TRADEWISE GIBRALTAR MASTERS 2018 – ROUND 4

And then there was one. Day 4 in Gibraltar thinned the group with a perfect 4 points from 4 games down to just Nakamura.

Vachier-Lagrave and Howell both won their games to stay within half a point of the lead. Aronian made a second draw to slip back to a full point behind..

Here are some decisive games from round 4:

Nakamura,Hikaru (2781) - Grandelius,Nils (2647)

Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2018 Caleta (4), 26.01.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.Qd2 b4 B80: Sicilian Scheveningen: 6 g3 and 6 Be3, including English Attack [8...Nbd7 9.g4 h6 10.0–0–0 b4 11.Na4 Ne5 12.Kb1 Bd7 13.b3 Bxa4 14.bxa4 Qc7 15.Be2 Be7 16.h4 Nc4 17.Bxc4 Qxc4 18.Qd3 1–0 (49) Caruana,F (2802)-Hou,Y (2652) chess.com INT 2017] 

9.Na4 Nbd7 10.0–0–0 Qa5 The position is equal. 

11.b3 Bb7 12.a3 Qc7! 13.axb4 d5 14.Bf2 Bd6N [14...dxe4 15.Bg3 Qc8 16.Bc4 1–0 (32) Yoo,C (2242)-Preotu,R (2501) Calgary 2017] 

15.exd5 Nxd5  aiming for ...Bf4. 

16.Bg3! Rc8 17.c4 Bxb4 18.Qg5 [Resist 18.Bxc7?! Bxd2+ 19.Rxd2 (19.Kxd2 Nxc7 20.Bd3 a5=) 19...Rxc7²] 

18...Qa5 19.Qxg7 Rf8 White must now prevent ...Ba3+. 

20.Nc2 Bc6 21.Qa1! [Weaker is 21.Qxh7 Bxa4 22.bxa4 Qxa4µ] 

21...Nc5? [21...N7b6± keeps fighting.] 

22.Nxc5+- And now Qxa5 would win. 

22...Qxa1+ 23.Nxa1 Ba3+ 24.Kd2 Bb4+ 25.Kd3 Nc3 26.Nxa6 Rd8+ 27.Kc2 Rxd1 28.Nxb4 White is clearly winning. 

28...Rxa1 29.Kxc3 Kd7 30.Nc2 Rb1 31.Ne1 Ra8 32.Bd3 Rc1+ 33.Kd2 Raa1 34.Be5 Rd1+ 35.Ke2 Rac1 36.Bb2  1–0

Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime (2793) - Batsiashvili,Nino (2504)

Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2018 Caleta (4), 26.01.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.c3 Bd7 6.d4 g6 7.Bg5 f6 8.Be3 Nh6 9.Bb3 C76: Ruy Lopez: Deferred Steinitz: 5 c3 Bd7 6 d4 g6 [9.h3 Nf7 10.dxe5 Ncxe5 11.Bb3 Nxf3+ 12.Qxf3 Bg7 13.Nd2 a5 14.a4 Qe7 15.0–0 0–0 16.Rae1 Kh8 17.Qd1 b5 18.Qc2 f5 19.Bd4 f4 20.Bxf7 Rxf7 21.Nf3 c5 22.Bxg7+ Rxg7 23.e5 1/2–1/2 (23) Ter Sahakyan,S (2577)-Short,N (2688) Abu Dhabi 2017] 

9...Bg7 10.a4 Qe7 11.0–0 White has an edge. 

11...Nd8N [11...Nf7 12.Nbd2 0–0 13.Bd5 Kh8 14.b4 Ncd8 15.Re1 Rb8 16.Bb3 Ne6 17.Nc4 f5 18.exf5 gxf5 19.dxe5 dxe5 0–1 (46) Habu,Y (2404)-Malaniuk,V (2545) Krakow 2013] 

12.c4 Ng4 13.Bc1 exd4 aiming for ...c5. 

14.Nxd4 Nc6 White should prevent ...Nxd4. 

15.Nc3! Qe5 16.Nf3 Qh5 17.c5! Qxc5 [17...Nge5±; 17...dxc5 18.Nd5] 

18.Nd5 Ne7 19.h3 [¹19.Nf4] 

19...Nxd5± 20.Bxd5 [20.hxg4 Ne7=] 

20...c6 21.b4ƒ White is more active. 

21...Qb6? [21...Qc3!² 22.Bd2 Qd3] 

22.Bb3+- Ne5 [¹22...h5 23.Qxd6 (23.hxg4 hxg4 24.Nh2 g3±) 23...Bf8] 

23.Nxe5! [Stronger than 23.Qxd6 Nxf3+ 24.gxf3 Bxh3=] 

23...fxe5 [Not 23...dxe5 24.Bf7+! Kd8 25.Qb3+-] 

24.Qxd6 Hoping for Bg5. 

24...Qd4? [24...Qd8 25.Rd1 Rf8] 25.Qc7! White is clearly winning. [Less strong is 25.Rd1 Qxd6 26.Rxd6 Bf8±] 

25...Rf8 26.Bg5 Bf6 27.Bxf6 Rxf6 28.Rad1  1–0

Short,Nigel D (2681) - Cawdery,Daniel (2446)

Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2018 Caleta (4), 26.01.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 Bg7 5.h4 [5.Nb5 Na6 6.h3 c6 7.Nc3 Qb6 8.Rb1 0–0 9.Bd3 Nb4 10.Nf3 Nxd3+ 11.cxd3 1/2–1/2 (26) Rapport,R (2707)-Grischuk,A (2772) Riadh 2017] 

5...0–0 6.h5 A45: Trompowsky Attack 

6...c5 7.hxg6 hxg6 8.Qd2 The position is equal. 

8...Nc6 9.Nge2 Re8N [9...b5=; 9...b5 10.f3 b4 11.Na4 cxd4 12.exd4 1–0 (25) Kleinert,S (2525)-Class,W (2448) Remote email 2013] 

10.0–0–0 b5 11.Nxb5 aiming for Nec3. 

11...e5 12.Bg5 Rb8 13.Nbc3 Bf5 [Much worse is 13...Qb6?! 14.Na4±; 13...cxd4!³ 14.exd4 Qb6] 

14.dxc5²  Threatens to win with Bxf6. 

14...Qa5 And now ...Qb4 would win. 

15.Bxf6! Qb4 16.Na4 [White should play 16.b3± Bxf6 17.Kb1 (17.Nxd5 Qa3+ 18.Kb1 Rxb3+ 19.axb3 Qxb3+ 20.Kc1 Qa3+ 21.Kb1 Rb8+ 22.Nb6 axb6–+) ] 

16...Qxa4 17.Bxg7 [17.Nc3² Qb4  18.Bb5! Bxf6 19.Nxd5 Qxd2+ 20.Rxd2] 

17...Rxb2? [17...Qxa2= 18.Qc3 (18.Qxd5? Qxb2+ 19.Kd2 Red8–+) 18...Kxg7] 

18.Kxb2+- White is clearly winning. 

18...Rb8+ 19.Ka1 White threatens Bf6 and mate. 

19...Kxg7 20.Nc3 Qa3 21.Rb1  1–0