Dominguez Shares First in Netanya

Continuing his streak of recent tournament success, Leinier Dominguez shared first place in the 2019 Netanya Masters (Netanya, Israel, June 23-July 2), losing out on tie-breaks to ‘hometown boy’ and former World Championship Challenger Boris Gelfand. Pavel Eljanov and Daniil Dubov shared third place.   Dominguez was in the driver’s seat for much of the tournament, holding the lead through six rounds of play. His round six win over Evgeny Postny was particularly impressive.

[pgn] [Event "Netanya Masters 2019"] [Site "Netanya ISR"] [Date "2019.06.28"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Dominguez, Leinier"] [Black "Postny, Evgeny"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2760"] [BlackElo "2601"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2019.06.23"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a4 Bg4 9. c3 O-O 10. h3 Bh5 11. d3 Na5 12. Ba2 c5 13. Bg5 b4 14. cxb4 cxb4 15. Nbd2 Rb8 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 17. Bd5 Qd7 18. g4 Bg6 19. Nf1 Bd8 20. Ne3 Bb6 21. Nc4 Nxc4 22. dxc4 Kh8 23. b3 f6 24. Qd2 Be8 25. Kh2 Bc5 26. Rg1 g6 27. Rg3 Qe7 28. Rag1 Bd7 29. R1g2 Rbe8 30. Nh4 Bc8 31. Nf5 Qa7 32. Kh1 Re7 33. Qh6 Rg7 34. g5 fxg5 35. Rxg5 Rf6 36. Rxg6 Rfxg6 37. Rxg6 Bxf5 38. exf5 Qd7 39. f6 1-0 [/pgn]

But a mistake against Luke McShane in round seven allowed the English Grandmaster to sacrifice his bishop for an irresistable attack and the full point.

[pgn] [Event "Netanya Masters 2019"] [Site "Netanya ISR"] [Date "2019.06.30"] [Round "7.1"] [White "McShane, Luke J"] [Black "Dominguez, Leinier"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C67"] [WhiteElo "2688"] [BlackElo "2760"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r2q3k/pp4pp/2bp1n2/3p2B1/7Q/3B4/P1P3PP/1R4K1 b - - 0 24"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "2019.06.23"] 24... h6 $2 25. Bxh6 gxh6 26. Qxh6+ Kg8 27. Qg6+ Kh8 28. Rb4 Ne4 29. Bxe4 dxe4 30. Rb3 e3 31. Rb4 Bd7 32. Qh6+ Kg8 33. Qg6+ Kh8 34. Qh6+ Kg8 35. Rh4 Qxh4 36. Qxh4 Re8 37. Kf1 e2+ 38. Ke1 Re6 39. Qd8+ Be8 40. g4 b5 41. h4 Kg7 42. h5 Bf7 43. Qg5+ Kh7 44. Qxb5 1-0 [/pgn]

Two draws in the final rounds, including a perfunctory 14-move affair with Boris Gelfand, allowed Dominguez to claim his share of the first place honors.

The solid showing on his home soil must be particularly satisfying for the 51-year old Gelfand. His win against McShane in the penultimate round is a model White approach against the King’s Indian.

[pgn] [Event "Netanya Masters 2019"] [Site "Netanya ISR"] [Date "2019.07.01"] [Round "8.2"] [White "Gelfand, Boris"] [Black "McShane, Luke J"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E94"] [WhiteElo "2676"] [BlackElo "2688"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2019.06.23"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. d4 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Na6 8. Be3 c6 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Qxd8 Rxd8 11. h3 Nc7 12. Rfd1 Re8 13. b4 Nh5 14. Rac1 Nf4 15. Bf1 Nfe6 16. c5 f6 17. Nd2 a5 18. a3 f5 19. exf5 gxf5 20. Nc4 axb4 21. axb4 f4 22. Bd2 Nd4 23. Nd6 Rf8 24. Nxc8 Raxc8 25. Bc4+ Kh8 26. Ne4 Ncb5 27. Kf1 Rcd8 28. Ra1 h6 29. Rdc1 Kh7 30. Bc3 Nxc3 31. Rxc3 Rd7 32. Bd3 Kh8 33. Rca3 Rfd8 34. Ra8 Nb3 35. Rxd8+ Rxd8 36. Nd6 e4 37. Nf7+ Kh7 38. Bxe4+ Kg8 39. Nxd8 Bxa1 40. Ke2 Nc1+ 41. Kf3 Na2 42. b5 Nb4 43. b6 Bd4 44. Nxb7 Na6 45. Bxc6 Nxc5 46. Nxc5 Bxc5 47. b7 Bd6 48. Ke4 Kf7 49. Kf5 Bc7 50. Bd5+ Ke7 51. Kg6 1-0 [/pgn]

The Netanya Masters was contested as part of the Netanya International Chess Festival. There was also a large Open as part of the Festival, won by Mikhail Antipov with a score of 7.5/9.