Ly bags GM

Speaking of converting in the ending, IM Moulthun Ly had a very good win in the 5th round of the Gibraltar Masters, beating Indian GM SS Ganguly. Despite playing Black (and the Sicilian), Ly built up a strong kingside attack, before reaching a rook ending a pawn up. Ly then showed good technique to convert the position, as rook endings are difficult things to play, especially if all you have left are rook pawns.  The final moves of the game are well worth studying, as it shows the winning idea if you have a rrok pawn block by your own king on the 8th rank.
The win by Ly has him on 4/5 with a performance rating well over the 2600 level required for a GM norm.


Ganguly,Surya Shekhar (2660) - Ly,Moulthun (2474) [A00]
Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2016 Gibraltar (5.17), 30.01.2016

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qf3 d6 8. Be2 Nf6 9. O-O Be7 10. Qg3 O-O 11. f4 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. a3 Bb7 14. Rad1 Rad8 15. Bf3 Kh8 16. Rfe1 Rg8 17. Kh1 Nd7 18. Bh5 Rdf8 19. e5 dxe5 20. fxe5 Bc5 21. Qe3 Bxd4 22. Rxd4 f6 23. exf6 gxf6 24. Bf3 Bxf3 25. Qxf3 Ne5 26. Qh3 f5 27. Qh4 Qg7 28. Qg3 Ng4 29. Rd6 f4 30. Qf3 Ne5 31. Qe4 Nc4 32. Rd4 f3 33. g3 Nxb2 34. Nd1 Nc4 35. Rd3 f2 36. Rf1 Ne5 37. Rd6 Ng4 38. Rxe6 Nxh2 39. Rxf2 Nf1 40. Qe5 Nxg3+ 41. Kh2 Qxe5 42. Rxe5 Rd8 43. Re3 Rxd1 44. Rxg3 Rh1+ 45. Kxh1 Rxg3 46. a4 bxa4 47. Rf4 Rg6 48. Rxa4 Kg7 49. Kh2 Kf7 50. Rh4 h6 51. Ra4 Ke7 52. Kh3 Kd7 53. Kh4 Kc7 54. Kh5 Rf6 55. Kg4 Kb6 56. c4 Kc5 57. Kh5 Kd4 58. Kg4 Kc3 59. c5 Rc6 60. Kf3 Kb3 61. Rd4 Rxc5 62. Rd6 a5 63. Rxh6 Re5 64. Rb6+ Ka3 65. Rb8 a4 66. Kf2 Ka2 67. Rb4 a3 68. Rb8 Ka1 69. Rb3 a2 70. Rb6 Rh5 71. Ke2 Rh1 72. Kd3 Rb1 73. Rg6 Kb2 74. Rb6+ Kc1 75. Rc6+ Kd1 76. Rg6 Ke1 77. Kd4 0-1