Chess World Cup 2017 Round 3 Game 2 - Tblisi

What a day of carnage. We knew that World Champion Magnus Carlsen faced a mammoth task to level the match with black. However, Xiangzhi Bu held his nerve with white to send the world number one packing.

The next big name to fall with a loss in game 2 was Hikaru Nakamura, the number 7 seed. Nakamura was the player slated to face off against the check shorts wearing giant killer Kovalyov in a USA – Canada match up in round 4.

I think I could hear the entire nation of the Netherlands breathe a collective sigh of relief when Anish Giri saved the draw to go into tie breaks. Giri is known across the planet as the master of the draw. Early in the game he even had the chance to secure a perpetual, but chose to break character and push for the win. Giri over extended his chances and came very close to losing, but somehow survived.

The last game that held my close attention was between number 4 seed Vladimir Kramnik and veteran Vasily Ivanchuk. It was a match up that even had Russia / Ukraine political reverberations. It turned out to be vintage Chucky as he hacked the normally stoic Kramnik to bits using the unlikely weapon of the Caro-Kann.

The top seeds are having a tough round so far with only Wesley So (2) and Peter Svidler (16) managing to avoid the stress of round three tie breaks.

Tomorrow we see eight of the sixteen matches going to tie breaks, seven of those featuring players listed among the original sixteen top seeds for the tournament.

Let’s now analyse some of the decisive games from round 3.2:

Kramnik,Vladimir (2803) - Ivanchuk,Vassily (2727)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (3.2), 10.09.2017

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Nf6 6.Bf4 Bg4 7.Qb3 Qc8 8.Nd2 e6 9.Ngf3 Be7 10.0–0 Bh5 11.Rae1 Bg6 12.Bxg6 hxg6 13.h4N 

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B13: Caro-Kann: Exchange Variation and Panov-Botvinnik Attack [13.Ne5 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Qc6 15.a4 a6 16.h3 b5 17.Ra1 0–0 18.Bf4 Rfc8 19.Nf3 Ne4 20.Ne5 Qb7 1/2–1/2 (39) Teichmeister,S (2567)-Zhak,B (2445) ICCF email 2008] 

13...a6 14.c4 a5 15.a3 The position is equal. 

15...a4 16.Qd3 0–0 17.c5 b6 18.cxb6 Qb7 19.Bc7 Nd7 20.Rc1 Threatens to win with Qb5. 

20...Rfc8! 21.b4 axb3 22.Qxb3 Bxa3 23.Rc3 [Better is 23.Rb1= ] 

23...Be7 [23...Bf8!³] 

24.Rfc1 [24.Rb1!= remains equal.] 

24...Nb4µ aiming for ...Na2. 

25.Ne5 

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25...Nxe5! 26.Bxe5 Rxc3 27.Qxc3 Qxb6 28.Nf3 Qd8 29.Qb3 Rc8 30.Ra1 Rc4 31.g3 Qc8 32.Kg2 Nc6 33.Qb5 Bf8 34.Ra4 Rxa4 35.Qxa4 Nb4 36.Qb5 Qc2 37.Qf1 Qe4 38.Qe1 f6 And now ... Qxe1 would win. 

39.Bc7 Nc2 40.Qxe4 dxe4–+ Endgame KBN-KBN 

41.Nd2 f5 42.Nb3 [42.Bb6µ] 

42...Ne1+ 43.Kf1 Nf3 44.Ke2 Kf7 45.Bb6 Bb4 46.Ke3 Ke8 47.Bc5 Bc3 48.Ba3 Kf7 49.Bd6 Kf6 50.Bc7 Ke7 51.Bb8 Bb2 52.Bf4 Kd8 53.Bd6 Kd7 54.Bf8 

XABCDEFGHY
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54...Kc6! 55.Bxg7 Hoping for d5+! 

55...Kd5 56.Bf6 Bc3 57.Ke2? [57.g4µ] 

57...Kc4 [Weaker is 57...Bxd4 58.Nxd4 Nxd4+ 59.Bxd4µ] 

58.Nc5? [58.Nc1] 

58...e5 59.Nd7 [¹59.Nxe4 Nxd4+ 60.Ke3 Nc2+ 61.Kf3 Ne1+ 62.Ke3 fxe4 63.Kxe4] 

59...exd4 60.Bd8 d3+ 61.Kd1 Bd4 62.Bb6 Bxb6 63.Nxb6+ KN-KN 

63...Kd4 64.Nc8 Ne5 65.Ne7 Ng4 66.Ke1 Kc3 67.Nd5+ Kb3 68.Kd2 Nxf2 69.h5 Black mates. 

69...gxh5 70.Ne3 

XABCDEFGHY
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70...h4! 71.Nxf5 [71.gxh4 f4] 

71...h3 Precision: White = 40%, Black = 85%. 0–1

Fedoseev,Vladimir (2731) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2781)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (3.2), 10.09.2017

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Nd4 5.Bc4 Bc5 6.d3 C48: Four Knights: 4 Bb5, replies other than 4...Bb4 

6...c6 7.Nxe5 [7.Nxd4 Bxd4 8.0–0 d6 9.Qf3 b5 10.Bb3 a5 11.a3 a4 12.Ba2 Be6 13.Nd1 Bg4 0–1 (53) Maze,S (2614) -Fressinet,L (2651) Porticcio 2017] 

7...0–0 8.Nxf7 White is slightly better. 

8...Rxf7 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Be3N 

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[Find the theoretical novelty and annotate with similar games: 10.0–0 d6 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.Na4 Qg6 14.Kh1 1–0 (29) Koscielski,J (2318)-Friedel,M (2083) Essen 2004] 

10...Ne6 [10...d5²] 

11.Bxc5± Nxc5 12.e5! Ne8 13.d4 Ne6 [13...Na6± was worth a try.] 

14.0–0 [14.f4!+-] 

14...d6 15.f4! dxe5 16.fxe5+ Kg8 17.d5 cxd5 18.Nxd5 Hoping for Qf3. 

18...N8c7 19.c4 Bd7 20.Qg4 aiming for Rad1. 

20...Nf8 21.Qf3 Ng6! 22.Rad1 Ne6 23.h4 Nxh4 [23...Kh8± might work better.] 

24.Qf7+!+- Kh8 

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25.Nf6! White has strong compensation. 

25...Qb6+ 26.Rf2 Ba4 [26...Ng5± 27.Qxd7 (27.Nxd7 Qe3±) 27...gxf6] 

27.Rd6 Ng5 

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28.Qe7!‚ Black is in trouble. 

28...Nf5 [But not 28...Bc6? 29.Nd5+- (29.Nh5 Nhf3+ 30.Kf1 Nh2+ 31.Ke1 Qe3+ 32.Kd1 Rg8=) ; Avoid the trap 28...Nhf3+? 29.Kh1+-] 

29.Rxb6 Nxe7 30.Rxb7 Ng6 31.Nh5 Ne6 32.Rff7 Be8 [32...Bd1±] 

33.Rxa7 Rd8 34.Rf1 Kg8 35.Ng3 h5 36.Nf5 Kh7 37.b4 h4 [¹37...Rd2 38.b5 Bd7] 

38.b5 Rd2? [38...h3 39.gxh3 Nxe5] 

39.Nd6 

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White is clearly winning. 39...h3 40.gxh3 Bd7 41.Rxd7 Ng5 42.Rf5 Nh4 43.Rxg7+ Precision: White = 96%, Black = 38%. 1–0

Svidler,Peter (2756) - Onischuk,Alexander (2682)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (3.2), 10.09.2017

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.a4 b4 9.d3 d6 10.a5 Rb8 11.Nbd2 Be6 12.Bxe6 C88: Closed Ruy Lopez: Anti-Marshall Systems 

12...fxe6 13.c3 Nd7 [13...Qe8 14.Nc4 Qg6 15.h3 Nd7 16.Be3 d5 17.Ncd2 bxc3 18.bxc3 Nc5 19.Bxc5 Bxc5 1–0 (52) Carlsen,M (2822)-Aronian,L (2809) Saint Louis 2017] 

14.Nb3 White has an edge. 

14...d5N 

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[14...Qe8 15.Be3 h6 16.Nbd2 Nf6 17.d4 bxc3 18.bxc3 exd4 19.Nxd4 Qd7 1/2–1/2 (35) Oliveira,D (2146)-Salzmann,S (2092) LSS email 2013] 

15.Be3 bxc3 16.bxc3 dxe4 17.dxe4 Rb5 18.Qe2 Qb8 [18...Rxb3? 19.Qc4+-] 

19.Qc4 Nd8 20.Rad1 Bd6 21.Rb1 Qb7 22.Nbd2 Qc6 23.Rxb5 axb5 24.Qb3 Qa6 25.Ra1 Nc5! 26.Qb1 Nf7 [26...Ndb7²] 

27.c4± c6 28.cxb5 cxb5 29.Nb3 Nd7 [29...Na4!²] 

30.Qd3 Rc8 31.h3 h6 32.Nfd2 Nb8 33.Nf3 b4 [33...Nd7=] 

34.Qd1² Qb7 35.Nfd2 Rc3 36.Nc1 Na6 37.Ne2 Rc8 38.Qb3ƒ White fights for an advantage. 

38...Qe7 [Better is 38...Bc5² ] 

39.Rc1± Rxc1+ 40.Nxc1 Bc5 41.Nd3 Bxe3 42.fxe3 Qd8 43.Nc4 Ng5 

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[¹43...Qe8] 

44.Nb6 [Much worse is 44.Ndxe5?! Nxe4 45.Qd3 Qxd3²; 44.Ncxe5 Qxa5 45.Qc4 b3±; ¹44.Nxb4 Qb8 45.Nb6] 

44...Nc7 [¹44...Nb8] 

45.Qc4 b3 [45...Kh7± 46.Na4 (46.Nxb4 Qd1+ 47.Kh2 Qd2=; 46.Nxe5 Qd2±) 46...Na8] 

46.Qxb3+- Nxe4 47.Qc2 Qg5 

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48.Nc4! Nd5? [48...Ng3 was necessary. 49.Ndxe5 Qf6] 

49.a6 And now a7 would win. 

49...Nxe3 50.a7 Nxc2 51.a8Q+ Kh7 52.Qxe4+ Qf5 53.Nd6 Qxe4 54.Nxe4 Kg6 55.g4 Kf7 56.Nxe5+ Ke7 57.Kf2 [¹57.h4] 

57...Nb4? 

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[57...g5 keeps fighting. 58.Kf3 Nb4] 58.Kf3 [¹58.h4] 

58...Nd5 [¹58...g5 59.Nc3 Nc2] 

59.Ng6+ Kf7 60.Nf4 Nf6? [60...Nc7 61.Nd3 g5] 

61.Nxf6 

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White is clearly winning. 

61...gxf6 62.Kg3 f5 63.gxf5 exf5 64.Ng2 Precision: White = 73%, Black = 34%.[64.h4+- Kf6 65.Ne2]  1–0

Chess World Cup 2017 Round 3 Game 1 - Tblisi

Only three of the sixteen games making up the first part of round three were decisive – not counting the drama laden white piece default victory. But that does not come close to explaining the drama that erupted at the beginning of round 3. I’ll be interested to see your opinion on the drama; leave a comment below.

The first part of the round three drama erupted before any pieces had been moved. Anton Kovalyov, the Canadian player that eliminated Vishy Anand in round two arrived 10 minutes before the start of the game in his now trademark below the knee check shorts that he had worn the entire tournament. Kovalyov was informed by the chief arbiter that wearing shorts was a contravention of the tournament dress code. A simple enough situation that could be rectified in the minutes before the round was due to start.

However, that was seemingly not enough for ECU President Zurab Azmaiparashvili who took it upon himself to escalate the matter to breaking point. He stormed across the tournament hall to confront Kovalyov in a tirade of expletives that could be heard clear across the room including the term gypsey – a racial slur in Russian on a similar level to the “N” word in the USA.

Kovalyov, shaken and angered by the actions of what he perceived to be a bully, chose to leave the playing hall. He was later seen catching a taxi to the airport with his packed bags. Conversely the ECU president was strutting around as if he was the self-appointed World Cup Champion, riding high on a tsunami of ego.

Once the games actually did get started, the drama did not end – far from it…

Most noteworthy of the remaining 15 games was World Champion and number one seed Magnus Carlsen losing with the white pieces. He has a mountain to climb in game 2 with black just to stay in the hunt.

Let’s analyse the three decisive games that actually involved moving pieces on a chess board: 

Carlsen,Magnus (2827) - Bu,Xiangzhi (2714)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (3.1), 09.09.2017

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.0–0 0–0 6.Bb3 d6 7.c3 Be6 8.Re1 Qd7 9.Nbd2 Rab8N 

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 C55: Two Knights: 4 d3, 4 d4 exd4 5 e5 and Max Lange Attack [ 9...Rad8 10.Nf1 h6 11.h3 a6 12.Ng3 Rfe8 13.a4 Bf8 14.a5 Qc8 15.Ba4 Nd7 16.d4 exd4 17.cxd4 1/2–1/2 (54) Lorenzini, M (2482)-Vajda,L (2612) Istanbul 2012] 

10.Bc2 d5 11.h3 h6 White has an edge. 

12.exd5! Nxd5 13.Nxe5 Nxe5 14.Rxe5 Bd6 15.Re1 [White should try 15.Re4² ] 

15...Bxh3!= 16.gxh3 Qxh3 17.Nf1 Rbe8 18.d4 

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aiming for Be4. 18...f5! Hoping for ...Rxe1. 

19.Bb3! c6 20.f4! Kh7 ...Rf6! is the strong threat. 

21.Bxd5 [21.Re2!² is the one way to stay ahead.] 

21...cxd5µ 22.Re3 [¹22.Re5] 

22...Rxe3! 23.Bxe3 

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23...g5! 24.Kf2? [24.fxg5µ f4 25.Qc2+ Rf5 26.Bc1] 

24...gxf4–+ 25.Qf3 fxe3+ 26.Nxe3 Qh2+ 27.Kf1 Rg8 28.Qxf5+ Rg6! 29.Ke1 

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29...h5? [29...Kg7–+ 30.Qd7+ Kh8 31.Qd8+ Kh7 32.Qd7+ Rg7 33.Qf5+ Kh8] 

30.Kd1? [30.Rd1!= and White has nothing to worry.] 

30...Kh6‚ Black is out for blood. 

31.Nc2? [31.Rc1] 

31...h4? [31...Bf4 32.Qf8+ Kg5 33.Qe7+ Kf5 34.Qf7+ Kg5 35.Qe7+ Kf5 36.Qf7+ Rf6 37.Qh7+ Kg4] 

32.Ne1 h3 

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33.Nf3? [33.Rc1 Qg3 34.Nd3] 

33...Qg2 ( -> ...Qf1+). Black is clearly winning. 

34.Ne1 Qg4+ 35.Qxg4 Rxg4 36.Nf3 

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36...Rg1+! Precision: White = 33%, Black = 64%. 0–1

Aronian,Levon (2802) - Matlakov,Maxim (2728)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (3.1), 09.09.2017

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Bxc3 6.bxc3 0–0 7.d3 A28: English Opening: Four Knights Variation [7.e4 d6 8.g3 Nd7 9.Bg2 Nc5 10.Nh4 a6 11.0–0 b5 12.d4 exd4 13.cxd4 Nxd4 14.Qd2 Nc6 15.e5 Bb7 16.exd6 Qxd6 17.Qxd6 cxd6 18.Nf5 1/2–1/2 (18) Khairullin,I (2662)-Svidler,P (2739) Chita 2015] 

7...d6 8.Be2 8...Re8N 

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[8...e4!? 9.dxe4 Bg4=; 8...Qe7 9.e4 Nd7 10.Bg5 f6 11.Be3 f5 12.exf5 Nf6 13.d4 Ng4 14.Bg5 Qe8 0–1 (30) Zherebukh,Y (2625)-Huschenbeth,N (2532) Greensboro 2014] 

9.e4 The position is equal. 

9...Ne7 10.Nh4 Ng6 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.0–0 c6 13.f4 b5 14.cxb5 cxb5 15.h3 Qb6+ 16.Kh2 Be6 17.a4 a6 18.Qb2 Nd7 19.Rb1 Rab8 20.axb5 axb5 21.Rf3ƒ White has good play. 

21...f6 

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 [21...Ra8= 22.c4 (22.Qxb5 Qc7=) 22...exf4] 22.f5!± gxf5 23.exf5 Bd5 

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[¹23...e4 24.dxe4 Bc4] 24.Rg3! Re7 25.Bh5 e4 26.d4 Bc4 27.Bf4 aiming for Qb4. 

27...Ra8 28.Ra1 Rd8 29.Ra3 Nf8 30.Qa1 Bf7? [30...Qb7±] 

31.Ra6+- Qc7 32.Be2 Bc4 33.Bxc4+ Qxc4 34.Rxd6 Nd7 [34...Rxd6 might work better. 35.Bxd6 Re8] 

35.Qa7 Kf7 36.Qb7 White is clearly winning. 

36...Ke8 

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[¹36...e3 37.Bxe3 Rb8 38.Qxd7 Rg8] 

37.Re6! Rxe6 38.fxe6 Qxe6 39.Rxg7 e3 40.Qf3 Precision: White = 66%, Black = 36%. 1–0

Vallejo Pons,Francisco (2717) - So,Wesley (2792)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (3.1), 09.09.2017

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.g4 Be4 5.f3 Bg6 6.h4 h5 7.e6 Qd6 8.exf7+ Bxf7 9.Be3 B12: Caro-Kann: Advance Variation [9.g5 Qg3+ 10.Ke2 e6 11.Nh3 Qc7 12.Qd3 Ne7 13.Kd1 Nd7 14.Nc3 Nf5 15.Ne2 g6 16.Nf2 Bg7 0–1 (41) Chandler,P (2107)-Donchenko,A (2563) Heusenstamm 2016] 

9...hxg4 10.fxg4 Nf6 11.Nc3N 

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 Black is slightly better. [11.Nd2 Qg3+ 12.Bf2 Qxg4 13.Ngf3 Ne4 14.Rg1 Nxf2 15.Kxf2 Qf4 16.Qe2 Rxh4 0–1 (55) Cenal Gutierrez,R (2267) -Vigil Alvarez,L Asturias 1999] 

11...Qe6 12.Kd2 [12.Qe2!=] 

12...Nxg4µ [#] 13.Bg5 Nf2ƒ Keeping White busy. 

14.Qf3 Nxh1 15.Qxh1 [15.Nge2 was worth a try.] 

15...Qd6–+ 16.Bh3 e6 17.Rf1 Be7 18.Bf4 Qb4 

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Strongly threatening ...c5. 19.Nge2 [¹19.Nf3] 

19...Nd7 20.a3? [20.Kc1 is a better defense.] 

20...Qxb2 Black is clearly winning. 

21.Rb1 Qxa3 22.Rxb7 Qa6 23.Qb1 Rxh4 24.Bf1 Rxf4 25.Nxf4 Qa5 

XABCDEFGHY
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aiming for ...Bg5. 

26.Qe1 Bg5 27.Qg3 Bh6 28.Bd3 0–0–0 29.Rb3 e5 30.dxe5 d4 Precision: White = 37%, Black = 98%. 0–1

Chess World Cup 2017 Round 2 Tie Breaks - Tblisi

So, the high stress of the round two tie breaks is now behind us, and twelve of the top sixteen players have made it to the remaining sixteen pairings that make up round three. In a matter of a week the playing hall has been reduced from 64 tables to just sixteen – and looks a lot emptier than it did a couple of days ago.

We had 22 of the 32 round one matches going through to tie breaks. Luckily nobody had to face the gauntlet of the Armageddon game. However, of those 22 matches, 14 were decided in the first phase of two rapid games consisting of 25’ + 10”. A further 6 matches were concluded in the second phase of two rapid games consisting of 10’ + 10”. That left two matches to be concluded in the third phase of the tiebreak system that consisted of two blitz games of 5’ + 3”.

With round two now completed, in addition to the two players from the top 16 seeds that faltered in the classical games (see yesterday’s blog), Wei and Mamedyarov stumbled in the tie breaks and are packing their bags. 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 Aleksey Dreev 2-0

Wesley So (2) beat Matthias Bluebaum 4-2

Fabiano Caruana (3) beat Luka Lenic 4-2

Vladimir Kramnik (4) beat Anton Demchenko 1.5-0.5

Levon Aronian (5)beat Yifan Hou 4-2

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (6) lost to Yuriy Kuzubov 1-3

Hikaru Nakamura (7) beat Lazaro Bruzon Batista 2.5-1.5

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (8) beat Boris Grachev 1.5-0.5

Alexander Grischuk (9) beat Jorje Cori 2.5-1.5

Viswanathan Anand (10) lost to Anton Kovalyov 0.5-1.5

Liren Ding (11) beat Martyn Kravtsiv2.5-1.5

Sergey Karjakin (12) lost to Daniil Dubov 0.5-1.5

Anish Giri (13) beat Alexander Motylev 4-2

Yi Wei (14) lost to Richard Rapport 1.5-2.5

Ian Nepomniachtchi (15) beat B. Adhiban 2.5-1.5

Svidler, Peter (16) beat Viktor Erdos 2.5-1.5

Kuzubov,Yuriy (2688) - Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar (2797)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (2.4), 08.09.2017

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.e5 Nh5 B09: Pirc Defence: Austrian Attack [7...dxe5 8.fxe5 Nd5 9.Nxd5 Qxd5 10.c3 Bg4 11.Qe2 Rad8 12.Be4 Qd7 13.Be3 f6 14.0–0–0 fxe5 15.Qc4+ Kh8 16.dxe5 Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Qxd1+ 18.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 1–0 (50) Karjakin,S (2785)-Van Wely,L (2695) Wijk aan Zee 2017] 

8.Be3 f6N 

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[8...Bh6 9.Qd2 Bg4 10.0–0 Ng7 11.Ne2 e6 12.c3 f6 13.exd6 Qxd6 14.Ng3 Ne7 15.Ne4 Qc6 16.Nxf6+ Rxf6 17.Ne5 Nd5 18.Nxc6 bxc6 19.h3 Bf5 20.Be2 Be4 21.g4 Rf7 22.c4 1–0 (22) Ramnath,B (2405) -Karthikeyan,M (2497) Chennai 2015] 

9.exf6 Nxf6 White has an edge. 

10.Qd2 Ng4 11.Bg1 Kh8 12.h3 Nf6 13.0–0–0 Nb4 14.g4 [14.Bc4²] 

14...c6 15.Be2 Qa5 16.Bc4 b5 17.Bb3 Qc7 18.Ng5 d5 [18...Nbd5²] 

19.Ne2 [19.a3±] 

19...a5² 20.c3 a4 21.cxb4 

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Hoping for Bc2. 21...axb3 22.a3! Ne4 23.Nxe4 dxe4 24.Bh2 Qb6 25.f5 [25.Qe3²] 

25...gxf5³ 26.Be5 [26.gxf5³ Bxf5 27.Qg5] 

26...Bxe5µ 27.dxe5 c5 [27...fxg4 28.hxg4 Qf2 29.Qg5= (29.Qh6 Qf7³) ] 

28.Kb1 fxg4 

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[28...e3!µ 29.Qc3 cxb4 30.Qxb4 Qe6] 

29.hxg4 [29.e6!³] 

29...Qg6! [Much less strong is 29...Bxg4 30.Qg5³] 

30.Nf4 Qxg4 31.Rhg1 

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[31.Qh2? Bf5µ] 31...e3 [31...Bf5!µ White must now prevent ...e3+. 32.Ka1 (32.Rxg4? e3+ 33.Qd3 Rad8–+) 32...Qf3] 

32.Qxe3= Qf5+ 33.Ka1! Be6! 34.Ng6+! [34.Nxe6 Qc2–+] 

34...hxg6 35.Qh6+ Kg8 36.Rxg6+ Kf7 ( -> ...Rxa3+!) 

37.Rg5 

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White wants to mate with Qh5+. 37...Rxa3+! 38.bxa3 b2+! 39.Kxb2 Qf2+ 40.Kc1 Qe3+ 41.Rd2 Qxa3+ 42.Kd1 Qa1+ 43.Kc2 Qa2+ 44.Kc1! Qa3+ 45.Kb1 Qxb4+ 46.Kc1 Qc3+ 47.Kb1 Qb4+ 48.Kc1 Qc4+ 49.Kb1 Qe4+ 50.Kb2 Qh5+ would kill now. 

50...Qb4+ 51.Kc1 Qc3+ 52.Kb1 Qb3+ 53.Kc1 Qc4+ 54.Kb1 Qe4+ 55.Kb2 White threatens Qh5+ and mate. 

55...Qb4+ 56.Kc1 Qa3+ 57.Kb1 Qb3+ 58.Kc1 Qc3+ 59.Kb1 Qb3+ 60.Kc1 Qc4+ 61.Kb1 Qf1+? [61...Qb3+= 62.Kc1] 

62.Kb2 Bf5 

XABCDEFGHY
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 63.e6+! Precision: White = 58%, Black = 59%. 1–0

Aronian,Levon (2802) - Hou,Yifan (2670)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (2.6), 08.09.2017

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 c5 4.e3 b6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bd3 g6 E14: Queen's Indian: Classical Variation (4 e3) [6...Be7 7.0–0 0–0 8.Re1 Nbd7 9.d5 e5 10.e4 Re8 11.g3 Nf8 12.Nh4 Bh3 13.Nf5 Qd7 14.Bc2 1–0 (30) Malaniuk,V (2462)-Pechac,J (2530) Ceske Budejovice 2015] 

7.d5 exd5N 

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[Find the theoretical novelty and annotate with similar games: 7...Bg7 8.h3 0–0 9.0–0 a6 10.e4 Nbd7 11.a3 Rb8 12.Bg5 h6 13.Be3 exd5 14.cxd5 1–0 (43) Ivanov,J (2420)-Le Roux,J (2275) Guingamp 2001] 8.cxd5 Bg7 White is slightly better. 

9.e4 a6 10.a4 Bg4 11.h3 Bxf3! 12.Qxf3 0–0 13.0–0 Ne8 14.Bf4ƒ White is pushing. 

14...Qe7 15.Qg3 h6 16.Rae1 Nd7 17.Bc1 g5 [¹17...Qe5] 

18.Nd1± Ne5 19.Ne3 Ng6 20.Nf5 Qe5 21.Qxe5 Nxe5 22.Be2 Ng6 23.g3 Kh7 24.Kg2 Bf6 25.h4 gxh4 26.Bxh6 Ng7 27.Bxg7 Bxg7 28.b3 

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[White should try 28.Nxd6+- Threatens to win with Rh1. 28...hxg3 29.f4 (29.fxg3 Kg8+-) ] 

28...hxg3 29.Kxg3 Bc3 30.Rd1 Rfe8 31.Bd3! b5 32.axb5 axb5 33.f4 c4 [33...Red8± 34.Bxb5 Kg8] 

34.bxc4 bxc4 

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35.Bxc4? [35.Nxd6+- cxd3 36.Nxe8 Rxe8 37.Rxd3] 

35...Rxe4= 36.Nxd6 Re3+ [36...Rxf4!= keeps the balance. 37.Rxf4 Be5 38.Nxf7 (38.Rh1+ Kg7=) 38...Bxf4+ 39.Kg4 Ra4] 

37.Rf3 Be1+? [37...Rxf3+± 38.Kxf3 Ra4] 

38.Kg4+- Rxf3 39.Kxf3 Ra3+ 40.Bd3! Kg7 

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41.Nc4! [But not 41.Rxe1?! Rxd3+ 42.Ke4 Rd2±] 

41...Rb3 42.d6 [Don't play 42.Rxe1?! Rxd3+ 43.Ke4 Rc3+-] 

42...Bh4 43.Kg4 Bd8 44.Bxg6 Kxg6? Endgame KRB-KRN [44...fxg6 45.Ne5 Ra3] 

45.Ne5+ 

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White is clearly winning. 45...Kg7 46.Nc6 Bf6 47.d7 Rb6 48.d8Q Bxd8 49.Nxd8 [And not 49.Rxd8 Rxc6 50.Rb8 Rg6+ 51.Kf5 Rf6+ 52.Ke5 Re6+ 53.Kf5 Rf6+ 54.Kg4 Rg6+ 55.Kf3 Re6=] 

49...Kf8 50.Rc1 Rb8 51.Nc6 Rc8 52.Rc4 Precision: White = 66%, Black = 49%. 1–0

Chess World Cup 2017 Round 2 Game Two - Tblisi

An interesting fact emerged at the end of game 2 of round 2 of the 2017 chess world cup in Tblisi. Round 2 has 22 matches going through to tie breaks. That is the exact same number as the first round.

Conversely that means that only 10 matches were finalized on the second game of round 2. Interestingly 5 of those 10 decisive matches involved one of the top 16 seeded players. However two of those five decisive matches were upsets.

We all knew that Anand had a massive uphill battle in game two against Kovalyov. But, it was not to be, Kovalyov held the draw with the white pieces and advanced to round three.

What I was not expecting at all was the most recent World Champion qualifier, Sergey Karjakin, to crash out against Daniil Dubov. That puts two of the top seeds out of the tournament after only four days of play.

Two further interesting facts to come out of the classical games in round two were that number five seed Levon Aronian had been held by Yifan Hou. I was, however, surprised to see the opening choice by Anton Demchenko with white against Vladimir Kramnik. Kramnik had won game one, yet Demchenko was playing for the draw with white directly out of the opening – even though the draw that resulted put him out of the tournament.

Let’s analyse a couple of the decisive games:

Dubov,Daniil (2666) - Karjakin,Sergey (2780)

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (2.2), 07.09.2017

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Bc5 A29: English Opening: Four Knights Variation with 4 g3 

7.0–0 0–0 8.d3 Bb6 9.Nxd5 Qxd5 

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10.b4! e4 [Of course not 10...Nxb4 11.Bb2²; 10...a5=] 

11.Ng5² Qd4 12.Ba3N aiming for b5. [12.Be3 Qxb4 13.Nxe4 Bxe3 14.fxe3 1–0 (53) Nakamura,H (2792) -Karjakin,S (2773) Saint Louis 2017] 

12...e3 13.b5 exf2+ 14.Kh1 

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14...Ne5! Hoping for ...Re8. 

15.Bxf8 Kxf8 16.a4 a5 is the strong threat. 

16...a5 17.bxa6 Rxa6 18.a5! Ba7 19.Qc1 Qd8 20.Qf4! h6 

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 21.Ne4! [Much worse is 21.Qxe5 hxg5 22.Ra4 Rd6=] 

21...Qe7 22.Nc3 g5 

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23.Qc1! Ng4 24.Nd5!‚ White is out for blood. 

24...Qxe2 25.Qxc7 Rc6 26.Qd8+ Qe8 [26...Kg7±] 

27.Qxe8++- Kxe8 28.d4 Kd8 [¹28...Bxd4 29.Ra4 Ba7] 

29.h3 White has a decisive advantage. 

29...Nf6 30.Nb6 [But not 30.Rxf2?! Nxd5 31.Bxd5 Bxd4±] 

30...Rc2 31.Nxc8 Precision: White = 94%, Black = 57%. 1–0

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

FIDE World Cup 2017 Tbilisi (2.2), 07.09.2017

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.a4 Ngf6 5.Nc3 g6 [5...a6!? 6.Bc4 Ne5 7.Nxe5 dxe5²] 

6.a5 

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 B51: Sicilian: Moscow Variation (3 Bb5+) without 3...Bd7 

6...Bg7 7.a6N [7.0–0 a6 8.Bc4 0–0 9.d3 Nb8 10.Nd5 Nc6 11.Nb6 Rb8 12.Bd2 Bg4 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 0–1 (46) Carlsen,M (2855)-Topalov,V (2761) Paris 2016] 

7...0–0 8.0–0 The position is equal. 

8...e6 9.d3 Qb6 10.axb7 Bxb7 11.Re1 Rfd8 12.Ba4 h6 13.h3 d5 14.e5 Nh7 15.Bxd7 Rxd7 16.d4 

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 Black must now prevent Na4. 

16...cxd4 17.Ne2 d3 18.Qxd3 d4 19.Nexd4 g5 20.c3 Nf8 21.Nh2 [21.h4!?] 

21...Ng6 22.Qg3ƒ Black is under pressure. 

22...Nh4 [22...a5=] 

23.Nhf3± Nxf3+ [Better is 23...Bxf3 24.Nxf3 Nf5] 

24.Nxf3 Rd3 25.h4 gxh4 26.Qxh4 Bxf3 27.gxf3 Rxf3? 

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[27...Qb7±] 28.Bxh6+- White is clearly winning. 

28...f5 [¹28...Qxf2+ 29.Qxf2 Rxf2] 

29.Bxg7 Kxg7 30.Kh1 Precision: White = 76%, Black = 40%. 1–0