Sinquefield Cup 2015
Sinquefield Cup 2015
Round Four
August 26, 2015
Jan Gustafsson and Tex de Wit again hosted the pre-game show on chess24.com.
They start to discuss the Magnus Carlsen – Maxime Vachier Lagrave game from Round Three.
Jan in the first few minutes recommends watching the entire last season of Game of Thrones and Peter Svidler’s Videos on The Grunfeld. Then you will know everything you need to know in life!
Supposedly, Magnus said that MVL played submissively in this game and he was in control all the time. The guys are reluctant to criticize MVL, because he had black against the World Champion. Then Jan comes out with this gem:
JG – I wouldn’t want to be in MVL’s shoes here. They say before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’ll be a mile away and have their shoes!
Later, Jan says that MVL solved the problem of the isolated d pawn by giving it up.
______
During the games, Patrick Wolff comes in to talk to Maurice. He won the U.S. Championship twice, in 1992 and 1995. Alas, he left the world of chess, for a career in finance. The reason he is in St. Louis is that he acted as second to Vishy Anand in the 1995 World Championship, and he was having breakfast with Vishy this morning.
They talked about players and computers and Anand said that the range of moves that you would consider in a position is much greater because of what the computers have shown us.
Patrick said that chess on the Internet will have some big changes and that a cyborg will eventually be the strongest player! I loved science fiction when I was growing up but I doubt that I could tell you the difference between a cyborg, an android and a robot.
A while ago I heard that Wolff’s book on the 1995 match was essential reading and a great collector’s item. If you can find it, it is Kasparov versus Anand, The Inside Story of the 1995 World Chess Championship Match by Patrick Wolff, H3 Publications, 1996.
_______
Sinquefield Cup 2015
Round 4, Aug. 26, 2015
Grischuk, Alexander – Topalov, Veselin
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bc1 Nf6 8.f3 e5 9.Nb3 Be6 10.Be3 h5 11.Nd5 Bxd5 12.exd5 Nbd7 13.Qd2 g6 14.O-O-O Nb6 15.Kb1 Nbxd5 16.Bg5 Be7 17.Na5 Rb8 18.Bc4 Nb6 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.Qxd6 Qxd6 21.Rxd6 Bd8 22.Rd3 Bc7 23.Bb3 Ke7 24.Rhd1 Rhd8 25.Rxd8 Bxd8 26.Nc4 Nxc4 27.Bxc4 Bb6 28.c3 Rd8 29.Rxd8 Bxd8 30.Kc2 Bc7 31.Bd5 1/2-1/2
________
Round 4, Aug. 26, 2015
Giri, Anish – Carlsen, Magnus
B33 Sicilian, Pelikan, Chelyabinsk Variation
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.c3 Ne7 12.Nc2 Nxd5 13.Qxd5 Rb8 14.Nb4 Bb7 15.Qd3 O-O 16.Be2 a5 17.Nd5 b4 18.O-O bxc3 19.bxc3 Bg5 20.Rab1 Qd7 21.Rb3 Bc6 22.Rfb1 Rxb3 23.Rxb3 g6 24.Rb6 Rc8 25.h3 Bxd5 26.Qxd5 Rxc3 27.Rxd6 Qe7 28.Bd1 Rc7 29.g3 Kg7 30.Ba4 Bc1 31.Rc6 1/2-1/2
_________
Mike Klein at chess.com - "Today GM Levon Aronian routed GM Wesley So with the black pieces, and in a similar attacking style, GM Hikaru Nakamura held the favorable position too but was barely held to a draw.
The move of the day was surely... Nh5, which served as a catalyst for both aggressors. Across the street, at the Q Boutique at the World Chess Hall of Fame, there is a T-shirt with that move emblazoned on it. Of course the outline gives it away -- the Rorschach blob is actually a map of Iceland and references when Bobby Fischer played 11... Nh5! to win game three of the 1972 World Championship Match. Nakamura admitted to thinking about this game during his own .
The lone winner of the day's game was so spectacular it nearly allowed chess fans to forget about the four other draws. So fell into Aronian's home-cooking, which was actually Hungarian! The goulash came courtesy of GM Peter Leko, who Aronian credited with revealing the novelty 8... Ba5! "I caught him by surprise," Aronian said.
GM Levon Aronian is having one of his best events of the past year. The Armenian then followed up with 10... Nh5 two moves later and the double-wing play ensnared So quickly. White's pieces became idle bystanders as Black ripped open lines everywhere. "I wasn't sure if the sacrifice was any good," Aronian said of allowing his king's knight to depart. "I thought Peter [Leko] would be upset if I didn't win!
After this second demolition win at the Sinquefield Cup, commentator GM Yasser Seirawan asked Aronian about his preparation not showing in his style. "How is it that you study Petrosian's games but you play like Tal?" Seirawan asked. "I didn't study too well!" Aronian replied. He added that his play resembled Leonid Stein's ("Just go for it!")."
Round 4, Aug. 26, 2015
So, Wesley – Aronian, Levon
E20 Nimzo-Indian, Kmoch Variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 c5 5.d5 O-O 6.e4 d6 7.Ne2 a6 8.a4 Ba5 9.Bd2 exd5 10.cxd5 Nh5 11.g3 Nd7 12.Bg2 b5 13.g4 b4 14.Nb1 Qh4+ 15.Kf1 Ne5 16.Be1 Qf6 17.gxh5 Nxf3 18.Bf2 Bg4 19.Qc1 Nd4 20.Nxd4 cxd4 21.e5 dxe5 22.Nd2 Rac8 23.Qb1 b3 24.Nxb3 Bb6 25.a5 Ba7 26.Kg1 Bf5 27.Be4 Qg5+ 28.Kf1 Qf4 0-1
________
Round 4, Aug. 26, 2015
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – Nakamura, Hikaru
E81 King’s Indian, Samisch
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 O-O 6.Nge2 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Ng3 exd5 9.cxd5 a6 10.a4 h5 11.Be2 Nbd7 12.O-O h4 13.Nh1 Nh5 14.Be3 f5 15.f4 Qe8 16.Bxh5 gxh5 17.e5 dxe5 18.d6 exf4 19.Bxf4 Nf6 20.Nf2 Bd7 21.Nd3 h3 22.Ne5 hxg2 23.Re1 Be6 24.Qf3 Ne4 25.Rad1 Bxe5 26.Bxe5 Qg6 27.Qxg2 Qxg2+ 28.Kxg2 Bd7 29.Rg1 Kf7 30.Kf3 Rg8 31.Nxe4 fxe4+ 32.Kxe4 Ke6 33.Bf4 Bxa4 34.Rde1 h4 35.Rxg8 Rxg8 36.Kf3+ Kf6 37.Re5 Bc6+ 38.Ke3 Re8 39.Rxe8 Bxe8 40.d7 Bxd7 41.Bd6 c4 42.Kd4 b5 43.Kc3 Ke6 44.Bc7 Kd5 45.Bd8 h3 46.b4 cxb3 47.Kxb3 Kc5 48.Be7+ Kb6 49.Bd8+ Kc5 50.Be7+ Kb6 51.Bd8+ 1/2-1/2
______
Round 4, Aug. 26, 2015
Caruana, Fabiano – Anand, Vishy
D43 QGD, Semi-Slav
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 g6 8.Bd3 Bg7 9.O-O O-O 10.e4 Qd8 11.Re1 c5 12.exd5 cxd4 13.dxe6 Bxe6 14.Ne2 Qd6 15.Qd2 Nc6 16.Nf4 Bg4 17.Be4 Bxf3 18.Bxf3 Ne5 19.Bd5 Rac8 20.b3 b5 21.Rac1 bxc4 22.bxc4 Rc7 23.Nd3 Nxd3 24.Qxd3 Kh7 25.g3 Bf6 26.Rb1 Kg7 27.Rb5 Rfc8 28.Reb1 Rc5 29.a4 Rxb5 30.axb5 Rc7 31.Qb3 Qe5 32.Qf3 Bg5 33.c5 Rd7 34.b6 axb6 35.cxb6 Rxd5 36.Qxd5 Qxd5 37.b7 d3 38.b8=Q d2 39.Rd1 Qf3 40.Qb2+ Kh7 41.Qc2 Be3 42.fxe3 Qxe3+ 1/2-1/2
Standing After Round Four
Topalov 3
Aronian 3
Carlsen 2.5
Giri 2.5
Vachier-Lagrave 2
Nakamura 2
So 1.5
Grischuk 1.5
Anand 1
Caruana 1
Pairings for Round Five
Aronian-Grischuk, Carlsen-So, Nakamura-Giri, Anand-MVL and Topalov-Caruana
________
There is a nice selection of photos of St. Louis and the earlier rounds at:
http://www.chess-news.ru/node/19868
Sinquefield Cup 2015
Round Four
August 26, 2015
Jan Gustafsson and Tex de Wit again hosted the pre-game show on chess24.com.
They start to discuss the Magnus Carlsen – Maxime Vachier Lagrave game from Round Three.
Jan in the first few minutes recommends watching the entire last season of Game of Thrones and Peter Svidler’s Videos on The Grunfeld. Then you will know everything you need to know in life!
Supposedly, Magnus said that MVL played submissively in this game and he was in control all the time. The guys are reluctant to criticize MVL, because he had black against the World Champion. Then Jan comes out with this gem:
JG – I wouldn’t want to be in MVL’s shoes here. They say before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you’ll be a mile away and have their shoes!
Later, Jan says that MVL solved the problem of the isolated d pawn by giving it up.
______
During the games, Patrick Wolff comes in to talk to Maurice. He won the U.S. Championship twice, in 1992 and 1995. Alas, he left the world of chess, for a career in finance. The reason he is in St. Louis is that he acted as second to Vishy Anand in the 1995 World Championship, and he was having breakfast with Vishy this morning.
They talked about players and computers and Anand said that the range of moves that you would consider in a position is much greater because of what the computers have shown us.
Patrick said that chess on the Internet will have some big changes and that a cyborg will eventually be the strongest player! I loved science fiction when I was growing up but I doubt that I could tell you the difference between a cyborg, an android and a robot.
A while ago I heard that Wolff’s book on the 1995 match was essential reading and a great collector’s item. If you can find it, it is Kasparov versus Anand, The Inside Story of the 1995 World Chess Championship Match by Patrick Wolff, H3 Publications, 1996.
_______
Sinquefield Cup 2015
Round 4, Aug. 26, 2015
Grischuk, Alexander – Topalov, Veselin
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bc1 Nf6 8.f3 e5 9.Nb3 Be6 10.Be3 h5 11.Nd5 Bxd5 12.exd5 Nbd7 13.Qd2 g6 14.O-O-O Nb6 15.Kb1 Nbxd5 16.Bg5 Be7 17.Na5 Rb8 18.Bc4 Nb6 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.Qxd6 Qxd6 21.Rxd6 Bd8 22.Rd3 Bc7 23.Bb3 Ke7 24.Rhd1 Rhd8 25.Rxd8 Bxd8 26.Nc4 Nxc4 27.Bxc4 Bb6 28.c3 Rd8 29.Rxd8 Bxd8 30.Kc2 Bc7 31.Bd5 1/2-1/2
________
Round 4, Aug. 26, 2015
Giri, Anish – Carlsen, Magnus
B33 Sicilian, Pelikan, Chelyabinsk Variation
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.c3 Ne7 12.Nc2 Nxd5 13.Qxd5 Rb8 14.Nb4 Bb7 15.Qd3 O-O 16.Be2 a5 17.Nd5 b4 18.O-O bxc3 19.bxc3 Bg5 20.Rab1 Qd7 21.Rb3 Bc6 22.Rfb1 Rxb3 23.Rxb3 g6 24.Rb6 Rc8 25.h3 Bxd5 26.Qxd5 Rxc3 27.Rxd6 Qe7 28.Bd1 Rc7 29.g3 Kg7 30.Ba4 Bc1 31.Rc6 1/2-1/2
_________
Mike Klein at chess.com - "Today GM Levon Aronian routed GM Wesley So with the black pieces, and in a similar attacking style, GM Hikaru Nakamura held the favorable position too but was barely held to a draw.
The move of the day was surely... Nh5, which served as a catalyst for both aggressors. Across the street, at the Q Boutique at the World Chess Hall of Fame, there is a T-shirt with that move emblazoned on it. Of course the outline gives it away -- the Rorschach blob is actually a map of Iceland and references when Bobby Fischer played 11... Nh5! to win game three of the 1972 World Championship Match. Nakamura admitted to thinking about this game during his own .
The lone winner of the day's game was so spectacular it nearly allowed chess fans to forget about the four other draws. So fell into Aronian's home-cooking, which was actually Hungarian! The goulash came courtesy of GM Peter Leko, who Aronian credited with revealing the novelty 8... Ba5! "I caught him by surprise," Aronian said.
GM Levon Aronian is having one of his best events of the past year. The Armenian then followed up with 10... Nh5 two moves later and the double-wing play ensnared So quickly. White's pieces became idle bystanders as Black ripped open lines everywhere. "I wasn't sure if the sacrifice was any good," Aronian said of allowing his king's knight to depart. "I thought Peter [Leko] would be upset if I didn't win!
After this second demolition win at the Sinquefield Cup, commentator GM Yasser Seirawan asked Aronian about his preparation not showing in his style. "How is it that you study Petrosian's games but you play like Tal?" Seirawan asked. "I didn't study too well!" Aronian replied. He added that his play resembled Leonid Stein's ("Just go for it!")."
Round 4, Aug. 26, 2015
So, Wesley – Aronian, Levon
E20 Nimzo-Indian, Kmoch Variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 c5 5.d5 O-O 6.e4 d6 7.Ne2 a6 8.a4 Ba5 9.Bd2 exd5 10.cxd5 Nh5 11.g3 Nd7 12.Bg2 b5 13.g4 b4 14.Nb1 Qh4+ 15.Kf1 Ne5 16.Be1 Qf6 17.gxh5 Nxf3 18.Bf2 Bg4 19.Qc1 Nd4 20.Nxd4 cxd4 21.e5 dxe5 22.Nd2 Rac8 23.Qb1 b3 24.Nxb3 Bb6 25.a5 Ba7 26.Kg1 Bf5 27.Be4 Qg5+ 28.Kf1 Qf4 0-1
________
Round 4, Aug. 26, 2015
Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – Nakamura, Hikaru
E81 King’s Indian, Samisch
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 O-O 6.Nge2 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Ng3 exd5 9.cxd5 a6 10.a4 h5 11.Be2 Nbd7 12.O-O h4 13.Nh1 Nh5 14.Be3 f5 15.f4 Qe8 16.Bxh5 gxh5 17.e5 dxe5 18.d6 exf4 19.Bxf4 Nf6 20.Nf2 Bd7 21.Nd3 h3 22.Ne5 hxg2 23.Re1 Be6 24.Qf3 Ne4 25.Rad1 Bxe5 26.Bxe5 Qg6 27.Qxg2 Qxg2+ 28.Kxg2 Bd7 29.Rg1 Kf7 30.Kf3 Rg8 31.Nxe4 fxe4+ 32.Kxe4 Ke6 33.Bf4 Bxa4 34.Rde1 h4 35.Rxg8 Rxg8 36.Kf3+ Kf6 37.Re5 Bc6+ 38.Ke3 Re8 39.Rxe8 Bxe8 40.d7 Bxd7 41.Bd6 c4 42.Kd4 b5 43.Kc3 Ke6 44.Bc7 Kd5 45.Bd8 h3 46.b4 cxb3 47.Kxb3 Kc5 48.Be7+ Kb6 49.Bd8+ Kc5 50.Be7+ Kb6 51.Bd8+ 1/2-1/2
______
Round 4, Aug. 26, 2015
Caruana, Fabiano – Anand, Vishy
D43 QGD, Semi-Slav
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 g6 8.Bd3 Bg7 9.O-O O-O 10.e4 Qd8 11.Re1 c5 12.exd5 cxd4 13.dxe6 Bxe6 14.Ne2 Qd6 15.Qd2 Nc6 16.Nf4 Bg4 17.Be4 Bxf3 18.Bxf3 Ne5 19.Bd5 Rac8 20.b3 b5 21.Rac1 bxc4 22.bxc4 Rc7 23.Nd3 Nxd3 24.Qxd3 Kh7 25.g3 Bf6 26.Rb1 Kg7 27.Rb5 Rfc8 28.Reb1 Rc5 29.a4 Rxb5 30.axb5 Rc7 31.Qb3 Qe5 32.Qf3 Bg5 33.c5 Rd7 34.b6 axb6 35.cxb6 Rxd5 36.Qxd5 Qxd5 37.b7 d3 38.b8=Q d2 39.Rd1 Qf3 40.Qb2+ Kh7 41.Qc2 Be3 42.fxe3 Qxe3+ 1/2-1/2
Standing After Round Four
Topalov 3
Aronian 3
Carlsen 2.5
Giri 2.5
Vachier-Lagrave 2
Nakamura 2
So 1.5
Grischuk 1.5
Anand 1
Caruana 1
Pairings for Round Five
Aronian-Grischuk, Carlsen-So, Nakamura-Giri, Anand-MVL and Topalov-Caruana
________
There is a nice selection of photos of St. Louis and the earlier rounds at:
http://www.chess-news.ru/node/19868
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