FM Shiyam Thavandiran will be Canada's next International Master! At the 2017 Spice Cup Shiyam scored 5/9 -- including 2.5/6 against GMs -- to finish as top U2400 and gain enough rating points to push him over 2400.
photo by Paul Truong: Shiyam Thavandiran at the 2017 SPICE Cup.
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[Event "SPICE Cup Open 2017"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2017.10.25"]
[Round "8.10"]
[White "Barcenilla, Rogelio"]
[Black "Thavandiran, Shiyam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "2446"]
[BlackElo "2385"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2017.10.21"]
[EventType "swiss"]
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. b3 c5 4. Bb2 a6 5. g3 b6 6. Bg2 Bb7 7. O-O d6 {[#]An
unusual move order, but the game will transpose into a well-known Hedgehog
middlegame.} 8. d4 (8. Nc3 Nbd7 9. Re1 Be7 10. d4 cxd4 11. Qxd4 O-O 12. Rad1
Qc7 13. e4 {Black scores 61% and Elo +60 from here.} Rfd8 14. Re2 Rac8 15. h3
Qb8 16. Ne1 h6 17. Kh2 Ba8 18. Nc2 Re8 19. Ba3 Nc5 20. b4 Ncd7 21. b5 axb5 22.
Nxb5 Nc5 23. Nxd6 Bxd6 24. Qxd6 Ncxe4 25. Qxb8 Rxb8 26. Rde1 Nc5 (26... Nc3 27.
Re3 Nxa2 $4 28. Ra1 $18) 27. Nb4 Rec8 28. Bb2 Bxg2 29. Kxg2 Na4 $15 {Black has
the better structure, but couldn't turn in into a win in Larino Nieto,D (2463)
-Spraggett,K (2545) Oeiras 2015 ½-½ (90).}) 8... cxd4 9. Qxd4 Nbd7 10. Nc3
Be7 11. Rfd1 O-O 12. Rac1 Qc7 {A typical Hedgehog: White has more space and
can expand on the queenside (b4-b5) or the kingside (g4 and f4) or liquidate
the center (e4 and a well prepared e5). Black's options are more restricted:
be prepared to counter whichever plan White tries, and be ready to break with .
..b5 or ...d5. Black has an excellent score from this position, and the
Hedgehog in general. This is paradoxical, since -- as Hedgehog guru GM Sergei
Shipov has noted -- if White doesn't push for a win, Black has no active play
and no chance for a win. Most strong players know this, but still overpress
and lose. I suspect that's because it's hard for anyone who has been
influenced by the classical chess idea that 'more space is an advantage' to
just sit on White's position. That makes the Hedgehog a particularly good
choice against higher-rated opponents, who will feel obliged to push for a win,
at the risk of overextending and allowing Black winning chances.} 13. h3 (13.
e4 Rac8 14. h3 Rfe8 15. Nd2 Qb8 16. Nf1 Bf8 17. Ne3 h5 18. Re1 Bc6 19. b4 b5
20. a3 Qb7 21. Ncd5 $5 Qa8 (21... exd5 $2 22. exd5 Bxd5 23. Nxd5 $18) 22. cxb5
axb5 23. Nxf6+ Nxf6 24. e5 dxe5 25. Qxe5 Bxg2 26. Nxg2 Qd5 $11 {1-0 (72)
Moradiabadi,E (2551)-Hambleton,A (2480) Montreal 2013}) 13... Rfe8 (13... Rac8
14. Qe3 Rfe8 15. Ng5 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 b5 17. Nce4 bxc4 18. Rxc4 Qb7 19. Rxc8 Rxc8
20. Kg1 d5 21. Nxf6+ Bxf6 22. Bxf6 Nxf6 23. Rc1 h6 $11 {Lafuente,P (2572)
-Vescovi,G (2634) Toluca 2011 0-1 (64).}) 14. g4 $5 {It is interesting how
White avoids moving his e-pawn... and how little benefit he gets from this.} h6
15. Qe3 Rac8 16. Qf4 {[#]White could have gone directly here from d4 on move
15. This loss of a tempo could be disasterous in a sharper position, but
another unusal thing about the Hedgehog is that (somehow) tempi don't seem to
count for nearly as much as in most other middlegames.} Qb8 (16... Nc5 17. h4
e5 18. Qg3 Nce4 19. Nxe4 Nxe4 20. Qh3 b5 21. c5 (21. cxb5 Qb6 22. e3 Qxb5 $15)
21... dxc5 22. g5 c4 23. Bxe5 Qb6 24. Bd4 Bc5 25. gxh6 Bxd4 26. Nxd4 Qxh6 27.
bxc4 bxc4 $15 {0-1 (44) Braun,A (2529)-Sokolov,A (2596) Plovdiv 2008} 28. Qd7
$4 Qxh4 $1 29. Qxb7 Qxf2+ 30. Kh1 Rc5 $19) 17. Qg3 Nf8 18. Ne1 Ng6 19. Bxb7
Qxb7 20. Ng2 b5 21. cxb5 axb5 22. Nf4 Ne5 (22... Nxf4 $5 23. Qxf4 b4 24. Na4
Ne4 25. f3 Ng5 26. Kg2 e5 27. Qe3 Ne6 {and Black has a good Najdorf and ...who
knows what White is hoping for?}) 23. Nd3 Ned7 24. Qg2 d5 25. e3 b4 26. Na4 $15
{Black is a bit better: the Na4 is poorly placed and the b4 pawn holds back
White's queenside majority, leaving Black with the mobile majority in the
center.} (26. Ne2 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Qa6 $17 {wins a pawn.}) 26... Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Rc8
28. Qf1 Rxc1 29. Qxc1 Ne4 30. f3 Ng5 $1 31. Kg2 d4 32. e4 {[#]} Nxe4 $1 {
Looks like the pawn should have stayed on e2 :)} (32... e5 $1 {defends d4,
controls f4, and threatens Nxe4.} 33. Qe1 Qb5 34. Qd1 Ne6 35. Bc1 Ndf8 $15 {
heading for f4.}) 33. Bxd4 $1 (33. fxe4 $4 Qxe4+ {and Black gets the N back
and has won two pawns.}) 33... Ng5 (33... Ndf6 34. Nac5 Nxc5 35. Nxc5 Qb5 36.
Qf1 (36. Bxf6 $4 Qe2+ 37. Kg3 Bxf6 $19) 36... Qa5 37. Qa6 Qd8 38. Qc4 $15) 34.
Qe3 Qc6 35. Qe2 (35. h4 Qc2+ 36. Kg3 Nh7) 35... Qd5 36. Bb2 (36. Bf2 e5 37. Bh4
$1 $15 (37. h4 Nxf3 $17) (37. Bg3 Nxf3 38. Qxf3 e4 $19)) 36... e5 37. Bxe5 $2 (
37. Nf2 Ne6 (37... Nf8 38. Bxe5 Nxf3 $17) 38. Bc1 Bg5 $17) 37... Nxe5 38. Nxe5
Ne6 $8 $19 39. Qe3 (39. Kg3 Bd6 40. f4 g5 $19) (39. Nd3 Qxd3 40. Qxd3 Nf4+ $19)
39... Bg5 $1 40. Nb6 {The Na4 finally gets off the edge of the board...} Qb5 {
... and is lost, since the White Q can't save both Ns and itself.} 0-1
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