Wojtaszek Wins IOM Masters, Xiong Draws Kramnik

Arkadij Naiditsch vs. Radoslaw Wojtaszek. Photo: John Saunders

Radoslaw Wojtaszek was the player to emerge victorious at the Isle of Man Masters. Wojtaszek tied for 1st with Arkadij Naiditsch with 7 points out of 9 in the main event. Then, Wojtaszek defeated Naiditsch in the blitz playoff. The players each won with white for the first two playoff games, so it all came down to the final Armadeddon game. Wojtaszek launched a legion of center pawns to create an unstoppable king attack.

[pgn][Event "Chess.com Isle of Man Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.10.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Wojtaszek, Radoslaw "]
[Black "Naiditsch, Arkadij"]
[Result "1-0"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1r2r3/3q1pk1/1p3n2/pPpPp1bp/2N1P3/1Q4P1/1P3PB1/3R1RK1 w - - 0 24"]
[PlyCount "27"]
[SourceDate "2018.10.28"]24. f4 exf4 25. gxf4 Bh6 26. e5 Ng4 27. Qh3 Rh8 28. f5 Kf8 29. e6 Qd8 30. f6
Nxf6 31. d6 fxe6 32. Ne5 Kg7 33. Qg3+ Ng4 34. Nxg4 hxg4 35. Qe5+ Kg8 36. Qxe6+
Kh7 37. Be4+ 1-0[/pgn]

Vladimir Kramnik vs. Jeffery Xiong. Photo: John Saunders

Jeffery Xiong finished his excellent performance tying for 3rd place with an undefeated score, including a draw with black against the 14th World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik.

[pgn][Event "Isle of Man Masters"]
[Site "Douglas ENG"]
[Date "2018.10.27"]
[Round "8.4"]
[White "Vladimir Kramnik"]
[Black "Jeffery Xiong"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B50"]
[WhiteElo "2779"]
[BlackElo "2656"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/k2n4/B2R4/6p1/1r6/3P2P1/5r2/R6K b - - 0 50"]
[PlyCount "34"]
[EventDate "2018.10.20"]{Although Xiong is down a pawn with a knight vs. a bishop in an open position,
he confidently sets up a fortress to comfortably draw:} 50... Ne5 51. Rh6 Kb8
52. Rh8+ Kc7 53. Rc1+ Kd6 54. Rh6+ Kd5 55. Rh2 Rbb2 56. Rxf2 Rxf2 57. Kg1 Rb2
58. Rf1 Kd4 59. Rf2 Rxf2 60. Kxf2 Ng4+ 61. Ke2 Ne5 62. Kf2 Ng4+ 63. Kf3 Ne5+
64. Ke2 Ng4 65. Bb7 Ne5 66. Be4 Ng4 67. Bf5 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

Hikaru Nakamura defeated Pavel Eljanov in the final round to join the tie for 3rd. He liquidated into an advantageous ending and gradually ground the position into a win.

[pgn][Event "Isle of Man Masters"]
[Site "Douglas ENG"]
[Date "2018.10.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Black "Pavel, Eljanov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5rk1/1n2qpp1/pp1bpn1p/2r5/4P2Q/1PN2NP1/P2B1P1P/2RR2K1 w - - 0 22"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2018.10.20"]
[SourceDate "2018.10.28"]22. e5 $5 Bxe5 23. Ne4 Rxc1 24. Rxc1 Bd6 $6 ({Better was} 24... Bb2 25. Rb1 Qa3
) 25. Nxf6+ Qxf6 26. Qxf6 gxf6 27. Rc6 Bc5 28. b4 Nd8 29. Rc7 Bd6 30. Rd7 Bb8
31. Bxh6 Re8 32. Be3 Nc6 33. a3 b5 34. Rb7 Rc8 35. Rb6 Ba7 36. Rxa6 Bxe3 37.
fxe3 Ne7 38. Nd4 Nd5 39. Kf2 Rc1 40. Rc6 Rh1 41. e4 Rxh2+ 42. Kf3 Ne7 43. Rc3
Ra2 44. Nxb5 f5 45. Nc7 Kf8 46. b5 Rb2 47. a4 fxe4+ 48. Kf4 Kg7 49. a5 Nd5+ 50.
Nxd5 Rxb5 51. Ne3 Rxa5 52. Rc7 Kg6 53. Nc4 Rf5+ 54. Kxe4 f6 55. Rc6 Rg5 56. Kf3
Kf7 57. Nd6+ Kg6 58. Ne4 Rf5+ 59. Kg4 Re5 60. Nc5 Kf7 61. Rc7+ Kg6 62. Nd3 f5+
63. Kf3 Re4 64. Rc6 Kf7 65. Rc7+ Kg6 66. Nc5 Re1 67. Ra7 Kf6 68. Ra6 Kf7 69.
Kf2 Re5 70. Ra7+ Kg6 71. Rc7 f4 72. gxf4 Rd5 73. Ke3 1-0[/pgn]

For more information on the Isle of Man Masters, check out our previous tactics report, "Jeffery Xiong and Hikaru Nakamura Among Leaders at IOM Masters" and visit the Official Website.