Canadian Chess Newsletter - Profile - Canadian - Issue #7

Published and copyright 2009 by David Cohen.
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Profile - Canadian

Thomas Roussel-Roozmon

Written by David Cohen

Thomas Roussel-Roozmon

International Master Thomas Roussel-Roozmon, from Montreal, Quebec, is a student in Economics at the University of Montreal. Accomplishments in 2008 include: 3rd place at the 6th International Nancy Festival, France; 1st place at the First Saturday Grand Master March tournament in Budapest, Hungary; and 4th place, Victor Ciocaltea Memorial, Bucharest, Romania. In November, Roussel-Roozmon represented Canada on Board 4 at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany.

Career highlights

2008 Represented Canada at Olympiad
2008 1st place, First Saturday Grand Master March, Budapest, Hungary
2007 Grandmaster Norm at Quebec Open
2007 2nd place, Quebec Open Championship
2006 Represented Canada at Olympiad
2004 Awarded International Master title
2003 Canadian Grade 10 Champion
2002 Canadian Grade 9 Champion
2000 Represented Canada at World Under-12 Championship (9th place)
2000 Canadian Under-12 Champion
2000 Canadian Grade 7 Champion

Here is Roussel-Roozmon's last round win from the Grandmaster Norm tournament where he was undefeated:

Iweta Rajlich - Thomas Roussel-Roozmon
First Saturday Grand Master March, Budapest, Hungary, 2008.03.14, Round 13

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 Ne4 5. Qb3 c5 6. a3

First tried in 2003, a departure from the usual 6. Nd2 Kostic-Maroczy, 1922.

6... Qa5 7. Be3

Varying from 7. Bd2. A novelty already, and lost already.

Diagram 1

7... Nxc3 8. Rc1 Na2+ 9. axb4 Nxc1 10. Bxc1 Qxb4+ 11. Qxb4 cxb4

Having won a pawn, Roussel-Roozmon does what he does best: convert a better middlegame into a won endgame.

12. Bf4 d5 13. e3 Nc6 14. c5 Bd7 15. Bd6 f6 16. Kd2 Kf7 17. Bb5 Rhd8 18. Ra1 b6 19. Ba6 Na5 20. Kc2 Bc8 21. Bb5 Bb7

Diagram 2

White tries for complications.

22. Rxa5 Rxd6 23. cxd6 bxa5 24. Kd3 Rd8 25. d7 Ke7 26. Nd2 Kd6 27. Nb3 Bc6 28. Ba6 a4 29. Nc5 Ke7 30. Bc8 Bxd7 31. Bxd7 Rxd7 32. Nxa4 Rc7 33. Nc5

Diagram 3

Black takes the simplest route to victory: a won pawn ending.

33... Rxc5 34. dxc5 e5 35. e4 d4 36. Kc4 a5 37. Kb5 ?

It was necessary for White's king to remain within the square of P/d4 to prevent it from promoting. Even so, being tied down in this fashion, White would eventually fall into zugzwang. White would lose the P/c5, then Black would create another, outside passed pawn on the b-file.

37... d3

Nothing can stop it from promoting.

0-1

Acknowledgements

Thanks to: Thomas Roussel-Roozmon (biography, photo), Bob Armstrong.

Sources: Scarborough Community of Toronto Chess News & Views, Volume 10, No. 7, 2008.12.01; 2008 Olympiad web page on the web site of the Chess Federation of Canada; The Week in Chess #697.