WORLD CHESS CANDIDATES 2018 BERLIN – ROUND 12

What a massive round. Even though just 2 games decisive, there was a massive shake up at the top leader board. Going into Round 12 it looked as if the final rounds would be to see if Caruana and Mamedyarov could maintain composure.

We head into the final rest day and any one of the 5 players could potentially win the tournament in the final 2 rounds.

Karjakin leads – but in a way I hope that he does not become the challenger. Two years ago in New York it was as if only Carlsen was trying to win the match. The round 14 game between Karjakin and Ding could well decide who Carlsen’s next challenger will be.

Mamedyarov vs Ding was the first to finish. It was a Queens Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch. Ding’s victory not only ends his 11 in a row draw streak, it also puts him level with Mamedyarov on 6.5 from 12 games.

The second game of the day was a Closed Ruy Lopez between Grischuk and Aronian. Grischul held an advantage for a while till his time got tight again and Aronian managed to equalize. The draw should give the Armenian GM some psychological recovery from the losses over the past two days.

Then was Karjakin vs Caruana, a Petroff. This is logical choice for Caruana with black against e4. At first it seemed to be working, until it wasn’t. The win puts Karjakin ahead of Caruana on tie break.

The final game was a Queens Gambit Declined: Semi-Slav between Kramnik and So. With both players fairly tight on time, a draw was agreed just after the time control.

Here are the games from round 12:

Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar (2809) - Ding,Liren (2769)

World Chess Candidates 2018 Berlin (12), 24.03.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 [Much worse is 10.Nxd2 Qxd4 11.Rb1 0–0³] 

10...0–0 11.Bc4 Nd7 12.0–0 b6 13.Rad1 Bb7 14.Rfe1 Rc8 D41: Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch with 5 cxd5 

15.Bb3 Re8 16.h3 [16.Re3 Nf6 17.Qd3 b5 18.d5 exd5 19.e5 Ne4 20.Qxb5 Qb6 21.Qxb6 axb6 22.h4 ½–½ (35) So,W (2788)-Dominguez Perez,L (2739) Saint Louis 2017] 

16...Nf6 17.Qf4 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+rwqr+k+(
7zpl+-+pzpp'
6-zp-+psn-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-zPPwQ-+$
3+L+-+N+P#
2P+-+-zPP+"
1+-+RtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy

17...Nh5N [17...Qc7 18.Qh4 h6 19.Re3 b5 20.Ne5 a5 21.a4 bxa4 22.Bxa4 ½–½ (49) Epishin,V (2574)-Del Rio de Angelis,S (2489) Calvia 2005] 

18.Qh2 h6 19.Ne5 Nf6 20.Qf4 b5 21.Re3 Rc7 22.Nd3 [22.d5!? exd5 23.exd5±] 

22...Rc3 23.Nc5 Rxe3! 24.Qxe3 Bc6 25.Rc1 Qb6 26.f3 Rd8 27.Kf2 a5 28.g4 a4 29.Bc2 Nd7 30.Bd3 Nxc5 31.Rxc5 b4 32.Bc4 Bd7 33.g5 [¹33.e5] 

33...hxg5 34.Qxg5 Be8 [But not 34...b3 35.axb3 a3 36.Qd2=] 

35.Qe7 b3 36.axb3 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-trl+k+(
7+-+-wQpzp-'
6-wq-+p+-+&
5+-tR-+-+-%
4p+LzPP+-+$
3+P+-+P+P#
2-+-+-mK-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

36...a3! 37.b4 Ra8 38.d5 a2 39.dxe6 [¹39.Bxa2 Rxa2+ 40.Kg3 Qxb4 41.dxe6 (41.Qxe8+? Kh7–+) 41...Qe1+ 42.Kf4 Qd2+ 43.Kg4 Qg2+ 44.Kh4 Qf2+ 45.Kg4 Qg2+ 46.Kh4 Qf2+ 47.Kg4] 

39...a1Q 40.exf7+ 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+l+k+(
7+-+-wQPzp-'
6-wq-+-+-+&
5+-tR-+-+-%
4-zPL+P+-+$
3+-+-+P+P#
2-+-+-mK-+"
1wq-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

40...Bxf7! 41.Bxf7+ Kh7 42.Qh4+ Qh6 43.Rh5 Qa7+ 0–1

Grischuk,Alexander (2767) - Aronian,Levon (2794)

World Chess Candidates 2018 Berlin (12), 24.03.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.d3 d6 9.Bd2 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-trk+(
7+-zp-vlpzpp'
6p+nzp-sn-+&
5+p+-zp-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+L+P+N+-#
2PzPPvL-zPPzP"
1tRN+QtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy

C88: Closed Ruy Lopez: Anti-Marshall Systems [9.c3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.h3 Re8 12.d4 Nd7 13.d5 Bf8 14.Nbd2 g6 15.Nf1 Bg7 16.g4 c4 17.Ng3 Nb7 18.Be3 Ndc5 19.b4 1–0 (47) Alekseev,E (2616)-Kovalev,V (2639) Tallinn 2018] 

9...Kh8N [9...Bg4 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Nd4 12.Qd1 a5 13.c3 Nxb3 14.axb3 Nd7 0–1 (40) Calzetta Ruiz,M (2317)-Atalik,E (2393) Turin 2006] 

10.h3 Nd7 11.Nc3 Na5 12.Nd5 Nxb3 13.axb3 Bb7 14.c4 f5 15.Ba5 Rc8 16.Rc1 bxc4 17.bxc4 fxe4 18.dxe4 Nc5 19.Bc3 Qe8 20.b4 Ne6 21.Bd2 c6 22.Nxe7 Qxe7 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+-tr-mk(
7+l+-wq-zpp'
6p+pzpn+-+&
5+-+-zp-+-%
4-zPP+P+-+$
3+-+-+N+P#
2-+-vL-zPP+"
1+-tRQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy

23.Be3 [White should try 23.c5!± ] 

23...c5 24.bxc5 Nxc5 25.Bxc5 Rxc5 26.Nd2 Bc8 27.Nf1 Be6 28.Ne3 Rc6 29.Qa4 Rfc8 30.Rb1 h6 31.Rb8 Rxc4 32.Rxc8+ Rxc8 33.Qxa6 Qc7 34.Rd1 Rd8 35.Qd3 Qc5 36.Kh2 Qc7 37.Kg1 Qc5 38.Rd2 Qc7 39.Qa3 Qe7 40.Rd1 Kh7 41.Qb4 Qc7 42.Rd3 Kg8 43.Qd2 Qe7 44.Kh2 Qf8 45.Kg1 Qe7 46.Qd1 Kh7 47.Rd2 Qf8 48.Rd3 Qe7 49.Rd2 Qf8 50.Nf1 Rd7 51.Ng3 Qb8 52.Kh2 Qf8 53.Kg1 Qb8 54.Kh2 Qf8= ½–½

Karjakin,Sergey (2763) - Caruana,Fabiano (2784)

World Chess Candidates 2018 Berlin (12), 24.03.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Nc6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qd2 Be6 9.0–0–0 C42: Petroff Defence: 3 Nxe5 and unusual White 3rd moves 

9...Qd7 [Avoid the trap 9...Bxa2? 10.b3+-; 9...a6 10.b3 h6 11.Be2 Qd7 12.Kb1 Bf6 13.Nd4 Nxd4 14.Bxd4 Bxd4 15.Qxd4 0–0 16.c4 Rfe8 17.Bf3 Rab8 1–0 (41) Anand,V (2776)-Mamedyarov,S (2809) Moscow 2018] 

10.a3 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+k+-tr(
7zppzpqvlpzpp'
6-+nzpl+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3zP-zP-vLN+-#
2-zPPwQ-zPPzP"
1+-mKR+L+R!
xabcdefghy

10...h6 11.Nd4N [11.Kb1 Rg8 12.Bd3 0–0–0 13.Qe2 Bf6 14.Bb5 Kb8 15.Rhe1 g5 16.Nd2 Bh8 ½–½ (71) Kasimdzhanov,R (2698)-Li,D (2488) Chengdu 2017] 

11...Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Rg8 13.Be2 c5 14.Be3 d5 15.f4 0–0–0 16.Bf3 Bg4 17.Bxd5 Bxd1 18.Rxd1 Qc7 19.c4 Rge8 20.Qf2 b6 21.g4 Bf6 22.Kb1 Rd7 23.Rd3 g5 24.Ka2 Ree7 25.Qf3 Kd8 26.Bd2 Kc8 27.Qf1 Rd6 [27...Qb8±] 

28.fxg5 Bxg5 [28...hxg5+- 29.Rf3 Qd8] 

29.Bxg5 hxg5 30.Qf5+ Rdd7 31.Qxg5 Qe5 32.Qh6 Kd8 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-mk-+-+(
7zp-+rtrp+-'
6-zp-+-+-wQ&
5+-zpLwq-+-%
4-+P+-+P+$
3zP-+R+-+-#
2KzPP+-+-zP"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

[32...f6 keeps fighting. 33.h4 Rd6] 

33.g5! Qd6 34.Qh8+ Re8 35.Qh4 Qg6 36.Qg4 Re5 37.h4 Ke7 38.Rd2 [Not 38.Bxf7 Qf5+-] 

38...b5 39.Bxf7 Qf5 40.Rxd7+ Kxd7 41.Qxf5+ Rxf5 42.g6 Ke7 43.cxb5 Rh5 44.c4 Rxh4 45.a4 Rg4 46.a5 Kd6 47.a6 Kc7+- 48.Kb3 1–0

Kramnik,Vladimir (2800) - So,Wesley (2799)

World Chess Candidates 2018 Berlin (12), 24.03.2018

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 c6 6.e3 Bf5 7.g4 Be6 

XABCDEFGHY
8rsn-wqk+ntr(
7zpp+-vlpzpp'
6-+p+l+-+&
5+-+p+-+-%
4-+-zP-vLP+$
3+-sN-zP-+-#
2PzP-+-zP-zP"
1tR-+QmKLsNR!
xabcdefghy

8.Qb3N D31: Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Slav without ...Nf6 (+ Marshall Gambit and Noteboom) and Exchange Variation lines without ...Nf6 [8.h4 Bxh4 9.Qb3 g5 10.Be5 f6 11.Bh2 Bxg4 12.Qxb7 Qe7 13.Qxe7+ Nxe7 14.Be2 Bxe2 15.Kxe2 Nd7 16.Nf3 0–1 (47) Giri,A (2785)-So,W (2815) chess.com INT 2017] 

8...Qb6 9.f3 g5 10.Be5 f6 11.Bg3 Qxb3 12.axb3 h5 13.gxh5 Rxh5 14.Bd3 Kf7 15.h4 f5 16.Nh3 f4 17.exf4 Bxh3 [17...gxh4² 18.Ng5+ Rxg5 19.fxg5 hxg3] 

18.fxg5 [Much worse is 18.hxg5?! Bd6=] 

18...Bd7 [Not 18...Bg2? 19.Rh2+-] 

19.Kf2 Na6 20.Bxa6 bxa6 21.Ne2 Bd8 22.Be5 Ne7 23.Nf4 [Worse is 23.Rxa6 Ng6µ] 

23...Rh7 24.h5 Kg8 25.Rag1 Nf5 26.h6 Be8 27.g6 Rxh6 28.Rxh6 Nxh6 29.Rh1 Bg5 30.Ne6 Bxg6 31.Nxg5 Nf7 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+k+(
7zp-+-+n+-'
6p+p+-+l+&
5+-+pvL-sN-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+P+-+P+-#
2-zP-+-mK-+"
1+-+-+-+R!
xabcdefghy

32.Ne6 [White should play 32.f4± ] 

32...Nxe5 33.dxe5 Re8 34.Nf4 Bc2! 35.Rg1+ Kf7 36.e6+ Kf6 37.Nh5+ Ke5 38.f4+ Kd6 39.Ng7 Rf8 40.Ke3 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-tr-+(
7zp-+-+-sN-'
6p+pmkP+-+&
5+-+p+-+-%
4-+-+-zP-+$
3+P+-mK-+-#
2-zPl+-+-+"
1+-+-+-tR-!
xabcdefghy

40...d4+! 41.Kf3 Ke7 42.b4 Kf6= ½–½