Tata Steel 2017

[Wayne Komer]

Tata Steel 2017

October 29, 2016

Official Announcement

World champion Carlsen and challenger Karjakin at Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2017

World champion Magnus Carlsen will participate in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2017, the tournament organisation announced today. And not only Carlsen, but also his challenger Sergey Karjakin will participate.

On 11 November Carlsen and Karjakin will start their world title match in New York. Regardless who comes out on top, the world champion will be present in Wijk aan Zee in January. Carlsen won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament for the 5th time last January. Karjakin won in 2009. They will meet grandmasters like Anish Giri, Levon Aronian, Wesley So and 17-year-old Chinese prodigy Wei Yi. The 79th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament takes place in Wijk aan Zee from 13 – 29 January 2017. As part of Tata Steel Chess On Tour the Tata Steel Masters will play their 5th round in Feyenoord Stadium De Kuip in Rotterdam on 19 January and their 10th round in De Philharmonie in Haarlem on 25 January.

Chess as linking pin

Theo Henrar, chairman of the board of directors of Tata Steel Nederland : “Tata Steel strives to unite people from different backgrounds through chess. In doing so, we particularly direct our efforts towards young people, fully in line with our community policy. In cooperation with the municipalities of Beverwijk, Rotterdam and Haarlem we will involve many young people in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament once again and will help set up community initiatives centering around the sport of chess”.

First encounter after title match

Jeroen van den Berg, director of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament: “I am very pleased with the strong field of participants of the Tata Steel Masters in 2017 and the participation of world champion Carlsen and his challenger Karjakin. At our tournament they will face off for the first time after the title match. And that is special, because it frequently happens that grandmasters opt for a break after a title match.” The field of participants of the Tata Steel Masters has an average rating of 2752 and has four players from the world’s top 10. The twelve grandmasters who have been announced so far represent nine countries. The 13th player will be announced in November and the 14th a month later, when it is known which player has the highest ranking of the players in the ACP Competition with a rating under 2750 on 1 December. The participants of the Tata Steel Challengers will be announced in November.

Magnus Carlsen will participate in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament for the 13th time. He made his debut in the C group in 2004. Carlsen is expected to face the fiercest competition form Karjakin, Aronian and So. Especially the American has had a great chess year, in which he excelled at the Olympiad in Baku (won by the USA), shortly after winning his first elite tournament in St. Louis. After a year’s absence Levon Aronian will return. The Armenian with the sunny disposition has won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament four times and could catch up with record winners Carlsen and Anand if he emerges victorious. Anish Giri will also be at the focus of attention. He became father of a son in October and went on to achieve a great result at the Tal Memorial in Moscow. All this after a period of disappointing results, which forced him out of the top 10. Giri will do his utmost to win his first tournament in front of a home crowd. Dangerous outsiders are youthful players Wei Yi (17) and Rapport (20). Their aggressive style has surprised many an opponent. Ian Nepomniachtchi is in good shape and has just won the prestigious Tal Memorial Tournament in Moscow. Indian Adhiban will debut in the Tata Steel Masters, having won the Tata Steel Challengers in 2016.

Preliminary list of participants Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2017, Tata Steel Masters

Name Rating Country

Magnus Carlsen 2853 Norway

Levon Aronian 2795 Armenia

Wesley So 2794 USA

Sergey Karjakin 2772 Russia

P. Harikrishna 2762 India

Anish Giri 2756 The Netherlands

Ian Nepomniachtchi 2749 Russia

Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2746 Poland

Richard Rapport 2729 Hungary

Wei Yi 2706 China

Adhiban Baskaran 2689 India

Loek van Wely 2667 The Netherlands

Steel and chess: creativity and innovation

The Tata Steel Chess Tournament has a long tradition. Starting as an employee tournament, it has grown into an international tournament of world-class renown, for which grandmasters and amateurs alike will clear their diaries. Tata Steel has chosen for chess, because chess entails strategic thinking and focuses on finding creative solutions for complex issues. Tata Steel has that very same focus. Steelmaking is a high-tech process with a crucial role for innovation. Tata Steel employees are continuously and relentlessly working on finding clever solutions to improve processes and products. That is how Tata Steel is able to provide top products to its customers, allowing them to distinguish themselves in their markets. At the same time Tata Steel contributes to creating a sustainable society through its product and process innovations. Among chess aficionados the tournament in Wijk aan Zee is known as ‘The Wimbledon of Chess’.

http://www.tatasteelchess.com/news/1...ment-2017.html

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel 2017

Tata Steel 2017

October 31, 2016

Some online comments on the participants:

- As GM Short is not on the list for Gibraltar this year, maybe he is nr. 13 for Wijk aan Zee. That would be interesting...

- I've never seen Rapport in a major tournament. This should be fun.

- depends on what you consider "major". Rapport played three supertournaments (most to all other participants Elo 2700+), result-wise it was never fun for him: 3/10 in Biel 2013, 3.5/11 in Wijk aan Zee A 2014 (company from Naiditsch for last place), 2/10 in Biel 2015. But he did play some fun games, e.g. his successful Budapest Gambit 2014 against an also out-of-form Gelfand.

- Yes, Rapport played in three strong tournaments so far, and one of that three (Tata Steel 2014) is clearly a supertournament, but he was very young back than. He was 17, when he played in the Tata Steel A. His recent performances are mixed, he played terrible chess at the Olympiad, but prior to that he had an 50+ game streak with a combined 2800+ performance! If he arrives to Wijk in good form, his games will sure be fun to watch.

The field is very nicely balanced, strong TOP20 players + the world's best two juniors and some experienced veterans. Add Kramnik, Anand or perhaps Mamedyarov to that as the 13th player and one more strong GM. Can't wait!

- Tata Steel Chess is my favorite tournament, I would like to see the top masters playing in them, but Van Wely?. I know I get it, he is from the Netherlands and they want their own playing in there. But the tournament would have been better if any of the other top from Gibraltar played on his place.

- Van Wely is the 2nd highest rated player in the Netherlands. If they wanted to invite another Dutchman, he would be the logical choice.

- Van Wely played every edition of Wijk aan Zee (Hoogovens, Corus and Tata Steel) since 1992 - but 2011 when he took a "sabbatical" and played only 'nice' but no tough events. Answering my question in a press conference: "For you, an open in Curacao might be chess. For me, it was a trip to Curacao."

This (van Wely being 'furniture' at the event) has often been criticized, but as far as I remember was never called 'disgusting' - if "Hoogeveen" plays a role: invitations were certainly sent out and accepted earlier.

The ACP Tour spot probably goes to Kovalenko (current Elo 2664) - ACP Tour standings reward playing well and playing a lot - making it three sub-2700 players: Adhiban and Kovalenko qualified, van Wely also "qualified" by being Dutch #2 and thus local wildcard (Giri is a supertournament regular also playing such events in other countries). Similar cases in the past were Vallejo in Linares, Nisipeanu for Bazna and Naiditsch (when his Elo was <2700) in Dortmund - as long as the events existed and before "N and N" changed federations.

van Wely will probably play in Wijk aan Zee (A group) as long as he wants to himself, or until Jorden van Foreest is higher-rated - or then the organizers opt for more than one local wildcard as for some past events.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel 2017

Tata Steel 2017

November 15, 2016

The Tata Steel Challengers have been announced and they are an attractive lot – especially the youngsters Van Foreest, Xiong and Tari

All Tata Steel Challengers 2017

Name Country Rating

GM Ragger, Markus AUT 2694
GM Smirin, Ilia ISR 2674
GM Jones, Gawain ENG 2663
GM Xiong, Jeffery USA 2660
GM Grandelius, Nils SWE 2646
GM Lu, Shanglei CHN 2616
GM van Foreest, Jorden NED 2614
GM l'Ami, Erwin NED 2608
GM Bok, Benjamin NED 2597
GM Tari, Aryan NOR 2572
GM Dobrov, Vladimir RUS 2505
WGM Tingjie, Lei CHN 2473
IM Guramishvili, Sopiko GEO 2370

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel 2017

Tata Steel 2017

January 2, 2017

Field of participants Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2017 complete

Dmitri Andreikin will be the 14th player in the Tata Steel Masters and Eric Hansen the 14th player in the Tata Steel Challengers, the Tata Steel Chess Tournament organisation announced today.

The participation of the Russian and Canadian grandmasters completes the field of participants of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2017. According to the agreement with players’ union ACP the last spots in the Tata Steel Masters and Tata Steel Challengers were to go to the highest ranked players of the ACP Competition with a rating below 2750 and 2650. But these grandmasters, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Gawain Jones, had already been confirmed as participants in theTata Steel Chess Tournament 2017. The 79th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament takes place in Wijk aan Zee from 13 – 29 January 2017.

Dmitri Andreikin (26) ranks 22rd on the world list. Andreikin has belonged to the group of players right below the world top for years, but will participate for the first time in Wijk aan Zee in January. The Russian was youth world champion in 2010 and became Russian champion two years later. He qualified for the Candidates Tournament in 2013, which determines who will be allowed to challenge the world champion. In 2014 Andreikin won the Fide Grand Prix Tournament in Tashkent, surpassing players like Nakamura, Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave, Giri and Karjakin.

Canadian grandmaster Eric Hansen (24) is not only a strong chess player, but also appreciated for providing commentary at big tournaments. Hansen will participate in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament for the first time. He was one of the stars of the Chess Olympiad in Baku earlier this year, scoring 9 out of 11.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel 2017

Tata Steel 2017

January 9, 2017

Schedule for Masters/Challengers

Round 1, Jan. 14, 13:30
Round 2, Jan. 15, 13:30
Round 3, Jan. 16, 13:30
Round 4, Jan. 17, 13:30
Rest Day
Round 5, Jan. 19, 13:30
Round 6, Jan. 20, 13:30
Round 7, Jan. 21, 13:30
Round 8, Jan. 22, 13:30
Rest Day
Round 9, Jan. 24, 13:30
Round 10, Jan. 25, 13:30
Rest Day
Round 11, Jan. 27, 13:30
Round 12, Jan. 28, 13:30
Round 13, Jan. 29, 12:00

Dutch time of 13:30 is 7:30 a.m. Toronto/Montreal time
______

There is a preview of the tournament at the ChessBase site:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/tata-st...n-wijk-aan-zee

Two excerpts:

Not all rounds of the Tata Steel Tournament in Wijk aan Zee are played in Wijk. The tournament travels and two of the 13 thirteen rounds of the A-group are played in a prestigious venue in other cities. This year these two "external" rounds will be played in the stadium of soccer club Feyenoord Rotterdam and in the Philharmonic Hall of Haarlem to present chess as sport and as art.
_____

(Challengers) It will be interesting to see how the world's best girl, Lei Tingje from China, the young talent from the US, Jeffery Xiong, and the young Dutch master Jorden van Foreest will fare in this field. And who will win the tournament and qualify for the A-group in the Tata Steel tournament 2018?

[Hans Jung]

Re: Tata Steel 2017

Good Luck Eric!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel 2017

Tata Steel 2017

January 13, 2017

Tata Steel Challengers Playing Schedule

Round 1 - Saturday the 14th
Jones, G. - Grandelius, N.
Guramishvili, S. - Lu, S.
Smirin, I. - Dobrov, V.
Tari, A. - Hansen, E.
Bok, B. - Tingjie, L.
Ragger, M. - Xiong, J.
van Foreest, J. - l'Ami, E.

Round 2 - Sunday the 15th
Grandelius, N. - l'Ami, E.
Xiong, J. - van Foreest, J.
Tingjie, L. - Ragger, M.
Hansen, E. - Bok, B.
Dobrov, V. - Tari, A.
Lu, S. - Smirin, I.
Jones, G. - Guramishvili, S.

Round 3 - Monday the 16th
Guramishvili, S. - Grandelius, N.
Smirin, I. - Jones, G.
Tari, A. - Lu, S.
Bok, B. - Dobrov, V.
Ragger, M. - Hansen, E.
van Foreest, J. - Tingjie, L.
l'Ami, E. - Xiong, J.

Round 4 - Tuesday the 17th
Grandelius, N. - Xiong, J.
Tingjie, L. - l'Ami, E.
Hansen, E. - van Foreest, J.
Dobrov, V. - Ragger, M.
Lu, S. - Bok, B.
Jones, G. - Tari, A.
Guramishvili, S. - Smirin, I.

Round 5 - Thursday the 19th
Smirin, I. - Grandelius, N.
Tari, A. - Guramishvili, S.
Bok, B. - Jones, G.
Ragger, M. - Lu, S.
van Foreest, J. - Dobrov, V.
l'Ami, E. - Hansen, E.
Xiong, J. - Tingjie, L.

Round 6 - Friday the 20th
Grandelius, N. - Tingjie, L.
Hansen, E. - Xiong, J.
Dobrov, V. - l'Ami, E.
Lu, S. - van Foreest, J.
Jones, G. - Ragger, M.
Guramishvili, S. - Bok, B.
Smirin, I. - Tari, A.

Round 7 - Saturday the 21st
Tari, A. - Grandelius, N.
Bok, B. - Smirin, I.
Ragger, M. - Guramishvili, S.
van Foreest, J. - Jones, G.
l'Ami, E. - Lu, S.
Xiong, J. - Dobrov, V.
Tingjie, L. - Hansen, E.

Round 8 - Sunday the 22nd
Grandelius, N. - Hansen, E.
Dobrov, V. - Tingjie, L.
Lu, S. - Xiong, J.
Jones, G. - l'Ami, E.
Guramishvili, S. - van Foreest, J.
Smirin, I. - Ragger, M.
Tari, A. - Bok, B.

Round 9 - Tuesday the 24th
Bok, B. - Grandelius, N.
Ragger, M. - Tari, A.
van Foreest, J. - Smirin, I.
l'Ami, E. - Guramishvili, S.
Xiong, J. - Jones, G.
Tingjie, L. - Lu, S.
Hansen, E. - Dobrov, V.

Round 10 - Wednesday the 25th
Grandelius, N. - Dobrov, V.
Lu, S. - Hansen, E.
Jones, G. - Tingjie, L.
Guramishvili, S. - Xiong, J.
Smirin, I. - l'Ami, E.
Tari, A. - van Foreest, J.
Bok, B. - Ragger, M.

Round 11 - Friday the 27th
Ragger, M. - Grandelius, N.
van Foreest, J. - Bok, B.
l'Ami, E. - Tari, A.
Xiong, J. - Smirin, I.
Tingjie, L. - Guramishvili, S.
Hansen, E. - Jones, G.
Dobrov, V. - Lu, S.

Round 12 - Saturday the 28th
Grandelius, N. - Lu, S.
Jones, G. - Dobrov, V.
Guramishvili, S. - Hansen, E.
Smirin, I. - Tingjie, L.
Tari, A. - Xiong, J.
Bok, B. - l'Ami, E.
Ragger, M. - van Foreest, J.

Round 13 - Sunday the 29th
van Foreest, J. - Grandelius, N.
l'Ami, E. - Ragger, M.
Xiong, J. - Bok, B.
Tingjie, L. - Tari, A.
Hansen, E. - Smirin, I.
Dobrov, V. - Guramishvili, S.
Lu, S. - Jones, G.

http://www.tatasteelchess.com/player...enger-schedule

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel 2017

Tata Steel 2017

January 13, 2017

Tata Steel Masters Playing Schedule

Round 1 - Saturday the 14th
Harikrishna, P. - Aronian, L.
Adhiban, B. - Van Wely, L.
Eljanov, P. - Rapport, R.
Karjakin, S. - Giri, A.
So, W. - Carlsen, M.
Wojtaszek, R. - Nepomniachtchi, I.
Andreikin, D. - Wei, Y.

Round 2 - Sunday the 15th
Aronian, L. - Wei, Y.
Nepomniachtchi, I. - Andreikin, D.
Carlsen, M. - Wojtaszek, R.
Giri, A. - So, W.
Rapport, R. - Karjakin, S.
Van Wely, L. - Eljanov, P.
Harikrishna, P. - Adhiban, B.

Round 3 - Monday the 16th
Adhiban, B. - Aronian, L.
Eljanov, P. - Harikrishna, P.
Karjakin, S. - Van Wely, L.
So, W. - Rapport, R.
Wojtaszek, R. - Giri, A.
Andreikin, D. - Carlsen, M.
Wei, Y. - Nepomniachtchi, I.

Round 4 - Tuesday the 17th
Aronian, L. - Nepomniachtchi, I.
Carlsen, M. - Wei, Y.
Giri, A. - Andreikin, D.
Rapport, R. - Wojtaszek, R.
Van Wely, L. - So, W.
Harikrishna, P. - Karjakin, S.
Adhiban, B. - Eljanov, P.

Round 5 - Thursday the 19th
Eljanov, P. - Aronian, L.
Karjakin, S. - Adhiban, B.
So, W. - Harikrishna, P.
Wojtaszek, R. - Van Wely, L.
Andreikin, D. - Rapport, R.
Wei, Y. - Giri, A.
Nepomniachtchi, I. - Carlsen, M.

Round 6 - Friday the 20th
Aronian, L. - Carlsen, M.
Giri, A. - Nepomniachtchi, I.
Rapport, R. - Wei, Y.
Van Wely, L. - Andreikin, D.
Harikrishna, P. - Wojtaszek, R.
Adhiban, B. - So, W.
Eljanov, P. - Karjakin, S.

Round 7 - Saturday the 21st
Karjakin, S. - Aronian, L.
So, W. - Eljanov, P.
Wojtaszek, R. - Adhiban, B.
Andreikin, D. - Harikrishna, P.
Wei, Y. - Van Wely, L.
Nepomniachtchi, I. - Rapport, R.
Carlsen, M. - Giri, A.

Round 8 - Sunday the 22nd
Aronian, L. - Giri, A.
Rapport, R. - Carlsen, M.
Van Wely, L. - Nepomniachtchi, I.
Harikrishna, P. - Wei, Y.
Adhiban, B. - Andreikin, D.
Eljanov, P. - Wojtaszek, R.
Karjakin, S. - So, W.

Round 9 - Tuesday the 24th
So, W. - Aronian, L.
Wojtaszek, R. - Karjakin, S.
Andreikin, D. - Eljanov, P.
Wei, Y. - Adhiban, B.
Nepomniachtchi, I. - Harikrishna, P.
Carlsen, M. - Van Wely, L.
Giri, A. - Rapport, R.

Round 10 - Wednesday the 25th
Aronian, L. - Rapport, R.
Van Wely, L. - Giri, A.
Harikrishna, P. - Carlsen, M.
Adhiban, B. - Nepomniachtchi, I.
Eljanov, P. - Wei, Y.
Karjakin, S. - Andreikin, D.
So, W. - Wojtaszek, R.

Round 11 - Friday the 27th
Wojtaszek, R. - Aronian, L.
Andreikin, D. - So, W.
Wei, Y. - Karjakin, S.
Nepomniachtchi, I. - Eljanov, P.
Carlsen, M. - Adhiban, B.
Giri, A. - Harikrishna, P.
Rapport, R. - Van Wely, L.

Round 12 - Saturday the 28th
Aronian, L. - Van Wely, L.
Harikrishna, P. - Rapport, R.
Adhiban, B. - Giri, A.
Eljanov, P. - Carlsen, M.
Karjakin, S. - Nepomniachtchi, I.
So, W. - Wei, Y.
Wojtaszek, R. - Andreikin, D.

Round 13 - Sunday the 29th
Andreikin, D. - Aronian, L.
Wei, Y. - Wojtaszek, R.
Nepomniachtchi, I. - So, W.
Carlsen, M. - Karjakin, S.
Giri, A. - Eljanov, P.
Rapport, R. - Adhiban, B.
Van Wely, L. - Harikrishna, P.

General information for Master groups

Schedule

All rounds in Wijk aan Zee begin at 1.30pm, except for the last round on 29 January 2017, which begins at 12.00pm. Both rounds on the Chess On Tour days start at 2.00pm.

http://www.tatasteelchess.com/player...aster-schedule

[Vlad Dobrich]

Re: Tata Steel 2017

Live games starting shortly (7:30am Eastern)
>>>>>>>

Premier Masters
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-to...ers-2017/1/1/1

Follow Eric Hansen's games here>>>>>>
Challengers
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-to...ers-2017/1/1/1

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel 2017

Tata Steel 2017

January 14, 2017

Round One

If you pay the price of a premium membership you can watch Jan Gustafsson and Peter Svidler as commentators on chess24. If not, then you get Yasser Seirawan plus postmortems for free on other broadcasts.

From the chat room:

There is an episode of Seinfeld – even steven – where Jerry always ends up even whatever he does. Anish Giri is that guy!

While analyzing Giri’s game with Karjakin, the guys wonder if they are creating a monster chess player by having Giri play the first half of the game and then Karjakin play the last half. This is refined into a monster with Anand or Wojtaszek playing the first twenty moves, Giri the next twenty and Karjakin playing the last 20. They did not allow the monster to be made of past players like Fischer and Casablanca.

Other choices by kibitzers: Fabi-Magnus-Karjakin, Wesley first 30 and Magnus 30+, Vishy-Fabi-Magnus, Giri-Magnus-Kramnik, Tal for the first twenty so he doesn’t need anyone else!, Vishy-Magnus-Karjakin (easiest picks of my life), Komodo-Houdini- Stockfish-Tablebase! Magnus-Magnus-Magnus though the kibitzer says that he might be beaten in rapids by Ivanchuk-Ivanchuk-Ivanchuk!

The guys hope someone does the statistics to find who makes the least mistakes in each 20-move period.

There is a question about the best countries for chess in the next two decades. India, China and Iran are the first candidates.

Peter is asked why he isn’t playing in this tournament and it is simply because he was not invited.

The reason for all the discussion is that Adhiban-Von Wely goes on and on for more than an hour after the other games have finished.

They talk about “millennials” and say that Eric Hansen is borderline tolerable. Is Sean Connery as an immortal Highlander character, a millennial?

They are asked about the best worst movie ever made and Jan instantly replies with Patrick Swayze’s Roadhouse. Someone else says Blood In, Blood Out which Jan adores.

One chat room kibitzer sums up the hour’s conversation as:

Recap. Bunch of draws. Roadhouse is great film. Jan is huge Blood in Blood out fan! Vato loco. Peter likes Kung Fu! Sean Connery is a billion years old!

What more can one say than that?

The games:

Tata Steel Masters 2017
Round 1, Jan. 14, 2017
So, Wesley – Carlsen, Magnus
D12 QGD Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 a6 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Qb3 Qc7 8.cxd5 Nxe5 9.dxe5 Nxd5 10.Nxd5 cxd5 11.Bd2 Qxe5 12.Bc3 Qc7 13.Qxd5 e6 14.Qc4 Qxc4 15.Bxc4 Rc8 16.Bb3 Be7 17.Ke2 Be4 18.Bxg7 Rg8 19.Be5 Rxg2 20.Rac1 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Rg5 22.Bf4 Rc5 23.Rxc5 Bxc5 24.Bc4 b5 25.Bd3 Bxd3+ 26.Kxd3 f5 27.f3 Kd7 28.e4 Kc6 29.h3 h5 30.b3 Bb6 31.Be5 Bc5 32.Bf4 Bb6 33.Be5 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Jan. 14, 2017
Karjakin, Sergey- Giri, Anish
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a3 e5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bc4 Be6 9.Ba2 O-O 10.O-O b5 11.Re1 Re8 12.Bg5 Nbd7 13.Nd2 Rb8 14.Bxf6 Nxf6 15.Nf1 b4 16.Nd5 bxa3 17.bxa3 Nxd5 18.Bxd5 Bg5 19.g3 Qd7 20.Qd3 Rb6 21.h4 Bh6 22.Reb1 Reb8 23.Rb3 Bxd5 24.Qxd5 g6 25.Rab1 Rxb3 26.Rxb3 Qc7 27.a4 Bc1 28.Kg2 h5 29.Nh2 Rxb3 30.cxb3 Qc2 31.Nf1 a5 32.Kf3 Qc3+ 33.Ke2 Qc2+ 34.Kf3 Qc3+ 35.Ke2 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Jan. 14, 2017
Harikrishna, P. – Aronian, Levon
C89 Ruy Lopez, Marshall Counter-Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qf3 Qh4 15.g3 Qh3 16.Be3 Bxd3 17.Nd2 Qf5 18.Bd4 Rfe8 19.a4 h6 20.Kg2 Qxf3+ 21.Nxf3 Bf5 22.Be5 Bc5 23.Nd4 Bd7 24.axb5 axb5 25.Rxa8 Rxa8 26.Nxb5 Be6 27.Nd4 Bxd4 28.Bxd4 Nf4+ 29.gxf4 Bxb3 30.Kg3 f6 31.h4 h5 32.Bc5 Rd8 33.Bd4 Ra8 34.f3 Ra2 35.Re8+ Kh7 36.Re7 Kg8 37.Re2 Kh7 38.Re7 Kg8 39.Rb7 Rxb2 40.Rb6 Kh7 41.Rxc6 Rd2 42.Rc5 Kg6 43.f5+ Kh7 44.Rc7 Kg8 45.Rc8+ Kh7 46.Rd8 Rc2 47.Rd7 Kg8 48.Rd8+ Kh7 49.Rd7 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Jan. 14, 2017
Eljanov, Pavel – Rapport, Richard
A04 Reti

1.Nf3 e6 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.c4 g5 5.d3 h6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.h4 g4 8.Nd2 d6 9.e3 f5 10.Nb3 Nge7 11.d4 b6 12.O-O O-O 13.Qe2 e5 14.Rd1 cxd4 15.Nd5 d3 16.Qxd3 e4 17.Nxe7+ Nxe7 18.Qc2 Ba6 19.Nd4 Qd7 20.b3 Nc6 21.Bb2 Ne5 22.Ne2 Nd3 23.Bxg7 Qxg7 24.Nd4 Rae8 25.Rxd3 exd3 26.Qxd3 Bb7 27.Bxb7 Qxb7 28.Ne2 Rf6 29.Nf4 Qe4 30.Qd2 Rc8 31.a4 Rc5 32.Rd1 Qf3 33.Nd5 Rf7 34.Qc2 a6 35.Nxb6 Qe4 36.Qc3 Qe5 37.Rd4 a5 38.Qd3 Rc6 39.Nd5 Kg7 40.Nc3 Rf6 41.Rd5 1-0

Round 1, Jan. 14, 2017
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw, Nepomniachtchi, Ian
D83 Grunfeld, Grunfeld Gambit

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Rc1 Be6 7.c5 c6 8.Bd3 Bc8 9.Bg3 b6 10.b4 Nh5 11.Bh4 a5 12.cxb6 axb4 13.Na4 Nd7 14.Rxc6 Bb7 15.Rc1 Bf6 16.Bxf6 Nhxf6 17.Nf3 Nxb6 18.Nc5 Bc8 19.Qb3 Nbd7 20.O-O Qa5 21.Rc2 Nxc5 22.Rxc5 Qxa2 23.Qxb4 Ra4 24.Qb1 Ba6 25.Qxa2 Rxa2 26.Bxa6 Rxa6 27.Rc7 e6 28.Ne5 Ne4 29.Rfc1 Ra2 30.f3 Nd6 31.R1c2 Rxc2 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Jan. 14, 2017
Adhiban, B. – Van Wely, Loek
B22 Sicilian, Alapin

1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 e6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Na3 Qd8 7.Nc4 Be7 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.O-O O-O 10.Bf4 b6 11.Nd6 Nh5 12.Be5 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Bxd6 14.exd6 Bb7 15.Re1 Nf6 16.Ne5 g6 17.Bb5 Qc8 18.Qa4 a6 19.Bf1 b5 20.Qh4 Qd8 21.Rad1 Kg7 22.a4 c4 23.axb5 axb5 24.b3 cxb3 25.Bxb5 Nd5 26.Qd4 Qf6 27.c4 Nf4 28.Bc6 Bxc6 29.Nxc6 Qxd4 30.Nxd4 b2 31.g3 e5 32.Nb5 Ne6 33.Rb1 Rfc8 34.Rxb2 Rxc4 35.Rxe5 Ra1+ 36.Kg2 Rd1 37.h4 h5 38.Ree2 Rc5 39.Rec2 Re5 40.Nc7 Ree1 41.Rd2 Nd8 42.Nd5 Nc6 43.Ne3 Rg1+ 44.Kf3 Rxd2 45.Rxd2 Kf6 46.Nd5+ Ke6 47.Nf4+ Kd7 48.Nd3 Nd8 49.Nc5+ Kc6 50.Ne4 Kd7 51.Nc5+ Kc6 52.Ne4 Kd7 53.Ra2 Nc6 54.Rb2 f5 55.Rb7+ Ke6 56.Ng5+ Kxd6 57.Kf4 Rf1 58.Nf7+ Ke6 59.Ng5+ Kd6 60.Nf7+ Ke6 61.Ng5+ Kd5 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Jan. 14, 2017
Andreikin, Dmitry – Wei, Yi
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.Nbd2 Bf5 9.Re1 Nxd2 10.Qxd2 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 O-O 12.Bf4 Bd6 13.Bg3 Bxg3 14.hxg3 Qd7 15.Re3 Rfe8 16.Rae1 Rxe3 17.Rxe3 Rb8 18.Qe2 h6 19.c3 Kf8 20.Kh2 a6 21.Qc2 Kg8 22.Nh4 g6 23.f4 Qg4 24.Nf3 Qd7 25.f5 Qxf5 26.Qxf5 gxf5 27.Nh4 Kg7 28.Nxf5+ Kf6 29.Rf3 Kg6 30.Nh4+ Kg7 31.Nf5+ Kg6 32.g4 Rh8 33.Nh4+ Kg7 34.Nf5+ Kg6 35.Kg3 Re8 36.Nh4+ Kg7 37.Nf5+ Kg6 38.Nh4+ Kg7 39.Rf5 Ne7 40.Re5 f6 41.Rxe7+ Rxe7 42.Nf5+ Kf8 43.Nxe7 Kxe7 44.Kf4 Ke6 45.a4 b6 46.b3 c6 47.b4 a5 48.Kf3 Kd6 49.bxa5 bxa5 50.Kg3 Ke7 51.Kf4 Ke6 52.Kf3 Ke7 53.Kf4 Ke6 54.Ke3 Kf7 55.Kf3 Ke7 1/2-1/2

Tata Steel Challengers 2017
Round 1, Jan. 14, 2017
Ragger, Markus – Xiong, Jeffery
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Adams Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nde2 b5 8.Ng3 Qc7 9.Bd3 Be6 10.O-O Nbd7 11.f4 Be7 12.Qf3 O-O 13.Kh1 Qc6 14.f5 Bc4 15.Bg5 Rac8 16.Nh5 b4 17.Bxf6 Nxf6 18.Nxf6+ Bxf6 19.Bxc4 Qxc4 20.Nd5 Qxc2 21.b3 a5 22.Qe3 Kh8 23.Rac1 Qxa2 24.Nxf6 Rxc1 25.Rxc1 gxf6 26.Qh6 Kg8 27.Qxf6 Qd2 28.Rf1 Re8 29.Rf3 a4 30.Rg3+ Kf8 31.Qg7+ Ke7 32.f6+ Kd8 33.Qxf7 a3 34.Qa7 Qc1+ 35.Kh2 Qf4 36.Qb8+ Kd7 37.Qb5+ Kd8 38.Qxb4 h5 39.Qxd6+ Kc8 40.Qc6+ Kd8 41.f7 1-0

Round 1, Jan. 14, 2017
Tari, Aryan – Hansen, Eric
C96 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Keres

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7 12.Nbd2 Re8 13.d5 Nb6 14.Nf1 Nb7 15.Ng3 g6 16.b3 c4 17.Be3 cxb3 18.axb3 Bd7 19.Nh2 a5 20.Ng4 Bg5 21.Qd2 Bxe3 22.Qxe3 Rc8 23.Nf5 Kh8 24.Nfh6 Rf8 25.f4 Bxg4 26.fxe5 dxe5 27.Nxg4 Nd7 28.Rf1 h5 29.Nh2 Kg7 30.Rf3 Qb6 31.Qxb6 Nxb6 32.Bd3 Nd6 33.Rxa5 Rxc3 34.Bf1 Rc1 35.Ra6 Nbc8 36.Re3 f5 37.exf5 Nxf5 38.Rxe5 Ng3 39.Rg5 Ne2+ 40.Kh1 Rf6 41.Rc6 Rfxc6 42.dxc6 Nd6 43.g4 Nf4 44.gxh5 Ne4 45.Rxb5 Nf2+ 46.Kg1 N2xh3+ 47.Kh1 Nf2+ 48.Kg1 N2h3+ 49.Kh1 Nf2+ 1/2-1/2

Challengers Results

1. Jones-Grandelius 0.5-0.5
2. Guramshivili-Shanglei 0.5-0.5
3. Smirin-Dobrov 0.5-0.5
4. Tari-Hansen 0.5-0.5
5. Bok-Lei 1-0
6. Ragger-Xiong 1-0
7. van Foreest-L’ami 1-0

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel 2017

Tata Steel 2017

January 15, 2017

Round Two

Peter Svidler and Jan Gustafsson are in their usual good form as commentators on chess24.

Eric Hansen’s game is over quickly and he comes in to the chat room to enjoy what Peter and Jan are saying:

Tata Steel Challengers 2017
Round 2, Jan. 15, 2017
Hansen, Eric – Bok, Benjamin
B94 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Qe2 h6 8.Bxf6 Nxf6 9.O-O-O e5 10.Nf5 g6 11.Ne3 Be6 12.g3 Rc8 13.Rd3 h5 14.Bg2 Bh6 15.Kb1 O-O 16.Rhd1 Qa5 17.Ncd5 Nxd5 18.Nxd5 Rc5 19.a3 Kg7 20.b4 Qb5 21.a4 Qxa4 22.bxc5 Qb5+ 23.Ka1 Qa4+ 24.Kb1 Qb5+ 25.Ka1 Qa4+ 26.Kb1 1/2-1/2

Jan says that he quite likes Canadians and Australians and the chat lights up with people naming famous Canadians in pop culture. Perhaps you remember a number of years ago, it was the fashion to try to think of ten famous Belgians? Well, today it was Canadians. Some mentioned were Neil Young, Abe Yanofsky, Pamela Anderson, Leonard Cohen, Drake, Michael J. Fox, Jim Carrey, Duncan Suttles. Dan Aykroyd, Gordon Lightfoot, Alice Munro, Alanis Morrisette, William Shatner, Ryan Gosling and John Candy.

Jan says that because of free health care, Canadians can relax and be pleasant people.

One kibitzer states that the film so discussed yesterday, Blood In Blood Out, was shot in the mean streets of Calgary. This is not true; it was shot around Los Angeles, and inside the walls of San Quentin Prison. It is hard to believe, but not everything we read on the Internet is true.

Then, there is a backlash with another kibitzer saying that Lou Reed, Elon Musk, Helen Mirren and Italo Calvino – none of them are Canadian.

Fortunately the conversation turns to movies and it seems that the guys will shoot a couple of synopses about today’s games and then go off to see Rogue One at a Hamburg theatre. They prefer to see it in English.

Evidently, during the Tromso Olympiad, they had gone to see the new Planet of the Apes film, which was dubbed in Norwegian. It was difficult to make out what the characters were saying, so there were also subtitles – in Norwegian. So, for them it was like watching a silent film.

One kibitzer wrote this: just the fact that I heard Peter say, "ape on ape dialog" made my day

There is a discussion about the difference between catatonic and narcolepsy.

Jan has disclosed that he helped Magnus in the recent W.C.C. match but won’t tell any of the details naturally.

The guys think that the two possible ultimate winners of the Challengers might be Jeffrey Xiong or Markus Ragger.

Lawrence Trent is going to be Peter Svidler’s partner commentating tomorrow but soon Peter has to go off to play at Gibraltar.

The games of the round:

Eljanov wins his second and leads the tournament. Carlsen puts away Wojtaszek. All the rest of the games are draws:

Tata Steel Masters 2017
Round 2, Jan. 15, 2017
Carlsen, Magnus – Wojtaszek, Radoslaw
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a3 e5 7.Nf5 d5 8.Bg5 d4 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.Nd5 Qd8 11.Qg4 Bxf5 12.Qxf5 Bd6 13.h4 Nc6 14.Bc4 b5 15.Bb3 Ne7 16.Qg4 O-O 17.Rh3 Nxd5 18.Bxd5 Ra7 19.Rg3 Qf6 20.a4 Bb4+ 21.Kf1 bxa4 22.Rxa4 a5 23.Ra1 Rc7 24.Bb3 Ra8 25.Kg1 Bf8 26.Qh5 g6 27.Qg4 Ra6 28.h5 Qf4 29.Qe2 Qf6 30.Qb5 Qc6 31.Qxe5 Re7 32.Qf4 a4 33.Bd5 Qc7 34.Qd2 Qb6 35.Ra2 Rc7 36.Rf3 Qb4 37.Qe2 Rb6 38.hxg6 hxg6 39.g3 Kg7 40.Kg2 Rd7 41.Qd1 Rf6 42.Rxf6 Kxf6 43.c3 dxc3 44.Rxa4 1-0

Round 2, Jan. 15, 2017
Giri, Anish – So, Wesley
D78 Neo-Grunfeld

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.O-O O-O 6.c4 c6 7.Qb3 Qb6 8.Nc3 Rd8 9.Bd2 Be6 10.Na4 Qxb3 11.axb3 Nbd7 12.Rfc1 Ne4 13.Ba5 b6 14.Be1 Rac8 15.cxd5 Bxd5 16.b4 e5 17.Nxe5 Nxe5 18.dxe5 Bxe5 19.Bxe4 Bxe4 20.Nc3 Bd5 21.Rxa7 Bc4 22.Na4 Bxe2 23.Nxb6 Rc7 24.Ra2 Bd4 25.Na4 Ra7 26.b3 Bb5 27.Rd2 Rad7 28.Rcd1 Rd6 29.Kg2 Be5 30.Rxd6 Rxd6 31.Rc1 Rd8 32.Nc5 Bb2 33.Rc2 Bd4 34.Bd2 Bxc5 35.bxc5 f6 36.h4 Rd3 37.Rb2 Kf7 38.g4 h5 39.gxh5 gxh5 40.Be3 Kg6 41.Rb1 Rc3 42.b4 Rc4 43.Kh3 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Jan. 15, 2017
Rapport, Richard – Karjakin, Sergey
A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack, Modern variation

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bd6 5.Na3 e4 6.Nc4 Be7 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.Ne2 O-O 9.O-O a5 10.d3 a4 11.Ng3 d5 12.Ne5 Qe8 13.dxe4 Nxe4 14.Nd3 Bd6 15.b4 Nxg3 16.hxg3 a3 17.Bd4 Ba6 18.Re1 Bc4 19.Nc5 f6 20.f4 Qg6 21.Kf2 Rfb8 22.c3 Rb5 23.g4 Bxc5 24.Bxc5 Qe4 25.Bd4 Rab8 26.Qf3 h6 27.Kg3 Re8 28.Rad1 Qc2 29.Qf2 Qxf2+ 30.Kxf2 Rbb8 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Jan. 15, 2017
Nepomniachtchi, Ian – Andreikin, Dmitry
C45 Scotch Games

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nxc6 Qf6 6.Qf3 dxc6 7.Nc3 Be6 8.a3 O-O-O 9.Be3 Qe5 10.Be2 h5 11.h4 Bg4 12.Qf4 Qxf4 13.Bxf4 Ne7 14.Bc4 Ng6 15.Bg3 Be6 16.Bxe6+ fxe6 17.Ne2 Rhf8 18.Rf1 Be7 19.Rh1 Bc5 20.Rf1 Be7 21.Rh1 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Jan. 15, 2017
Van Wely, Loek – Eljanov, Pavel
E15 Queen’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Nc3 Bb7 7.Bg2 c6 8.O-O d5 9.Bf4 dxc4 10.Ne5 Nd5 11.Nxc4 Nxf4 12.gxf4 Nd7 13.e3 O-O 14.Rc1 Rc8 15.Qb3 Rc7 16.Rfd1 Nf6 17.Ne5 Nd5 18.Ne4 f6 19.Nd3 f5 20.Nd2 Kh8 21.Kh1 c5 22.dxc5 Bxc5 23.Nf3 Qa8 24.Nde5 Nf6 25.Kg1 Bd5 26.Qa4 Bd6 27.Rxc7 Bxc7 28.Ne1 Bxe5 29.fxe5 Ne4 30.Rd4 Rc8 31.Nd3 h6 32.h4 Kh7 33.Nf4 Rc1+ 34.Kh2 Qd8 35.Nh3 Qxh4 36.Qe8 Rc4 37.Rxd5 exd5 38.Qf7 Qg4 39.e6 Ng5 40.Nxg5+ Qxg5 41.Bh3 Rh4 42.f3 f4 43.exf4 Rxf4 44.Qc7 Rc4 0-1

33. Nf4? Better is Qd7.

Round 2, Jan. 15, 2017
Aronian, Levon – Wei, Yi
E00 Catalan Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.a4 a5 9.Qc2 c6 10.Rc1 Ne4 11.Be3 f5 12.Nc3 Bd6 13.Rd1 Qe7 14.Rac1 Ndf6 15.Ne5 Bxe5 16.dxe5 Ng4 17.Bd4 c5 18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.Bc3 Ra6 20.h3 Nh6 21.Qd2 Nf7 22.f3 exf3 23.exf3 b6 24.f4 Ra7 25.b3 Rd7 26.Qe2 Bb7 27.Rxd7 Qxd7 28.Rd1 Qe7 29.Bxb7 Qxb7 30.Kf2 Rd8 31.Rxd8+ Nxd8 32.Qd3 Nf7 33.g4 Nh6 34.g5 Nf7 35.h4 g6 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Jan. 15, 2017
Harikrishna, P. – Adhiban, B.
C78 Ruy Lopez, Archangel variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.d4 Bb6 9.Be3 O-O 10.h3 exd4 11.cxd4 Nxe4 12.Bd5 Qe8 13.Qc2 Nb4 14.Qxe4 Qxe4 15.Bxe4 d5 16.Bxh7+ Kxh7 17.Nc3 c6 18.Rad1 a5 19.a3 Nc2 20.Rd2 Nxe3 21.fxe3 f6 22.Rc1 Bd7 23.Kf2 Rae8 24.Ne2 Re7 25.Nf4 Rfe8 26.Re2 g5 27.Nd3 Kg7 28.Nc5 Bf5 29.Ree1 Kg6 30.Nd2 Kg7 31.Nf3 Kg6 32.g4 Bc8 33.Nd3 Bd7 34.h4 gxh4 35.Nxh4+ Kg5 36.Nf3+ Kxg4 37.Rh1 Kf5 38.Rh5+ Ke6 39.Rh6 Kf5 40.Nh4+ Kg5 41.Rg6+ Kxh4 42.Rh1+ Bh3 43.Rg3 1-0

Tata Steel Challengers 2017
Round 2, Jan. 15, 2017
Xiong, Jeffery – Van Foreest, Jorden
E62 King’s Indian, Fianchetto, lesser Simagin variation

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.O-O Bf5 8.d5 Na5 9.Nh4 Bd7 10.Qd3 c5 11.Bd2 a6 12.b3 b5 13.Rab1 Rb8 14.Ne4 Nxe4 15.Bxe4 e5 16.dxe6 Bxe6 17.Bd5 Bxd5 18.Qxd5 Qb6 19.Qd3 Nc6 20.Ng2 a5 21.Bf4 Rfe8 22.Rfd1 Nd4 23.e3 Nf3+ 24.Kh1 Ne5 25.Bxe5 Bxe5 26.Kg1 Qc6 27.Rbc1 a4 28.Rc2 bxc4 29.bxc4 Rb4 30.Ne1 Reb8 31.f4 Bg7 32.Qxd6 Qxd6 33.Rxd6 a3 34.Kf1 Rb1 35.Ke2 h5 36.Rd1 R1b2 37.Rd3 Ra8 38.Kd2 Bf6 39.e4 Rb1 40.Rc1 Rbb8 41.Ke2 Bd4 42.Nf3 Rb2+ 43.Rd2 Bf6 44.Ne1 Bd4 45.Nf3 Bf6 46.Ne1 Bd4 47.e5 Rb4 48.Nf3 Bb2 49.Rcc2 Raa4 50.Rd8+ Kg7 51.Rd7 Kg8 52.Ng5 Rxc4 53.Rxc4 Rxc4 54.Nxf7 Bd4 55.e6 Bf6 56.Nh6+ Kh8 57.Nf7+ Kg8 58.Ne5 Rc2+ 59.Kf3 Rxa2 60.e7 Bxe7 61.Rxe7 Rxh2 62.Ra7 a2 63.Nxg6 c4 64.f5 1-0

Round 2, Jan. 15, 2017
Jones, Gawain – Guramishvili, Sopiko
B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.O-O a6 5.Bd3 Ngf6 6.c3 b5 7.Bc2 Bb7 8.Qe2 e6 9.d4 Be7 10.Re1 d5 11.e5 Ne4 12.Nbd2 Nxd2 13.Bxd2 g5 14.dxc5 Nxc5 15.Be3 Nd7 16.a4 bxa4 17.Bxa4 h5 18.Qd2 Rg8 19.Qd3 Rg7 20.b4 h4 21.Bc5 Rc8 22.Qe3 Kf8 23.Bxe7+ Qxe7 24.Qa7 Rc7 25.Nd4 Qd8 26.Bxd7 Qxd7 27.b5 axb5 28.Qb6 Bc6 29.Ra6 Bb7 30.Ra7 Qc8 31.Nxb5 Rd7 32.Nd6 Qxc3 33.Ra8+ Bxa8 34.Qb8+ Ke7 35.Qe8# 1-0

Lei-Ragger game still in progress. Standings given tomorrow.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel 2017

Tata Steel 2017

January 16, 2017

Round Three

The commentators today are Lawrence Trent and Peter Svidler. When Peter goes off to prepare for Gibraltar, Jan and Lawrence will be in the seats and one kibitzer says “I can’t wait for Jan and Lawrence to not talk about chess for the last few days of the tournament - they are both so easily distracted”.

The guys think that Rapport represents chaos on the chessboard and Eljanov and So represent order and order trumps chaos.

That is why Eljanov won and why So will win.

During the first break there is a clip with Radio Jan. This is a character, I believe, based on some American sports commentators, who delivers a long tirade on the players, who lack aggression. The trash-talking Radio Jan has aviator sunglasses and a Los Angeles Kings sports cap.

He can be very funny if you realize it is satire and it is not the “real” Jan Gustafsson talking. Today:

“Nakamura, Caruana, MVL would rather share their hotel rooms with apes at Gibraltar than to play at Tata. Without them, Magnus is going to win. I respect Nepomniatchchi, note my pronunciation. He won the Tal Memorial, he can maybe win this tournament if he wins a couple of games. Enjoy your show ‘cause I don’t care about any of this.”

Viewers of another era, will remember a sportscaster - Biff Allen, played by Steve Allen (circa 1958), who commented on sports events through giggles and let the whole show get away from him.

Loek is falling to Karjakin. Peter says that things could be spiraling out of control for Loek and he says that the climate here is a factor; if you don’t feel good about your chess at Wijk, then you run out of things to cheer yourself up with.

Some comments from the chat room:

- rapport is really good..but urgently needs consistency
- like the young Morozevich, only worse
- rapport just blundered. I would like to hear radiojan’s report about rapport
- Bok lost to Dobrov with a spectacular blunder

Rapport had a brilliant run of moves and the advantage and then had a “brain fade” and lost a heart-breaker.

In the Challengers, Eric lost a miniature to Markus Ragger:

Tata Steel Challengers 2017
Round 3, Jan. 16, 2017
Ragger, Markus – Hansen, Eric
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 d6 5.c3 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 a6 8.Ba4 Nd7 9.d4 exd4 10.cxd4 Nb6 11.Bb3 Bg4 12.Nc3 Kh8 13.Be3 f5 14.exf5 Bf6 15.Ne4 Bxf3 16.Qxf3 Nxd4 17.Bxd4 Bxd4 18.Rad1 c5 19.Qh5 h6 20.Qg6 d5 21.f6 Qc7 22.Ng5 gxf6 23.Qxh6+ Kg8 24.Ne6 1-0

Round 3, Jan. 16, 2017
Bok, Benjamin – Dobrov, Vladimir
B30 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.b3 f6 6.O-O Ne7 7.Nh4 d5 8.Nc3 g5 9.Qh5+ Kd7 10.Nf3 Qe8 11.Qxe8+ Kxe8 12.d3 Ba6 13.Re1 Kf7 14.Na4 Nc8 15.Ba3 Nb6 16.Nxc5 Nd7 17.Nxa6 Bxa3 18.Rab1 g4 19.Nd4 Nc5 20.Nxc5 Bxc5 21.Nxc6 Rhc8 22.exd5 exd5 23.b4 Bxf2+ 24.Kxf2 Rxc6 25.Re2 h5 26.Kg3 Rb8 27.Rb3 Kg6 28.Kf4 d4 29.h3 gxh3 30.gxh3 Rb5 31.a4 Rg5 32.Rb1 h4 33.Rbe1 a6 34.Rb1 Rf5+ 35.Kg4 Rc8 36.b5 Rh8 37.b6 Rhh5 38.Re4 Rf2 39.Rf4 Rg5+ 0-1

37.b6? better is bxa6
_______

The guys go on a break. After four hours So has beaten Rapport and Karjakin is on the brink of Loek resigning. Sergey has two connected passed pawns and Loek has a rook. In a game yet to be decided Wi Yi has a good position over Ian Nepomniachtchi. The only negative in that game is that Wei Yi has 18 minutes left and Ian, one hour 12.

The games:

Tata Steel Masters 2017
Round 3, Jan. 16, 2017
Andreikin, Dmitry – Carlsen, Magnus
E00 Catalan Opening

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bd6 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.Qc2 c6 9.Bf4 Bxf4 10.gxf4 b6 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12.fxe5 Ng4 13.Nd2 Ba6 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Nf3 Nh6 16.Bh3 f5 17.Kh1 Kh8 18.Rg1 Nf7 19.Rg3 Rc8 20.Qd2 Qc7 21.Ne1 Qe7 22.f4 Rc7 23.Ra3 Bb5 24.Rb3 Ba6 25.Ra3 Bb5 26.Rb3 Ba6 27.Ra3 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Jan. 16, 2017
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw – Giri, Anish
D12 QGD Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7 9.Bd2 Be7 10.g3 O-O 11.Rc1 dxc4 12.Bxc4 Nbd7 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.O-O e5 15.d5 Nc5 16.Qc2 b5 17.Be2 cxd5 18.Nxb5 Qb6 19.b4 Ne6 20.Qc6 Rfb8 21.Qxb6 Rxb6 22.a3 Bd8 23.Nc3 d4 24.Na4 Rd6 25.Bc4 Nd5 26.Bxd5 Rxd5 27.e4 Rd7 28.Nb2 d3 29.Be3 Bb6 30.Kf2 f5 31.Nc4 fxe4 32.Bxb6 d2 33.Rcd1 axb6 34.Rxd2 Rd4 35.Rxd4 exd4 36.fxe4 b5 37.Ne5 Rxa3 38.Rc1 Ng5 39.Rc8+ Kh7 40.Rd8 Nxe4+ 41.Kg2 Ra2+ 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Jan. 16, 2017
Adhiban, B. – Aronian, Levon
D02 Queen’s Bishop game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.c3 e6 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.Ne5 Nd7 8.Bd3 O-O 9.Qh5 f5 10.Ndf3 Ndxe5 11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Bxe5 Bd6 13.f4 Bxe5 14.fxe5 Bd7 15.O-O Qb6 16.Rf2 Bb5 17.Bxb5 Qxb5 18.Raf1 Qd3 19.Rf3 Rf7 20.g4 Raf8 21.gxf5 g6 22.Qg5 Rxf5 23.Rxf5 exf5 24.Qf4 Qc4 25.a3 Qe2 26.Rf2 Qd1+ 27.Kg2 cxd4 28.cxd4 Rc8 29.Qf3 Qb3 30.h4 Rc1 31.h5 Re1 32.hxg6 hxg6 33.Re2 Rc1 34.Qg3 Kg7 35.Qg5 Qd1 36.Qe7+ Kh6 37.Qh4+ Kg7 38.Qe7+ 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Jan. 16, 2017
Eljanov, Pavel – Harikrishna, R.
A34 English, Symmetrical, Three Knights System

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 e6 6.Bc4 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.Qe2 O-O 9.Rd1 Nb6 10.Bb5 Bd7 11.d4 cxd4 12.exd4 Nb4 13.Bxd7 Qxd7 14.Ne5 Qe8 15.a3 N4d5 16.Rd3 f5 17.Bd2 Bf6 18.Re1 Rc8 19.Rg3 Qe7 20.Bh6 Kh8 21.Bc1 Kg8 22.Bh6 Kh8 23.Bc1 Kg8 24.Rh3 Bxe5 25.Qxe5 Rc6 26.Qe2 Rfc8 27.Bd2 Nxc3 28.bxc3 Nd5 29.a4 Qf7 30.Rg3 Nxc3 31.Rxc3 Rxc3 32.Bxc3 Rxc3 33.h3 Rc6 34.Qe5 Qd7 35.Qb8+ Kf7 36.Qxa7 Ra6 37.Qb8 Rxa4 38.Rb1 b5 39.Rxb5 Ra8 40.Qe5 Rd8 41.Rb6 Qd5 42.Qxd5 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Jan. 16, 2017
So, Wesley – Rapport, Richard
E18 Queen’s Indian, Old Main Line

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b6 3.d4 Bb7 4.c4 e6 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Bd2 Bf6 9.Rc1 Nxd2 10.Qxd2 d6 11.d5 e5 12.e4 Nd7 13.h4 a5 14.Bh3 Nc5 15.Kg2 Bc8 16.Rh1 Bxh3+ 17.Rxh3 Qd7 18.Nh2 h5 19.f3 g6 20.g4 Kh7 21.Rh1 Rg8 22.Qd1 Bg7 23.Nf1 Bh6 24.Kf2 Bc1 25.Ng3 Bxb2 26.Nb5 Bc1 27.gxh5 Bf4 28.Nc3 f5 29.hxg6+ Rxg6 30.Nxf5 Rag8 31.Kf1 b5 32.cxb5 Rg2 33.Qb1 Qf7 34.Ne2 Qg6 35.Ne7 Rf2+ 36.Kxf2 Qg2+ 37.Ke1 Rg3 38.Rxg3 Qxh1+ 39.Rg1 Qxf3 40.Nxf4 Qe3+ 41.Ne2 Nd3+ 42.Qxd3 Qxd3 43.Ng8 Qf3 44.h5 Kh8 45.Rg6 Qh1+ 46.Kd2 Qxe4 47.Nf6 Qb4+ 48.Ke3 1-0

Round 3, Jan. 16, 2017
Karjakin, Sergey – Van Wely, Loek
B09 Pirc, Austrian Attack, Modern Main Line

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Bd3 O-O 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.e5 dxe5 8.fxe5 Nd5 9.Nxd5 Qxd5 10.c3 Bg4 11.Qe2 Rad8 12.Be4 Qd7 13.Be3 f6 14.O-O-O fxe5 15.Qc4+ Kh8 16.dxe5 Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Qxd1+ 18.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 19.Kc2 Bxe5 20.Bxg6 Rd6 21.Qxg4 Rxg6 22.Qe4 Bxh2 23.Qxb7 a6 24.a4 Bf4 25.Bd4+ e5 26.Bc5 Re8 27.Qxc7 Rxg2+ 28.Kb1 Rg6 29.Qf7 Ra8 30.b4 Bh6 31.b5 axb5 32.axb5 Rc8 33.Qd5 Bf8 34.Bxf8 Rxf8 35.Qxe5+ Kg8 36.Kc2 h6 37.c4 Rg5 38.Qe6+ Kg7 39.Kc3 Rf7 40.b6 h5 41.Kb4 h4 42.c5 Rf1 43.Qe4 Rgf5 44.Qxh4 R5f4+ 45.Qxf4 Rxf4+ 46.Kb5 Rf1 47.b7 Kf6 48.c6 Rb1+ 49.Ka6 Rc1 50.Kb6 1-0

And the last game to finish

Round 3, Jan. 16, 2017
Wei Yi – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
B98 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 h6 8.Bh4 Qb6 9.a3 Nbd7 10.Be2 e5 11.Nf5 g6 12.Bf2 Nc5 13.b4 gxf5 14.O-O Nfxe4 15.Nxe4 fxe4 16.bxc5 dxc5 17.fxe5 Be6 18.Rb1 Qc6 19.Bg4 b5 20.Bh4 Rg8 21.Bxe6 Qxe6 22.Rf6 Qg4 23.Qd2 Be7 24.Rf4 Qd7 25.Qxd7+ Kxd7 26.e6+ fxe6 27.Rf7 Rg5 28.Rd1+ Ke8 29.Rh7 b4 30.a4 c4 31.Bxg5 hxg5 32.Rh8+ Bf8 33.Rf1 Ke7 34.Rh7+ Kd6 35.Rh8 Ke7 36.Rh7+ Kd6 37.Rhf7 Bh6 38.Rd1+ Ke5 39.Rc7 c3 40.Kf2 g4 41.Rc5+ Kf6 42.Ke2 Rb8 43.Rb1 Rd8 44.Rf1+ Ke7 45.Rc7+ Kd6 46.Rc4 Ke7 47.Rd1 Rb8 48.Rdd4 b3 49.cxb3 Rxb3 50.Rc7+ Kf6 51.Rxe4 Rb2+ 52.Kd3 Rd2+ 53.Kxc3 Kf5 54.Re1 Rxg2 55.Rc5+ Kf6 56.Re4 Rxh2 57.Rxg4 a5 58.Kd3 Rd2+ 59.Ke4 Re2+ 60.Kf3 Re3+ 61.Kf2 Re5 62.Rg6+ Kxg6 63.Rxe5 Bd2 64.Rxe6+ Kf7 65.Re4 Kf6 66.Ke2 Bc3 67.Rc4 Be5 68.Rc5 Ke6 69.Rxa5 Bc7 70.Rb5 Kd6 71.Kd3 Kc6 72.Kc4 Bb6 73.a5 Ba7 74.a6 Bb6 75.Rb3 1-0

Just a note at the end: Peter looking at van Foreest-Lei says that e5 in the opening seems to refute the Caro-Kann and he will try playing it!

1.e4 c6 2.c4 d5 3.e5 dxc4 4.Bxc4 Qd4 5.Qe2 Bg4 6.f3 Bh5 7.Nc3 e6 8.Qe4 Qxe4+ 9.Nxe4 Nd7 10.d4 Bg6 11.Ne2 Bxe4 12.fxe4 a6 13.Bf4 Ne7 14.b4 a5 15.bxa5 Rxa5 16.Bd2 Ra8
(van Foreest, Jorden – Lei, Tingjle)

Standings in next post

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel 2017

Tata Steel 2017

January 16, 2017

Standings after Round Three

Masters

1. Eljanov 2.5
2. Carlsen 2.0
3. So 2.0
4. Harikrishna 2.0
5. Wei Yi 2.0
6. Karjakin 2.0
7. Aronian 1.5
8. Giri 1.5
9. Andreikin 1.5
10. Nepomniachtchi 1.0
11. Wojtaszek 1.0
12. Adhiban 1.0
13. Rapport 0.5
14. Van Wely 0.5

Round Three Challenger’s Results

1. L’Ami – Xiong 0.5-0.5
2. Bok – Dobrov 0-1
3. Van Foreest – Lei 0-1
4. Smirin – Jones 1-0
5. Ragger – Hansen 1-0
6. Guramishvili – Grandelius 0-1
7. Tari – Lu Shanglei 0-1

Challengers Standings after Round Three

1. Ragger 3.0
2. Smirin 2.5
3. Dobrov 2.0
4. Grandelius 2.0
5. Xiong 1.5
6. Jones 1.5
7. Bok 1.5
8. Lu 1.5
9. Lei 1.0
10. Van Foreest 1.0
11. Tari 1.0
12. Hansen 1.0
13. L’Ami 1.0
14. Guramshvili 0.5

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel 2017

Tata Steel 2017

Round Four

January 17, 2017

Jan and Peter are back together again.

They talk about Carlsen-Wei Yi. Wei Yi is spoken of as a potential world champion. A bit unfair to pin such a label on a 17-year-old. This is their fourth game together. The record so far, from Carlsen’s side is +1 =2 =0.

Richard Rapport had a potential brilliancy in his game against So yesterday but faltered and lost. It is analyzed at:

https://www.chess.com/news/view/rapp...ses-to-so-3572

These comments from the kibitzers on chessbomb this morning:

- In three years Rapport will be world champion
- Rapport was 17th in the world rankings last summer and is 48th now. He doesn’t look to be heading for a world championship title if you ask me
- if he gets to 17th by playing that kind of chess, imagine what he could do with proper openings and better discipline
- not sure that sort of thing works for him
- they should pay Rapport, Morozevich and Jobava to participate in every major tournament
- to make it more entertaining!
________

Eric Hansen, in the Challengers, comes through with a win, while all other games are still going on:

Tata Steel Challengers 2017
Round 4, Jan. 17, 2017
Hansen, Eric – Van Foreest, Jorden
B48 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.O-O-O Bb4 9.f3 O-O 10.Kb1 b5 11.g4 Bb7 12.g5 Nh5 13.a3 Be7 14.Nb3 Rfd8 15.Qf2 Rdb8 16.Bb6 Qc8 17.h4 Bd8 18.Bxd8 Qxd8 19.Bh3 Nf4 20.Qd2 Nxh3 21.Rxh3 Qb6 22.g6 fxg6 23.h5 Qd8 24.hxg6 h6 25.Nc5 Ne5 26.f4 Nxg6 27.Rg1 Qf6 28.Rhg3 Nf8 29.Nxd7 Nxd7 30.Qxd7 g5 31.fxg5 Qe5 32.gxh6+ Kh8 33.Rg7 1-0

Jan and Peter seem to agree that ELO 2750 is the barrier you have to cross to be considered a super-grandmaster these days.
Jan then says that supergrandmaster Giri might just win a game today against Andreikin. Giri’s advantage dissipates near the time control and he is playing on increment and then the game is drawn.

Magnus has won, Loek, after a few bad moves, is losing to Wesley. The guys say that that will be 47 games played by So, without a loss.

Two games left and a lot of time to fill. The guys talk about the various versions of Sherlock Holmes. For Jan the best will always be Basil Rathbone. Peter likes the soviet actor Vasily Borisovich Livanov. The latter actually got an MBE for his contributions to the theatre.

The guys discuss Russian literature and then praise Boris Gelfand’s two recent books: Positional Decision Making in Chess and Dynamic Decision Making in Chess (both 2016).

I remember reading a review of Gelfand’s Positional work by David Smerdon, which said: This collaborative work between Boris Gelfand and Jacob Aagaard had perhaps an unfair advantage, though, as I started reading it on an eight-hour ferry ride from Athens to the Greek island of Ikaria. Still, I’d wager that I would have finished it even in the presence of tempting alternatives, because it’s truly a superb work.
_____

The games:

Tata Steel Masters 2017
Round 4, Jan. 17, 2017
Carlsen, Magnus – Wei, Yi
C24 Bishop’s Opening, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 d6 5.O-O Be7 6.Bb3 O-O 7.c3 Nbd7 8.Re1 Nc5 9.Bc2 Bg4 10.Nbd2 Ne6 11.h3 Bh5 12.Nf1 Nd7 13.g4 Bg6 14.Ng3 Ng5 15.Bxg5 Bxg5 16.d4 Bf4 17.Ne2 Qf6 18.Kg2 exd4 19.Nfxd4 Rfe8 20.Nxf4 Qxf4 21.f3 Nb6 22.Qc1 Qxc1 23.Raxc1 d5 24.e5 Nd7 25.f4 Bxc2 26.Rxc2 Nc5 27.Re3 Rad8 28.Kf3 Ne4 29.b4 g5 30.c4 c5 31.Nb5 gxf4 32.Kxf4 cxb4 33.cxd5 1-0

Round 4, Jan. 17, 2017
Giri, Anish – Andreikin, Dmitry
C45 Scotch game

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Qf6 5.Nf3 Bb4+ 6.c3 Bc5 7.Be2 d6 8.O-O Nge7 9.b4 Bb6 10.Bg5 Qg6 11.Bh4 Qh6 12.Nbd2 Ng6 13.Bg3 O-O 14.a4 a5 15.Nc4 axb4 16.cxb4 Nf4 17.Nxb6 cxb6 18.Bb5 Bg4 19.Qc1 Bxf3 20.gxf3 g5 21.Bxf4 gxf4 22.Bxc6 Rfc8 23.b5 bxc6 24.bxc6 Ra5 25.Kh1 Rc5 26.Qb2 R8xc6 27.Rg1+ Kf8 28.a5 Qh3 29.axb6 Qxf3+ 30.Rg2 Ra5 31.b7 Rxa1+ 32.Qxa1 Rb6 33.h4 Qb3 34.Kh2 Rxb7 35.Qf6 Qb6 36.f3 Rb8 37.Rd2 Re8 38.Qh6+ Ke7 39.e5 Rg8 40.Qxd6+ Qxd6 41.exd6+ 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Jan. 17, 2017
Rapport, Richard – Wojtaszek, Radoslaw
B70 Sicilian, Dragon, Counter Fianchetto

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.Nge2 Nf6 4.g3 Nc6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 g6 7.Nde2 b6 8.Bg2 Bb7 9.Nd5 Bg7 10.c3 Ne5 11.Qa4+ Nfd7 12.Bg5 Nd3+ 13.Kf1 Nc5 14.Qc2 Nf6 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Nxf6+ exf6 17.Nf4 O-O 18.h4 Re8 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.exd5 f5 21.Rd1 Qf6 22.Qd2 h5 23.Bf3 Re5 24.Kg2 Rae8 25.Qf4 b5 26.a3 Qd8 27.Rd4 Qb6 28.Rhd1 a5 29.Qh6 Nd7 30.Qg5 Kg7 31.Qd2 Nc5 32.Qc2 R5e7 33.R1d2 Nd7 34.Be2 Nf6 35.Bf1 Ne4 36.Rd1 Qc5 37.Qd3 Rb8 38.Re1 Reb7 39.Qe3 b4 40.cxb4 axb4 41.a4 Nf6 42.Rc1 Qa7 43.Bb5 Re7 44.Qd2 b3 45.Rd3 Ne4 46.Qe3 Nc5 47.Qd4+ f6 48.Re3 Rbb7 49.Rce1 Re4 50.Rxe4 fxe4 51.f3 Nd3 52.Rxe4 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Jan. 17, 2017
Van Wely, Loek – So, Wesley
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 c6 4.c4 e6 5.O-O Nf6 6.d3 Bd6 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Qb3 Qb6 9.cxd5 Qxb3 10.axb3 exd5 11.Be3 a6 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Nbd7 14.d4 Rfe8 15.Kg2 g6 16.Bh6 Ne4 17.Rad1 f5 18.h4 Ndf6 19.e3 a5 20.Rh1 Ra6 21.Ra1 Rea8 22.Nxe4 Nxe4 23.Bxe4 dxe4 24.d5 c5 25.h5 Rb6 26.hxg6 hxg6 27.Bg5 Be5 28.Rad1 Rxb3 29.d6 Rd3 30.d7 Bc7 31.b3 b5 32.Be7 c4 33.bxc4 bxc4 34.Rc1 Rxd7 35.Ba3 Be5 36.Rxc4 a4 37.Rc6 Rd3 38.Bc5 a3 39.Rxg6+ Kf7 40.Rg5 a2 41.Rxf5+ Ke6 42.Rxe5+ Kxe5 43.Bd4+ Rxd4 0-1

Round 4, Jan. 17, 2017
Adhiban, B. – Eljanov, Pavel
E12 Queen’s Indian Accelerated, Petrofina System

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Bb7 5.Nc3 d5 6.Qc2 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.dxc5 Be7 9.Bd2 O-O 10.Rd1 bxc5 11.e4 Nxc3 12.Bxc3 Qb6 13.Ne5 Rd8 14.Rxd8+ Qxd8 15.Bb5 a6 16.Ba4 Qc7 17.O-O Nc6 18.Nxc6 Bxc6 19.Rd1 Bb5 20.Bb3 h5 21.g3 Qb7 22.Ba2 Bc6 23.Bb1 Qb5 24.Qd2 Rd8 25.Qe1 h4 26.Rxd8+ Bxd8 27.Qd1 Ba5 28.Bxa5 Qxa5 29.gxh4 c4 30.Qe2 c3 31.bxc3 Qxa3 32.Kg2 a5 33.Qc4 Qa4 34.Qxa4 Bxa4 35.Ba2 Bc2 36.Kf3 e5 37.Ke3 a4 38.Bd5 a3 39.Ba2 Kf8 40.f3 Ke7 41.Kd2 Ba4 42.Kc1 f5 43.exf5 Bc6 44.Kd2 Bxf3 45.c4 Kf6 46.Ke3 Bc6 47.Bb3 Kxf5 48.h3 Ke6 49.Ba2 Kd6 50.Kd3 Kc5 51.Kc3 e4 52.Bb3 Be8 53.Bd1 e3 54.Be2 Bf7 55.Kb3 Bxc4+ 56.Bxc4 a2 0-1

Round 4, Jan. 17, 2017
Harikrishna, P. Karjakin, Sergey
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.h3 d6 7.c3 a6 8.Re1 Ba7 9.Bb3 Re8 10.Nbd2 Be6 11.Nf1 h6 12.Be3 Bxe3 13.Nxe3 Qd7 14.Nh2 Bxb3 15.axb3 Ne7 16.b4 d5 17.Nhg4 Nxg4 18.Qxg4 Rad8 19.exd5 Qxg4 20.hxg4 Nxd5 21.Nxd5 Rxd5 22.d4 Kf8 23.dxe5 Rexe5 24.Rxe5 Rxe5 25.Kf1 Ke7 26.Rd1 h5 27.gxh5 Rxh5 28.Ke2 Re5+ 29.Kf1 Rh5 30.Ke2 Re5+ 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Jan. 17, 2017
Aronian, Levon – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
E81 King’s Indian, Kramer System Samisch

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.d5 d6 6.e4 Bg7 7.Nge2 exd5 8.cxd5 a6 9.a4 O-O 10.Ng3 Nbd7 11.Be2 Ne8 12.O-O Rb8 13.f4 Nc7 14.e5 dxe5 15.f5 b5 16.d6 Ne8 17.axb5 axb5 18.Nce4 c4 19.Bg5 Nef6 20.Kh1 Bb7 21.Bf3 Bxe4 22.Nxe4 Qb6 23.Qe1 Nxe4 24.Bxe4 Bf6 25.Bh6 Bg7 26.Bg5 Bf6 27.Bh6 Bg7 28.Bg5 1/2-1/2

Masters Standing after Round Four

1. Eljanov 3.5
2. Carlsen 3.0
3. So 3.0
4. Harikrishna 2.5
5. Karjakin 2.5
6. Andreikin 2.0
7. Wei Yi 2.0
8. Giri 2.0
9. Aronian 2.0
10. Nepomniachtchi 1.5
11. Wojtaszek 1.5
12. Rapport 1.0
13. Adhiban 1.0
14. Van Wely 0.5

Challenger’s Results in next post

Tomorrow is a rest day.

[Tom O'Donnell]

Re: Tata Steel 2017

Basil Rathbone was indeed a fantastic Holmes as Nigel Bruce was a splendid Watson.