WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ROUND 11 – ESIPENKO vs MAGHSOODLOO

The style of analysis in today’s game is the same as that used in my new book: Hidden Lessons From The 2018 Batumi Chess Olympiad.

The  winner of the 2018 edition of the World Junior Championship was the phenomenally talented Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran. He won in spite of losing his final round game, his only loss of the tournament. He finished with nine wins, one draw and one loss for a tournament performance well in excess of 2800.

 Winning this tournament is a massive opportunity as it is a direct seeded slot into the 2019 World Cup, which in turn is a gateway to the next Candidates cycle. In addition it opens the door to invitations to the lucrative super tournament circuit.

He has already accepted an invitation to the Challenger tournament at Tata Steel 2019.

It might seem strange to many, but when I look at chess players I always take a close look at the physical condition of the player. This comes from my background in the health and fitness industry.

Physical fitness is a vital ingredient on the classical tournament circuit where it is possible to have consecutive days at the chess board of seven hours or longer. As chess players we know how physically draining long tournament games can be.

Remember how Peter Svidler lost a lot of weight before the Candidates in 2013? It made a huge difference to his performance over the final two rounds when tension was at an extreme level.

It is clear that Parham does not rate working on his fitness highly at all. During an interview Parham indicated that he works at least ten hours every day on his chess. From my perspective, if he took just 30 minutes a day from that schedule for physical training he would be able to absorb so much more during his study sessions.

Aspirant higher level players all realize that having a coach is an important step to improvement. It is just as important to have a coach or personal trainer for the physical aspect of your chess training as well.

Today’s game features a Queens Gambit Declined that includes some Q&A style annotations.

While playing through the game, scroll slowly so that when you get to the questions you can put some time on the clock (ten to fifteen minutes) and try and find the solution.

Esipenko,Andrey (2593) - Maghsoodloo,Parham (2649)

World Junior U20 Open 2018 Gebze (11.1), 15.09.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 a6 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Qb3 D37: Queen's Gambit Declined: 5 Bf4 
6...b5 7.Bg5 next Bxf6 is good for White. 
7...Be6 8.Qc2 The position is equal. 
8...Nbd7 9.e3 c5 10.dxc5 

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10...Nxc5N [10...Bxc5 11.Bd3 h6 12.Bh4 Rc8 13.0–0 0–0 1/2–1/2 (39) Gelfand,B (2728)-Mamedyarov,S (2800) Geneva 2017] 
11.Bd3 Rc8 12.0–0 h6 13.Bh4 Be7 14.Nd4 0–0 15.Qd1 Nfd7 16.Bxe7 Qxe7 17.Nce2 Nxd3 18.Qxd3 Ne5 19.Qd1 Bg4 20.b3 

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20...Nc6 
What is Black threatening here?

00000

And now ...Nxd4 would win. 
21.Qd2 Bxe2 22.Nxe2 Rfd8 23.Rfd1 Qa3 24.h3 Rd6 25.Rac1 Rcd8 26.Nf4 

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26...d4 
Yet another strong threat from Black. What is it?

00000

Threatens to win with ...dxe3. 
27.e4 Nb4 28.e5 Rc6 29.Rxc6 Nxc6 30.Nd3 Ne7 31.Nf4 Nc6 32.e6 fxe6 33.Nxe6 Re8 

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34.Nf4 
What would have been wrong with 34.Nxd4?

00000

[But not 34.Nxd4 Rd8µ] 
34...Qd6 35.Nd3 a5 36.Qc1 Re2 37.a4 bxa4 38.bxa4 Kh8 39.Qc4ƒ White has the initiative. 
39...Qf6 40.Kf1 Re6 41.Rb1 Qf5 42.Qb5 Qf6 43.Rd1 Qf8 44.Rc1 [44.Qd5 feels hotter. 44...Rd6 45.Qc5 Qf6 46.Re1 Kh7 47.Qc4] 
44...Qa3 [44...Nb4²] 
45.Kg1± Ne7 46.Rc7 Kh7 

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47.Rd7 
White missed a very strong attacking move. What was it?

00000

[47.Qb1!+- Rf6 48.Ne5+ Nf5 49.Qe4] 
47...Qc3 48.Qb1 Ng6 49.h4 

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49...h5? 
The first grave error by the new World Junior Champion. Can you find the improvement?

00000

[49...Re4± 50.g3 Ne5 51.Nxe5 Qe1+ 52.Qxe1 Rxe1+ 53.Kg2 Rxe5] 
50.Rd5+- Kh6? [50...Qc7 51.Rxh5+ Kg8] 
51.Qd1 White is clearly winning. 
51...Kh7 52.Rc5 Qa3 53.Qxh5+ Kg8 54.Qd5 Kf7 55.Rc7+ Ne7 

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56.Nf4 
Even though Black resigned in this position, White missed a forced Mate in 13. See if you can find it.

00000

[¹56.Ne5+ Kf6 57.Nd7+ Kf7 58.Qh5+ Rg6 59.Ne5+ Ke6 60.Nxg6 Qd6 61.Nf8+ Kf6 62.Nh7+ Ke6 63.Ng5+ Kf5 64.Nf7+ g5 65.Nxd6+ Ke5 66.Qe2+ Kd5 67.Qe4+ Kxd6 68.Qxe7+ Kd5 69.Rc5#]  1–0

CARUANA vs NAKAMURA – SINQUEFIELD CUP 2018 ROUND 4

After two days featuring decisive games lasting almost 7 hours, it was a pleasant change to have one that finished in just over four hours. We now have half the field tried for the lead on plus one. Nakamura languished in last place on minus two.

Caruana hasn’t lost a classical game to Nakamura in the last three years. The opening novelty that lead to victory is what Nigel Short referred to during his match against Kasparov as a condom opening – something to use once, then discard. In this instance it was castling queenside out of a Catalan positional structure. Caruana prepared the line a few months back with the view to perhaps use it in a rapid game.

During the post-game interview, Caruana noted that Nakamura had played completely logical moves. They were just not the best moves in the highly unusual position.

Today’s game features a Catalan Opening that includes some Q&A style annotations.

While playing through the game, scroll slowly so that when you get to the questions you can put some time on the clock (ten to fifteen minutes) and try and find the solution.

Caruana,Fabiano (2822) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2777)

6th Sinquefield Cup GCT 2018 Saint Louis (4), 21.08.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.g3 dxc4 6.Bg2 0–0 7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.Nxc6 Qe8 10.Nxe7+ Qxe7 11.Qa4 c5 12.dxc5 E06: Catalan 
12...Qxc5 13.Be3 Qc7 

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14.0–0–0N The position is balanced. [14.0–0 Nd5 15.Bd4 Bd7 16.Qa3 a5 17.Rad1 Nb4 18.Bc5 Qxc5 19.Rxd7 Rab8 1/2–1/2 (46) Svidler,P (2763)-Nakamura,H (2780) Palma de Mallorca 2017] 
14...Ng4 15.Rd2 Nxe3 16.fxe3 Rb8 17.Rhd1 a5 18.Kb1 h6 19.Ka1 Rb4 20.Qc2 Rb8 21.Qe4 Bb7 22.Qd4 Ba8 23.e4 Rfc8 24.Qf2 

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Black now has to pay attention to Rd7. 
24...Bc6 25.Qc5 Be8 26.Qxc7 Rxc7 27.Rd6 Kf8 28.Ra6 Rc5 29.Ra7 Rbc8 30.Kb1 Rh5 31.h4 Re5 32.Kc2 g5 33.Rf1 Kg7 34.Rb7 Kg6 35.Kd2 f5 36.hxg5 

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36...fxe4 
Can you find and improvement on what Black played?

00000

[Rather 36...Kxg5² 37.exf5 exf5] 
37.Ke3 
There is a better move available for White. What is it?

00000

[Better is 37.gxh6± e3+ 38.Kc1 Kxh6 39.Rh1+ Rh5 40.Rxh5+ Bxh5 41.Rb6] 
37...Bc6 38.Re7ƒ aiming for gxh6 Black is under heavy pressure. 
38...Rxg5 39.Rxe6+ [39.Nxe4?! Bxe4 40.Rxe6+ (40.Kxe4 Rc6=) 40...Kg7=] 
39...Kg7 40.Re7+ [40.Nxe4?! Bxe4 41.Re7+ (41.Rxe4 Rxg3+ 42.Kd4 c3=; 41.Kxe4 Rb5=) 41...Kg6=] 
40...Kg6 41.Rd1 [41.Nxe4?! Bxe4 42.Re6+ (42.Rxe4 Rxg3+ 43.Kd4 c3=; 42.Kxe4 Rb5=) 42...Kg7=] 
41...Kf6 

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Find the best continuation for White.

00000

42.Ra7! Ke6 

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43.Rh1 
What would have been wrong with 43.Nxe4?

00000

[Much worse is 43.Nxe4?! Bxe4 44.Kxe4 Re5+ 45.Kf4 Rf8+ 46.Kg4 h5+ 47.Kh3 Rxe2=] 
43...h5 44.g4! [However not 44.Nxe4?! Re5=] 
44...Be8? [44...Rh8±] 
45.gxh5+- Bxh5 [45...Rxh5 is probably better. 46.Rxh5 Bxh5 47.Rxa5 Be8] 
46.Nxe4 White is clearly winning. [Weaker is 46.Ra6+ Kf7+-] 
46...Rf5 47.Ra6+ Ke7 48.Nd6 Re5+ 49.Kd4  1–0

DORTMUND 2018 ROUNDS 1 & 2

When I looked at the line-up of players for the seven round Dortmund 2018 tournament I fully expected to only report on the first decisive game in round 3. A score of plus two will likely be enough to at least have a share in first place.

Now that I’ve put that out there – so that the prediction is bound to fail, allow me to elaborate. Of the 8 players, the top two seeded players stand out for one specific reason. My prediction for top seed Vladimir Kramnik is that he will go all out in round three with White against bottom seed Georg Meier, as well as the next low seed that he faces with White. This ought to give him his plus 2, while at the same time putting on the squeeze in all his other games, happy to pounce on any blunders. At the same time he will be more than happy to split the point in his remaining 5 games. Next, the second highest rated player at the tournament is none other than Mr 50% - Anish Giri. On their own, these two players will be responsible for twelve of the twenty eight games that make up this tournament.

Therefore it is not inconceivable that we will have a 75% draw rate for Dortmund 2018. That equates to seven decisive games. I’ll go out on a limb and predict 6 decisive games across the seven rounds.

Now that we have the predictions out of the way, let’s have a look at how the first two rounds transpired.

In the opening round the biggest potential upset was the game between Nepomniachtchi and Giri on the former’s twenty eighth birthday. Although Giri gifted White a winning position in a Queen endgame, perhaps Nepomniachtchi was still honed in on the half point he was hoping for at the start and failed to convert his opportunity. The result keeps the net score between the two in classical chess at 50% after four games.

Another near escape was in the game between Kramnik and Nisipeanu. The fourteenth World Champion played a line with White that Carlsen had used to crush him at the 2016 Norway Chess Tournament. However, two years is a long time in super GM chess – plenty of time to find a solution to the problems posed by Carlsen back then.

Net outcome of the round was four draws, right on target.

On to round two and the two to seeds did not disappoint at all.

Kramnik, who has won in Dortmund on ten previous occasions, had the Black pieces against the 2017 champion - Radek Wojtaszek. This is their fifth meeting over the board and the fifth consecutive draw.

Second seed Giri had black against football fan Georg Meier on the same day as the World Cup final. Hardly surprising that the point was split and the score sheets were signed in time to order a beer in the bar and watch the teams walk out onto the pitch. Incidentally this was the first game of the day to finish.

That opened the door for the young Polish champion Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Duda has done some serious preparation for Dortmund as seen by his opening round game against Kramnik. In round 2 he uncorked 3.Bb5+ in the Sicilian for the first time ever. The tactic seemed to work as Nisipeanu couldn’t find the line do deal with the problems that Black was posing and in the end gave away a pawn for zero compensation.

That advantage was all Duda needed to convert the full point ruthlessly. 

Nisipeanu,Liviu-Dieter (2672) - Duda,Jan-Krzysztof (2737)

Sparkassen Chess-Meeting 2018 Dortmund (2), 15.07.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.0–0 Nf6 6.Re1 Nc6 7.c3 e6 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 d5 10.e5 Ng8 B52: Sicilian: Moscow Variation with 3...Bd7 [10...Ne4 11.Nbd2 Nxd2 12.Bxd2 Be7 13.Rc1 0–0 14.Rc3 Rfc8 15.h4 Bd8 16.Rd3 Qc7 17.Ng5 h6 18.Nh3 Ne7 19.Bc3 b5 20.Nf4 Nf5 21.Qg4 Bxh4 22.Nh5 ½–½ (52) Nakamura,H (2769)-Grischuk,A (2766) Paris 2018] 

11.a3 Nge7 12.Nc3 h5 13.Bg5 Nf5 

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14.Rc1N [14.b4 Be7 15.Bxe7 Qxe7 16.Qd3 g6 17.Rac1 0–0 18.Ne2 0–1 (46) Lagerman,R (2354)-Gunnarsson,J (2437) Reykjavik 2008] 

14...Be7 15.Bxe7 Qxe7 16.Qd3 0–0–0 17.Na4 Kb8 18.Nc5 g5 19.Rc3 [19.b4= remains equal.] 

19...g4 20.Nd2 Ncxd4 21.Rec1 

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21...Rc8! 22.Nf1 Rc6 23.Ng3 Ka8 24.Nxf5 Nxf5 25.b4 Rhc8 26.a4 b6 27.Nb3 Rxc3 28.Rxc3 Rxc3 29.Qxc3 Kb7 30.a5 [30.b5µ war angesagt.] 

30...Qd7 31.Nd4 Nxd4 32.Qxd4 Qc7–+ 0–1 

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 6

A year ago at the Grenke Classic Hou created an upset by beating Caruana. That time though she had the White pieces, unlike today.

Early on in the round Bluebaum had already created an upset by beating Anand.

However it was Hou’s game that had me at the edge of my seat. It was by far the last game to finish. Caruana was pinned on the ropes for most of the game just getting pummelled. Unfortunately Hou couldn’t find the knock-out blow under huge time pressure on the at least two occasions when the opportunity opened up.

Carlsen vs Aronian ½-½

English Opening, Flohr-Mikenas System. Every time Carlsen and Aronian meet you can be sure of a very interesting fight. Aronian said after the game that Carlsen gets into much more dubious positions in their games, simply to provoke Aronian into a fight. The only problem is that Aronian blunders into traps too often which is why Carlsen wins so often. Indeed, even today Aronian almost played a5 on move 30 and pulled back his hand at the last moment.

Caruana vs Hou ½-½

Petroff Defence. It will be really worth your while to play through this endgame, less for the actual moves played, but rather the variations that were not played. Afterwards in the press conference it was confirmed that neither had seen the brilliant idea that builds out of Ne1.

Vitiugov vs Vachier-Lagrave ½-½

Fianchetto Grünfeld. This was the game between two of the three co-leaders of the tournament.Vitiugov managed to hold the pawn sacrificed by Black in the opening. However, MVL had the Bishop pair that was easily enough compensation.

Bluebaum vs Anand 1-0

Queens Gambit Accepted. During the press conference Bluebaum stated that he guessed Anand had just blundered something – but he wasn’t exactly sure what.

Meier vs Naiditsch 0-1

Closed Catalan, Main Line. Unlike Bluebaum above, Meier was under no illusion where he blundered badly. This coming just 24 hours after he missed the brilliancy against Carlsen.

Here are the games from the Grenke Classic Round 6:

Bluebaum,Matthias (2616) - Anand,Viswanathan (2776)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (6), 06.04.2018

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 dxc4 4.e3 b5 5.a4 b4 6.Bxc4 D21: Queen's Gambit Accepted: 3 Nf3 sidelines 

6...Nf6 7.a5 [7.0–0 Be7 8.Qe2 0–0 9.b3 Bb7 10.Bb2 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 c5 12.Rac1 Rc8 ½–½ (27) Bu,X (2730)-Inarkiev,E (2689) Riadh 2017] 

7...a6 8.Nbd2 Bb7 9.0–0 c5 10.Nb3 Nbd7 

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11.dxc5N [11.Qe2 Bd6 12.Rd1 0–1 (38) Alfaro,W (2181)-Quesada Perez,Y (2541) Managua 2017] 

11...Nxc5 12.Nxc5 Bxc5 13.Qa4+ Qd7 14.Qxd7+ Nxd7 15.Bd2 Ke7 16.Rac1 Rhc8 17.Nd4 Ne5 18.Be2 Threatens to win with Rxc5! 

18...Bd6 19.Rfd1 Bd5 [19...Nc6=] 

20.Rxc8± Rxc8 21.Bxa6 Ra8 22.Bf1 Rxa5 23.Nb5! Bc5 24.Rc1 Ra2 25.Rxc5 Rxb2 26.e4 Rxd2 27.exd5 exd5 28.Rc1 b3 29.Rb1 b2 

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[29...Nc4±] 

30.Nc3!+- Nc4 Strongly threatening ...Na3. 

31.Nxd5+! Rxd5 [31...Kd6± 32.Bxc4 Rc2 33.Rxb2 Rxb2] 

32.Bxc4 Endgame KRB-KR 

32...Rc5 33.Re1+ Kf6 [33...Kd6± might work better. 34.Ba2 (34.Rd1+ Ke5µ) 34...Ra5 35.Rd1+ Kc5 36.Rd5+ Kb6 37.Rxa5 Kxa5] 

34.Bd3 Rd5 35.Bb1 [Don't go for 35.Bxh7? g6–+] 

35...h5 36.g3 g5 [36...Rc5 was necessary. 37.Kf1 h4] 

37.Kg2 g4 38.Re2 Rb5 39.Re8 Rd5 40.Re2 Rb5 41.h4 Kg7 42.Re7 Rd5 [¹42...Kf8 43.Rc7 Ke8] 

43.Rb7 White is clearly winning. 

43...Rd2 44.Ba2 Kh6 45.Bxf7  1–0

Meier,Georg (2636) - Naiditsch,Arkadij (2701)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (6), 06.04.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 0–0 7.0–0 c6 8.Qc2 b6 9.Rd1 Bb7 10.b3 Nbd7 11.Nc3 Rc8 12.Bf4 c5 13.Nb5 E08: Closed Catalan: Main Line: 7 Qc2 [13.dxc5 Nxc5 14.Ne5 Qe8 15.cxd5 exd5 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Bxd5 Bf6 18.Qf5 Bxd5 19.Rxd5 Qe6 20.e4 g6 21.Qxe6 fxe6 0–1 (42) Oliva Castaneda,K (2497)-Salgado Lopez,I (2627) Linares 2017] 

13...cxd4 14.Nd6 Bxd6 15.Bxd6 Re8 16.Nxd4 Nc5 17.Bxc5 Rxc5 

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18.Qb2N [18.Qd2 Qa8 19.cxd5 Bxd5 20.f3 Bb7 0–1 (30) Krishna,C (2326)-Barua,D (2429) Kolkata 2012] 

18...e5 19.Nb5 Qb8 20.e3 

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[20.Rac1=] 

20...h5 [Not 20...dxc4 21.Bxb7 c3 22.Qc2±; Black should try 20...a6!µ 21.Na3 dxc4 22.Nxc4 Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Qc7] 

21.Qe2 a6 22.Na3 d4 23.Nc2 Bxg2 24.Kxg2 Ne4 25.Qf1 h4 [25...Rc6!³] 

26.f3 Nc3 27.Rd2 hxg3 28.hxg3 Re6 29.Qf2 

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[29.b4= Rc8 30.exd4] 

29...Rf6 [Better is 29...e4!µ 30.Rxd4 exf3+ 31.Qxf3 Rg5] 

30.exd4 Ne4! 31.Qe3 Nxd2 32.dxc5 Nxf3 33.cxb6–+ [33.Nb4= Nd4 34.cxb6 Rxb6 35.Nd5] 

33...Qb7 0–1

Carlsen,Magnus (2843) - Aronian,Levon (2767)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (6), 06.04.2018

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.e5 Ne4 6.Nf3 Bf5 A18: English Opening: Flohr-Mikenas System (1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3 e6 3 e4) 

7.d3 Nxc3 8.bxc3 c5 9.d4 

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9...c4N [9...Nc6 10.Bd3 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 Be7 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.0–0 Qd7 14.Re1 ½–½ (96) Grischuk,A (2767)-Nakamura,H (2787) Moscow 2018] 

10.g3 Be7 11.Bg2 Bd3 12.Ng1 Qa5 13.Bd2 Nc6 14.Ne2 Ba3! 15.0–0 0–0 16.Re1 Rad8 17.Bg5 Bb2 18.Bxd8 Rxd8 19.Rc1! Bxe2 20.Qxe2 Bxc1 21.Rxc1 Qa3! 22.Qe3 b5 23.e6 f6 24.h4 Ne7 25.Rb1 a6 26.Qd2 Qd6 [Black should try 26...h6³ ] 

27.a4 bxa4 28.Qa2 a3 29.Rb4 h5 30.Qxa3 Nc6 31.Ra4 

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31...Qxa3! 32.Rxa3 a5 33.e7 Nxe7 34.Rxa5 Rb8 [34...g5=] 

35.Bxd5+ Nxd5 36.Rxd5 Rb3 37.Rxh5 Rxc3 38.Rc5 Rc1+ 39.Kg2 c3 40.Kf3 c2 41.Kf4 Rd1 42.Rxc2 Rxd4+ 43.Kf5 Kh7 44.f4 Ra4 45.Rc5 Kh6 46.Rd5 Ra6 47.g4 g6+ 48.Ke4 Ra4+ 49.Rd4 Ra5 50.Rd5 Ra4+= 51.Ke3 Ra3+ 52.Rd3 Ra6 ½–½

Vitiugov,Nikita (2735) - Vachier Lagrave,Maxime (2789)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (6), 06.04.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.Qa4 D71: Fianchetto Grünfeld: 3 g3 d5 sidelines and 5 cxd5 (without Nf3) [5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Qb3 0–0 7.0–0 Qb6 8.Nc3 Rd8 9.h3 Bf5 10.Bf4 Na6 11.Qxb6 axb6 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 Rxd5 14.Be5 Bxe5 15.dxe5 Be4 16.Rfd1 Bxf3 17.Bxf3 Rxe5 0–1 (68) Li,C (2732)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2789) Riadh 2017] 

5...Bg7 6.cxd5 

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6...0–0N [6...Nxd5 7.Nf3 Nb6 8.Qc2 Bg4 9.e3 0–0 10.Nbd2 Na6 11.0–0 c5 12.Qe4 Be6 13.Qxb7 0–1 (38) Bruzon Batista,L (2673)-Zherebukh,Y (2633) Saint Louis 2018] 

7.dxc6 Nxc6 8.Nf3 Nd5 9.e3 Nb6 10.Qd1 e5 11.0–0 Bg4 12.dxe5 Qxd1 13.Rxd1 Nxe5 14.Nbd2 Rfd8 [14...Nbc4!?] 

15.Rf1 Nd3 16.Nb3 Nxc1 17.Raxc1 Bxb2 18.Rc2 Bf6 19.Nfd4 Rac8 20.Rfc1 Rxc2 21.Rxc2 Nd5 22.Rc5 Nb4 23.Bxb7 Nxa2 24.Ra5 Nc3 25.Rxa7 Ne2+ 26.Nxe2 Bxe2 27.Kg2 Bc4 28.Na5 Be6 29.Bf3 Rd2 30.Nc6 Ra2 31.Rc7 Bg5 32.Nb4 Rd2 33.Rc3 Bf6 34.Rc2 Rxc2 35.Nxc2 Kf8 36.Nb4 Bc3 37.Nc6 h6 38.Nd4 Ke7 39.Bb7 Kf6 40.f4 g5 41.Kf3 gxf4 42.gxf4 Bb2 43.Ne2 Ke7 44.Ng3 f5 45.Ne2 Kf6 46.Nd4 Bc4 47.Bc8 Bd3 48.Kf2 Bc3 49.Bb7 Bb2 50.Bg2 Ba6 51.Bf1 Bc8 52.Bh3 Bc3 53.Nb5 Bd2 54.Nd4 Bc3 55.Ne2 Bd2 56.Ng3 Bc1 57.Ne4+ fxe4 58.Bxc8 h5 59.h4 Ba3 60.Bd7 Be7 61.Be8 Kf5 62.Kg3 Bc5 

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63.Kf2 [White should try 63.Bxh5² Bxe3 64.Bg4+ Kf6 65.Bc8] 

63...Be7 64.Bxh5 Bxh4+ 65.Ke2 Bg3= 66.Bf3 Bxf4 67.Bxe4+ Kxe4 68.exf4 Kxf4 ½–½

Caruana,Fabiano (2804) - Hou,Yifan (2657)

5th GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Baden-Baden (6), 06.04.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 0–0 8.Qd2 C42: Petroff Defence: 3 Nxe5 and unusual White 3rd moves [8.Bd3 Nd7 9.Qe2 Nc5 10.Bc4 d5 11.Bd3 Nxd3+ 12.Qxd3 c5 13.h4 h6 14.0–0–0 Be6 15.Rdg1 Qa5 1–0 (53) Ponomariov,R (2694)-Ni,H (2671) Riadh 2017] 

8...Nd7 9.0–0–0 Nf6 10.h3 c5 

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11.Bf4N [11.Bd3 Re8 12.g4 Be6 13.c4 b5 14.g5 bxc4 15.gxf6 Bxf6 16.Bf1 c3 17.bxc3 Qa5 18.Qd3 Bxc3 0–1 (18) Sadler,K (1810)-Hofer,R (2375) ICCF email 2016] 

11...Be6 12.a3 d5 13.Ng5 Bd7 14.g4 Bc6 15.Bg2 Re8 16.Qd3 [16.c4³ dxc4 17.Qxd8 Raxd8 18.Rxd8 Bxd8 19.Bxc6 bxc6 20.Nf3] 

16...Bd6 [16...c4µ 17.Qf1 Bc5] 

17.Qg3! Bxf4+ 18.Qxf4 h6 19.Nf3 Qb8 20.Qxb8 Raxb8 21.Nd2 Re2 22.Rhf1 b6 23.Rde1 Rbe8 24.Rxe2 Rxe2 25.Kd1 Re6 26.f4 Kf8 27.Re1 Ke7 28.Rxe6+ Kxe6 29.Ke2 g5 30.fxg5 hxg5 31.Nf3 Ne4 32.Ke3 f6 33.Bf1 Nd6 34.Nd2 [34.h4=] 

34...f5 35.gxf5+ Nxf5+ 36.Kf2 Ke5 37.Nf3+ Kf4 38.Ne1 

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38...c4 [38...Ne3!µ 39.Be2 c4] 

39.Ng2+! Ke5 40.Be2! Ba4 41.Bd1 Be8 42.Bg4 Bg6 43.Be2 Nd6 44.Ne3 Ne4+ 45.Kf3 Nf6 46.Kf2 Bf7 47.Ng2 

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47...Be6! 48.h4 Ne4+ 49.Kf3 [49.Kg1µ] 

49...Bh3! 50.hxg5 Nxg5+ 51.Kg3 

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51...Bxg2! 52.Kxg2 Ne6! 53.Kf2 Nc5! 54.Bh5 Na4 55.Be8 Nxb2 56.Ke2 

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56...a6! 57.Kd2 b5 58.Bh5 Na4 59.Bf7 Nc5 60.Kc1 Ne6 61.Kb2 Nf4 62.Be8 Ke4 63.Bc6 Ke3 64.Bb7? [64.Kc1µ] 

64...a5 65.Kc1 

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65...Ne2+? [65...Ke2!–+ 66.Ba8 Ke1] 

66.Kb2 Kd2 67.Bxd5 Nxc3 68.Bc6 Nd1+ 69.Kb1 Ne3 70.Be4 c3 71.Bh7!= Nc4 72.Ka2 Ne5 73.Be4 Ke3 74.Bh7 Nc6 75.Bg6 Kd2 76.Be4 Nd4 77.Kb1 Kd1 78.Bd5 Nf5 [Much worse is 78...Nxc2?! 79.Bb3=] 

79.Be4 Ne3 80.Bg6 Kd2 [80...Nc4µ 81.Ka2 Nd2] 

81.Bd3 Nc4! 82.Ka2! Nb6 83.Kb1 

XABCDEFGHY
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83...Nc4 [83...b4!µ 84.Ka2 Nd7] 

84.Ka2 a4 85.Bg6 Kc1 86.Bd3 Nd6 87.Ka1 Nb7 88.Ka2 

XABCDEFGHY
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88...Nc5! 89.Bf5 Na6 90.Bg6 Kd2 91.Bh7 Nb8 [Better is 91...Nc5µ 92.Kb1 Nb7] 

92.Bd3 Nc6 93.Bxb5 Nd4 94.Bxa4 Nxc2 95.Kb3! Nd4+ 96.Kc4 

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96...Nc2= [Of course not 96...c2 97.Bxc2 Kxc2 98.Kxd4=; 96...Nf5!µ] 

97.Kb3 Ne3 98.Kb4 c2= ½–½