Chess World Cup 2017 Round 2 Game One - Tblisi

The massive shock in the first game of round two was in the match of Anand against Kovalyov. As Kovalyov said in the press room after the game: “If the sacrifice that Anand tried had worked this would have been the game of the year.”

Instead Anand is left with a “what might have been” feeling and the monumental task of being faced with a must win game with the black pieces just to stay in the match.

Anand was the only one of the top 16 seeded players to lose in the first game of round two. In fact, only six of the 32 games played today were decisive.

Let’s analyse all six of those decisive games, starting with Anand – Kovalyov:

Anand,Viswanathan (2794) - Kovalyov,Anton (2649)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (2.1), 06.09.2017

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 B90: Sicilian Najdorf: Unusual White 6th moves, 6 Be3 Ng4 and 6 Be3 e5 

8.Be3 h5 9.Be2 Nbd7 White is slightly better. 

10.0–0 Rc8 11.Qd2N 

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[11.a4 Nb6 12.Nd2 d5 13.Bxb6 Qxb6 14.exd5 Nxd5 15.Nxd5 Bxd5 16.Bxh5 Qxb2 1/2–1/2 (106) Yu,Y (2675)-Chu,W (2257) China 2013] 11...b5 [11...Be7= keeps the balance.] 

12.Rfd1 Nb6 13.Bxb6 Qxb6 14.a4 b4 15.Nd5 Nxd5 [15...Bxd5 16.exd5 Ne4 17.Qe1=] 

16.exd5 Bd7 17.a5 Qb7! 18.Qe3 Be7 19.Qb6 Qxb6 20.axb6 Threatens to win with b7. 

20...Rb8! 21.Rxa6 Rda1 is the strong threat. 

21...Bd8 22.b7 Ke7 

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23.Nc5? [23.Ra8± Rxb7 24.Na5] 

23...dxc5µ 24.d6+ Kf6 25.Bf3 Kf5! 26.Bd5! e4 27.Re1 Bf6 28.Bxe4+ Kg5 29.Ra5 [White should try 29.h4+³ Kxh4 30.g3+ Kg5 31.Ra5] 

29...Bxb2 30.Rxc5+ 

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30...Kf6! 31.Re3 g6 32.Rf3+ Ke6! 33.Rd3 Rhd8 34.Ra5 [34.f4µ] 

34...f5 [34...h4!–+] 

35.Bf3 Bc3 36.h4 Kf6 37.g3 

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 [37.Ra8µ] 37...f4!–+ 38.Be4 [38.gxf4 Bf5] 

38...Bf5 39.Bxf5 gxf5 40.Rb5 Ke6 

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41.Kf1? [41.gxf4 might work better. 41...Rd7 42.Re3+ Kxd6 43.Rxf5] 

41...Rd7 [41...Rxd6? 42.Rxd6+ Kxd6 43.gxf4µ] 

42.gxf4 Rbxb7 [But not 42...Rdxb7 43.Re3+ Kxd6 44.Rxf5–+] 

43.Re3+? [43.Rc5] 

43...Kf6 Precision: White = 52%, Black = 80%. 0–1

Dreev,Aleksey (2648) - Carlsen,Magnus (2827)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (2.1), 06.09.2017

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.Qb3 c5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.a3 Bxc3+ 10.Qxc3 c4 D38: Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defence (4 Nf3 Bb4) 

11.b3 4 Games 

11...Be6 12.Ne5N 

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[12.bxc4² dxc4 13.e4; 12.e3 0–0 13.Be2 Rc8 14.0–0 Nc6 15.a4 cxb3 16.a5 Qd8 17.a6 b6 18.Qxb3 0–1 (41) Skrondal,I (2277)-Hammer,J (2628) Sandefjord 2017] 

12...0–0= The position is equal. 

13.e3 Nc6 14.Be2 Nxe5 15.dxe5 Qg6 16.0–0 d4! 17.exd4 [17.Qxd4 Rfd8] 

17...cxb3 18.Bf3 Hoping for d5. 

18...Rac8 19.Qe3! Qg5ƒ White is under pressure. 

20.Rab1 Qxe3 21.fxe3 Rfd8 22.Bxb7 Rc3 23.d5 Bd7 White must now prevent ...Rb8. [Weaker is 23...Bxd5 24.Rfd1±] 

24.Rf4 a5 Strongly threatening ...Rb8. 

25.Kf2? [25.d6³] 

25...Rb8–+ 26.Bc6 Bxc6 27.dxc6 Rxc6 KRR-KRR 

28.Rd4 [¹28.Rb2] 

28...Rc2+ 

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Black has a decisive advantage. 

29.Kf3 b2 30.Rdd1 Rb5 31.a4 Rxe5 32.Rd8+ Kh7 Precision: White = 58%, Black = 100%. 0–1

Vachier-Lagrave,Maxime (2804) - Grachev,Boris (2654)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (2.1), 06.09.2017

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e5 Nfd7 5.e6 [5.d4 e6 6.dxc5 Nc6 7.Bf4 Bxc5 8.Bd3 h6 9.Bg3 g5 10.h3 a6 11.Qd2 b5 12.a3 Bb7 13.0–0 Qe7 14.Ne2 Rg8 15.c3 h5 16.Ned4 h4 17.Bh2 1–0 (34) Mozharov,M (2555)-Najer,E (2646) Moscow 2014] 

5...fxe6 6.Bb5 Black must now prevent Ng5. B29: Sicilian: 2 Nf3 Nf6 (Nimzowitsch Variation) 6...Nc6 [¹6...a6 7.Bxd7+ Bxd7] 

7.0–0 g6N 

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7...Qc7 8.Re1 Nd4 9.Nxd4 cxd4 10.Ne2 e5 11.c3 Qb6 12.Qb3 1–0 (22) Peuraniemi,P (2474)-Krasevec, A (2292) ICCF corr 2000] 

8.Qe2 The position is equal. 

8...Bg7 9.Qxe6 Nb6 [9...Nde5!= keeps the balance. 10.Qxd5 Qxd5 11.Nxd5 Nxf3+ 12.gxf3 Kf7] 

10.Bxc6+± bxc6 11.Qxc6+ Bd7 12.Qxc5 d4 13.Ne4 [13.Nxd4 Rc8µ] 

13...Rc8 14.Qa3 0–0 15.d3 [Wrong is 15.Qxa7? Bc6–+] 

15...h6 16.Re1 Kh7 [16...Rf7± 17.Bd2 (17.Qxa7 Ra8=) 17...Rxc2] 

17.c4 [And not 17.Qxa7 Rxf3 18.Bxh6 (18.gxf3 Ra8=) 18...Kxh6=] 

17...dxc3 18.Nxc3 Bc6 19.Qxe7 [White should play 19.Rxe7+- Rc7 20.Rxc7 Qxc7 21.Ne4] 

19...Bxf3 20.gxf3 Rc7 21.Qxd8 Rxd8 22.Bf4 Rf7 23.Be3 Bxc3 24.bxc3 Rxd3 25.Bd4 Nd5 26.Rad1 Rdxf3 27.c4ƒ Black is under strong pressure. 

27...Nb4 28.Rd2 R3f4? [28...Rc7± keeps fighting. 29.Re3 Rxe3 30.Bxe3 Kg7] 

29.Re8+- g5? [29...Rf8 30.Rxf8 Rxf8] 

30.Be5 

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White is clearly winning. 30...Rg4+ 31.Kf1 Nc6 32.Bb2 Rgf4 33.Rh8+ Kg6 34.Rd6+ Kf5 35.Rxc6 Kg4 36.h3+! Kxh3 37.Rhxh6+ Kg4 38.Rhf6 Rb7 39.Be5 Kf3 40.Bxf4 Precision: White = 68%, Black = 48%. 1–0

Kramnik,Vladimir (2803) - Demchenko,Anton (2650)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (2.1), 06.09.2017

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 0–0 5.Bg2 d6 6.d4 Nbd7 7.0–0 Re8 8.a4 A49: 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 g3: Anti-King's Indian systems [8.c4 e5 9.dxe5 Ng4 10.Qd2 dxe5 11.h3 Nh6 12.Ng5 Nf8 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.Nc3 f6 15.Nf3 Ne6 16.Rfd1 Bd7 17.e3 Nf7 18.Rd2 0–1 (42) Mirzoev,A (2541)-Demchenko,A (2645) Konya 2017] 8...Rb8 9.c4N 

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[9.Na3 a6 10.Qd3 e5 11.dxe5 Ng4 12.Nc4 Ngxe5 13.Nfxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.Bxe5 dxe5 16.Qxd8 Rxd8 17.Rad1 1/2–1/2 (17) Regis,G (2129)-Mueller Ludwig,K (2089) Germany 2005] 

9...e5 10.dxe5 White has an edge. 

10...Ng4 11.a5 dxe5 12.h3 Nh6 Threatens to win with ...e4. 

13.e4 f6 14.b4 Nf8 15.Nc3 Be6 16.Qe2 Qc8 17.Kh2 Nf7 18.Rfd1ƒ White is pushing. 

18...c6 19.Bc1 f5 20.Be3 b6 21.axb6 axb6 22.Rac1 Qc7 23.Nd5 cxd5 [¹23...Qb7] 

24.cxd5± Qe7 Hoping for ...Bd7. 

25.dxe6 Nxe6 26.exf5 gxf5 

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27.Qb5! f4 28.gxf4 [Inferior is 28.Bxb6 Qb7µ] 

28...exf4 29.Rd7 Qf6 30.Bd2 Rbc8 31.Rxc8 [Don't take 31.Qxb6?! Rxc1 32.Bxc1 Ne5+-] 

31...Rxc8 32.Qxb6 Rc2 33.Qb7 Bf8 34.Qe4 Qg6 35.Qd5 Qf6 36.h4 Strongly threatening Bh3. 

36...Bg7? [36...Rc7 37.Bh3 Rxd7 38.Qxd7 Ned8] 

37.Bh3+- Nf8 38.Rb7 h6 39.Bg4 Rb2 40.Bh5 Ng6 41.Bxg6 Qxg6 42.Rb8+ [¹42.h5 Qf6 43.Bc3 Rxf2+ 44.Kg1 Rd2 45.Bxd2 Kh8 46.Rb8+ Nd8 47.Bc3] 

42...Bf8 43.Ne5 Rxd2 

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 44.Rxf8+! Precision: White = 78%, Black = 41%. 1–0

Fedoseev,Vladimir (2731) - Inarkiev,Ernesto (2694)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (2.1), 06.09.2017

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Be2 0–0 8.Nb3 d6 9.g4 a6 B72: Sicilian Dragon: 6 Be3, lines with h3+Bc4 and sidelines [9...d5!?; 9...Be6 10.g5 Nd7 11.h4 Nb6 12.f4 Nc4 13.Bxc4 Bxc4 14.Qf3 Nb4 15.Rh2 Qc7 16.Bd4 Bxd4 17.Nxd4 0–1 (34) Tomczak,J (2585) -Moranda,W (2588) Poland 2015] 

10.h4N 

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[10.g5!? Nd7 11.f4=; Predecessor: 10.g5 Nd7 11.Qd2 b5 12.h4 Bb7 13.h5 Rc8 14.f4 0–1 (39) Wu,C (2377)-Escalante Ramirez,B (2302) Khanty-Mansiysk 2016] 

10...b5 11.h5 b4 The position is equal. 

12.Nd5 e6 13.Nb6 Rb8 14.Nxc8 Qxc8 [14...Rxc8= 15.Bxa6 Rb8] 

15.Qxd6± 

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And now hxg6 would win. 15...e5 16.0–0–0 a5 17.hxg6 hxg6 18.g5 Rd8 19.Qc5ƒ Keeping Black busy. [Don't play 19.gxf6 Rxd6 20.Rxd6 Bf8³] 

19...Nd7 20.Qd5 Nb6 21.Qb5 Nd5 22.Qa4 [Inferior is 22.exd5 Rxb5 23.Bxb5 Nd4µ] 

22...Nxe3 23.fxe3 Qc7 [23...Rxd1+± 24.Rxd1 Ra8] 

24.Bc4 Nd4 [¹24...Rbc8 25.Rdf1 Rf8] 

25.Nxa5+- [25.exd4 Qxc4 26.Nxa5 Qa6±] 

25...Ra8 26.exd4 Qxc4 27.Nxc4 Rxa4 28.dxe5 Re8 29.Kb1 Bxe5 30.Nb6 Ra7 31.Nd5 Kg7 32.Rh3 Ra4 [32...Rb8 was necessary. 33.Rdh1 Rd7 34.Rh7+ Kg8] 

33.Rdh1 aiming for Rh7+. 

33...Rd8 [¹33...Ra5 34.Nxb4 Kf8] 

34.Rh7+ Kg8 35.Ne7+ Kf8 36.Nc6 Re8 

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 37.Rh8+! Precision: White = 86%, Black = 57%. 1–0

Navara,David (2720) - Cheparinov,Ivan (2695)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (2.1), 06.09.2017

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 d4 5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 Qxf6 7.Nf3 e5 8.d4 Nc6 A18: English Opening: Flohr-Mikenas System (1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3 e6 3 e4) 

9.Bg5 Qg6 10.d5 Nb8 11.h4 h6 12.h5 Qd6 13.Be3 Nd7 14.Qa4 [14.c5!? Nxc5 15.Bb5+ Nd7 16.c4=] 

14...Qa3N 

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[Predecessor: 14...c6 15.Rd1 1–0 (67) Nakamura,H (2787)-Caruana,F (2795) Saint Louis 2016] 15.Qb3 [15.Qc2 with more complications. 15...Bc5 16.Bc1 Qa5 17.Bd3 0–0 18.0–0] 

15...a5 [15...Qa5³] 

16.Qc2 Qd6 17.Bd3 Be7 18.Rd1 a4 19.0–0 0–0 20.Rfe1 b6 21.Bh7+ Kh8 22.Bf5 Qf6 23.g4 Qd6 24.Bc1 a3 25.Bxd7 [Better is 25.Qe2² ] 

25...Bxd7= 26.Nxe5 Ba4 27.Qf5 Bxd1 28.Nxf7+ Rxf7 29.Qxf7 

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29...Bh4! And now ...Bc2 would win. [29...Qd7?! 30.Re6±] 

30.g5! [30.Rxd1? Rf8–+] 

30...Ba4? [Avoid the trap 30...Rf8? 31.Re8+-; 30...Bxg5= 31.Bxg5 (31.Rxd1? Bxc1 32.Rxc1 Rf8–+) 31...hxg5 32.Rxd1 Rf8] 

31.Re7+- 

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31...Bxf2+? [31...Rg8 is more resistant.] 

32.Kh1 Precision: White = 66%, Black = 59%.[Stronger than 32.Kxf2 Qh2+ 33.Ke3 Rg8=]  1–0

Chess World Cup 2017 Round 1 Tie breaks - Tblisi

 

We had 22 of the 64 round one matches going through to tie breaks. Luckily nobody had to face the gauntlet of the Armageddon game. However, of those 22 matches, 13 were decided in the first phase of two rapid games consisting of 25’ + 10”. A further 8 matches were concluded in the second phase of two rapid games consisting of 10’ + 10”. That left the single match between home town hero Baadur Jobava and Spaniard Ivan Salgado Lopez that was concluded in the third phase of the tiebreak system that consisted of two blitz games of 5’ + 3”.

With round one now completed, all of the top 16 seeds have progressed to round two. Before we analyse some of the more interesting games from the tie breaks, let’s look at how each of the top 16 seeded players scored in round one:

Magnus Carlsen (1) beat Oluwafemi Balogun 2-0

Wesley So (2) beat Joshua Daniel Ruiz Castillo 1.5-0.5

Fabiano Caruana (3) beat Kenny Solomon 2-0

Vladimir Kramnik (4) beat Changren Dai 1.5-0.5

Levon Aronian (5) beat Daniel Cawdery 2-0

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (6) beat Guanchu Liu 1.5-0.5

Hikaru Nakamura (7) beat Al Rakib Mollah Abdullah 2-0

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (8) beat Muhammad Khusenkhojaev 1.5-0.5

Alexander Grischuk (9) beat Essam El Gindy 2-0

Viswanathan Anand (10) beat Li Tian Yeoh 1.5-0.5

Liren Ding (11) beat Mohamed Haddouche 1.5-0.5

Sergey Karjakin (12) beat Anton Smirnov 3-1 in phase one of the tie breaks

Anish Giri (13) beat Nana Dzagnidze 1.5-0.5

Wei, Yi (14) beat Bator Sambuev 2.5-1.5 in phase one of the tie breaks

Nepomniachtchi, Ian (15) beat Mladen Palac 3.5-2.5 in phase two of the tie breaks

Svidler, Peter (16) beat Jakhongir Vakhidov 2-0

  

Karjakin,Sergey (2780) - Smirnov,Anton (2508)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (1.3), 05.09.2017

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.0–0 0–0 8.c4 c6 9.Re1 Bf5 10.Qb3 Na6 C42: Petroff Defence: 3 Nxe5 and unusual White 3rd moves [10...Qd7 11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.Bxf5 Qxf5 13.bxc3 b6 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Qb5 Qd7 16.Rb1 Rc8 17.g3 Bf8 18.Bd2 1/2–1/2 (51) Vachier Lagrave,M (2796)-Caruana,F (2808) Stavanger 2017] 

11.cxd5 cxd5 12.Nc3 Nb4 The position is equal. 

13.Bxe4 dxe4 14.Nxe4 aiming for Bg5. 

14...Be6 15.Qd1 Rc8 next ...Nc2 is good for Black. 

16.Bg5 [Reject 16.Nxd6 Qxd6 17.Re2 Bg4³] 

16...Qd7N 

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16...Qb6 17.Re2 h6 18.Bh4 1/2–1/2 (31) Sherwood,R (2169) -Sukhanitskij,S (1989) LSS email 2012] 

17.Re2 [17.Nc5!? Bxc5 18.dxc5²] 

17...f6 18.Nxd6 [18.Bd2 is interesting. 18...Nd5 19.Nxd6 Qxd6 20.Re1 Qd7 21.b3] 

18...Qxd6 19.Bf4 Qd7 20.a3 Nc6 21.Rc1 Bd5 22.Rd2 Rfe8 [22...Qf5!? 23.Bg3 Na5=] 

23.h3 Bxf3 24.gxf3 Qxh3 25.d5 Ne5 26.Rxc8 Qxc8 27.d6 Qd7 28.Kg2 Ng6 29.Bg3 Nf8 30.Rc2ƒ White has good play. 

30...Ne6 31.Qd5 Hoping for Rc7. 

31...Kf8? 

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[31...Kh8²] 32.Qf5!+- Strongly threatening Rc7! 

32...Rc8 33.Rc7! Rxc7 34.dxc7 h6 35.Qc2 Qc8 36.Qd3 Kf7 37.Qd5 g5 [37...Ke8 is a better defense. 38.Qb5+ Kf7 39.Qh5+ Kg8] 

38.a4 h5 [38...Ke8 keeps fighting. 39.Qd3 f5] 

39.b4 h4 40.Bd6 b6 41.a5 bxa5 42.bxa5 a6 43.Qb3 

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 Qb8 is the strong threat. 43...Ke8 44.Qa4+ Kf7 45.Qc4 Ke8 46.Qc6+ Kf7 47.Kh2 Nd4 48.Qd5+ Ne6 49.Qf5 Qd7 

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1+-+-+-+-!
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[¹49...Kg7 50.f4 Qd7] 50.Kg1 Qc8 51.Be5 [¹51.Qh7+ Ng7 52.Bf8! Qxf8 53.Qd3] 

51...Ke7 52.Qh7+ Ke8 53.Bd6 Precision: White = 76%, Black = 31%. 1–0

Jobava,Baadur (2702) - Salgado Lopez,Ivan (2627)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (1.8), 05.09.2017

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.c3 d5 5.Qc2 a5 6.a4 C44: Ponziani Opening and Scotch Gambit 

6...Bc5 7.Be2 0–0 8.0–0 h6 9.h3 [9.Na3 Re8 10.h3 Be6 11.Re1 Qd7 12.Bf1 Rad8 13.Nb5 Bb6 1/2–1/2 (49) Jobava,B (2713) -Matlakov,M (2714) Minsk 2017] 

9...Be6 10.Re1 dxe4N 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7+pzp-+pzp-'
6-+n+lsn-zp&
5zp-vl-zp-+-%
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2-zPQ+LzPP+"
1tRNvL-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy

[10...Qd7 11.Nbd2 Bxh3 12.gxh3 Qxh3 13.d4 exd4 14.cxd4 Bxd4 15.Nxd4 Nxd4 0–1 (47) Boskovic,D (2433)-Kastanieda,G (2406) playchess.com INT 2005] 

11.dxe4 Qe7 12.Na3 Rad8 13.Bb5 Nd7 14.Be3 Bxe3 15.Rxe3 f6 16.Bc4 Bxc4 17.Nxc4 Qe6 [17...Qf7!? 18.b3 b6=] 

18.Na3 Ne7 19.Rd1 Nc5 20.b4 Rxd1+ 21.Qxd1 axb4 22.cxb4 Na6 23.b5ƒ White has good play. 

23...Nc5 24.Qc2 b6 25.a5 Ra8 26.Nc4 bxa5 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+k+(
7+-zp-sn-zp-'
6-+-+qzp-zp&
5zpPsn-zp-+-%
4-+N+P+-+$
3+-+-tRN+P#
2-+Q+-zPP+"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

[26...Qd7=] 27.Ncxe5!± Nd7 28.Nxd7 Qxd7 29.Qc4+ Kh7 30.e5 Qd5? [30...f5!²] 

31.Qxc7+- Qd1+ 32.Re1 Qd8 33.Qxd8 Rxd8 34.exf6 Nd5? 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-+-+(
7+-+-+-zpk'
6-+-+-zP-zp&
5zpP+n+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+N+P#
2-+-+-zPP+"
1+-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy

[34...Ng6 was necessary. 35.Ra1 gxf6 36.Rxa5 Rd1+ 37.Kh2 Kg8] 

35.Rd1 White is clearly winning. 

35...a4 36.f7 a3 37.Ne5 [Weaker is 37.Rxd5 Rxd5 38.f8Q a2²] 

37...a2 38.Nd7! Precision: White = 52%, Black = 41%. 1–0

World Cup Tblisi Round 1 Game 2

Round one of the knock out world cup of chess consists of 128 players. Included in that number are 19 of the top 20 on the FIDE ELO list – just Topalov is missing from that list. Even World Champion Magnus Carlsen is there.

Of the 128 players, we have 40 GM’s that are rated 2700+. That represents two thirds of the players expected to go through to round 2 based on rating. Of those, let’s take a closer look at who is being held over to the tie breaks on day three of round one, and which 2700+ players will be cashing their six thousand euro cheques after getting eliminated after only two games.

Held over for tie breaks(14):

Etienne Bacrot (2728); David Howell (2701); Vassily Ivanchuk (2727); P. Harikrishna (2741); Dmitry Andreikin (2708); Sergey Karjakin (2780); Francisco Vallejo Pons (2717); Evgeny Tomashevsky (2710); Ian Nepomniachtchi (2741); Yangyi Yu (2750); Baadur  Jobava (2702); Vladimir Fedoseev (2731); Michael Adams (2738); Yi Wei (2748);

Going home (1):

Pavel Eljanov (2734);

Let’s take a look at a few select games from the first two days:

Eljanov,Pavel (2734) - Lenderman,Aleksandr (2565)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (1.1), 03.09.2017

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 d5 7.Bg5 dxc4 E36: Nimzo-Indian: Classical: 4...d5 5 a3 

8.Qxc4 b6 9.Rc1 [9.Rd1 Ba6 10.Qa4 h6 11.Bh4 Qd7 12.Qc2 Qc6 13.Qxc6 Nxc6 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nf3 1/2–1/2 (72) Morozevich,A (2675) -Navara,D (2737) Biel 2017] 

9...Ba6 The position is equal. 

10.Qa4 Qd7 [10...c5 is interesting. 11.dxc5 h6 12.Bh4 bxc5 13.Nf3 Qe7] 

11.Qxd7 Nbxd7 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.e3 Bxf1 14.Kxf1 Rfc8 15.Rc6 Nd5N 16.Nf3 Ne7 17.Rc2 f6 18.Ke2 Kf7 19.Rhc1 c6 20.Ne1 Ke8 21.Nd3 Kd7 22.g4 g5 23.h4 h6 24.Rh1 Rh8 25.e4 Ng6 26.h5 Ne7 27.Ke3 Rhf8 28.f3 a5 29.Rhc1 Ra7 30.Rc3 Rg8 31.b3 Rf8 32.Nb2 Re8 33.Nc4 Ra6 34.Kf2 Rd8 35.Rd3 [35.f4!±] 

35...Ke8 36.e5 f5 37.Nd6+ Kf8 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-mk-+(
7+-+-sn-+-'
6rzppsNp+-zp&
5zp-+-zPpzpP%
4-+-zP-+P+$
3zPP+R+P+-#
2-+-+-mK-+"
1+-tR-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

[37...Kd7±] 38.d5 [38.f4!+-] 

38...cxd5 39.Rc7 [39.Nb5±] 

39...b5!² 40.Nxb5 [40.Nb7!? Re8 41.gxf5²] 

40...Rc6 [40...fxg4!= 41.Nd4 (41.fxg4 Nc6=) 41...Nf5] 

41.Nd4± Rxc7 42.Nxe6+ Kf7 43.Nxc7 Endgame KRN-KRN [Better is 43.Nxd8+± Ke8 44.Ne6 Rc2+ 45.Ke1] 

43...d4² 44.Nb5 Rd5 [44...fxg4² 45.Rxd4 (45.fxg4 Nc6=) 45...Rb8] 

45.e6+± [Don't play 45.Nxd4?! Nc6=] 

45...Kf6 [45...Kf8±] 

46.Nxd4+- Rd6 [46...Ke5 is a better defense.] 

47.b4 axb4 [¹47...f4 48.bxa5 Rd5] 

48.axb4 f4 49.b5 Ke5 50.Rd2 [Not 50.Nc6+ Nxc6 51.bxc6 Rxc6+-] 

50...Kf6 [But not 50...Rxd4? 51.Rxd4 Kxe6 52.b6] 

51.Ke1 Nd5 52.Re2? [52.Kd1+-] 

52...Ne3= 53.e7 Kf7 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-zPk+-'
6-+-tr-+-zp&
5+P+-+-zpP%
4-+-sN-zpP+$
3+-+-snP+-#
2-+-+R+-+"
1+-+-mK-+-!
xabcdefghy

54.Rd2? [54.Rxe3= and White stays safe. 54...fxe3 55.Nf5] 

54...Rxd4!–+ Black is clearly winning. 

55.Rb2 Rd7 56.b6 Strongly threatening b7. 

56...Rb7 57.Ke2 Nd5 Precision: White = 62%, Black = 39%. 0–1

Carlsen,Magnus (2827) - Balogun,Oluwafemi (2255)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (1.1), 03.09.2017

1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Qe2 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.0–0 B06: Modern Defence 

6...Bg4 7.c3 0–0 8.h3 The position is equal. 

8...Bxf3! 9.Qxf3 e5 10.Rd1 Qe8 [10...Nd7 11.Be3 Qe7 12.Na3 Nb6 13.Bb5 f5 14.Bxc6 bxc6 15.exf5 e4 16.f6 Rxf6 0–1 (61) Bacrot,E (2718)-Ponomariov,R (2714) Beijing 2014] 

11.d5 Ne7 12.Qe2N [Predecessor: 12.g4 Nd7 13.Qg2 f5 14.Nd2 Nf6 0–1 (42) Johansson-Timman,J Stockholm 1972] 

12...Nh5 13.Bb5 Qc8 14.Na3 a6 15.Ba4 f5 16.Bc2 f4 [16...fxe4= 17.Bxe4 Qd7] 

17.Qg4 Qxg4 18.hxg4 Nf6 19.g5 Nd7 20.Nc4 b6 [20...h6=] 

21.b4 h6 22.gxh6 Bxh6 23.g4 Nf6 24.f3! Bg5 25.Kg2 Kg7 26.a4 Bh4 27.Bd2 g5 28.Rh1 Ng6 29.Kf1 Rh8 30.Ke2 Bg3! 31.a5 b5 [31...bxa5!= 32.Nxa5 Rh4] 

32.Na3± Ne7 33.c4ƒ White is really pushing. 

33...c6 34.dxc6 Nxc6 35.Bc3! [And not 35.cxb5 Nd4+ 36.Kd3 Rhd8µ] 

35...Rxh1 [¹35...Na7 36.cxb5 Rhc8] 

36.Rxh1+- bxc4 37.Nxc4 

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-mk-'
6p+nzp-sn-+&
5zP-+-zp-zp-%
4-zPN+PzpP+$
3+-vL-+Pvl-#
2-+L+K+-+"
1+-+-+-+R!
xabcdefghy

37...Rb8? [37...Ne8 38.Rd1 Nc7] 

38.Nxd6 Kg6 39.Nf5 Precision: White = 58%, Black = 54%. 1–0

Solomon,Kenny (2398) - Caruana,Fabiano (2799)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (1.2), 04.09.2017

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 g6 5.0–0 Bg7 6.c3 d6 7.d4 Bd7 8.Re1 Nf6 9.d5 C79: Ruy Lopez: Steinitz-type lines with 3...a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0–0 d6 [9.h3 b5 10.Bc2 0–0 11.Nbd2 Re8 12.a3 h6 13.Nf1 Nh5 14.Be3 Kh7 15.Qd2 Qf6 16.N1h2 Rad8 1–0 (68) Dominguez Perez,L (2739)-Van Foreest,J (2612) chess.com INT 2017] 

9...Ne7 10.c4 h6 [10...b5!? 11.Bb3 c5²] 

11.Nc3 White is slightly better. 

11...0–0 12.Bc2 Nh7 13.b4N [Predecessor: 13.a4 f5 14.exf5 gxf5 15.Ra3 Ng6 16.Ne2 1–0 (32) Gabrielian,A (2555)-Yandemirov, V (2378) Moscow 2014] 

13...f5 14.exf5 gxf5 15.Bb2 [15.a4=] 

15...Ng6³ 16.Ne2 Ng5 17.Ng3 [17.Nxg5= remains equal. 17...Qxg5 18.Ng3] 

17...Nxf3+!µ 18.Qxf3 e4 19.Qb3 Bxb2 20.Qxb2 Qg5 21.Qc1 a5 22.b5 Ne5 23.Qxg5+ hxg5 24.Rac1 Kg7 25.Bb1 b6 26.Rc3 Rh8 27.h3 Rh4 [¹27...Kf6 28.Bc2 Rh4] 

28.Kf1 [28.f3µ] 

28...g4 [28...Rah8–+ 29.Bc2 g4 30.hxg4 Rxg4] 

29.hxg4 Rxg4 30.Bc2 [30.Nh5+µ was necessary. 30...Kf7 31.g3] 

30...Rh8–+ 31.Bd1 Rg5 32.Kg1 Be8 33.Bc2 [33.Nf1µ might work better.] 

33...Bg6 34.Kf1 Rg4 35.Ke2 Rh2 36.Rg1 f4 37.Nxe4 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-zp-+-mk-'
6-zp-zp-+l+&
5zpP+Psn-+-%
4-+P+Nzpr+$
3+-tR-+-+-#
2P+L+KzPPtr"
1+-+-+-tR-!
xabcdefghy

37...f3+! 38.Ke3 With the idea g3. [38.gxf3 Rxg1] 

38...fxg2 [Less strong is 38...Rgxg2 39.Rf1µ] 

39.f3 Rh3 40.Nd2 Rh1! 41.Kf2 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-zp-+-mk-'
6-zp-zp-+l+&
5zpP+Psn-+-%
4-+P+-+r+$
3+-tR-+P+-#
2P+LsN-mKp+"
1+-+-+-tRr!
xabcdefghy

41...Rxg1! [Not 41...Rd4 42.Nb3³] 

42.Kxg1 Rd4 43.Nb3 Rxc4 44.Rxc4 Nxc4 45.Bxg6 [¹45.Nd4 Bxc2 46.Nxc2] 

45...Kxg6 46.Kxg2 Endgame KN-KN 

46...Kf5 47.Kg3 Ke5 48.f4+ Kxd5 Black is clearly winning. 

49.Kg4 [¹49.Kf3 Na3 50.f5] 

49...Ke4 50.Kg5 a4 51.Nc1 d5 Precision: White = 36%, Black = 82%. 0-1

TENSE FINISH TO THE BARCELONA SANTS INTERNATIONAL OPEN

Heading into the final round at the Barcelona Sants International Open GM Rinat Jumabayev (KAZ), GM Daniele Vocaturo (ITA) and GM Leonardo Krysa (ARG) were all tied on 7.5 out of 9. However another 11 players were just a half a point behind the three leaders leaving the final round with must win games all the way down to board 7 in order to stand a chance of being on the podium.

In the tenth and final round, top seed GM Jumabayev drew black against the number 14 seed GM Krysa. Meanwhile GM Vocaturo also had black against GM Svetushkin (MDA). So, only one of the three leaders had the white pieced.

Before we look at the outcomes of the top boards, let’s pause a moment and look at the the two protagonists from our previous blog from the Saints Open…

Unfortunately young Leon Luke Mendonca (IND) faltered in later rounds, including a loss in the final round to finish on 4.5 and miss out on his first IM norm. But, remember his name for the future as he has many years of superb chess ahead of him.

If you recall, Mendonca’s opponent in the second round was the third seed, GM Siman Agdestein (NOR). GM Agdestein recovered through the tournament to eventually win on board 8 in the final round, finishing with a respectable 7.5.

Back to the business end of the final round, board 1 was the last to finish, allowing both players to calculate their odds of winning, should they make a draw. Boards 3, 5 and 6 all drew to finish with 7.5. Including winners from as low as board 15, we now had 12 players on 7.5 already.

FM Julian Martin (GER) on board 7, GM Jan-Christian Schroeder on Board 4 and GM Sverushkin on board 2 all won to go 8 out of 10. That relegated GM Vocaturo to join the 12 others on 7.5 out of 10.

That left the marathon on board 1 where GM Jumabayev converted his Kings Indian into a won rook and pawn endgame with black to take a clear win on 8.5 out of 10.

I leave you with a detailed look at this tournament winning game…

Krysa,Leandro (2537) - Jumabayev,Rinat (2610)

XIX Sants Open 2017 Cotxeres de Sants (10), 27.08.2017

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 0–0 5.Bg2 c5 6.Nc3 d6 7.0–0 Nc6 8.dxc5 dxc5 9.Be3 Be6 10.Qa4 Nd4 11.Rac1 E65: King's Indian: Fianchetto: 6...c5 7 0–0 without d5 by White [11.Rad1 Bd7 12.Qa3 Nc2 13.Qxc5 b6 14.Qg5 h6 15.Qf4 g5 16.Qe5 Rc8 17.Nd5 Nxd5 18.Qxd5 Bc6 19.Qxd8 Rfxd8 1/2–1/2 (54) Wang,Y (2705)-Giri,A (2734) Beijing 2013]

11...Ng4 12.Bf4 Bd7 13.Qa3 White is slightly better. 

13...e5 14.Bg5 f6 15.Bd2 Bc6 16.h3N [16.Rfd1 Re8 17.Ne1 Bxg2 18.Nxg2 Qc8 1/2–1/2 (27) Prokhorov,A (2071)-Zazuliak,A (2189) Lvov 2011] 

16...Nh6 17.Nxd4 cxd4 18.Nd5 Kh8 19.e3 dxe3

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-tr-mk(
7zpp+-+-vlp'
6-+l+-zppsn&
5+-+Nzp-+-%
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1+-tR-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

20.Bxe3 [20.fxe3 feels hotter. 20...Nf5 21.Kh2 Re8 22.e4 Nd4 23.Be3] 

20...Nf5 21.b4 Nxe3 22.Qxe3 f5 23.b5 Bd7 24.Rfd1 e4 25.c5 Bxb5 Strongly threatening ...Qa5. 

26.Nb6! Qe7 27.Nxa8 Rxa8 28.Bf1 Ba4 29.Rd6 Be5 30.Qa3 Bc6 31.Rcd1  

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+-mk(
7zpp+-wq-+p'
6-+ltR-+p+&
5+-zP-vlp+-%
4-+-+p+-+$
3wQ-+-+-zPP#
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1+-+R+LmK-!
xabcdefghy

31...f4 [31...e3!? 32.f4 e2 33.Bxe2 Bxd6 34.Qc3+ Be5 35.fxe5 Re8 36.e6+ Qg7=] 

32.gxf4 Bxf4 33.Qc3+ Be5 34.Qd2 Bxd6 35.cxd6 Qe5 36.Bg2 Rd8 37.Qd4 Qxd4 38.Rxd4µ Endgame KRB-KRB 

38...Re8 39.Kf1 Kg7! 40.Ke2 Kf6 41.h4 Rd8 42.Ke3 Ke5 43.Bxe4 Bxe4 KRB-KR 

44.f4+  

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-+-+(
7zpp+-+-+p'
6-+-zP-+p+&
5+-+-mk-+-%
4-+-tRlzP-zP$
3+-+-mK-+-#
2P+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

44...Ke6 [44...Kf5 looks sharper. 45.Rxe4 Rxd6 46.Re5+ Kf6 47.Rb5 b6] 

45.Rxe4+ Kxd6 KR-KR 

46.h5 Rd7 Hoping for ... Re7. 

47.hxg6 hxg6 aiming for ...Re7. 

48.Kd3 Re7 Threatens to win with ... Rxe4. 

49.Ra4 b6 50.Rd4+ Ke6 51.Ke4 Rc7 52.Rb4 Rc5 [¹52...Rc2 ...Re2+ is the strong threat. 53.a4 Rc5] 

53.a4 Rf5 54.Rc4 Rc5 55.Rb4! Kd6 56.Kd3 Rh5 57.Re4 Rh3+ 58.Kc4 [58.Kc2µ was called for.] 

58...a5–+  

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-zp-mk-+p+&
5zp-+-+-+-%
4P+K+RzP-+$
3+-+-+-+r#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

59.Rd4+? [59.Re1 Rh4 60.Kb5] 

59...Ke6 Black is clearly winning. 

60.Re4+ Kf6 61.Kd5 Rb3  

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6-zp-+-mkp+&
5zp-+K+-+-%
4P+-+RzP-+$
3+r+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

62.Re8 If White can now play Rf8+ this consolidates a bit. 

62...Rb4 63.Rf8+ Kg7 64.Rb8 Rxf4 65.Rxb6 Rxa4 66.Ra6 Kh6 67.Ke5 Kh5 68.Kf6  

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+-+-'
6R+-+-mKp+&
5zp-+-+-+k%
4r+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

68...g5 69.Ra7 Rf4+ 70.Ke5 a4 71.Rh7+ Kg4 72.Rh1 a3 Precision: White = 42%, Black = 73%. 0–1

AMAZING 11 YEAR OLD AT THE BARCELONA SANTS OPEN

Most 11 year old junior chess players get crushed by Grandmasters in simultaneous exhibitions. However, young Leon Luke Mendonca is not just any 11 year old junior player. He is asserting himself as the next big star to come from India.

After just 6 of the 10 rounds completed at the Barcelona Sants International Open Luke is well on his way to securing his first IM norm.

In round 2 he faced off against the number 3 seed of the tournament, GM Simen Agdestein of Norway. Far from being intimidated by the prospect of facing such a strong player at his tender age, Luke rose to the occasion - showing an accuracy of play that bodes very well for the future.

Let's take a look at that round 2 game:

Mendonca,Leon Luke (2286) - Agdestein,Simen (2604)

XIX Sants Open 2017 Cotxeres de Sants (2), 19.08.2017

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 5.Nge2 Re8 6.a3 Bf8 7.d5 h5N E46: Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein: 4 e3 0–0 5 Ne2 without early Bd3 [Predecessor: 7...a5 8.Ng3 Na6 9.Bd3 Nc5 10.Bc2 exd5 11.cxd5 b5 12.0–0 Bb7 13.Qd4 b4 14.axb4 axb4 15.Rxa8 Qxa8 16.Qxb4 Nxd5 1–0 (57) Ipatov, A (2613)-Eljanov,P (2723) Dubai 2014] 

8.g3 exd5 9.cxd5 c5 [9...h4=] 

10.Bg2 d6 11.0–0 h4 12.e4 hxg3 

XABCDEFGHY
8rsnlwqrvlk+(
7zpp+-+pzp-'
6-+-zp-sn-+&
5+-zpP+-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3zP-sN-+-zp-#
2-zP-+NzPLzP"
1tR-vLQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

[12...h3!? 13.Bf3 Nbd7²] 

13.hxg3 Na6 14.Rb1 Bd7 15.b4 cxb4 16.axb4 Ng4 17.f3 Qb6+ 18.Qd4 Qxd4+ 19.Nxd4 Ne5 20.Ncb5 Rec8 21.Rd1 Rc4 22.Bd2 Nc7 23.Nxc7 Rxc7 24.Bf1 Nc4 25.Rdc1 Rac8 26.Bxc4 Rxc4 27.Rxc4 [27.Nb3 looks sharper. 27...f5 28.Na5 Rc2 29.Bf4 fxe4 30.fxe4 b6 31.Nc6] 

27...Rxc4 28.Nb3 Rc2 29.Bf4 Rc3 30.Kf2 Be7 31.Nd4 Rc4 32.Nf5 Bxf5 33.exf5= Endgame KRB-KRB 

33...a6 34.Ke3 Rc3+ 35.Kf2 Bf6 36.Rd1 Be7 37.Re1 Kf8 38.Rh1 Ke8 39.Rc1 Rb3 40.Rc4 Kd7 41.Ke2 Bf6 42.Bd2 Ra3 43.g4 Bd8 44.g5 Ra2 45.Kd3 a5 46.bxa5 Bxa5 47.Bxa5 [47.Bc1 seems wilder. 47...Rf2 48.Ra4 Bb6 49.Rb4 Rxf3+ 50.Ke4] 

47...Rxa5 48.Ke4 Rc5 49.Rd4 b5 50.f6 gxf6 51.gxf6 Kc7 52.Ke3 Rc3+ 53.Ke2 Rc4 54.Rg4! Kb6 55.Kd3 Rc7 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-tr-+p+-'
6-mk-zp-zP-+&
5+p+P+-+-%
4-+-+-+R+$
3+-+K+P+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

[55...Rc5!? 56.Rg7 Rc7³] 

56.Re4 Rc5 [56...Kc5!?] 

57.Re7 Rxd5+? [57...Rc7!= and Black has nothing to worry.] 

58.Ke4+- Re5+ 

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-tRp+-'
6-mk-zp-zP-+&
5+p+-tr-+-%
4-+-+K+-+$
3+-+-+P+-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

59.Kd4? [59.Kf4+-] 59...b4= The position is equal. 

60.Rxf7 b3 61.Kc3 Re3+ 62.Kb2 White wants to play f4. 

62...Rxf3 63.Rf8 Kc5 64.f7 Kd5 65.Rc8 Rxf7 And now ...Rf3 would win. 

66.Kxb3 Kd4 67.Rc4+! Kd3 [#] Strongly threatening ...Rb7+. 

68.Rc3+! Kd2 ...Rb7+ is the strong threat. 

69.Rc2+ Kd1 ( -> ...Rb7+) [69...Ke3!? 70.Rc3+ Ke2 71.Rc2+ Kd3 72.Rc3+ Kd2 73.Rc2+ Kd3 74.Rc3+³] 

70.Rc6 d5 aiming for ...Rf3+. 

71.Rd6 Precision: White = 71%, Black = 65%. ½–½