening even against weaker youngsters.

But today it seems nobody cares abut openings.
Carlsen is World Champion and he often plays stuff as coffee shop bluffers, I think (and I am defrosted Austin Powers in chess).

Ok, this was (probably boring) introduction in the description of top players playing style on this tournament.

Their games looked like wrestling, the played on strength not on skill.

The winner, Granda Zuniga, had by the rule weaker position til midgame, as if he only waited for opponent's mistake.

His typical win:
GM Granda Zuniga vs. GM Adrian Demuth

It looks like Black lost without firing a single shot.

The decisive game was between Granda Zuniga and hisghest rated player Tkachiev. Again Zuniga played waiting moves and was struggling and he won thanks the opponent's mistakes.

GM Granda Zuniga vs. GM Tkachiev



Typical game for Tkachiev /he was White/:



But one theoretical thing was still played - Scheveningen variation in Sicilian. I saw zillions of this games thirty years ago and people still didn't get tired of it.

Here-s how Yuri Vovk won as Black in this variation.


It looked like as Black challenged White to attack.

Jean Noel Riff on the other hand likes to attack in Scheveningen variation.

Rieff vs. Vasquez Iguarza


But Riff plays this Scheveningen also as a Black.
In this game he missed a win.