GRENKE CHESS CLASSIC 2018 ROUND 9

In the final round of the Grenke Classic either Caruana or Vitiugov can win the tournament outright. What’s more, they face each other in the final round. Meanwhile, Carlsen who has the black pieces against Anand could potentially be in a rapid / blitz tiebreak playoff for the title against either of the aforementioned players.

In both opening choice and outcome, this was a remarkably similar ending to what happened in the final round of the Berlin Candidates just two weeks ago.

Vitiugov vs Caruana 0-1

Giuoco Piano. This was a logical choice for Caruana in the final round of the Grenke Classic against one of the players that could possibly overtake him for the title. After  Carlsen made his draw versus Anand, the American GM only needed a draw to secure the title. However, just like the final round of the Berlin Candidates, Caruana had a winning position on the board out of an identical opening. Caruana pushed his advantage, collected the win to seal his “just for fun training tournament” title by a full point over Carlsen. This win also takes Caruana to second place on the rating list.

Anand vs Carlsen ½-½

Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer. In a way it is not surprising that Carlsen rolled out the Sicilian against Anand taking into account that he needs to win to have a hope of a playoff for the title. Carlsen has only lost one of his last 28 games that he has played the Sicilian – and that was against MVL in 2011. Even though Anand was surprised by the opening, the career e4 player has played the Richter-Rauzer enough times to be completely comfortable with the position.

Vachier-Lagrave vs Meier ½-½

Torre, London and Colle Systems. For MVL it was a chance to leap up the scoreboard to potentially finish tied second with Carlsen, but that was not to be.

Aronian vs Bluebaum vs ½-½

Queen’s Gambit Declined, Ragozin Defence. Matthias must have felt as if he had walked into a deep history of Armenian theory when Aronian blitzed off his moves. It must have felt daunting to be at move 21 and White had used only six of the opening 80 minutes of play.

Hou vs  Naiditsch ½-½

Giuoco Piano. When Hou played 35.Kg3 I was holding some hope that she would be able to close out the tournament with a win. However, 48.Nf8 instead of 48.Kd3 allowed Naiditch to equalize with Ke7.

Here are the games from the Grenke Classic Round 9:

Vitiugov,Nikita (2735) - Caruana,Fabiano (2784)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (9), 09.04.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.dxe5 d5 5.Nbd2 Qd7 6.Bd3 Nc5 7.Be2 g6 8.Nb3 Ne6 9.Be3 c5 10.Ng5 b6 11.Nxe6 fxe6 12.a4 Bb7 13.0–0 

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13...Nc6 14.f4 Bh6 15.a5 Ne7 16.Bg4 d4 17.Bc1 0–0 18.Qd3 Bd5 19.Qh3 Bg7 20.Nd2 Nf5 21.c4 dxc3 22.bxc3 Rad8 23.axb6 axb6 24.Re1 b5 

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25.Ne4 [25.Bf3= remains equal.] 

25...Qe7 [25...Bxe4³ 26.Rxe4 h5 27.Bxf5 Qd1+ 28.Kf2 Rxf5] 

26.Ng5 h6 27.Nf3 Bc6 28.Bxf5 gxf5 [Reject 28...exf5?! 29.Qg3=] 

29.Be3 Rd3 30.Rac1 

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30...Ra8! 31.Qh4 Qxh4 32.Nxh4 c4 33.Kf2 

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[33.Bc5µ] 

33...Bf8! 34.Nf3 Bd5 [34...Bxf3–+ has better winning chances. 35.Kxf3 Ra3] 

35.Nd4 Bc5 

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36.Nxf5 [¹36.Nc2 Ba3 37.Nxa3 Rxa3 38.Bc5 Rd2+ 39.Re2 Rxe2+ 40.Kxe2 Ra2+ 41.Ke1] 

36...Ba3! 37.Nxh6+ Kg7 38.f5 Bxc1 39.Bxc1 Rxc3 40.f6+ Kxf6 exf6 

40...Kg6–+ 0–1

Anand,Viswanathan (2776) - Carlsen,Magnus (2843)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (9), 09.04.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0–0–0 Bd7 9.f3 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Be7 B67: Sicilian: Richter-Rauzer: 7...a6 8 0–0–0 Bd7, lines without 9 f4 Be7 

11.Kb1 [11.h4 Qc7 12.Kb1 b5 13.Qd2 b4 14.Ne2 a5 15.g4 h5 16.gxh5 Nxh5 17.Nd4 Rb8 18.Bh3 g6 19.Rhg1 0–1 (54) Areshchenko,A (2652)-Demchenko,A (2645) Tbilisi 2017] 

11...b5 

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12.Bxf6N [12.g4 0–0 13.Be3 Bc6 14.h4 Nd7 15.h5 h6 16.Qd2 Rc8 17.a3 Ne5 18.Qg2 ½–½ (40) Gleichmann,M (2550)-Laghetti,G (2457) ICCF email 2015] 

12...gxf6 13.Ne2 Rc8 14.Qd2 Qb6 15.Nf4 h5 16.g3 Rc7 17.Bd3 Kd8 18.c3 Kc8 19.Bc2 Kb8 20.a3 a5 21.Bb3 Rb7 22.Nd3 Bc6 23.Rhe1 Rd8 24.f4 d5 25.exd5 exd5 26.Ka1 Bf8 27.Rc1 Ka7 28.Ba2 Rc7 29.Red1 Bb7 30.Ne1 d4 31.Nc2 d3 32.Nd4 Bc5 33.Qxd3 

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33...Bxd4! 34.cxd4 Rxd4 35.Qe2 Rxc1+ 36.Rxc1 b4 37.Bxf7 h4 38.Qe3 Rd7 39.Qxb6+ Kxb6 40.Be6 Rd2= 41.gxh4 ½–½

Aronian,Levon (2794) - Bluebaum,Matthias (2631)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (9), 09.04.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.Bb5+ Bd7 D39: Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defence with 5 Bg5 dxc4 

11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Bxd7+ Nxd7 13.0–0 Qxc3 14.Rc1 Qa5 

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15.Rb1N [15.Qb3 Rd8 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.Qxe6+ Kf8 18.Qd6+ ½–½ (30) Jobava,B (2687)-Wojtaszek,R (2745) Linares 2017] 

15...Rd8! 16.Rxb7 

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aiming for Nc6. 

16...Ne5 17.f4 Nc6 18.Nxc6 Qc5+ 19.Kh1 Qxc6 20.Qb3 

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Strongly threatening Qb4. [20.Qb1!? 0–0 21.Rxa7²] 

20...Qxe4 The position is equal. 

21.f5 0–0 22.fxe6 fxe6 23.Rxa7 Rf7„ Black puts up resistance 

24.Rxf7 [24.Qg3+ is more complex. 24...Qg6 25.Ra6 Qxg3 26.hxg3 e5 27.Rfxf6 Rxf6 28.Rxf6 e4 29.Kh2] 

24...Kxf7= Endgame KQR-KQR 

25.Qc3 Qd4 26.Qf3 Rd5 27.h3 h5 28.a4 h4 29.Qf4 Qxf4 30.Rxf4 KR-KR 

30...Rd1+ 31.Kh2 e5 32.Rxh4 f5 33.Rb4 Ra1 34.h4 Kg6 35.g4 fxg4 36.Rxg4+ Kf5 37.Rb4 e4 38.Kg2 Kf4 39.h5 Ra2+ 40.Kh3 Ra3+ 41.Kg2 Ra2+  ½–½

Vachier Lagrave,Maxime (2789) - Meier,Georg (2648)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (9), 09.04.2018

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.0–0 Be7 5.d4 b5 6.Qd3 A46: 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6: Torre, London and Colle Systems [6.Nbd2 Bb7 7.Ne5 Nbd7 8.c4 bxc4 9.Ndxc4 c5 10.Bf4 0–0 11.Rc1 Rc8 12.Qa4 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Bc6 ½–½ (33) Radjabov,T (2738)-Aronian,L (2784) Berlin 2015] 

6...0–0 

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7.Bg5N [7.Qxb5 Ba6 8.Qa5 Bxe2 9.Re1 Nc6 10.Qa4 Bxf3 11.Bxf3 Qd7 12.b3 Nb4 13.Qxd7 Nxd7 1–0 (40) Landa,K (2617)-Barbot,P (2453) Escaldes 2017] 

7...c6 8.Nbd2 a5 9.e4 Ba6 10.Rfe1 h6 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.c3 b4 13.c4 dxc4 14.Nxc4 Ra7 15.Qc2 Bxc4 16.Qxc4 Rd7 17.Rad1 Qb6 18.Bf1 Rfd8 19.e5 Be7 20.Rc1 Qa7 21.Rc2 c5 22.Rec1 cxd4 23.Qd3 a4 24.b3 axb3 25.axb3 Qa5 26.Rc8 g6 27.h4 Kg7 28.h5 gxh5 29.Be2 Rxc8 30.Rxc8 Rd8 31.Rxd8 Bxd8 32.Qe4 Nd7 33.Bd3 Nf8 34.Nxd4 Qc5 35.Nf3 Bb6 36.Qe2 Nd7 37.Kg2!= Qd5 38.Bc4 Qc5 [38...Qa5³] 

39.Bb5 Nf8 40.Bd3 Nd7 41.Bb5 Nf8 42.Bd3 Ng6 43.Qc2 Qc3 44.Be4 Bc7 [44...Nf8³] 

45.Bxg6! fxg6 46.Qe4 Qc5 47.Qh4 Bxe5= 48.Nxe5 Qxe5 49.Qe7+ Kg8 50.Qe8+ Kg7 51.Qe7+ Kg8 52.Qe8+= ½–½

Hou,Yifan (2654) - Naiditsch,Arkadij (2701)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (9), 09.04.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.0–0 h6 7.Re1 a5 C54: Giuoco Piano: 4 c3 Nf6, main lines with 5 d4 and 5 d3 [7...0–0 8.h3 a6 9.a4 Re8 10.b4 Ba7 11.Nbd2 Be6 12.Bxe6 Rxe6 13.Qc2 Qd7 14.Nf1 Ne7 15.Ng3 Ng6 16.c4 ½–½ (45) Karjakin,S (2763)-Anand,V (2776) Moscow 2018] 

8.Nbd2 0–0 9.Nf1 Be6 10.Bxe6 fxe6 

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11.Be3N [11.a4 Rf7 12.Ng3 d5 13.exd5 exd5 14.d4 exd4 15.cxd4 ½–½ (28) Rook,D (2477)-Holroyd,K (2529) ICCF email 2015] 

11...Bxe3 12.Nxe3 d5 13.h3 a4 14.Qe2 a3 15.b4 d4 16.cxd4 exd4 17.Nc2 Nh5 [17...b5=] 

18.b5 Nf4 19.Qd1 [19.Qf1² Ne7 20.g3 (20.Nfxd4 e5²) 20...Nxh3+ 21.Qxh3 Rxf3 22.Qxe6+ Kh7 23.e5] 

19...Ne5 [19...Na7= 20.Ncxd4 Qf6] 

20.Nxe5± [#] Nf3 is the strong threat. 

20...Qg5 21.Ng4 h5 22.Nxd4 Black must now prevent Nf3. 

22...hxg4 23.Qxg4 [Not 23.hxg4? Rad8–+] 

23...Qxg4 24.hxg4 Rad8 25.Nb3! Hoping for d4. 

25...Nxd3 26.Re2 b6 27.f3 Rd7 28.Rc2 Rfd8 29.Kf1 g5 30.Ke2 Rh7 

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[30...Kf7=] 

31.Rd2 [31.Nd2!±] 

31...Nf4+!= 32.Kf2 Rxd2+ 33.Nxd2 Endgame White wants to play Nc4. KRN-KRN 

33...Rh2 [33...Rd7!= remains equal. 34.Nf1 e5] 

34.Rg1± Nh3+ [34...Rh7± might work better.] 

35.Kg3+- Nxg1 36.Kxh2 KN-KN 

36...Ne2 37.Nc4 Nc3 38.Nxa3 Nxa2 39.g3 [39.Kg1+-] 

39...Nb4 [39...e5± was called for. 40.Nc4 Nc3 41.Nxe5 Nxb5] 

40.Kg2 [40.Kg1+-] 40...c6± 41.f4 [Better is 41.Kf2± ] 

41...cxb5= 42.Nxb5 Strongly threatening e5. 

42...e5 43.Kf3 Nd3 44.Ke3 Nc5 

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45.f5 [Much weaker is 45.fxg5 Kf7=; White should play 45.fxe5± Threatens to win with Kd4. 45...Kf7 46.Kd4] 

45...Kf7 46.Nc7 Nb7 [46...Kg7=] 

47.Ne6 Kf6 48.Nf8 [White should try 48.Kd3± ] 

48...Ke7! The position is equal. 

49.Nh7 b5! 50.Nxg5 b4 51.Nf3 b3 52.Nd2 Nc5 53.g5 b2 54.Nb1 Kf7 55.g6+ Kg7 56.g4 Kf6 57.Kf3 Kg7 58.g5 Nd3 59.Ke2 Nc5 60.Ke3 Na4 61.Ke2 Nc5 62.Kf3 Nd3 63.Kg4 Nf4 64.Kf3  ½–½

GRENKE CHESS CLASSIC 2018 ROUND 8

In order to stand a chance at winning the tournament, round 8 with White is a must win for Carlsen. In the final round he will be up against Anand with Black for the ninth time out of their last 10 meetings. And when Caruana and Aronian chose a threefold repetition barely out of their home preparation it opened the door for Carlsen to catch the lead.

Caruana vs Aronian ½-½

Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence. Taking the early draw seems to be the current modus operandi for Caruana when he has the tournament lead. We saw that happen twice during the Candidates in Berlin.

Naiditsch vs Anand ½-½

Giuoco Piano. This was a game that hardly generated a pulse all the way through.

Meier vs Hou ½-½

Open Catalan. A draw is all Hou needed to stay ahead of Meier at the bottom of the tournament table.

Bluebaum vs Vachier-Lagrave ½-½

Symmetrical English. MVL was pushing for a win with Black. After Bluebaum played 41.Rc2 that might have seemed a possibility. However, when MVL took the Knight on e3 the resulting position was a dead draw.

Carlsen vs Vitiugov ½-½

Ruy Lopez. The two players tied for second place duked it out for the chance to be level with Caruana heading into the final round.

Here are the games from the Grenke Classic Round 8:

Caruana,Fabiano (2784) - Aronian,Levon (2794)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (8), 08.04.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0–0 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re1 Nf5 C67: Ruy Lopez: Berlin Defence: 4 0–0 Nxe4 [10...Re8 11.Bf4 Rxe1 12.Qxe1 Ne8 13.c3 d5 14.Bd3 g6 15.Qe2 c6 16.Nd2 Ng7 17.Re1 Bf5 18.Bxf5 Nxf5 ½–½ (34) So,W (2799)-Grischuk,A (2767) Berlin 2018] 

11.d5 Re8 12.Bd3 Rxe1+ The position is equal. 

13.Qxe1 Qe7 14.Qxe7 Nxe7 

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15.d6N [15.c4 d6 16.Nc3 Bxc3 17.bxc3 Bf5 18.Be2 ½–½ (29) Teufel,J (2215)-Berezovsky,I (2375) Wuerttemberg 1999] 

15...cxd6 16.Na3 d5 17.Nb5 aiming for Nc7. 

17...d6 18.Nxd6 Nc6 19.Bf4 Be6 20.Nxb7 Nb4 21.Nc5 Bxb2 22.Rb1 Nxd3 23.cxd3 Bd4 24.Be3 Bxc5 25.Bxc5= Endgame KRB-KRB 

25...d4 26.Bxa7 Bxa2 27.Rb8+ [27.Rb2 looks sharper. 27...Be6 28.Kf1 f6 29.Rb8+ Rxb8 30.Bxb8 Kf7 31.Ba7] 

27...Rxb8 28.Bxb8 Bb1 29.Ba7 Ba2 30.Bb8 Bb1 31.Ba7 Ba2 32.Bb8  ½–½

Carlsen,Magnus (2843) - Vitiugov,Nikita (2735)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (8), 08.04.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5  7.c3 0–0 C77: Ruy Lopez: 3...a6 4 Ba4 Nf6, unusual lines 

8.0–0 Re8 9.Re1 h6 10.Nbd2 Bb6 11.Nf1 d6 12.Ng3 Be6 13.h3 Bxb3 14.axb3 

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14...d5N [14...a5 15.Nh2 ½–½ (77) Dominguez Perez,L (2719)-Karjakin,S (2723) Moscow 2009] 

15.Qe2 Bc5 16.b4 Bf8 17.Nd2 a5 18.bxa5 Rxa5 19.Rxa5 Nxa5 20.exd5 Qxd5 21.Nde4 Nxe4 22.dxe4 Qc4 23.Qf3 Qe6 24.Nf5 Nc4 25.h4 Kh7 26.h5 g6 27.Ne3 Nxe3 28.hxg6+ fxg6 29.Bxe3 Bd6 30.Qe2 Qc4 

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31.Qxc4! bxc4 32.Ra1! Rb8 33.Bc1 Rb6 34.Ra4 Rc6 35.Be3 h5 36.Kf1 Kg7 37.Ke2 Kf6 38.Kd1 Ke6 39.Kc2 Be7 40.f3 Bh4 41.Ra5 Bg3 42.Bc5 g5 43.Bb4 g4 44.fxg4 hxg4 45.Ra8 Kf7 46.Rc8 Bf4 47.Kd1 Kg7 48.Ke2 Kf7 49.Rf8+ Kg7 50.Rd8 Kf7 51.Kf2 Kg7 52.Rd7+ Kf6 53.g3 Bc1 54.Rd1 Bg5 55.Ke2 Ke6 56.Rh1 Ra6 57.Ba3 Rb6 58.Rh7 Rb7 59.Kd1 Rb8 60.Kc2 Rd8 61.Rg7 Rd2+ 62.Kc1 Bf6 63.Kxd2= Bxg7 64.Bc5 Kd7 65.Be3 ½–½

Bluebaum,Matthias (2631) - Vachier Lagrave,Maxime (2789)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (8), 08.04.2018

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 A34: Symmetrical English: 2 Nc3, lines with ...d5 

6...Qc7 [6...Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1 Nc6 8.e4 b6 9.Kc2 Bb7 10.Bf4 h6 11.Rd1 g5 12.Bg3 Bg7 13.h3 ½–½ (45) Harikrishna,P (2744)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2729) Riadh 2017] 

7.e4 Nc6 8.Qd2 e6 9.Qg5 

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9...f6N [9...h6 10.Qg3 Qxg3 11.hxg3 Bd6 12.Be3 b6 13.g4 ½–½ (42) Bluebaum,M (2640)-Tari,A (2599) Wijk aan Zee 2018] 

10.Qh5+ Qf7 11.Qxf7+ Kxf7 12.Be3 e5 13.Bc4+ Be6 14.Bxe6+ Kxe6 15.0–0–0 Be7 16.Rd5 Rhd8 17.Rhd1 b6 18.g4 Na5 19.b3 Rxd5 20.exd5+ Kf7 21.c4 [Much worse is 21.d6 Bf8³] 

21...Nb7 22.Nd2 Rh8 23.Rg1 Nd6 24.Kc2 Re8 25.Kd3 h5 Hoping for ...hxg4. 

26.g5 f5 White must now prevent ...f4. 

27.f4 e4+ 28.Ke2 g6 29.Rc1 Rc8 30.a4 Nb7 31.Nf1 Bf8 32.Bd2 Bg7 33.Ne3 a6 34.Bc3 Bd4 35.Kd2 Re8 36.Rc2 Nd6 37.Ra2 Nb7ƒ Black has good play. 

38.Rc2 Ke7 39.Ra2 Na5 40.Bxa5 [White should play 40.Rb2= ] 

40...bxa5³ 41.Rc2 [41.Ng2³] 

41...Rb8–+ 42.Rc3 h4 [42...Bxc3+–+ 43.Kxc3 Rh8] 

43.h3µ Kd6 44.Kc2 Bxe3 [44...Bxc3? 45.Kxc3 Rb7 46.Kc2–+; 44...Re8µ And now ...Rb8 would win. 45.Kd2 Bxc3+ 46.Kxc3 Re7] 

45.Rxe3  ½–½

Naiditsch,Arkadij (2701) - Anand,Viswanathan (2776)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (8), 08.04.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.Bb5 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb6 9.Nc3 0–0 10.Be3 C54: Giuoco Piano: 4 c3 Nf6, main lines with 5 d4 and 5 d3 

10...Bg4 [10...Ne7 11.0–0 c6 12.Bd3 f5 13.exf6 Nxf6 14.Qc2 Bc7 15.Ne5 Ng4 16.Bxh7+ Kh8 17.Bg5 Nxe5 18.dxe5 Bxe5 0–1 (25) Amonatov,F (2636)-Svidler,P (2765) Riadh 2017] 

11.h3 Bh5 12.Qc2 Bxf3 13.gxf3 Ng5 14.0–0–0 

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14...Nxf3N [14...Ne6 15.Ne2 Ne7 16.Kb1 f5 17.exf6 Rxf6 1–0 (35) Kravtsiv,M (2621)-Bruzon Batista,L (2659) Berlin 2015] 

15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Qf5 Nh4 17.Qg4 

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Bg5 is the strong threat. 

17...Ng6 18.f4 Qh4 [18...Qc8!³] 

19.Rd3 Qxg4 20.hxg4 f5 21.g5 Kf7 22.Rxh7 [22.Ne2 Rh8 23.Rh5 a5 24.Rd2 Nf8 25.Rc2] 

22...Rh8 The position is equal. 

23.Rxh8 Rxh8 24.a3 Nf8 25.Ne2 Ke7 26.Rc3 Kd7 27.Kd2 Ne6 28.Rc1 g6 29.b4 a5 30.Kd3 axb4 31.axb4 Ba7 32.Ra1 Bb6 33.Ra6 Rb8 34.Ra2 Rh8 35.Ra1 Ke7 36.Ra2 Kd7 37.Ra1 Ke7 38.Ra2  ½–½

Meier,Georg (2648) - Hou,Yifan (2654)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (8), 08.04.2018

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0–0 6.0–0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bg5 Bd5 11.Qc2 Be4 12.Qd1 E05: Open Catalan: 5 Nf3 Be7 

12...c5 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.Qxd8 [14.Nbd2 Bc6 15.Ne5 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Nbd7 17.Rc1 Nxe5 18.Rxc5 Ned7 19.Bxf6 Nxf6 ½–½ (59) Meier,G (2654)-Hou,Y (2676) Dortmund 2015] 

14...Rxd8 15.Nbd2 Bc6 16.Rfc1 

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16...Bb4N [16...Nbd7 17.Ne1 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 h6 19.Bxf6 Nxf6 ½–½ (31) Onischuk,A (2666)-Karjakin,S (2785) Istanbul 2012]
17.Rc4 Be7 18.Ne5 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Nbd7 20.Nd3 Rac8 21.Rac1 Nb6 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.Rxc8+ Nxc8 24.e4 Nd7 25.Be3 Nd6 26.f4 f5 27.Kf3 Kf7 28.g4 g6 29.h3 Ke8 30.Bd4 Kd8 31.Bc3 Ke8 32.Bd4 Kd8 33.Bc3 Ke8= ½–½

GRENKE CHESS CLASSIC 2018 ROUND 7

After battling through and winning the tough 14 rounds of the Candidates Tournament in Berlin, Caruana stated that the Grenke Classic tournament would be of secondary importance. The focus would be to make this a training tournament and have fun.

Well, after 7 rounds of the just training and fun super tournament the American challenger to Carlsen’s crown is in the sole lead with a +3 score.

Naiditsch vs Carlsen 0-1

Sicilian Najdorf. It is clear that Magnus has maintained his sharp wit. When he was asked after the game how it felt to be just half a point behind Caruana, the tournament leader, his reply was: “It’s actually not too different from yesterday… or this morning.”

Vachier-Lagrave vs Caruana 0-1

English Opening, Four Knights Variation. Even though it was MVL that came up the novelty on move 17, just two moves later Caruana had grabbed the initiative and turned the screws relentlessly.

Aronian vs Vitiugov vs ½-½

English Opening. The third co-leader of the tournament held a draw against Aronian to stay just a half point off the lead and level with Carlsen.

Anand vs Meier ½-½

French Defence. Black got a really dangerous knight onto d5 and Anand chose to sacrifice the exchange just to get rid of the knight. In the end Anand held the draw despite being down the exchange.

Hou vs Bluebaum ½-½

English Opening. Neither player was able to gain any sort of advantage at all and a truce was called just six moves after the time control.

Here are the games from the Grenke Classic Round 7:

Vachier Lagrave,Maxime (2789) - Caruana,Fabiano (2804)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (7), 07.04.2018

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Bb4 5.Bg2 0–0 6.0–0 e4 7.Ng5 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Re8 9.Qc2 d5 A29: English Opening: Four Knights Variation with 4 g3 [9...Qe7 10.d3 exd3 11.exd3 b6 12.Bd2 Bb7 13.Rfe1 Qa3 14.Bf4 Na5 15.Be5 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Ng4 17.d4 ½–½ (40) Ljubojevic,L (2571)-Karpov,A (2626) Platja d'Aro 2017] 

10.cxd5 Qxd5 11.d3 Bf5 The position is equal. 

12.Bf4 h6 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Qb2 b6 15.Rfd1 Qc5 16.dxe4 Bxe4 

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17.Bf1N [17.Bxe4 Rxe4 ½–½ (31) Stulrajter,M (1821)-Blasko,A (1900) Slovakia 1998] 

17...Re7 18.a4 Rae8 19.Rac1 [19.Qb5!=] 

19...g5ƒ Keeping White busy. 

20.Bd2 Qf5 21.f3 [21.c4µ] 

21...Qc5+–+ 22.Kh1 Bd5 23.Be1 

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Strongly threatening e4. 

23...Bc4 24.e4 Black must now prevent Bf2. 

24...Bxf1 25.Bf2 Qc4 26.Rxf1 Qxa4 27.c4 Ne5 28.Bd4 g4 [Resist 28...Nxc4 29.Qc3³] 

29.fxg4 Qd7 

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...Nd3 is the strong threat. [29...Nxg4 30.h3µ] 

30.Qc3 c5 [Much less strong is 30...Qxg4 31.Rf4µ] 

31.Bxe5 Rxe5 32.Qf3 Rxe4 33.Rcd1 Qe6 34.g5 [¹34.Kg1] 

34...hxg5 35.Rd5 [¹35.Qh5 Qg6 36.Qxg6+ fxg6 37.Rd6] 

35...g4 36.Qc3 Re5  0–1

Naiditsch,Arkadij (2701) - Carlsen,Magnus (2843)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (7), 07.04.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Bg2 0–0 9.0–0 Be6 10.Re1 B91: Sicilian Najdorf: 6 g3 

10...Nbd7 11.Nd2 b5 12.Nf1 

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12...Bg4N [12...Nb6 13.Ne3 b4 14.Ncd5 Nfxd5 15.exd5 Bd7 16.Bd2 a5 17.a3 bxa3 18.Rxa3 0–1 (46) Balogh,C (2648)-Wojtaszek,R (2715) Budapest 2014] 

13.f3 Be6 14.Ne3 Rc8 15.a3 Nb6 16.f4 Re8 17.Kh1 [17.f5!? Bd7 18.Kh1=] 

17...Bf8 [Black should play 17...exf4µ 18.gxf4 Bf8] 

18.f5 Bd7 19.Qd3 h6 20.b3 Bc6 21.Bd2 Qc7 22.Rac1 Qb7 23.Ned5 Bxd5 24.exd5 Nbd7 25.Nd1 e4 [25...Be7³] 

26.Qd4 Ne5 [Weaker is 26...Nxd5 27.Rxe4 N7f6 28.Rxe8+-] 

27.Nf2 [27.Nc3=] 

27...Nf3 [Don't play 27...Qxd5?! 28.Qxd5 Nxd5 29.Nxe4= (29.Bxe4 Nf6=) ] 

28.Bxf3 exf3 29.c4 bxc4 30.bxc4 

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30...Re5! 31.Re3 Rxe3 32.Qxe3 Qb2 33.Nd3 Qxa3 34.Qxf3 Qa2 35.Bc3 Rxc4 36.Ra1 Qb3 37.Bxf6! gxf6 38.Kg2 Rc3 39.Rd1? 

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[39.Qg4+ Kh7 40.Nf2] 

39...h5! 40.Kh3 Bh6 41.Re1? [41.Qxh5 Rxd3 42.Rxd3 Qxd3 43.Qxh6] 

41...Rxd3 42.Qxh5 Re3–+ 0–1

Aronian,Levon (2767) - Vitiugov,Nikita (2735)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (7), 07.04.2018

1.c4 c6 2.g3 d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.0–0 Nbd7 6.Na3 Nb6 7.Qc2 g6 A11: English Opening: 1...c6 [7...Be6 8.Ng5 Bg4 9.Nxc4 Bxe2 10.Ne5 Bh5 11.b4 e6 12.b5 Bd6 13.Bb2 Bxe5 14.Bxe5 Bg6 15.Qb3 ½–½ (25) Nepomniachtchi,I (2751)-Karjakin,S (2763) Moscow 2018] 

8.Nxc4 Nxc4 9.Qxc4 Bg7 10.d3 0–0 11.Bd2 Nd5 12.Qc1 

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12...a5N [12...Qb6 13.Rb1 Rd8 14.b4 Qa6 15.Qc2 ½–½ (34) Mondry,M (2229)-Tripp,G (1999) ICCF email 2016] 

13.Bh6 Bg4 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.Ne5 Be6 16.d4 Nf6 17.Rd1 Qb6 18.e4 Rfd8 19.Qc3 Kg8 20.Rd3 Rd6 21.Rad1 Rad8 [Black should try 21...Bxa2³ 22.b3 a4] 

22.b3² Qb4 23.Qa1 a4 24.h3 axb3 

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aiming for ...b2.The position is equal. 

25.axb3 Nd7 26.Nxd7 R6xd7 27.d5 cxd5 28.exd5 Bf5 29.Re3 Be6 30.Rde1 [30.Qe5 Qd6 31.Qb2 Rc7 32.Ree1 Bf5 33.Rc1] 

30...Bxd5 31.Bxd5 Rxd5 32.Rxe7 Qxe7 [32...Rd1 33.Rxd1 Qxe7 34.Rxd8+ Qxd8 35.Qc3 b5] 

33.Rxe7 Rd1+ 34.Qxd1! Rxd1+= Endgame KR-KR 

35.Kg2 b6 36.Kf3 Rd3+ 37.Re3 Rd2 38.Re4 Rd3+ 39.Re3 Rd2 40.Re4 Rd3+  ½–½

Anand,Viswanathan (2776) - Meier,Georg (2636)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (7), 07.04.2018

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.g3 Be7 6.Nf3 Ngf6 C10: French with 3 Nc3: Unusual Black 3rd moves and 3...dxe4 

7.Qe2 [7.Nxf6+ Bxf6 8.Bg2 0–0 9.0–0 e5 10.Be3 c6 11.a4 exd4 12.Bxd4 a5 13.Re1 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 Nf6 15.Qc5 Re8 16.Nd4 ½–½ (39) Short,N (2510)-Seirawan,Y (2510) Thessaloniki 1988] 

7...Nxe4 8.Qxe4 

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8...Rb8N [8...Nf6 9.Qe2 b6 10.Bg2 Bb7 11.c3 0–0 12.0–0 Qc8 13.Re1 c5 14.Be3 c4 15.Ng5 ½–½ (15) Rigo,J (2340)-Somlai,L (2360) Hungary 1994] 

9.Bg2 b5 10.0–0 0–0 11.Rd1 Bb7 12.Qe2 Nf6 13.c3 a6 14.a4 Bd5 15.Ne5 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Qd5+ 17.Qf3 Qxf3+ 18.Kxf3 Bd6 19.axb5 axb5 20.Bg5 Bxe5! 21.dxe5 Nd5 22.Ra6 c5 23.Be3 Rfc8 24.Rda1 h5 25.Ra7 c4 26.Rd7 b4 27.Bd4 bxc3 28.bxc3 Rb3 29.Rxd5 exd5 30.Kf4 Rbb8 31.Kg5 Ra8 32.Re1 Rc6 33.f4 [33.h3=] 

33...Ra2 34.h3 Rd2 [34...Rg6+µ 35.Kh4 Rg2] 

35.f5 Rd3 36.Kf4 h4 37.e6 [37.gxh4= keeps the balance. 37...Rxh3 38.Kg4] 

37...Kf8 38.gxh4 fxe6 [Of course not 38...Rxh3?! 39.Kg4=] 

39.Ra1 exf5 40.Kxf5 Rxh3 41.Ra8+ Ke7 42.Ra7+ Ke8 43.Ke5 

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43...Rxh4 [43...Kf8µ 44.Kxd5 Rg6 45.Ra8+ Kf7 46.Ra7+ Kg8 47.Ra8+ Kh7 48.Kxc4 Rgg3] 

44.Kxd5 Rg6 45.Bxg7= ½–½

Hou,Yifan (2657) - Bluebaum,Matthias (2616)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (7), 07.04.2018

1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.b3 Be7 5.Bb2 0–0 6.Nc3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qc2 A13: English Opening: 1...e6 [8.Nxd5 exd5 9.d4 Qa5+ 10.Qd2 Qxd2+ 11.Kxd2 Nc6 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.Bb5 Bb4+ 14.Ke2 Be6 15.Rac1 Rac8 1–0 (55) Carlsen,M (2834)-Giri,A (2752) Wijk aan Zee 2018] 

8...Nb4 9.Qb1 b6 10.a3 Nd5 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.d4 Nc6 

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13.Bb5N [13.Bd3 h6 14.0–0 Bg4 ½–½ (14) Tazelaar,H (2373)-Krimbacher,W (2333) ICCF email 2017] 

13...Bd7 14.0–0 Nxd4 15.Nxd4 cxd4 16.Bxd7 Qxd7 17.Bxd4 Rfc8 18.Rd1 Rc6 19.Qb2 Qf5 20.Qe2 Rc2 21.Qf3 Qxf3 22.gxf3 Bh4 23.e4 dxe4 24.fxe4 Bg5 25.a4 Bd2 26.Rab1 Rac8 27.Rb2 Rxb2 28.Bxb2 Rc2 29.Bd4 f6 30.Kg2 Kf7 31.Kf3 Ke6 32.h3 h5 33.Ke2 Bf4+ 34.Kf3 Bd2 35.Ke2 Bf4+ 36.Kf3 g5 37.Rd3 Bd2 38.Ke2 Bf4+ 39.Kf3 Be5 40.Be3 Rb2 41.a5 bxa5 42.Bxa7 f5 43.exf5+ Kxf5 44.Kg2 g4 45.hxg4+ hxg4 46.Rd5 Rxb3= ½–½