WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ROUND 5 – BHARATHAKOTI 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 2018 edition of the World Junior Championship has as top seed the phenomenally talented Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran. He has only just turned 18 and already has a live rating of 2667. Winning this tournament now 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 will open the door to invitations to the lucrative super tournament circuit.

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 Bogo-Indian 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.

Harsha Bharathakoti (2474) - Maghsoodloo,Parham (2649)

World Junior U20 Open 2018 Gebze (5.1), 08.09.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Bd2 b6 6.Nf3 Bb7 7.Bd3 a5 8.0–0 d5 E11: Bogo-Indian 
9.cxd5 exd5 10.Ne5 Nbd7 11.f4 c5 12.a3 Bxc3 13.Bxc3 c4 

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14.Bf5N [14.Bc2 b5 15.Rf3 Ra6 16.Rg3 1/2–1/2 (31) L'Ami,E (2628)-Anand,V (2810) Wijk aan Zee 2011 ] 
14...b5 15.Qe1 Nb8 16.Rd1 Ne8 17.Rf3 Nd6 18.Bc2 Ne4 19.Rh3 Bc8 20.g4 Ra7 [20...Ra6=] 
21.Bxe4² dxe4 

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22.d5 
Can you find an improvement for White?

00000

[White should play 22.f5!² ] 
22...f6!= 23.Nc6 Nxc6 24.dxc6 Qe8 25.Qh4 [Better is 25.Rd6² ] 
25...h6! 

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26.Rg3 
What is White's threat?

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Strongly threatening g5. 
26...Qxc6 27.g5 Hoping for gxf6. 
27...fxg5 28.fxg5 Rd7 29.gxh6 Rxd1+ 30.Kg2 g6! 31.h7+‚ White has some attack. 
31...Kf7 32.h8Q Rxh8 33.Qxh8 Bf5! 34.Qg7+ Ke8! 35.Qg8+ Kd7 36.Bxa5 Qd8+ is the strong threat. 
36...Qf6 

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37.Bc3? 
This was the critical error of the game. What should White have played instead?

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[37.Qh7+= Ke6 38.Qg8+ Kd7 39.Qh7+ Ke6 40.Qg8+ Kd7] 
Find a way to punish the error that White made.

00000

37...Bh3+! 38.Kxh3 Qf5+  0–1

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 

ALTIBOX NORWAY CHESS 2018 ROUND 2

Round 2 was bad news for any fan that decided to tune in after the first three hours of play.

The last of the five draws barely made it to two hours and forty minutes. Carlsen chose the Moller Defense in the Ruy Lopez and took the dull draw as a sort of recovery day after his long win against Caruana in round one.

Caruana in turn made his second blunder in as many days. This time, however, he was lucky to have Mamedyarov as an opponent. During the press briefing Mamedyarov indicated that he believed that he was better: “But then I thought, I have to go to the dentist tomorrow, so a draw is good.” Wednesday will be Mamedyarov’s second dentist visit for a severe toothache. Each day he has needed to wait till after the round to have any pain killers – so it is understandable that he was not keen on trying to grind out his advantage for another six hours or more.

Not much can be said of Ding’s game, but for the fact that his streak of unbeaten games continues.

Caruana,Fabiano (2822) - Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar (2808)

6th Altibox Norway Chess 2018 Stavanger (2.2), 29.05.2018

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...b6 [8...Nd7 9.0–0–0 c6 10.Kb1 d5 11.c4 Nb6 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Bc4 Bf5 14.Bxd5 cxd5 15.Qxd5 Qc8 0–1 (39) Robson,R (2660)-Caruana,F (2804) Saint Louis 2018] 

9.0–0–0 Bb7 10.h4 Nd7 11.Bd3 Re8 

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12.Kb1N [12.h5 Bf6 13.Nd4 Ne5 14.Bb5 1–0 (14) Tiemann,H (2361)-Torres,C (2388) GER email 2016] 

12...Bf6 13.Rh3 Nc5 14.Bxc5 bxc5 15.g4 c4 16.Bxc4 Re4 17.Qd3 

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Black must now prevent g5. 

17...d5 [17...Rxg4 looks sharper. 18.Ng5 Bxg5 19.hxg5 Be4 20.Qe2 Bf5] 

18.Bxd5 Qxd5 19.Qxd5 Bxd5 20.Rxd5 Rxg4 

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21.Ra5 Rg2 22.a4 [22.a3 is more complex. 22...Rxf2 23.Rc5 Rc8 24.h5 Rf1+ 25.Ka2] 

22...Rxf2 The position is equal. 

23.h5 Rf1+ 24.Ka2 Rf2 25.Kb1 Rf1+ 26.Ka2 Rf2  ½–½

SHANKLAND WINS US CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ROUND 11

Caruana won the Candidates in Berlin with a +4 score. Likewise, +4 was enough to win the Grenke tournament. In Saint Louis he went one better and scored +5, but that was only good enough for second place. Sam Shankland went +6 to claim the title.

Shankland’s victory in round 11 was significant for more reasons. His rating goes up to 2701 the day before the next FIDE rating list is due to be published. This will move him up to number 45 on the world rankings, gain him a spot on the US Olympiad team and give him the classification of “Super GM”. Being 2700+ will likely secure Sam invitations to some Super tournaments over the coming months too.

Shankland,Samuel (2671) - Liang,Awonder (2552)

US-ch Open 2018 Saint Louis (11), 29.04.2018

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Nf6 6.Bf4 Bg4 7.Qb3 e5  B13: Caro-Kann: Exchange Variation and Panov-Botvinnik Attack 

8.h3 exf4 9.hxg4 Qe7+ White is slightly better. 

10.Kf1 

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10...0–0–0N [10...Ne4 11.Qc2 0–0–0 12.Nd2 Re8 13.Bxe4 dxe4 14.Re1 f5 15.gxf5 1–0 (25) Demchenko,A (2671)-Yurtseven,M (2415) Lisbon 2018] 

11.Nd2 Black must now prevent Re1. 

11...g6 12.Re1 Qc7 13.g5 Nh5 14.Be2ƒ White has good play. 

14...Ng7 15.Ngf3 Ne6 16.Bb5 Bg7 17.Qa4 Rd6 18.Nb3 b6 [18...a6²] 

19.Nc1 Nb8 20.Nd3 

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20...Kb7 Black wants to play . ..a6. 

21.Nb4! Qd8 22.Ne5 Qc7 23.Qb3 Rhd8 [¹23...Bxe5 24.Rxe5 (24.Nxd5 Qd8+-) 24...Qd8 25.Nxd5 a6] 

24.Rxh7+- a6 25.Bd3 Ka7 26.Qa4 a5 27.Bb5 Kb7 28.Nbd3 Rg8 29.Nf3 Rh8 30.Rxh8 Bxh8 31.a3 Nc6 32.Bxc6+ Rxc6 33.Nde5 Bxe5 34.Nxe5 Rd6 35.Qe8 Rd8 [¹35...Nxg5 36.Nxf7 Qc4+ 37.Kg1 Nxf7] 

36.Qxf7 Nxg5 37.Qxc7+ Kxc7 38.Nxg6 KRN-KRN 

38...f3 39.Nf4 Kc6 40.gxf3 Nxf3 41.Re6+ Kb5 [41...Rd6 was necessary. 42.Rxd6+ Kxd6] 

42.Ke2 Ng1+ 43.Kd3  1–0

Caruana,Fabiano (2804) - Onischuk,Alexander (2672)

US-ch Open 2018 Saint Louis (11), 29.04.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.d3 Be7 8.Re1 0–0 9.a4 Re8 10.Nbd2 Bf8 11.Nf1 C88: Closed Ruy Lopez: Anti-Marshall Systems [11.c3 Na5 12.Bc2 c5 13.d4 exd4 14.cxd4 d5 15.e5 Ne4 16.axb5 axb5 17.Nxe4 dxe4 18.Rxe4 Nb3 19.Rxa8 Bxa8 20.Ng5 Nxc1 21.Qh5 h6 22.Qxf7+ Kh8 23.Rg4 Qa5 24.h4 1–0 (24) Anand,V (2762)-Svidler,P (2757) Moscow 2016] 

11...Na5 12.Ba2 d5 13.axb5 White is slightly better. 

13...axb5 14.exd5 Bxd5 15.Bg5 

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15...Bxa2N [15...Nc6 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Bxd5 Qxd5 18.Qe2 Qe6 1–0 (98) Achermann,J (2203)-Donzellotti,G (2213) ICCF email 2010] 

16.Rxa2 e4 17.Bxf6 Qxf6 18.Rxe4 Rxe4 19.dxe4 Strongly threatening Ne3. 

19...Rd8 20.Qe2 Nc4 21.c3 Bc5 22.Ra1 g6 23.e5ƒ White is in control. 

23...Qc6 24.Ng3 Re8 [Black should play 24...Qd5² ] 

25.b3± Nb6 26.Ra5 Bf8 

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27.Qxb5 White is clearly better. 

27...Qxb5 28.Rxb5 Ra8 [28...Nd7± 29.Rd5 Nb6] 

29.h4  1–0

US WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ROUND 10

Heading into the final round we have a sense of déjà vu all over again. Wang leads Paikidze by half a point, identical to the situation at the end of round 6 before the rest day.

Round 10 could have sealed tournament victory for Wang. Instead, however, Paikidze’s win and Wang’s draw closed the gap to a margin that creates the possibility of a play off for the title.

GM Irina Krush also closed the gap to Wang, moving into a clear third place. But her one and a half point deficit leaves the seven time champion out of the running for 2018.

Abrahamyan,Tatev (2366) - Paikidze,Nazi (2352)

US-ch Women 2018 Saint Louis (10), 28.04.2018

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 b5 4.Bd3 [4.a3 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nf6 6.Bd3 g6 7.Bg5 Bg7 8.Nf3 0–0 9.Qd2 Bf5 10.Nxf6+ exf6 11.Be3 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Nd7 13.d5 0–1 (41) Belyakov,B (2487)-Howell,D (2644) Doha 2016] 

4...b4 5.Nce2 dxe4 6.Bxe4 B15: Caro-Kann: 3 Nc3: 3...g6 and 3...dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nf6 5 Nxf6+ exf6 

6...Nf6 7.Bf3 e6 

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8.Nh3 The position is equal. 

8...Bd6N [8...Be7 9.0–0 0–0 10.Nhf4 Bb7 11.Nd3 Nbd7 1/2–1/2 (41) Abrahams,D (2080)-Garcia Albarracin,F (2374) Porto 2015] 

9.Nhf4 Qc7 10.Nd3 Nbd7 11.Bf4 Bxf4 12.Nexf4 Rb8 13.0–0 0–0 14.a3 a5 15.axb4 axb4 16.Qd2 Qd6 17.Qe3ƒ White has some pressure. 

17...Nd5 18.Bxd5! cxd5 19.b3 Ba6 20.Ra4 Rfc8 21.Rc1 Rb6 22.Qd2 Rcb8 23.Rca1 Bxd3 24.Nxd3 h6 25.Ra7 Re8 26.h3 Reb8 27.R1a4 Nf6 28.Nc5 e5 29.dxe5 Qxe5 30.Na6 Ne4 31.Qe3 [31.Qe1² Rf8 32.Nc5! (32.Rxb4 Qf6=; 32.Nxb4 Qc3³) ] 

31...d4!= 32.Qe1 Re8 33.Nxb4 Rg6 

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[33...Nc5= remains equal. 34.Qxe5 Rxe5] 

34.Ra8!± Rxa8 35.Rxa8+ Kh7 36.Ra6 f6 [36...Rxa6± was worth a try. 37.Nxa6 f5] 

37.Nd3 Qf5 Threatens to win with ...Qf3. 

38.Ra5?? [38.Qe2+- and life is good for White.] 

38...Qf3!–+ Black has strong compensation. 

39.Qf1 

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39...Nd2! 40.Ne1? [40.Kh1 Qc6 41.Qg1 (41.Nb4? Qc3–+) 41...Qxc2 42.Nf4] 

40...Qd1  0–1

Goletiani,Rusudan (2306) - Krush,Irina (2422)

US-ch Women 2018 Saint Louis (10), 28.04.2018

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 e6 4.c4 dxc4 5.Qa4+ c6 6.Qxc4 b5 7.Qc2 Bb7 8.0–0 Nbd7 A13: English Opening: 1...e6 

9.b3 [9.d4 c5 10.Nc3 a6 11.Bg5 Rc8 12.Rad1 Qb6 13.Qd2 Be7 14.Ne5 Bxg2 15.Nxd7 Nxd7 16.Kxg2 cxd4 17.Bxe7 Kxe7 18.Qxd4 Qxd4 19.Rxd4 1/2–1/2 (55) Mamedov,R (2688)-Ghaem Maghami,E (2574) Doha 2016] 

9...Be7 10.Bb2 0–0 11.Nc3 

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11...Qb6 12.d3N [12.Ng5 h6 13.Nge4 Nd5 14.d3 Nb4 15.Qd1 c5 16.a3 0–1 (43) Skembris,S (2412)-David,A (2584) Loutraki 2015] 

12...c5 13.e4 Rac8 14.Nd2 Nb8 15.Ne2 Nc6 16.a3 Rfd8 17.Rac1 Rd7 18.Nf3 Rcd8 19.Rfd1 [19.Nf4=] 

19...b4 20.a4 Ba6 [20...h6³] 

21.Nf4= Rc8 22.Rd2 Rdc7 23.h4 Nd4 24.Qd1 Nd7 25.Bh3 [25.e5= remains equal.] 

25...Bf6µ 26.Ne1 Ne5 27.Nfg2 Nec6ƒ White is under strong pressure. 

28.Rb1 Na5 29.Bc1? [29.Bxd4µ Bxd4 30.Qe2] 

29...Naxb3–+ 30.Rxb3 Nxb3 31.Qxb3 c4 32.dxc4 Bxc4 [Resist 32...Rxc4 33.Bb2–+] 

33.Qb1? 

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[33.Qf3] 

33...Ba2! Black is clearly winning. 

34.Qxa2 b3 35.Qa3 Rxc1 36.e5 Bxe5 37.a5 

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37...Qb8! 38.Rd8+ Rxd8 39.Qxc1 b2 40.Qb1 Qc7 Strongly threatening ...Qc1. 

41.Nc2 Qxa5 42.Nge3 Qa1  0–1

US CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ROUND 10

Back on the rest day after round 6 Shankland held a narrow half point lead over Caruana. If we fas forward to round 10 the gap between the same two players is identical. This is enough to give us a sense of déjà vu heading into the final round.

During the press briefing after round 9 Caruana stated that he felt 1.5/2 would be achievable for the final two rounds and would be enough to force a playoff match against Shankland. That was before both players won their tenth round games with the Black pieces. The net result is that Fabiano will need to go all out for a win against last placed Onischuk and then hope for the best.

Shankland also has a lot to play for in his final round game with White against Liang. Not only will a win seal his Championship title, it will also take him past the 2700 rating level for the first time. Following his round 10 victory, Shankland’s live rating moved up to 2698.

Onischuk,Alexander (2672) - Shankland,Samuel (2671)

US-ch Open 2018 Saint Louis (10), 28.04.2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 0–0 D38: Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defence (4 Nf3 Bb4) 

8.e3 

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8...Bf5 9.a3N [9.Qb3 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Nbd7 11.Be2 c5 12.dxc5 g5 13.Nd4 Bg6 14.c6 bxc6 15.Nxc6 1/2–1/2 (46) So,W (2792)-Karjakin,S (2753) Wijk aan Zee 2018] 

9...Bxc3+! The position is equal. 

10.bxc3 Nbd7 11.Be2 c5 12.0–0 g5 13.Bg3 Ne4 14.c4 dxc4 15.Bxc4 Rc8 16.Rc1 Qe7 17.Bd3 Rfd8 18.Qe2 Nb6 [18...Ndf6 looks sharper. 19.Rfe1 cxd4 20.Rxc8 Rxc8 21.Nxd4 Bd7] 

19.Bxe4 Bxe4 20.Ne5 cxd4 21.Rxc8 Rxc8 22.exd4 Bf5 23.Qh5 Hoping for f4. 

23...f6 24.Ng4! Bxg4! 25.Qxg4 Qd7 26.Qf3 Nd5 27.Qh5 Kg7 28.f4? [28.Re1= and White is okay.] 

28...Qe8? [28...Nxf4–+ has better winning chances. 29.Bxf4 Qxd4+ 30.Rf2 Rc2] 

29.Qf3 Qe3+ 30.Qxe3 Nxe3µ Endgame KRB-KRN 

31.Rf3 Nd5 32.fxg5 hxg5 33.h4 gxh4 34.Bxh4 Kf7 35.Be1 b6 36.Bd2 Rc2 37.Rd3 Ke6 38.g4 Kd6 39.Kf1 Kc6! 40.Ke1 Kb5! 41.g5 fxg5 42.Bxg5 Kc4 43.Rg3 Nc3 Strongly threatening ...Ra2. 

44.d5 Nxd5 45.Kd1? 

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[45.Bd2µ was called for.] 

45...Rc3!–+ 46.Rg4+ 

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46...Kb3! 47.Rd4 [¹47.a4] 

47...Ne3+ 48.Bxe3 Rxe3 49.Kd2 Rh3  0–1

Zherebukh,Yaroslav (2640) - Caruana,Fabiano (2804)

US-ch Open 2018 Saint Louis (10), 28.04.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 a6 4.g3 b5 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.d3 Nc6 7.0–0 B40: Sicilian: 2...e6, Unusual lines 

7...d6 8.Ng5 h6 9.Nh3 Nf6 10.f4 Be7 11.f5 [11.Kh1 Qc7 12.Bd2 0–0–0 1–0 (43) Bacrot,E (2708)-Karjakin,S (2781) Paris 2017] 

11...b4 

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12.Ne2N [12.Nb1 exf5 13.Rxf5 0–0 14.c4 Nd7 15.Rf1 Bf6 16.Nf4 1/2–1/2 (43) Tripoteau,N (2258)-Bricard,E (2456) Plancoet 2003] 

12...exf5 13.Rxf5 0–0 14.c4 bxc3 15.bxc3 Ne5 16.c4 Bc8 17.Rf1 Rb8ƒ Black is more active. 

18.Nhf4 

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[18.Qc2= remains equal.] 

18...g5!µ 19.Nd5 [¹19.Nh3] 

19...Nxd5 20.cxd5 

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20...Bf6! 21.d4 cxd4 22.Nxd4 Bg4 23.Qa4 [¹23.Qe1] 

23...Nd3–+ 24.Qc4 Rb4 25.Qxd3 Bxd4+ 26.Be3 Bxa1 27.Rxa1 [27.a3 is the only way for White. 27...Ra4 28.Rxa1] 

27...Qf6 28.Re1 Rc8 29.h3 Bd7 30.Qxa6? [30.a3 was worth a try. 30...Bb5 31.Qd1] 

30...Rc2 31.Rf1  0–1

CARLSEN WINS SHAMKIR CHESS 2018 ROUND 9

Heading into the final round of the Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir we all knew that the only player standing between Carlsen and a third title was Ding. However, it would be a big challenge to topple the World Champion with the Black pieces.

They played a Rubenstein, Four Knights and after 4…Nd4 5.Nxd4 it was obvious where the game was headed and the handshake came after just 20 minutes.

Karjakin beat Topalov to claim third place after 8 consecutive draws in the earlier rounds. But it was Radjabov who secured the Giri award by securing a draw in all nine of his games.

Carlsen,Magnus (2843) - Ding,Liren (2778)

5th Shamkir Chess 2018 Shamkir (9), 28.04.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 

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4...Nd4 5.Nxd4 exd4 6.e5 dxc3 7.exf6 Qxf6 8.Qe2+ Qe7 9.dxc3 Qxe2+ 10.Kxe2 The position is equal. 

10...Bc5 C48: Four Knights: 4 Bb5, replies other than 4...Bb4 [10...a6 11.Bd3 d6 ½–½ (11) Sedlak,N (2547)-Indjic,A (2574) Mali Losinj 2017] 

11.Be3 [11.Kf3 with more complications. 11...c6 12.Re1+ Be7 13.Bd3 d5 14.a4] 

11...Bxe3 12.Kxe3 c6 13.Bd3 d5 14.Rae1 

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14...Ke7N [14...Be6 15.f4 0–0–0 16.Kd2 Rde8 17.Re5 Kc7 18.Rhe1 ½–½ (27) Cortlever,N-Szabo,L Zaandam 1946] 

15.c4 dxc4 16.Bxc4 Rd8 17.Rd1 Be6 18.Bxe6 Kxe6 19.Rhe1 

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19...Rxd1 20.Rxd1= Endgame KR-KR 

20...Re8 21.f4 f5 22.Kf3 Re7 23.Re1+ Kf6 24.Rd1 Ke6 25.Re1+ Kf6 26.Rd1 Ke6 27.Re1+  ½–½