Tata Steel 2018

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Tata Steel 2018

January 28, 2018

Round Thirteen

Most of the games are over now and Carlsen and Giri are the co-leaders and heading for a playoff.

These are the Round Thirteen results:

1. Karjakin-Carlsen 0.5-0.5
2. Wei Yi-Giri 0.5-0.5
3. Mamedyarov-Anand 0.5-0.5
4. Adhiban-Kramnik unfinished, with Kramnik about to win
5. Caruana-Svidler 0.5-0.5
6. Matlakov-Jones still in progress
7. So-Hou Yifan 1-0

So, the unofficial standings are:

1-2 Giri, Carlsen 9.0
3 Mamedyarov 8.5
4-5 Anand, So 8.0
6-7 Karjakin, Kramnik 7.5
8 Svidler 6.0
9 Wei Yi 5.5
10 Caruana 5.0
11-12 Jones, Matlakov 4.5
13 Adhiban 3.5
14 Hou Yifan

Even the commentators were not sure when the playoffs would come and so, took an extended break. One would think that Round Thirteen would be finished first.

In the Challengers, there are also two games unfinished Gordievsky-Korobov and it looks like Gordievsky might win and Amin-Bok.

The unofficial standings at the moment are

1 Vidit 9.0
2 Korobov 8.0
3-4 Xiong, Van Foreest, Jorden 7.5
5 Amin 7.0
6-7 Bluebaum, Gordievsky 6.5
8-9 L'Ami, Tari 6.0
10-12 Bok, Krasenkow, Van Foreest, Lucas 5.5
13 Harika 5.0
14 Girya 3.5

Later: A tweet from ChessBase:

There will be a tiebreak to decide the Tata Steel Masters between Anish Giri and Magnus Carlsen to be held 15 minutes after the conclusion of the final game in round 13.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Tata Steel 2018

January 28, 2018

Round Thirteen and Playoffs

The last round games:

Round 13, Jan. 28
Karjkin, Sergey - Carlsen, Magnus
C88 Ruy Lopez, Closed, anti-Marshall

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.a4 b4 9.d4 d6 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Nxe5 dxe5 12.Qe2 a5 13.Nd2 Bc5 14.Nf3 Qe7 15.Be3 Ba6 16.Bxc5 Qxc5 17.Qe3 Qxe3 18.Rxe3 Rfe8 19.c3 Ng4 20.Ng5 Nxe3 21.Bxf7+ Kf8 22.Bxe8 Rxe8 23.fxe3 bxc3 24.bxc3 h6 25.Nf3 Bd3 26.Rd1 Bxe4 27.Rd7 Re7 28.Rd8+ Kf7 29.Nd2 Bc6 30.Nc4 Ke6 31.Nxa5 Bxa4 32.Nb7 Re8 33.Nc5+ Kf6 34.Rxe8 1/2-1/2

Round 13, Jan. 28
Wei Yi - Giri, Anish
A06 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 b6 5.b3 Bb7 6.Bb2 Nbd7 7.g3 Bd6 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O Re8 10.Rc1 a6 11.Qe2 dxc4 12.bxc4 b5 13.cxb5 axb5 14.Nxb5 Rxa2 15.d4 Qb8 16.Ra1 Rxa1 17.Rxa1 Bf8 18.Nc3 c5 19.Rb1 cxd4 20.Nxd4 Bxg2 21.Kxg2 Qa8+ 1/2-1/2

Round 13, Jan. 28
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Anand, Vishy
D37 QGD, Hastings variation, main line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.Rd1 Qa5 10.a3 Re8 11.Nd2 e5 12.Bg5 Nd4 13.Qb1 Bf5 14.Bd3 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 Ne4 16.Ndxe4 dxe4 17.Qd2 Ne6 18.Bh4 Qa6 19.Qe2 Rac8 20.O-O Bf8 21.Qg4 Qxc4 22.Nxe4 Kh8 23.h3 Nc5 24.Nxc5 Qxg4 25.hxg4 Rxc5 26.Rd7 Rb5 27.b4 f6 28.g5 fxg5 29.Bxg5 a5 30.Rfd1 Kg8 31.Bd8 axb4 32.a4 Rc5 33.Rxb7 Rc8 34.Ba5 Rc4 35.Rd5 b3 36.Rxb3 Rxa4 37.Bc3 e4 38.Rb7 Ra6 39.Rdd7 Rg6 40.g3 Rc8 41.Bd4 Re8 42.Kg2 Rc8 43.Kh3 Re8 44.Rf7 Rc8 45.Rf4 Re8 46.Bc3 Rge6 47.Rff7 Rg6 48.Rfc7 Rd8 49.Kg2 Re8 50.Kf1 Rd8 51.Ke2 Re8 52.Kd1 Rg5 53.Kc2 Rf5 54.Bxg7 Bd6 55.Rd7 Rxf2+ 56.Kb3 Bxg3 57.Bd4 Be5 58.Bxe5 Rxe5 59.Rg7+ Kf8 60.Rxh7 Kg8 61.Kc4 Rg2 62.Rhe7 Rxe7 63.Rxe7 Kf8 64.Rxe4 Rg5 65.Kd4 Kf7 66.Re5 Rg1 1/2-1/2

Round 13, Jan. 28
Adhiban, Baskaran - Kramnik, Vladimir
C26 Vienna, Paulsen-Mieses variation


1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bc5 4.Bg2 c6 5.Nge2 d5 6.exd5 cxd5 7.d4 exd4 8.Nxd4 O-O 9.O-O Bg4 10.Nde2 Qc8 11.Bg5 d4 12.Na4 Be7 13.Qd3 h6 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Nf4 Nc6 16.Nd5 Be5 17.Qb5 Bd6 18.Nc5 Bxc5 19.Qxc5 Re8 20.b4 Kh8 21.Rfe1 Qf5 22.Nc7 Rxe1+ 23.Rxe1 Rd8 24.Ne8 Qxc5 25.bxc5 Be6 26.Nd6 Rd7 27.a3 Rc7 28.Nb5 Rc8 29.Nd6 Rc7 30.f4 g6 31.Nb5 Rd7 32.Nd6 Na5 33.Rb1 Rc7 34.Rb5 b6 35.Rxa5 bxa5 36.c6 a6 37.Kf2 Re7 38.a4 Kg8 39.Ne4 Kf8 40.Nd6 Bg4 41.Be4 h5 42.h4 f6 43.Bxg6 Re2+ 44.Kf1 Re6 45.Nb7 Rxc6 46.Nxa5 Rc3 47.Nb3 Rc4 48.Bd3 Rxa4 49.Kf2 a5 50.Ke1 Be6 51.Nc5 Ra1+ 52.Kf2 Bf7 53.Kf3 a4 54.Ke4 a3 55.Kxd4 Rd1 0-1

Round 13, Jan. 28
Caruana, Fabiano - Svidler, Peter
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.Qxf5 Bxf5 21.Nf3 Be6 22.Be5 Bc5 23.Nd4 Bxd4 24.Bxd4 Nf4 25.Bxe6 Nxe6 26.Be3 Nc7 27.Kg2 Nd5 28.Kf3 Nxe3 29.Rxe3 Kf8 30.h4 1/2-1/2

Round 13, Jan. 28
Matlakov, Maxim - Jones, Gawain
E65 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O d6 6.c4 c5 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.dxc5 dxc5 9.Bf4 Nd4 10.Re1 Re8 11.Rc1 Ng4 12.h3 e5 13.Bg5 Nxf3+ 14.exf3 Qxg5 15.fxg4 Qe7 16.Qa4 Bd7 17.Qa3 Bc6 18.Nd5 Bxd5 19.cxd5 Bf8 20.d6 Qxd6 21.Bxb7 Rab8 22.Be4 Red8 23.Rc2 Rb4 24.Qf3 Rd4 25.Kg2 a5 26.h4 a4 27.Re3 Qa6 28.g5 Rd1 29.Rce2 Qc4 30.b3 Qc1 31.Kh2 axb3 32.Rxb3 c4 33.Rb7 R1d7 34.Reb2 Qd1 35.Rxd7 Rxd7 36.Qf6 Qe1 37.Qf3 c3 38.Re2 Qd1 39.Bc2 Qd4 40.Bb3 Rc7 41.Kg2 Qd7 42.Bc2 Rc5 43.Re3 Qc7 44.Qe4 Qa7 45.Bb3 Rc7 46.h5 Qd4 47.Qc2 Kg7 48.Qe2 Qc5 49.Bc2 Qd5+ 50.Kh2 e4 51.Qg4 Rc5 52.h6+ Kg8 53.Rxe4 Qxg5 54.Qxg5 Rxg5 55.Re8 Rh5+ 56.Kg2 Rxh6 57.Rc8 Rh5 58.Rxc3 1/2-1/2

Round 13, Jan. 28
So, Wesley - Hou Yifan
E01 Catalan, Closed

1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.d4 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bd6 6.Nc3 O-O 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Nxd5 Nxd5 9.Bxd5 Bxg3 10.Qb3 Bd6 11.Nf3 c6 12.Bc4 Bf5 13.Ng5 Qe7 14.Qf3 Bg6 15.h4 Bb4 16.O-O-O Bxd2+ 17.Rxd2 h5 18.Rg1 Nd7 19.Qg3 Nb6 20.Bb3 Qf6 21.e4 Rae8 22.e5 Qf5 23.Bc2 Qg4 24.Bxg6 Qxg3 25.Bh7+ Kh8 26.Rxg3 f6 27.Bg6 fxg5 28.Bxe8 gxh4 29.Rg5 Rxe8 30.Rxh5+ 1-0

The Final Standings

1-2 Carlsen, Giri 9.0
3- 4 Kramnik, Mamedyarov 8.5
5-6 Anand, So 8.0
7 Karjakin 7.5
8 Svidler 6.0
9 Wei Yi 5.5
10-12 Jones, Caruana, Matlakov 5.0
13 Adhiban 3.5
14 Hou Yifan 2.5

There has to be a playoff for the top spot. It is blitz, two 5-minute + 3 seconds a move games and then an Armageddon game if needed.

Playoff games

Game 1, Jan. 28
5+3
Carlsen, Magnus - Giri, Anish
A15 English Opening

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.b3 d5 4.Bb2 Be7 5.e3 O-O 6.Nc3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Nxd5 exd5 9.d4 Qa5+ 10.Qd2 Qxd2+ 11.Kxd2 Nc6 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.Bb5 Bb4+ 14.Ke2 Be6 15.Rac1 Rac8 16.Rhd1 Be7 17.h3 a6 18.Bd3 Nb4 19.Bb1 Rxc1 20.Rxc1 Rc8 21.Rd1 Nc6 22.g4 h6 23.Nd4 Nxd4+ 24.Bxd4 Ba3 25.f4 f6 26.Bg6 Kf8 27.Kf3 Ke7 28.h4 Bb4 29.Bd3 Bd7 30.e4 Bc3 31.Bf2 Bc6 32.exd5 Bxd5+ 33.Be4 Bxe4+ 34.Kxe4 Ke6 35.f5+ Ke7 36.Rc1 Rc6 37.Kd3 Bb4 38.Rxc6 bxc6 39.Kc4 Bd6 40.Bc5 Kd7 41.h5 Bf4 42.Bf8 Ke8 43.Bc5 Kd7 44.Kb4 Bd2+ 45.Ka4 Kc7 46.b4 Bf4 47.Bf8 Kb6 48.Bxg7 Bg5 49.Bf8 Bf4 50.Be7 Bg5 51.Kb3 Kc7 52.Kc4 Kd7 53.Bc5 Kc7 54.Kd3 Kd7 55.Be3 1-0

Game 2, Jan. 28
5+3
Giri, Anish - Carlsen, Magnus
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O a6 7.Re1 Ba7 8.Bb3 O-O 9.h3 h6 10.Nbd2 Re8 11.Nf1 Be6 12.Bc2 d5 13.Qe2 dxe4 14.dxe4 Qe7 15.Ng3 Rad8 16.Nh4 Qf8 17.Nhf5 Ne7 18.Ne3 Ng6 19.Ngf5 Nf4 20.Qf3 c6 21.Ng4 Nxg4 22.hxg4 g6 23.Bxf4 exf4 24.Qxf4 gxf5 25.gxf5 Qg7 26.fxe6 Rxe6 27.Rad1 Rde8 28.Re2 Qg5 29.Qf3 Rf6 30.Qh3 Qf4 31.Rf1 Re5 32.Qh2 Qg5 33.g3 Qg4 34.Rd2 Rg5 35.e5 Rxe5 36.Bd1 Qg5 37.Rd3 Ref5 38.Qh4 1/2-1/2

Final Position of Playoff Game 2



It looks like the draw was agreed with Black having much the better prospects in the position.

Thus, Carlsen wins his record sixth Wijk aan Zee tournament.

Anish Giri acquitted himself well. Karjakin, So and Caruana were almost invisible during the tourney.

Eric Hansen rubbed shoulders with all the greats and came off as a likeable, knowledgeable analyst. There was a rumour that he will be doing the Candidates but Agon prefers using Evgeny Miroshnichenko and then not paying him.

The team of Hansen and Jan Smeets was fun to watch. I had likened Jan's appearance to that of Woody Harrelson. He acknowledged today that others had made that observation and some had gone even further and compared it to Voldemort in the Harry Potter series.

Eric confessed that he loves ketchup and would drink it if he could. But, when he dines out and is served a good steak, he knows that he will be looked upon unfavorably if he puts ketchup on the steak or even on the fries.

Yasser Seirawan prepared a steak for him at Hilversum last week and Eric could not ask for ketchup because Yasser had made a nice sauce to accompany it. A classic case of "ketchup guilt".

This was a long, interesting tournament. The players appeared relaxed and the interviews and analyses were a pleasure to watch.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Yes I loved the ketchup discussion - those moments add color to the commentary. Thanks to Eric for excellent commentary which added greatly to the enjoyment of following the games. He's evolved into one of the top commentators.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Magnificent Magnus! Congratulations on your 6th win of Tata Steel. Now the all time record. (and Magnus is only 27 - many more good years to add to the total).
History in this case is now current and doesnt have to be looked up anymore to compare past winners.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Magnificent Magnus! Congratulations on your 6th win of Tata Steel. Now the all time record. (and Magnus is only 27 - many more good years to add to the total).
History in this case is now current and doesnt have to be looked up anymore to compare past winners.