Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

Tata Chess Tournament 2014

Round Two

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Standings and Pairings

Gelfand (0) – Rapport (0)
Giri (0.5) – Naiditsch (0)
So (1) – Nakamura (1)
Aronian (0.5) – Caruana (1)
Karjakin (1) – Harikrishna (0.5)
Dominguez (0.5) – Van Wely (0)

Today’s commentator again is Yasser Seirawan. As helpmates he has had Peter Doggers, IM Robert Ris and GM Irwin L’Ami.
Seirawan is incredibly mellow. One viewer says, “I loved the live commentary by Yasser Seirawan! He's the Bob Ross of chess!” Who is Bob Ross? Anyway, with his first guest, Peter Doggers, he says that there are three websites that he consults every day – Peter’s Chess Vibes, ChessBase and The Week in Chess (TWIC).
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I must comment on the game interface. The moves are given with the evaluation for each side by Houdini 2.0c x 64. The opening variation is given and the times. And, you have all the combatants on the right hand side with current standings and you can get the game you want instantaneously. It is the best I have seen of all the tournaments of the past year.
The whole wall behind the players has a huge Tata poster of a man walking in the ocean. From a distance it looks like the ocean is lapping right up to the chess tables!

Houdini has called the opening in So-Nakamura as an A13 Agincourt, Kurajica Defense, Eng. This is a draw in 27 moves. Seirawan is surprised because he says that Nakamura is usually “play till the death”.
Wesley says he is still trying to catch up on his sleep.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Two
January 12, 2014
Wesley So - Hikaru Nakamura
A13 English

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 c6 4. e4 Bb4 5. e5 c5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Nc6 9. Nf3 Nge7 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O cxd4 12. cxd4 h6 13. Bd2 Bf5 14. Qb3 Bg4 15. Bc3 Qd7 16. h3 Be6 17. Rfd1 Ng6 18. Bf1 Rac8 19. Rac1 Rc7 20. Qb2 Qe7 21. g3 Rfc8 22. Kh2 f6 23. exf6 Qxf6 24. Bg2 Nce7 25. Bb4 Rxc1 26. Rxc1 Rxc1 27. Qxc1 Nc6 ½-½

After four hours play the results are:

So-Nakamura 0.5-0.5, Dominguez-Van Wely 0.5-0.5, Karjakin-Harikrishna 0.5-0.5, Giri-Naiditsch 1-0 and of the two remaining games Aronian has Caruana on the ropes as does Rapport with Gelfand. The sound has gone off and a note says that live commentary will resume shortly. It is almost a cliché that there will always be technical problems in the first two days of transmission and then they magically clear up.
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Seirawan and L’Ami discuss the Aronian-Caruana game. They are move 43 with Aronian having double the time of Caruana on his clock 1 hr vs 28 minutes. Aronian is a pawn up with White having Q+B vs Black’s Q+N. The Houdini evaluation for White is 1.55.

They also feel that Gelfand is heading for his second loss in a row – a rarity for Boris. The opening came in for a great deal of scrutiny at the first – a Budapest.

The commentators stop analyzing Gelfand –Rapport because a sensational game is just over in the Challengers. Benjamin Bok wins against the World Junior Champion, Yu Yangyi of China. Yasser says of Bok, “What a nice game to have in your best game collection!”

Tata Steel 2014 Challengers
Round Two
January 12, 2014
Bok- Yu Yangyi
B42 Sicilian Kann

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. O-O d6 7. c4 Be7 8. Nc3 b6 9. f4 Bb7 10. Qe2 O-O 11. Kh1 Nbd7 12. Bd2 Qc7 13. Rae1 Rad8 14. Nf3 g6 15. f5 Rfe8 16. fxe6 fxe6 17. Ng5 Bf8 18. Qe3 h6 19. e5 Ng4 20. Qg3 Ndxe5 21. Nf7 Rd7 22. Nxe5 Nxe5 23. Rxe5 dxe5 24. Bxh6 Rg7 25. Bxg6 Ree7 26. Qh3 Qxc4 27. Bh7+ Kxh7 28. Bxg7+ Kxg7 29. Qg3+ Kh7 30. Rxf8 Rg7 31. Qh3+ Kg6 32. Qg3+ Kh7 33. Qh3+ Kg6 34. b3 Qd4 35. Qxe6+ Kh5 36. Qf5+ 1-0

Benjamin is an Dutch IM who was born in 1995. He secured his third GM norm at Groningen.
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Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Two
January 12, 2014
Aronian-Caruana
A05 King’s Indian Attack, Reti, Zukertort

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. d4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 g6 7. Bf4 Bg7 8. e3 O-O 9. Bd3 Nd7 10. O-O Qa5 11. Qc2 cxd4 12. cxd4 e5 13. Bg3 exd4 14. Nxd4 Nb6 15. Qc7 Bxd4 16. exd4 Bf5 17. Bxf5 Qxf5 18. Qxb7 Rfd8 19. Rfd1 Rd7 20. Qa6 Qe4 21. Be5 Rf8 22. h3 f6 23. Bg3 Rff7 24. f3 Qf5 25. Rac1 Kg7 26. Kh2 Rfe7 27. Rc5 Nd5 28. Qa5 Qe6 29. Re1 Qf7 30. Re4 Ne3 31. Bf2 Nf5 32. Qd2 Re6 33. Rxe6 Qxe6 34. d5 Qd6+ 35. Kg1 Rb7 36. Qe1 Ne7 37. Ra5 Nxd5 38. Qd1 Rd7 39. Rxa7 Rxa7 40. Bxa7 g5 41. a4 Qa6 42. Bd4 Qc4 43. Qa1 Qc2 44. a5 Nf4 45. Bf2 Ne2+ 46. Kh2 Nf4 47. Qf1 Nd3 48. Bd4 Qd2 49. Bg1 Qf4+ 50. Kh1 Qc4 51. Qa1 Qc2 52. Be3 h6 53. a6 Qe2 54. Qg1 Qa2 55. a7 Nb4 56. Qd1 Nd5 57. Qd2 Qa1+ 58. Bg1 1-0

Aronian said at the Seirawan interview that he estimated later that 32. Qd2 was a blunder because it should have been met with 32…Rxe4 33. fxe4 Qe7 but Caruana didn’t see it in his time trouble.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Two
January 12, 2014
Gelfand-Rapport
A52 Budapest, Adler Variation

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Nf3 Bc5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Be2 Ngxe5 8. Nxe5 Nxe5 9. O-O a5 10. Kh1 d6 11. f4 Nc6 12. b3 Re8 13. Rf3 Bf5 14. Rg3 Re6 15. Bd3 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Nb4 17. Qd2 Qe7 18. e4 Qh4 19. Rf3 Nc2 20. Rb1 Qe1+ 21. Qxe1 Nxe1 22. Rg3 Rg6 23. Nd5 Rxg3 24. hxg3 c6 25. Be3 Nd3 26. Bxc5 cxd5 27. Bxd6 dxe4 28. Kg1 f5 29. Kf1 Ra6 30. Bc7 Kf7 31. g4 Rc6 32. Bxa5 Ra6 33. Bc3 Rxa2 34. gxf5 e3 35. g3 Rc2 36. Be1 Kf6 37. g4 h5 38. Bh4+ Kf7 39. gxh5 Rh2 40. Be1 Kf6 41. Kg1 Re2 42. Bc3+ Kxf5 43. Bxg7 Kxf4 44. Bh6+ Kg3 45. Bxe3 Rxe3 46. Kf1 Kf4 47. Ra1 Rf3+ 48. Kg1 Rg3+ 49. Kf1 Rf3+ 50. Kg1 Kg4 51. h6 Nf4 52. h7 Rh3 53. Kf2 Kf5 54. b4 Nd3+ 55. Ke2 Ke4 56. Ra8 Rh2+ 57. Kd1 Rxh7 58. Kd2 Nxb4 59. Kc3 Nc6 60. Re8+ Re7 0-1

Forum Second Round Comments

- Is Gelfand the strongest player ever to be beaten in a classical chess tournament game by an opponent playing the Budapest Gambit? Great win for young Rapport.

- Possibly, a quick search of recent years shows Kramnik - Mamedyarov 0-1, but that was rapid.

- In the early days of the Budapest gambit, there were a number of wins by Black. For example, Rubinstein was defeated 1918 in the Budapest gambit in just 24 moves by Vidmar.

- Impressive comeback by Rapport with Black and using such an offbeat opening (like yesterday).

- Loved Aronian's win - found it instructive together with Jobava's against Goudriaan. Bok's win against Yu was great fun to follow.

- As an amateur d4 player I always play Nf3 before playing c4 in order to avoid the Budapest Gambit but apparently Gelfand thought it was harmless.
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chess-news.ru comments on Aronian-Caruana

"It's pleasant to defeat any opponent, every win is hard to gain in such a high level event," Aronian noted in the commentary for our website." It seemed to me I got a pleasant position after the opening, then I practically missed the advantage, but the rival gave me a chance which I converted into a victory."

Levon had in mind two moments. He said 32. Qd2 was a blunder because of the opportunity Caruana missed in a time trouble: 32... Rxe4 33. fxe4 Qe7.

The Italian GM had another chance in the endgame; closer analyses though show that it doesn't lead to a draw:

Aronian played 45... Ne2+ and White converted the decisive advantage. Levon suggested Caruana could play 45... h5 46. a6 g4 47. fxg4 hxg4 48. a7 g3! 49. a8Q Nxh3+ with a perpetual check. However, White has a fantastic move: 49. Kh1!!

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

Nice to see Richard Rapport bounce back today with his Budapest Gambit against Boris Gelfand after throwing away his Larsen's Opening yesterday against Wesley So. Playing the Budapest myself, I'm greatly amused that Stockfish had Black better (if only slightly) by move 12 (:

[Andrew Hoyer]

Re: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

One thing that is really missing this year are the round-by-round video reports. They have the player interviews, but I really enjoyed the more comprehensive ones they did the last couple of years.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

Tata Steel 2014

Round Three

Monday, January 13, 2014

Standings and Pairings

Masters

Naiditsch (0)-So (1.5)
Harikrishna (1)-Dominquez (1)
Caruana (1)-Karjakin (1.5)
Rapport (1)-Aronian (1.5)
Nakamura (1.5)-Gelfand (0)
Van Wely (0.5)-Giri (1.5)

Challengers

Yu (0)-Timman (1)
Van Delft (0)-Goudriaan (0)
Wojtaszek (0.5)-Duda (1.5)
Brunello (1.5)-Bok (1.5)
Saric (1)-Reinderman (1.5)
Muzychuk (1)-Troff (1.5)
Jobava (1.5)-Zhao (1.5)

The main commentator is GM Erwin l’Ami with Tom Bottema, Peter Doggers and then IM Robert Ris.

It is pointed out that this is most likely the first time that there have been two Trompowskys in the same round at Wijk. These are between Rapport-Aronian and in the Dutch Derby, Van Wely-Giri.
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Van Wely builds up a winning position with all sorts of complications but is down to 2 minutes on his clock with Giri having more than 20 minutes. He goes astray and the evaluation goes to 0.00 at move 24. Ris and l’Ami find the position almost overwhelming because they are not accessing the Houdini engine. They spend a huge amount of time analyzing it, call it the Game of the Day and then go off to look at the other matches when it is agreed draw!

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Three
January 13, 2014
Loek Van Wely-Anish Giri
A45 Trompowsky

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. e4 h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. c3 d6 6. Bd3 e5 7. Ne2 Qd8 8. O-O Be7 9. f4 O-O 10. Nd2 exd4 11. Nxd4 Re8 12. Qh5 Nd7 13. Bc4 Rf8 14. e5 Nb6 15. Bb3 c5 16. exd6 cxd4 17. dxe7 Qxe7 18. Rae1 Qd8 19. Ne4 dxc3 20. f5 Qd4+ 21. Kh1 cxb2 22. f6 Be6 23. fxg7 Qxg7 24. Rf3 Rac8 25. Rg3 Qxg3 26. hxg3 Rc1 27. Bd1 b1=Q 28. Qxh6 Nd5 29. Qg5+ Kh8 30. Qh6+ Kg8 0.5-0.5

ChessBomb comments:

- an exciting game
- Houdini is giving up on giving evaluations
- bad move by Loek, it’s a draw
- really, the Dutch is a peaceful nation
- great game, could have been fantastic
- 23. Bxe6 was an easy win
- Van Wely threw it away completely in time trouble
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After four hours play we have three draws – this game and Naiditsch-So and Rapport-Aronian.

Gelfand is raking Nakamura over the coals. With 43.Qb1 Nakamura leaves himself open to a winning combination for black starting with Bxf3+. The ChessBomb guys are practically shouting at Boris to play the sacrifice. [Bxf3+ 44. Kxf3 e4+ 45. Bxe4 Qa3+ 46. Kf2 Qe3+ 47. Kf1 Qf4+ 48. Ke1 Rh2 49. Qc2 Qe3+ 50. Kf1 Rxc2 51. Rxc2 Qxe4 52. Rh2 d3 53. c5] Boris doesn’t see it and plays 43…Bf7.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Three
January 13, 2014
Hikaru Nakamura-Boris Gelfand
A04 Reti, Zukertort

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 e6 6. e4 Bb4 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 e5 9. O-O O-O 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bh4 Bc5 12. Kh1 d6 13. f3 Be6 14. Qc2 Rb8 15. Rad1 Bd4 16. b3 g5 17. Bf2 c5 18. Nb5 Qd7 19. g4 Kg7 20. Qd2 Ng8 21. Bg3 f6 22. b4 Ne7 23. Nxd4 cxd4 24. b5 Rfc8 25. Rc1 Rc5 26. Rc2 Nc8 27. Rfc1 Nb6 28. Qe2 Rbc8 29. Be1 Na4 30. Bb4 R5c7 31. Kg2 h5 32. h3 Rh8 33. Rh1 Rcc8 34. Rcc1 Qc7 35. Qc2 Nb6 36. Ba5 Qc5 37. Bxb6 axb6 38. Qb3 hxg4 39. hxg4 Rxh1 40. Kxh1 d5 41. exd5 Bxd5 42. Kg2 Rh8 43. Qb1 Bf7 44. Rh1 Rxh1 45. Qxh1 Bg6 46. Bxg6 Kxg6 47. Qh5+ Kg7 48. Qe8 Qxc4 49. a4 Qc2+ 50. Kg3 Qc7 51. Qc6 Qd8 52. a5 bxa5 53. b6 d3 54. Qc7+ Qxc7 55. bxc7 d2 56. c8=Q d1=Q 57. Qc7+ Kh6 58. Qe7 Qg1+ 59. Kh3 0.5-0.5

An incredible escape by Nakamura. The commentators are still buzzing about that move Bxf3+. Is it just a computer move? Would any human see it? Can you calculate the win from that position?

So, considering the Van Wely game and the Gelfand game, they are calling this the Round of Missed Opportunities.
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Harikrishna-Dominguez and Caruana-Karjakin still go on almost into the sixth hour.

Finally, Caruana beats Karjakin in 71 moves. Harikrishna-Dominguez goes on with the Indian winning, though the commentators have packed it up for the day.

Harikrishna wins in 75 moves. The Indian sponsors smile.

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Dimitri Reinderman first came to my attention in a comment by Nigel Short and Lawrence Trent in Round 10 of the Candidates

http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/show...ght=reinderman

One likes a free spirit, even if he is facing you at the board with bright purple hair! Photos of Tata have been posted on flickr. They probably won't be there forever but if you want to see the degree of hair purpleosity go to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pput/se...7633137840133/

In the Challengers, Radoslaw Wojtaszek from Poland is spoken of as an up-and-coming grandmaster – World Rank is 39. He has been one of the four seconds to Vishy Anand since his successful title defence match against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008. It will be interesting to see his final standing in the Tata Challengers.

He celebrates his 27th birthday today.
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Tomorrow is a rest day for the Masters and then play resumes on Wednesday in the world famous Rijksmuseum for one day.

The collection contains more than 2,000 paintings from the Dutch Golden Age by notable painters such as Jacob Isaakszoon van Ruisdael, Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen, Rembrandt, and Rembrandt's pupils. The incomparable Night Watch (1642) by Rembrandt has its own room.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

That move in Nakamura-Gelfand:

CV Comments:

- Susan Polgar was posting about how quickly she and her sister would have played Bxf3 ("That is the type of tactic the Polgar sisters would spot instantly"), and gave Nakamura's Qb1 a double question mark, which seems harsh. I wonder how easy Bxf3 really was to find without an engine. It didn't look impossible for a top player spending lots of time on the position at first, but I'm not so sure about it now.

- Neither Gelfand nor Nakamura found the winning line in the post mortem, but Nakamura quickly gets it when it is pointed out to him afterwards, interesting clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ_nAH0Ery4


- Thanks for the link. It really looks like Nakamura misunderestimated this whole idea, as he said himself !

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

Tata Steel 2014

Round Four

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Standings and Pairings

Masters

Van Wely (1)-Harikrishna (2)
Karjakin (1.5)-Rapport (1.5)
Dominguez (1)-Caruana (2)
Aronian (2)-Nakamura (2)
Gelfand (1.5)-Naiditsch (0.5)
Giri (2)-So (2)

Challengers

Timman (1)-Brunello (1.5) 1-0
Troff (1.5)-Saric (2) 0-1
Xue (1.5)-Bok (2.5) 1-0
Duda (2)-Muzychuk (2) 0-1
Jobava (2.5)-Van Delft (1) 1-0
Reinderman (1.5)-Yangyi (1) 1-0
Goudriaan (0)-Wojtaszek (1) 0-1

The main commentator is Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam with GM Erwin l’Ami.

The first big game to finish was between Aronian and Nakamura. Aronian had pressure throughout the game but faltered with 34. Nxe6. Then in a very instructive good knight bad bishop endgame Nakamura erred at the time control and played 40..Kd7 and Aronian finished him off.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Four
January 15, 2014
Levon Aronian-Hikaru Nakamura
E92 King’s Indian, Gligoric-Taimanov System

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. Be3 Ng4 8. Bg5 f6 9. Bh4 g5 10. Bg3 Nh6 11. c5 g4 12. Nh4 Nc6 13. cxd6 cxd6 14. dxe5 dxe5 15. Bc4 Kh8 16. Qxd8 Rxd8 17. O-O Nd4 18. Rad1 Be6 19. Bxe6 Nxe6 20. f3 gxf3 21. gxf3 Rxd1 22. Rxd1 Rd8 23. Rxd8 Nxd8 24. Bf2 a6 25. Kf1 Kg8 26. Ke2 Kf7 27. Be3 Ke6 28. Na4 Bf8 29. Bxh6 Bxh6 30. Nc5 Kf7 31. Kd3 Bf4 32. h3 Bg5 33. Nf5 Ne6 34. Nxe6 Kxe6 35. Kc4 b6 36. a4 Bd2 37. b3 h5 38. b4 a5 39. bxa5 bxa5 40. Kb5 Kd7 41. Ng7 h4 42. Nf5 Be1 43. Ne3 Ke6 44. Nc4 1-0

Levon came in to discuss the game and Dirk commented that he looked very tanned and relaxed. Levon said that this was because he vacationed in Cambodia before the tournament. It felt good to start the year on the beach. Also, he is very interested in exploring the countries of South-East Asia.

Levon: At the board I couldn't decide what was the best plan. Maybe I have missed something, but the position stayed better for White. I guess HIkaru underestimated it: when he played 22...Rd8 and offered a draw. I think the position is quite unpleasant for Black and he should work to achieve that draw


Sergei Karjakin won his game against Rapport and joins Dirk.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Four
January 15, 2014
Sergei Karjakin-Richard Rapport
C18 French, Winawer, Classical Variation

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3 6. bxc3 Qc7 7. Qg4 f6 8. Nf3 c4 9. h4 Nc6 10. Qg3 fxe5 11. Nxe5 Nf6 12. Bf4 Qa5 13. Nxc6 bxc6 14. Bc7 Qa4 15. Kd1 O-O 16. f3 e5 17. Bxe5 Bf5 18. Ra2 Rf7 19. Be2 Nd7 20. Re1 Re8 21. f4 Nf6 22. Bf3 Ne4 23. Bxe4 Bxe4 24. h5 h6 25. Kd2 Qb5 26. a4 Qb7 27. a5 a6 28. Qg4 Qa7 29. Rb2 Bf5 30. Qg3 Qe7 31. Rb6 Rc8 32. Reb1 Qa3 33. Rb7 Qa4 34. R1b2 Rxb7 35. Rxb7 Qxc2 36. Ke1 Qc1 37. Kf2 Qd2 38. Kf1 Qd3 39. Qxd3 cxd3 40. g4 Be4 41. f5 c5 42. Rxg7 Kf8 43. f6 Rc6 44. Ke1 1-0

Sergei modestly said that he won the game because he was lucky. He came from Wijk last night to Amsterdam and enjoyed the city. Dirk Jan asked him if he is going to follow his old tradition. It appears that when Sergei won Wijk in 2009, he went for a swim in the North Sea following an old Ukrainian tradition of breaking the ice on the water on New Year’s Day and taking a dip. Sergei has not made the swim…yet.

Incidentally, the 2009 tourney was a Corus and Sergei won with 8/13 ahead of Aronian and Carlsen among others.


Van Wely-Harikrishna and Gelfand-Naiditsch were early draws. In spite of a first round loss and difficulties in other games, Boris was surprisingly upbeat. Why? He loves art and the games today are being played in the Rijksmuseum. He has been in it many times. He loves the painting “The Nightwatch” and all of Rembrandt. Dirk Jan says that they are much alike – both root for Ajax and love Rembrandt. Boris feels back in the groove again.

Arkadij Naiditsch has never played in a museum before. He had played at a French automobile factory but the noise was very distracting!


Two games are still in progress: Dominguez-Caruana and Giri-So. In the first game Black has no counterplay. Dominguez has the advantage.
Giri-So is a draw.

Jan Timman stopped in earlier to talk to Dirk Jan. He is playing in the Challengers, who had their round yesterday. He is here today to give a speech to the guests on The Allegorical Significance of Chess in History and Literature. He has lived close to the Rijkmuseum for years. It closed down for ten years before a glorious reopening.

He broke his right hand. He finds it difficult to concentrate that way. He broke his ankle in 1984 (Bugojno/Bosnia and Herzegovina) and still won a tournament. But with the hand broken he finds concentration in the early middlegame difficult.
He can still write with that hand otherwise someone else would have to write down the moves and he would be charged ten minutes on his clock! Also, that guy would have to push the clock for him. Those are the rules.


(Dirk Jan and Erwin in conversation) All the top players have a support team. Aronian has a whole country behind him. Others have doctors, dieticians, trainers and coaches. Giri has Vladimir Tukmakov – he lead Ukrainian teams in the Olympiads.
You cannot do it alone anymore. We haven’t forgotten about the great trainers the Soviet players of the past had – Karpov-Fuhrman, Spassky- Zak*, Kasparov-Nikitin. The computer has changed things a lot now. It used to be enough to get an interesting idea but now the computers take the line right to the result.

Actually it is funny – it wasn’t too long ago when the Dutch team went to the Olympiad and one of the bigger tasks was how to divide the load of books that went along. You had to take along the opening encyclopedias - that was five volumes, the latest Informants etc. Youngsters can hardly imagine this happening. They take along their laptops now and some rarely use the actual chessboard – the screen is enough. Carlsen had a board in his room during the World Championship though!


The Dominiquez-Caruana game goes on to 6.5 hours. At move 60, White has three pairs of doubled pawns. There are two dark-squared bishops in a column with black and white pawns – will this be called the Immortal Doubled Pawn Game? Stockfish gives White an evaluation of 2.46. Will Caruana go down?

The lighting at the Rijksmuseum is causing long shadows and this is picked up by the ChessBomb guys giving rise to these comments:

- The lighting must be uncomfortable for Caruana with Dominguez towering and playing with his shadow on the board
- It looks like they're playing in a dungeon
- If Caruana was smart he would start making shadow puppets on the board during LDP's turn.

Almost seven and a half hours have lapsed now –

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Four
January 15, 2014
Leinier Dominguez Perez-Fabiano Caruana
C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed (7…d6)

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. a3 O-O 9. Nc3 Be6 10. Be3 Qd7 11. Nd5 Bd8 12. Bg5 Bxd5 13. exd5 Nd4 14. Nxd4 exd4 15. a4 Qf5 16. Bd2 Rb8 17. axb5 axb5 18. h3 h5 19. Ra7 h4 20. Qf3 Qxf3 21. gxf3 Re8 22. f4 Nd7 23. Bb4 Nb6 24. Kg2 Na4 25. Ba3 Nb6 26. Bb4 Na4 27. Rb1 Re7 28. Ra6 Re8 29. Kf3 Rb7 30. Ra8 Kf8 31. Ra1 Nc5 32. R1a7 Rxa7 33. Rxa7 Nxb3 34. cxb3 Ke7 35. Rb7 Kd7 36. Rxb5 Rh8 37. Bd2 Rh5 38. Ra5 g6 39. Ke4 Rh8 40. Ra8 f5 41. Kf3 Bf6 42. Ra1 Rb8 43. b4 Re8 44. Ra7 Rb8 45. Ke2 Kc8 46. Kd1 Rb5 47. Ra5 Rb8 48. Kc2 Kd7 49. Ra1 Rb5 50. Ra5 Rb8 51. b5 Kc8 52. Kb3 Kb7 53. Ra1 Re8 54. Re1 Rxe1 55. Bxe1 Kb6 56. Kc4 Be7 57. f3 Bf6 58. Kb4 Bd8 59. Bf2 Bf6 60. b3 Kb7 61. Ka5 Bd8 62. Kb4 Bf6 63. Ka5 Bd8 64. b6 cxb6 65. Kb5 Bf6 66. b4 Be7 67. Bxd4 Bd8 68. Bc3 Be7 69. Bg7 Bd8 70. Bd4 Be7 71. Bxb6 Bf6 72. Bf2 Bc3 73. Bxh4 Bd2 74. Bf2 Bxf4 75. Ka4 Ka6 76. b5 Kb7 77. Kb3 Kc7 78. Kc2 Kb7 79. Bd4 Bg3 80. Be3 Be5 81. Kb3 Kc7 82. Ka4 Kb7 83. Kb4 Bg3 84. Kc4 Be5 85. Kb3 Bg3 86. Kc2 Be5 87. Kd2 Bg3 88. Ke2 Bh4 89. Kf1 Bg3 90. Kg2 Bh4 91. Bf2 Bf6 92. Be3 Bh4 93. Bf2 Bf6 94. h4 Kc7 95. Kh3 Kb7 96. h5 gxh5 97. Bh4 Bd4 98. Be7 Be5 99. Bd8 Kc8 100. Bg5 Kb7 101. Kh4 Kb6 102. Be3 Kxb5 103. f4 Bb2 104. Kxh5 Kb4 105. Kg5 Kc3 106. Kxf5 Kxd3 107. Bg1 Bc1 108. Bh2 1-0

That’s it. The game is over. The burgers of Amsterdam are winding up their alarm clocks, putting the cat out for the night and going to bed.

_______

*Vladimir Grigorievich Zak

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

Tata Steel 2014

Round Five

Friday, January 17, 2014

Standings and Pairings

Masters

Caruana (2)-Van Wely (1.5)
Nakamura (2)-Karjakin (2.5)
So (2.5)-Gelfand (1)
Naiditsch (1)-Aronian (3)
Harikrishna (2.5)-Giri (2.5)
Rapport (1.5)-Dominquez (2)

Challengers

Zhao, Xue (3)-Timman (2.5)
Van Delft (1.5)-Wojtaszek (2)
Goudriaan (0)-Saric (4)
Jobava (4.5)-Muzychuk (4)
Troff (2)-Brunello (2.5)
Duda (2)-Yangyi (1.5)
Reinderman (2.5)-Bok (3)

The main commentator is Lawrence Trent with GM Erwin l’Ami.

The first game to finish was between Nakamura and Karjakin and rich with tactics. There was some delay in the moves getting to the commentators and the game was drawn for a while before they realized it.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Five
January 17, 2014
Hikaru Nakamura-Sergei Karjakin
E37 NimzoIndian, Noa Variation

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4 7. Qc2 c5 8. dxc5 Nc6 9. cxd5 exd5 10. e3 O-O 11. Nf3 Bf5 12. Bd3 Qa5+ 13. Ke2 Rfe8 14. Rd1 Bg4 15. b4 Qc7 16. h3 Bxf3+ 17. gxf3 Ng5 18. Bb2 d4 19. h4 Rxe3+ 20. fxe3 Qh2+ 21. Kf1 Qh1+ 22. Kf2 Qh2+ 23. Kf1 Qh1+ 24. Kf2 0.5-0.5

Hikaru comes in and with Lawrence they dissect the game.

In the next game, Rapport-Dominguez, Lawrence says that Rapport played 19. Nb3 which was an absolute stinker. Dominguez replied with Bxe2, sacrificing the bishop and winning the game after 20…Qg4.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Five
January 17, 2014
Richard Rapport-Lenier Dominguez
A34 Normal Variation, Sym. English

1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. g4 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. d3 d6 6. g5 e6 7. h4 h5 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. f4 e5 10. fxe5 Bxe5 11. Nf3 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Ne7 13. Bf4 O-O 14. Nd2 d5 15. Qa4 Bg4 16. Rh2 Re8 17. Rb1 Qd7 18. Rf2 Qe6 19. Nb3 Bxe2 20. Kd2 Qg4 21. Nxc5 Qxh4 22. Be3 Nf5 23. Rxf5 gxf5 24. g6 Rxe3 25. Kxe3 Re8+ 26. Kd2 Qf2 27. gxf7+ Kxf7 28. Qxa7+ Kg8 29. Rb8 Bxd3+ 30. Kxd3 Qe2+ 31. Kd4 0-1

Tweet from Gawain Jones:

Rapport's position looks revolting to me; getting his comeuppance for playing 3.g4?! He needs to show elite GMs more respect.

++++++++++

Gelfand goes down to So. It is turning out to be a bad tournament for Boris and a good one for Wesley.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Five
January 17, 2014
Wesley So-Boris Gelfand
B30 Old Sicilian

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Bc4 Be7 5. d3 Nf6 6. Nd2 d6 7. Nf1 Bg4 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. Nd5 O-O 10. c3 Be6 11. Qc2 Nb6 12. Nxb6 axb6 13. a4 Kh8 14. Bd2 Qd7 15. Rd1 d5 16. exd5 Bxd5 17. Ne3 Be6 18. Qb3 Qxd3 19. Bxe6 fxe6 20. Qxb6 Qe4 21. b3 Rab8 22. O-O Qg6 23. a5 Rfc8 24. Nc4 Qc2 25. Rc1 Qd3 26. Be3 h6 27. Rfd1 Qf5 28. Rd7 Rf8 29. Rf1 1-0

Tweet by Tarjei Svensen: Gelfand resigned when about to be a piece down. Impressive win by Wesley!

Wesley comes in to talk to Lawrence. He is wearing a very prominent crucifix on a chain around his neck. He says modestly that Boris was short of time at the end and had no moves and he finished him off. He is 3.5/5 but tomorrow he has black against Levon Aronian.
Lawrence says that 2719 is his highest rating so far and at just 20 years of age, he has a long and promising future.
++++++++++

In that last game in the Rijksmuseum venue – Dominguez-Perez, it seemed they turned down the lights and the last eight moves were not transmitted. Very picturesque though, the deepening shadows – “an epic endgame painting” as one person described it.

Yesterday was a free day in the Masters and a playing day in the Challengers. There is one game worth looking at Bok-Timman. The endgame was White Rook and Pawn vs Black Queen and Pawn. Timman is one of the world’s great endgame specialists. He had a wonderful Houdini evaluation but his time was running out, and with seconds to go, a draw was agreed on move 82.

Saric and Jobava are leading that section.
++++++++++

After five hours of play there are still two games going: Caruana-Van Wely and Harikrishna-Giri.

Naiditsch has just lost to Lev Aronian. Lev leads the tourney at 4/5.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Five
January 17, 2014
Arkadij Naiditsch-Levon Aronian
C67 Ruy Lopez L’Hermet Variation

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. dxe5 Nxb5 7. a4 Nbd4 8. Nxd4 d6 9. exd6 Bxd6 10. Re1+ Be7 11. Nxc6 Qxd1 12. Rxd1 bxc6 13. Be3 Bf5 14. Re1 O-O-O 15. Na3 Rhe8 16. Bxa7 Bxa3 17. Rxe8 Rxe8 18. bxa3 Re4 19. c3 Rxa4 20. Bd4 g6 21. f3 Kd7 22. Kf2 Kd6 23. h3 c5 24. Bf6 Kd5 25. g4 Be6 26. Kg3 Kc4 27. Kh4 Bd5 28. f4 Ra6 29. Bg7 Re6 30. a4 f6 31. a5 g5+ 32. Kh5 gxf4 33. Ra4+ Kxc3 34. Rxf4 Kb3 35. Rxf6 Re3 36. h4 c4 37. Rf5 Rd3 38. a6 c3 39. a7 c2 40. Bh6 Bc6 41. Bg5 Rd6 42. Re5 Ba8 43. Rc5 c6 44. Rf5 Rd7 45. Rf3+ Ka2 46. Rf2 Kb2 47. Be3 Re7 48. Bf4 Rxa7 49. Rf1 c5 50. Kh6 Be4 51. h5 Bd3 52. Rg1 c4 53. g5 c3 54. Bc1+ Kb3 55. Be3 Re7 56. Bc1 Re2 57. Kg7 Rd2 0-1

The final position looks more like one of those Christmas puzzles than a real game – with doubled black pawns ready to queen.
++++++++++

Giri looks like he will win against Harikrishna but the game Caruana-Van Wely could go on forever.

Quite likely they will give Fabiano the keys and tell him to lock up when his game finishes!

It seems there will be only one drawn this round and that was spectacular.

Caruana wins. He has won all his games as white and lost all of his games as black.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Five
January 17, 2014
Fabiano Caruana-Loek Van Wely
B33 Chelyabinsk Variation, Sicilian

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c4 b4 12. Nc2 O-O 13. g3 Be6 14. h4 a5 15. Bh3 Rb8 16. Qd3 a4 17. b3 Bxd5 18. cxd5 Na5 19. O-O Qe8 20. Ne3 Bd8 21. Nf5 Rb6 22. Qe3 g6 23. Qh6 Bf6 24. Rab1 axb3 25. axb3 Qd8 26. Rfc1 Re8 27. Ne3 Bg7 28. Qg5 Rb8 29. Nc4 Nb7 30. Qe3 Bf8 31. Ra1 Nc5 32. Na5 Ra8 33. Nc6 Qf6 34. Bf1 h5 35. Bc4 Kh7 36. Qe2 Bh6 37. Rf1 g5 38. hxg5 Qxg5 39. Qf3 Kg7 40. Nxb4 Qg4 41. Qxg4+ hxg4 42. Na6 Nxa6 43. Rxa6 Rxa6 44. Bxa6 Rb8 45. Rb1 Bd2 46. Be2 Rb4 47. Bc4 f5 48. exf5 Kf6 49. Ra1 Rb8 50. Ra6 Bb4 51. Bd3 Bc5 52. Bc2 e4 53. Ra4 e3 54. fxe3 Bxe3+ 55. Kf1 Rc8 56. Bd3 Rg8 57. Re4 Bc5 58. b4 Ba7 59. Re6+ Kf7 60. Rxd6 Bb8 61. Rg6 Bxg3 62. d6 Rxg6 63. fxg6+ Kf6 64. d7 Bc7 65. b5 g3 66. Kg2 Kg7 67. Bf5 Kf6 68. Kf3 Kg7 69. d8=Q Bxd8 70. Kxg3 Kf6 71. Kf4 Bc7+ 72. Ke4 Bb6 73. Kd5 1-0

The commentators want to sign off even though Harikrishna-Giri continues – it is a rooks and pawns ending with Giri having the advantage after 65 moves.

I guess they will give Giri the keys and tell him to turn out the lights and lock up when he is finished.
+++++++++++

Bonus Game

Tata Steel 2014 Challengers
Round Five
January 16, 2014
Benjamin Bok-Jan Timman
C70 Ruy Lopez Cozio Def. Deferred

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nge7 5. c3 g6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 b5 8. Bc2 d5 9. exd5 Nb4 10. Bb3 Nbxd5 11. O-O Bg7 12. Re1 O-O 13. Bg5 Nf6 14. Nc3 Bb7 15. d5 h6 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 17. Qd2 Bg7 18. Rad1 c5 19. dxc6 Nxc6 20. Qc2 Qf6 21. Ne4 Qxb2 22. Qxb2 Bxb2 23. Nd6 Na5 24. Nxb7 Nxb7 25. Bd5 Rab8 26. Re7 Nd6 27. Rd7 Nc8 28. Bb3 Kg7 29. h4 a5 30. R1d2 Bf6 31. a3 a4 32. Ba2 Nb6 33. Rc7 Rbc8 34. Rb7 Rc1+ 35. Kh2 Nc4 36. Bxc4 bxc4 37. g4 c3 38. Rd6 c2 39. Rc6 Rd8 40. g5 hxg5 41. Nxg5 Bxg5 42. hxg5 Rd5 43. Rb2 Ra1 44. Rbxc2 Rxa3 45. f4 Rb3 46. R6c5 Rd4 47. Rf2 a3 48. Ra5 Rb2 49. Rxb2 axb2 50. Rb5 Rd2+ 51. Kg3 Kf8 52. Rb7 Ke8 53. f5 gxf5 54. Kf4 Kd8 55. Kxf5 Kc8 56. Rb3 Kd7 57. Kf6 Rf2+ 58. Kg7 Ke6 59. Rb5 Kd6 60. Kf8 Kc6 61. Rb3 Kd5 62. Kg7 Kd4 63. Kg8 Ke4 64. Kg7 Ke5 65. Rb5+ Ke6 66. Rb3 f5 67. g6 f4 68. Kf8 Rc2 69. Rb8 Rc8+ 70. Rxc8 b1=Q 71. g7 Qf5+ 72. Kg8 Qf7+ 73. Kh8 Qh5+ 74. Kg8 f3 75. Rf8 Qg4 76. Kh7 Qh5+ 77. Kg8 Ke7 78. Rf4 Qh3 79. Rf7+ Kd6 80. Rf6+ Ke5 81. Rf8 Qh5 82. Rf7 Ke6 ½-½

Later: Harikrishna resigns to Giri on move 71. Houdini has a mate in 19 moves for Black.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

Tata Steel 2014

Round Six

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Standings and Pairings

Masters

Giri (3.5) – Gelfand (1)
Aronian (4) – So (3.5)
Karjakin (3) – Naiditsch (1)
Dominguez (3) – Nakamura (2.5)
Van Wely (1.5) – Rapport (1.5)
Harikrishna (2.5). – Caruana (3)

Challengers

Wojtaszek (3) – Zhao (3)
Muzychuk (4.5) - Van Delft (1.5)
Saric (5) – Jobava (5)
Yu (2.5) – Goudriaan (0)
Brunello (3) – Duda (2)
Bok (3.5) – Troff (2.5)
Timman (3.5) – Reinderman (3)

The main commentator is Lawrence Trent with GM Erwin l’Ami, Peter Doggers, IM Robert Ris and finally, Paul van der Sterren. The last named is a retired (born 1956) very strong Dutch chess player, whose book of his own games is Zwart Op Wit, published by NIC in 2011. It is only available in Dutch; the title means Black on White, which has several connotations..

It is said to contain some of the most penetrating psychological self-analysis in the whole of chess literature.
+++++++

After three and a half hours, the only decisive game in the Masters group is Aronian-So.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Six
January 18, 2014
Levon Aronian-Wesley So
A15 King’s Knight Var, English

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Be2 c5 8. O-O Nc6 9. Qa4 Bd7 10. Qa3 Qa5 11. Rd1 O-O 12. Rb1 b6 13. d4 Qxa3 14. Bxa3 Bg4 15. dxc5 Bxc3 16. Ba6 Rab8 17. Rdc1 Bxf3 18. gxf3 Bd2 19. Rd1 Bc3 20. Kg2 bxc5 21. Bxc5 Bb4 22. Be3 Bd6 23. Rbc1 Nb4 24. Bc4 Rfc8 25. f4 Kf8 26. a3 Nc6 27. Ba6 Bxa3 28. Rc4 Rd8 29. Ra1 Bb2 30. Raa4 Rd6 31. e5 Re6 32. Rc2 Nd8 33. Bxa7 Ra8 34. Bb5 Bxe5 35. fxe5 Rxe5 36. Be3 1-0

Lev has beaten his nearest rival and now has 5/6.

Lawrence says that Hikaru was closed to being busted and has escaped with a draw after 38. Rf1:

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Six
January 18, 2014
Leinier Dominguez-Hikaru Nakamura
C67 Ruy Lopez, L’Hermet Variation

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Bd7 10. Rd1 Kc8 11. g4 Ne7 12. Ng5 Be8 13. f4 b6 14. f5 h5 15. Kg2 c5 16. Nc3 g6 17. f6 Nc6 18. Nf3 Nb4 19. Bf4 Nxc2 20. Rac1 Nb4 21. a3 Nc6 22. Ne4 Bd7 23. Neg5 hxg4 24. hxg4 Bxg4 25. Nxf7 Rh5 26. Kg3 Bf5 27. N7g5 Bh6 28. e6 Bxg5 29. Nxg5 Rxg5+ 30. Bxg5 Bxe6 31. Re1 Nd4 32. Rcd1 Bf7 33. Be3 Nf5+ 34. Kg4 Kb7 35. Bf4 Kc6 36. Rh1 Rf8 37. Rh7 Nd4 38. Rf1 Be6+ 39. Kg5 Bc4 40. Rxc7+ Kb5 41. Rf2 Ne6+ 42. Kg4 Nxc7 0.5-0.5

In the Challengers group, the two leaders are playing one another. Saric has Jobava on the ropes with the tournament and promotion to the Masters next year on the line and he blows it:

Tata Steel 2014 Challengers
Round Six
January 18, 2014
Ivan Saric-Baadur Jobava
C10 French Defense

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. e5 Nge7 5. Nf3 Nf5 6. h4 h5 7. Bg5 Be7 8. Qd2 b6 9. O-O-O Bb7 10. g3 Qd7 11. Bh3 g6 12. Bxf5 gxf5 13. Ne2 Ba6 14. Nf4 O-O-O 15. Kb1 Na5 16. b3 Kb7 17. Bf6 Bxf6 18. exf6 Rdf8 19. Ne5 Qd8 20. Qe3 Kc8 21. Qf3 Qxf6 22. Nxh5 Qe7 23. Nf4 Kb8 24. h5 Bb5 25. Qe3 Be8 26. f3 Qa3 27. g4 fxg4 28. fxg4 Rfg8 29. Rhg1 Nc4 30. Nxc4 dxc4 31. g5 Kb7 32. d5 exd5 33. Nxd5 Bc6 34. Nf6 Rd8 35. Rxd8 Rxd8 36. g6 fxg6 37. hxg6 cxb3 38. axb3 Qf8 39. Qg5 Qg7 40. Nh5 Qd4 41. Nf6 a5 42. g7 a4 43. g8=Q Rxg8 44. Nxg8 axb3 45. cxb3 Be4+ 46. Ka2 Bd5 47. Rg3 Bxg8 48. Qxg8 Qd2+ 49. Ka3 Qa5+ 50. Kb2 0.5-0.5

The Georgian comes on to analyze with Lawrence – so happy to draw a game, which he thought he was going to lose. In the past he has beaten Carlsen and with outstanding home preparation beaten both Bareev and Grischuk.
+++++++++++

Giri and Gelfand is a draw as is Van Wely-Rapport. Giri, Dominguez, Van Wely and Harikrishna all had winning positions, yet failed to close (ChessBase).

Karjakin beat Naiditsch.

Caruana’s game went to move 132 and the draw; just two bare kings at the end.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

Tata Steel 2014

Round Seven

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Standings and Pairings

Masters

Rapport (2)- Harikrishna (3)
Nakamura (3)-Van Wely (2)
Caruana (3.5)-Giri (4)
Gelfand (1.5)-Aronian, L. (5)
So (3.5)-Karjakin (4)
Naiditsch (1)-Dominguez (3.5)

Challengers

Troff(3)–Timman (4.5)
Wojtaszek (4)–Muzychuk (5)
Jobava (5.5)-Yu (3.5)
Zhao (3)-Reinderman (3)
Duda (3)-Bok (4)
Goudriaan (0)-Brunello (3)
Van Delft (2)-Saric (5.5)

The main commentator is Lawrence Trent.

Baadur Jobava comes in to help him analyze. He has finished off his game and now leads the B tournament with 6.5. Jobava didn’t want to play long forced variations today because he didn’t sleep last night. He came to enjoy the game and this Larsen’s Opening is the result.

Tata Steel 2014 Challengers
Round Seven
January 19, 2014
Baadur Jobava-Yangyi Yu
A01 Larsen, Classical Variation

1. b3 d5 2. Bb2 Bf5 3. e3 e6 4. h3 h6 5. Nc3 Bh7 6. d4 Nf6 7. Bd3 Bxd3 8. Qxd3 Nbd7 9. O-O-O Bb4 10. Nge2 O-O 11. g4 c5 12. dxc5 Qe7 13. Rhg1 Nxc5 14. Qd4 Nce4 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. g5 hxg5 17. Qe5 Rfd8 18. Rxd8+ Rxd8 19. Qxg5 Ne8 20. Qe5 f5 21. Nf4 Ba3 22. Rg6 Bxb2+ 23. Kxb2 Rd6 24. Rxe6 Rxe6 25. Qxe6+ Qf7 26. h4 Qxe6 27. Nxe6 Nf6 28. Kc3 Ng4 29. Nd8 b6 30. Nc6 Nxf2 31. Kd4 Kf7 32. Nxa7 Ke6 33. Nc8 Ng4 34. Nxb6 Ne5 35. h5 1-0
+++++++++

Gelfand-Aronian is a draw.
They say that Van Wely is in an ugly mood today after letting Rapport get away with the draw yesterday. He pounds away at Nakamura and wins:

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Seven
January 19, 2014
Hikaru Nakamura-Loek Van Wely
B45 Sicilian Taimanov, Paulsen Variation

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 d6 6. g4 Nge7 7. Nb3 a6 8. h4 b5 9. Bg2 Bb7 10. g5 Rc8 11. Qe2 h5 12. a4 b4 13. Na2 g6 14. Bf4 Bg7 15. Rd1 Ne5 16. Nxb4 Nc4 17. Nd3 Qb6 18. O-O O-O 19. Nd2 Rfd8 20. Nxc4 Rxc4 21. Ne5 dxe5 22. Be3 Rcd4 23. c3 Bc6 24. b3 Qxb3 25. cxd4 exd4 26. Bf4 Qxa4 27. Qf3 Bb5 28. Ra1 Qb4 29. Rfd1 d3 30. Rab1 Qa3 31. Bf1 Nc6 32. Qg3 Qa2 33. Rbc1 d2 34. Rxd2 Rxd2 35. Bxb5 axb5 36. Bxd2 Nd4 37. Rc8+ Kh7 38. Qc7 Qb1+ 39. Bc1 Nf3+ 40. Kg2 Nxh4+ 41. Kh3 Qxe4 42. Qf4 Qh1+ 43. Qh2 Qb7 44. Rd8 Be5 45. f4 Qf3+ 46. Qg3 Qh1+ 47. Qh2 Qf3+ 48. Qg3 Qh1+ 49. Qh2 Qxc1 50. fxe5 Qxg5 51. Qf4 Qxd8 52. Qxf7+ Kh6 0-1

Houdini says mate in 19.

Caruana-Giri ends in a draw as does So-Karjakin. Lawrence says that he met Fabiano in the hallway during the break and he said he was upset with himself not to have applied pressure. Lawrence says that both Karjakin and Caruana should have pressed more for wins.

Erwin L'Ami says that he is most impressed with Aronian so far in this tournament - extra class. In the B Tournament he is impressed with the easy winning style of Jobava. Jobava got his opponent out of theory today and Yu could do nothing.
+++++++

Naiditsch-Dominguez goes to a K,B,p vs K,R,p endgame with Black having the advantage but a draw is agreed and all the games are over.
+++++++

Standings at the end of Round Seven

Masters

Aronian 5.5/7, Giri 4.5/7, Karjakin 4.5/7, Caruana 4.0/7, Domninguez 4.0/7, So 4.0/7, Harikirshna 3.0/7, Van Wely 3.0/7, Rapport 3.0/7, Nakamura 3.0/7, Gelfand 2.0/7 and Naiditsch 1.5/7

Challengers (at the end of Round Eight)

Jobava 6.5/8, Saric 6.0/8, Muzychuk 5.5/8, Timman 5.0/8, Bok 4.5/8, Wojtaszek 4.5/8, Reinderman 4.0/8, Duda 3.5/8, Troff 3.5/8, Brunello 3.5/8, Yu 3.5/8, Zhao 3.0/8, Van Delft 2.5/8 and Goudriaan 0.5/8
++++++++++++

Tomorrow is a rest day for both sections. On Thursday the tourney will be held at the High Tech Campus at Eindhoven. This city is 120 km from Amsterdam.

The Live Ratings of the Top Ten at the end of today’s action are:

1. Carlsen 2872, 2. Aronian 2825, Kramnik 2787.0, 4. Topalov 2785.0, 5. Caruana 2783.4, 6. Nakamura 2779.6, 7. Grischuk 2777.0, 8. Anand 2773.0, 9. Karjakin 2765.7 and 10. Gelfand 2759.4

Dominguez is 13th, Giri 16th, So 19th and Harikrishna 33rd. I cannot find Van Wely in the Top 50.

[Laurentiu Grigorescu]

Re: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

Great game by Van Wely today - even in that won position the winning moves were not quite obvious. Luckily he had enough time to sort out the variations, otherwise Nakamura would have escaped again. Even in a completely lost position he found the cute 51. Qf4!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

Interview with Loek van Wely

Loek missed several winning opportunities so far in the tournament and managed to take the point from Hikaru Nakamura as black in Round Seven. He was radiating happiness when he gave this not politically correct interview after the game:

Interviewer – Loek, what an incredibly beautiful game!

Van Wely – Thank you! It is about time that I was going to collect some points after all those miserable ****-ups.

Interviewer – What did you feel behind the board?

Van Wely – I said, “I know what I did in the tournament so far and I know how resilient Naka is”, so I was paying extra attention not to let it slip. There were so many deja vus so I was really paying attention; but today it was not possible to **** it up.

Interviewer – It was incredible. All moves were exactly the first lines the computer gave.

Van Wely – Yeah, but that is the advantage you have when you have a computer in your pocket.

(laughter)

Interviewer – Thank you.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

Tata Steel 2014

Round Eight

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Standings and Pairings

Masters

Giri (4.5)-Aronian (5.5)
Karjakin (4.4)-Gelfand (2)
Dominguez (4)-So(4)
Van Wely (3)-Naiditsch (1.5)
Harikrishna (3)-Nakamura (3)
Caruana (4)–Rapport (3)

Challengers (Round Nine)

Muzychuk (5.5)-Zhao (3)
Saric (6)-Wojtaszek (4.5)
Yu (3.5)-Van Delft (2.5)
Brunello (3.5)–Jobava (6.5)
Bok (4.5)–Goudriaan (0.5)
Timman (5)–Duda (3.5)
Reinderman (4)–Troff (3.5)

The main commentator is GM Erwin L’Ami. He is first joined by IM Gert Ligterink. The latter has been writing chess columns for more than 35 years. Then comes Peter Doggers, who founded Chess Vibes and after him, Nick Schilder, a Dutch singer-songwriter. He has an American accent to my ears. He is of the duo Nick and Simon and is immensely popular.

The first three games to finish are all wins.

Harikrishna beats Nakamura, Caruana bests Rapport and Dominguez wins a miniature against So.

Harikrishna was a pawn up in the middlegame and very happy with his position and seemed in control of the endgame. Overall, with 4/8 Pentala is happy with the way things are going, only being regretful about his game with Richard Rapport in Round Seven.

I thought that Caruana and Nakamura would finally sort out who ranks World No. 3 as a result of this tournament. Caruana is back at 3 and Nakamura has fallen to 7.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Eight
January 21, 2014
Pentala Harikrishna-Hikaru Nakamura
B51 Sicilian, Moscow Variation

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. O-O a6 5. Bd3 Ngf6 6. c3 b5 7. Bc2 Bb7 8. Re1 e5 9. d4 Be7 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. Nf1 Re8 12. Ng3 Bf8 13. d5 g6 14. b3 Nb6 15. Rb1 c4 16. bxc4 Nxc4 17. a4 Qc7 18. axb5 axb5 19. Rxb5 Na3 20. Rb3 Nxc2 21. Qxc2 Nd7 22. Be3 Ba6 23. Ra3 Bb5 24. Rea1 Rxa3 25. Rxa3 Rb8 26. Ra7 Qc8 27. h3 Nb6 28. Qc1 Nc4 29. Bh6 Qc5 30. Nh5 Bg7 31. Bxg7 Qxa7 32. Qh6 f5 33. Ng5 1-0

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Eight
January 21, 2014
Fabiano Caruana-Richard Rapport
C10 French, Rubenstein Variation

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Bf4 e5 8. Be3 Bg4 9. Bb5 Qd6 10. c3 e4 11. h3 exf3 12. hxg4 fxg2 13. Rg1 a6 14. Bd3 Ne7 15. Qf3 O-O-O 16. Rxg2 Nd5 17. Be4 Kb8 18. Bd2 Nb6 19. Bxb7 Nc4 20. Bf4 Qb6 21. Be4 Re8 22. Kf1 h5 23. gxh5 Bh6 24. b3 Nd2+ 25. Bxd2 Bxd2 26. Rd1 Bg5 27. Bc6 Re6 28. d5 Re5 29. Rg4 a5 30. Ra4 Qc5 31. Rdd4 Rg8 32. Qd3 1-0

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Eight
January 21, 2014
Leinier Dominguez-Wesley So
C42 Petroff, Nimzowitsch Attack

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 O-O 8. Qd2 b6 9. O-O-O Bb7 10. h4 Nd7 11. Bd3 Nf6 12. Bd4 c5 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Qf4 d5 15. h5 Re8 16. g4 g6 17. hxg6 hxg6 18. g5 Bg7 19. Rh7 d4 20. Bc4 Qe7 21. Qh4 1-0

Fabiano, Pentala and Leinier all come in and discuss their wins with Erwin. After these Yuri Garrett, the ACP Board Director joins Erwin.
Yuri says that Aronian was in a difficult position but confidently made his way to a draw just like the super-grandmaster that he is. Yuri says that there are so many rest days that almost anything can happen – a player who has lost can get back his energy and rise at the end.

Gelfand is out of form and the other players are attacking him like wolves.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Eight
January 21, 2014
Anish Giri-Levon Aronian
E10 Anti-Nimzo-Indian

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bf4 Bd6 11. Bg5 Nbd7 12. Nc3 h6 13. Bxf6 Nxf6 14. a5 Qe7 15. Nd2 Bd5 16. Bxd5 exd5 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Qxd5 Qxe2 19. Ne4 Rab8 20. Rfe1 Qxb2 21. Rab1 Qc2 22. Rec1 Qe2 23. Re1 Qc2 24. Nxd6 cxd6 25. Rb6 Rbe8 26. Rf1 Qe4 27. Qxb7 Qxb7 28. Rxb7 Re4 29. Rd1 Rc8 30. Rb6 Rc2 31. Rd3 g5 32. h3 h5 33. Rf3 g4 34. hxg4 hxg4 35. Rf4 Rxf4 36. gxf4 Ra2 37. Rxa6 Kg7 38. Kg2 Kg6 39. Rxd6+ Kf5 40. a6 Kxf4 41. Rf6+ Kg5 42. Rb6 Kf4 43. d5 Ke5 44. d6 Ke6 45. Kg3 f5 46. d7+ Kxd7 47. Rf6 Ke7 48. Rh6 Kf7 0.5-0.5

Giri and Caruana shared Vladimir Chuchelov as a coach. Now Anish is working with Vladimir Tukmakov instead. How proud one must be to be able to say, “My coach Vladimir and I…”. If you want to get close to a 2800 rating, get a coach Vladimir.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Eight
January 21, 2014
Sergei Karjakin-Boris Gelfand
B90 Adams Attack, Sicilian

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. g3 b5 9. Bg5 Nbd7 10. Nd5 Bb7 11. Nec3 Rc8 12. Bg2 Be7 13. Nxe7 Qxe7 14. h4 Nb6 15. Qd3 Qc7 16. Bh3 Rb8 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. O-O-O b4 19. Nd5 Nxd5 20. exd5 Bc8 21. f4 Bxh3 22. Rxh3 Kf8 23. fxe5 fxe5 24. Rh2 Kg7 25. Rf2 Rh6 26. Qxa6 b3 27. axb3 Rxb3 28. Qc6 Qa7 29. Rxf7+ Qxf7 30. cxb3 Rg6 31. b4 Qf3 32. Qc3 Qf2 33. Rd3 Rf6 34. Kb1 Qg1+ 35. Ka2 Qa7+ 36. Kb3 Rf1 37. Rf3 Ra1 38. Qe3 Qxe3+ 39. Rxe3 Kg6 40. b5 Ra8 41. Kb4 Rb8 42. Rf3 e4 43. Rf1 e3 44. Kc4 Rc8+ 45. Kd3 Rc5 46. b4 Rxd5+ 47. Kxe3 Rxb5 48. Rf4 d5 49. Kd3 Rb7 50. Kc2 Rb8 51. Kc3 Rb7 52. Rf8 Rc7+ 53. Kb3 Rd7 54. b5 d4 55. Kc2 d3+ 56. Kd2 Rd5 57. Rg8+ Kh6 58. Rg5 Rd4 59. Rc5 Kg6 60. b6 1-0

After, Karjakin tweets: Hard game! Tomorrow going sleep the whole day!

Yuri Garrett talks about what the ACP is doing – helping all chess professionals, raising the prize money in tournaments and an anti-cheating effort. “The public needs confidence in the chess being played. We don’t want chess to end up like cycling where cheating and doping are commonplace. If you cheat with a computer, we will catch you. Statistical analysis is not enough – we must verify cheating in other ways. There also has to be a legal framework for punishing cheaters. We don’t have that yet. At the end of April we shall have the big picture in focus and then we will refine it.”
++++++++

Van Wely wins against Naiditsch. In the Challengers Jobava goes down and Saric wins against Wojtaszek and takes the lead.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Eight
January 21, 2014
Loek Van Wely-Arkadij Naiditsch
E11 Bogo-Indian Defense

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Bxd2+ 5. Qxd2 O-O 6. g3 d5 7. Bg2 c6 8. O-O Nbd7 9. Qc3 b6 10. Nbd2 Bb7 11. b4 a5 12. a3 axb4 13. axb4 c5 14. bxc5 bxc5 15. dxc5 Nxc5 16. Qb4 Nfd7 17. Nd4 Rb8 18. Ra7 Ba6 19. Qc3 Qb6 20. Rxa6 Qxa6 21. cxd5 exd5 22. Bxd5 Qf6 23. N2f3 Rfc8 24. Qd2 h6 25. h4 Rb6 26. Rc1 Rcb8 27. Kg2 Rd6 28. e4 Re8 29. Qc2 Rb6 30. e5 Qd8 31. Qf5 Qe7 32. Nc6 Qf8 33. Nfd4 Rb2 34. Rc3 Rb7 35. h5 Ra8 36. Rc2 Ra1 37. Re2 Nb6 38. Ba2 Qa8 39. Bb1 Rxb1 40. Qxb1 Nba4 41. Qf5 Kh8 42. Qf3 Rc7 43. Rc2 Qe8 44. Rc4 Qc8 45. Kh2 Rb7 46. Nf5 Rc7 47. Rb4 Qa6 48. Nfe7 1-0


Look at the position with White to play his 37th move. Christopher Kreuzer writing on the EC Forum says this: The computer reckons there are two different ways to win in this position. The first move of the line that the computer thinks is the slightly better of the two is glaring obvious. The second move, though, is so unlikely that Van Wely would probably have been suspected of getting help from Borislav Ivanov if he'd played it (although the reason it wins is obvious enough once you've seen the idea).

I assume he is talking about the Stockfish line:

[37. Nd8 Qxd8 38. Qxf7+ Kh8 39. Bxb7 Nxe5 40. Qf5 Ned7 41. Ne6 Qf6 42. Qxf6 gxf6 43. Nxc5 Nxc5 44. Rxc5 Ra7 45. Bd5 Rd7 46. Kf3 Kg7 47. Ke4 Re7+ 48. Kd4 Ra7 49. Rc6 Ra4+ 50. Ke3 Ra3+ 51. Kf4 Ra5 52. Rc7+ Kf8 53. Rf7+ Kg8]
+++++++++++++

Tomorrow is another rest day, then Thursday the players go off to The High Tech Campus at Eindhoven and then another rest day on Friday.

[Bob Armstrong]

Start Time (Toronto EST)? : Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

What time Toronto EST does Tata Live start?

Bob A

[Bob Armstrong]

Re: Start Time (Toronto EST)? : Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

What time Toronto EST does Tata Live start?

Bob A

The games have now started; Levon's (the leader) game is already at move 18. Houdini gives him a "slight" advantage (0.37).

Bob A

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Start Time (Toronto EST)? : Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2014

Tata Steel 2014

Round Nine

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Standings and Pairings

Masters

Rapport (3)-Giri (5)
Nakamura (3)-Caruana (5)
Naiditsch (1.5)-Harikrishna (4)
So (4)-Van Wely (4)
Gelfand (2)-Dominguez (5)
Aronian (6)-Karjakin (5.5)


Challengers (After Round Ten)

Zhao (4)-Troff (4) 0.5-0.5
Duda (4.5)-Reinderman (5) 1-0
Goudriaan (1)-Timman (7) 0-1
Jobava (7.5)-Bok (5) 1-0
Van Delft (2.5)-Brunello (5.5) 0-1
Wojtaszek (5)-Yu (5) 0.5-0.5
Muzychuk (6.5)-Saric (7.5) 0.5-0.5

The main commentator is GM Erwin L’Ami. His first guest is IM Herman Grooten. The venue has switched to the High Tech Campus at Eindhoven, which is the smartest square kilometer of land in the Netherlands.

Eindhoven had six chess clubs but chess in the Netherlands is going through a bit of a decline and there are less now.

Grooten is the author of Chess Strategy for Club Players, 2009. It won the Chess Café Book of the Year Award that year. There is an excellent review of the book at:

http://www.chessvibes.com/reviews/re...-club-players/

+++++++++

The most important game is between Aronian and Karjakin for the lead. The second, I would say, is between Nakamura and Caruana for that third position on the World Rankings.

Rapport vs Giri has an odd start, when Richard thinks for four minutes before playing his first move. Bronstein did something similar once. He thought for more than forty minutes in the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez before taking the N on c6. He said, “I am giving away 32 white squares so I had to think about it”!
+++++++++

Naiditsch-Harikrishna induces a lot of discussion from the commentators.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Nine
January 23, 2014
Arkadij Naiditsch-Pentala Harikrishna
A45 Indian Defense

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bf4 Bf5 4. f3 e6 5. Qd2 Be7 6. O-O-O Nc6 7. Qe1 Bg6 8. Nh3 O-O 9. Nf2 Nh5 10. Be3 Nb4 11. Rd2 c5 12. g4 Nf6 13. h4 Nd7 14. f4 Bf6 15. Qd1 Nb6 16. dxc5 Bxc3 17. cxb6 axb6 18. bxc3 Nxa2+ 19. Kb2 Qd6 0-1
and Black mates in three.

Pentala comes in to analyze the game with Erwin. He says that Naiditsch’s plan was to castle long, push the pawns and checkmate him. It was nice to have a plan but Pentala played coolly and won quickly in nineteen moves.
++++++++

The Tenth Round of the Challengers took place yesterday. The results table is up above. Baadur Jobava rejoined Ivan Saric in first place by beating new grandmaster Benjamin Bok. Jan Timman beat Etienne Goudriaan and now is in clear third place behind the two leaders. Things are a bit confusing round-wise because the Challengers have thirteen rounds and the Masters eleven and yet both tourneys end on Sunday.
+++++++++

There is room for an audience in the analysis room at Eindhoven. The guys are looking at Nakamura-Caruana and are helped by Gelfand’s second in the audience [Alexander Huzman]. Fabiano has given up a pawn to retain the two bishops. Is this sufficient? The guys say that Caruana will have to play like Nakamura to prove it!

In the game So-Van Wely the audience finds much better moves than Erwin and he looks at them and says, “Next year, no audience!” to much laughter.
++++++++

Gelfand-Dominguez is a draw. Wesley So defeats Loek Van Wely:
Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Nine
January 23, 2014
Wesley So-Loek Van Wely
E99 King’s Indian, Benko Attack

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. f3 f5 11. Be3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. g4 h5 14. h3 Rf6 15. Nd3 Rh6 16. c5 Nxc5 17. Nxc5 dxc5 18. Bxc5 Ng6 19. Rc1 Bf8 20. Nb5 Bd6 21. Qb3 hxg4 22. fxg4 Qe7 23. Bxd6 cxd6 24. Nxa7 Qh7 25. Rc3 f3 26. Bxf3 Bd7 27. Qxb7 Rf8 28. Bg2 Nf4 29. Rxf4 exf4 30. Nc6 Qg7 31. Qb4 f3 32. Rxf3 Rxf3 33. Bxf3 Rxh3 34. Kg2 Rh6 35. Qb6 Qf8 36. Qd8 Qxd8 37. Nxd8 Kg7 38. Nc6 Rh8 39. e5 Bxc6 40. dxc6 dxe5 41. Be4 1-0

+++++++++

L’Ami and Ris spend some time on the Aronian-Karjakin endgame. Houdini gives it as +3.56 for White at his 57th move. The guys find the position complex enough so that they throw the forum open to suggestions from the audience. 56.Rb3 is given and this gets a winning endgame.

Tata Steel 2014 Masters
Round Nine
January 23, 2014
Levon Aronian- Sergei Karjakin
E15 Queen’s Indian, Quiet Line

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Bg2 c6 9. e4 d5 10. exd5 cxd5 11. Ne5 Bb7 12. O-O Nc6 13. Bf4 Na5 14. Rc1 Ba3 15. Rb1 Bb4 16. Ne2 Nc6 17. Bg5 Be7 18. Nf4 Qd6 19. Bxf6 Bxf6 20. cxd5 exd5 21. Bxd5 Bxe5 22. dxe5 Qxe5 23. Re1 Qf6 24. Nh5 Qh6 25. Qg4 Qg6 26. Qh3 Rad8 27. Nf4 Qf6 28. Be4 g6 29. Nd5 Qg7 30. Rbc1 Kh8 31. Nxb6 axb6 32. Bxc6 Bxc6 33. Rxc6 Rd2 34. Qh4 Rxa2 35. Qb4 h5 36. Qxb6 Ra1 37. Rcc1 Rxc1 38. Rxc1 Qb2 39. Rd1 Kh7 40. Qb5 Kg7 41. Qd3 Rb8 42. Rb1 Qe5 43. Qd2 h4 44. Qb2 Qxb2 45. Rxb2 Rb4 46. Kf1 Kf6 47. Ke2 Kf5 48. Kd3 g5 49. Kc3 Rb7 50. b4 Kg4 51. b5 Kh3 52. gxh4 gxh4 53. f4 Kg4 54. b6 f5 55. Kd4 Kxf4 56. Rb3 h3 57. Kd5 Kg4 58. Kc6 Rb8 59. Rg3+ Kh4 60. b7 f4 61. Rg7 1-0

We have lost sound in the transmission on the official site.

Some ChessBomb remarks

- What an endgame!
- It looks like Lev just won TATA
- Kudos to Aronian. With this technique he has serious chances against Magnus.
- Sergei played almost the best moves, but the position was losing after time control

Levon comes in to comment on this game and receives applause. He looks confident as they finish. Erwin says, “Nice day at the office”.

Aronian has two games left – as Black against Dominguez on Saturday and as White against Van Wely on Sunday.

Rapport-Giri is a draw in 60 moves.

The two players with the greatest sitzfleisch continue on – Nakamura-Caruana. Wiktionary defines that as “a term used in chess to indicate winning by use of the glutei muscles – the habit of remaining stolid in one’s seat hour by hour, making moves that are sound but uninspired, until one's opponent blunders through boredom”.

This is not exactly what I mean. I think these players are quite capable of going over a hundred moves just to prove that they have the slightly superior position.

In any case, the transmission has ended because the bus is taking the players and commentator back to Amsterdam. Well, all the players except Hikaru and Fabiano, who are on move 50 in an equal position.

(to be concluded in the next post)