Ker conquers Congress field
• Chess
By Tony Dowden
International Master Anthony Ker (37) of Wellington has won his ninth New Zealand title by finishing half a point behind tournament winner IM Alek Wohl of Australia who plays professionally.
Ker began with three straight wins and apart from a solitary loss to IM Russell Dive was not seriously challenged for the title.
A feature of the event was the strong fighting spirit shown, with 73% of the games ending in a decisive result.
The leading scores were: Wohl (Australia) 8.5; Ker (Wellington) 8; Tomas Civin (Czech Republic) 7.5; Paul Garbett (Auckland) and Dive (Wellington) 7. In recent years Ker’s increased positional prowess, coupled with his well-known tenacity has made him a frightening prospect for lesser players. Today’s game features Ker with white against his club-mate, Mark van der Hoorn.
1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 — Ker’s favourite Trompovski Attack. 2 — c5 3 Bxf6 gxf6 4 d5 d6 A more natural approach is 4 — Qb6, 5 Qc1 f5 followed by — Bg7. 5 c4!? Qb6 Problem: Black to play and mate in four.
6 Qd2 Bh6?! 7 e3 Rg8?! More logical is 7 — f5 because Black’s sixth move has little point unless the fpawn is pushed to f4 but 8 f4 looks like an effective reply. 8 Nc3 Nd7 9 f4! — Black’s laboured development is allowing White to dictate play. 9 — f5 10 Bd3 Nf6 11 Nf3 — White already has a comfortable advantage. Black’s bishops have little scope and his central pawn formation is compromised. 11 — Ng4? This aimless move loses more time. 12 O-O-O Bd7 13 h3 Nf6 14 Nh4 e6 15 dxe6 fxe6 16 Bc2 Bf8
Black is forced to scramble to defend his weak pawns.
17 e4! fxe4 18 g4! O-O-O 19 g5 Ne8 20 Bxe4 —
White’s plan of kingside expansion is irrepressible. Ker’s technique is impressive.
20 — Bg7 21 Qc2 Rf8 22 Rhf1 Qb4 23 Qb3 Bc6 24 Bxc6 bxc6 25 f5 Bd4 26 Rf3 Qxb3 27 axb3 Nc7 28 f6 d5 29 Rdf1 Rd7 30 f7! Kd8 31 g6 h6 32 Ne2 Bg7 33 Nf4 e5 34 Nh5 Ne6 35 Nf5 e4 36 Nhxg7 Nxg7 37 Nxg7 exf3 38 Ne6+ Ke7 39 g7! Black cannot prevent White from promoting one of his pawns. 1-0
Solution: 1 — Rc2+, 2 Ka3 Ra1+, 3 Kb4 Rc5!, and 4 — a5#.
