Tata Steel Masters 2016

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel Masters 2016

January 18, 2016

Round Three (Concluded)

The last game to finish is a victory for Caruana:

Tata Steel Masters 2016
Round 3, Jan. 18, 2016
Caruana, Fabiano – Adams, Michael
E52 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main Line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.e3 Bb7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.O-O d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Ne5 Nbd7 10.f4 c5 11.Ne2 c4 12.Bf5 g6 13.Qa4 gxf5 14.Qxb4 Ne4 15.a4 f6 16.Nf3 Nb8 17.Qe1 Nc6 18.Bd2 Kh8 19.Nh4 Qd7 20.Nc3 Rae8 21.Nxe4 Rxe4 22.Qd1 Rg8 23.Qh5 Bc8 24.Rf3 Qe8 25.Qh6 Qf7 26.b4 Ne7 27.Rh3 Rg4 28.Nf3 Bd7 29.Kf2 Be8 30.Rg3 Ng8 31.Qh3 Bd7 32.b5 Re8 33.Ng1 a5 34.bxa6 Ra8 35.Ne2 Rxa6 36.Bb4 Kg7 37.Nc3 h5 38.Kg1 Nh6 39.Rf3 Ra8 40.Rf2 Kh7 41.Qf3 Bc6 42.Rb2 h4 43.Ba3 Rag8 44.Kh1 Ba8 45.Rg1 Qe6 46.Rb5 R4g7 47.Bc1 Rg6 48.Bd2 R8g7 49.Rb2 Nf7 50.h3 Rg3 51.Qh5+ Nh6 52.Qxh4 Qg8 53.Be1 R3g6 54.Qh5 Re7 55.Bf2 Reg7 56.Qf3 Qd8 57.Bh4 Qd6 58.Rgb1 Qa3 59.Be1 Qe7 60.g3 Nf7 61.Rxb6 Rh6 62.Ra6 Qe8 63.Kg2 Qc8 64.Rbb6 1-0

And two from the Challengers:

Tata Steel Challengers 2016
Round 3, Jan. 18, 2016
Dreev, Alexey – Haast, Anne
D20 QBA, 3.e3

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 e5 4.Bxc4 exd4 5.exd4 Nf6 6.Nf3 Bd6 7.O-O O-O 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.h3 h6 10.Re1 Re8 11.Rxe8+ Qxe8 12.Qc2 a6 13.Bxh6 Na5 14.Re1 Qf8 15.Bg5 Nxc4 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Nd5 Kg7 18.Qxc4 Be6 19.Qb3 Rd8 20.Rxe6 fxe6 21.Ne3 Kf7 22.d5 e5 23.Nh4 b5 24.Qc2 Bc5 25.Qg6+ Ke7 26.Nef5+ Kd7 27.Ng7 Kc8 28.Ne6 Qh8 29.Qg4 f5 30.Qxf5 Qxh4 31.Nxc5+ Kb8 32.Nxa6+ Kb7 33.Nc5+ Kb6 34.Nd7+ Kb7 35.Nc5+ Kb6 36.Nd7+ Kb7 37.Qe6 Qc4 38.g3 e4 39.b4 Ka7 40.Qe7 Rxd7 41.Qxd7 e3 42.fxe3 Qc1+ 43.Kf2 Qb2+ 44.Kf3 Qf6+ 45.Ke4 Qg6+ 46.Kd4 Qf6+ 47.Kd3 Qf1+ 48.Ke4 Qb1+ 49.Ke5 Qb2+ 50.Ke6 Qc3 51.Kf7 Qc2 52.e4 Qf2+ 53.Qf5 Qxa2 54.g4 1-0

Both kings go for long walks

Tata Steel Challengers 2016
Round 3, Jan. 18, 2016
Antipov, Mikhail – Van Foreest, Jorden
B50 Sicilian

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 Nc6 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 Nxe4 7.d5 Qa5+ 8.Nc3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Ne5 10.O-O e6 11.Nxe5 dxe5 12.Rb1 a6 13.Bf3 Bc5 14.d6 Ra7 15.Bg5 b5 16.Bc6+ Bd7 17.Qf3 f6 18.Bxf6 O-O 19.Bxd7 Qxa2 20.Qc6 gxf6 21.c4 Rxd7 22.Qxd7 Qxc4 23.Rbc1 Qd5 24.Rfd1 Qb3 25.Qc7 Bd4 26.d7 Qd5 27.Rc3 Ra8 28.Qc8+ Kf7 29.Qxa8 Qxa8 30.Rc8 1-0

Alexey Dreev, Russian GM, born 1969

Mikhail Antipov, Russian GM, born 1997

Anne Haast, Dutch WGM, born 1993

Masters Standing After Round Three

1. Caruana 2.5
2. So 2
3. Ding Liren 2
4. Wei Yi 1.5
5. Carlsen 1.5
6. Karjakin 1.5
7. Tomashevsky 1.5
8. Van Wely 1.5
9. Hou Yifan 1.5
10. Eljanov 1.5
11. Navara 1.5
12. Giri 1
13. Mamedyarov 1
14. Adams 0.5

Challengers Standing After Round Three

1. Dreev 3
2. Adhiban 2.5
3. Nisipeanu 2
4. Antipov 2
5. Bok 1.5
6. Safarli 1.5
7. Ju Wenjun 1.5
8. L’Ami 1.5
9. Sevian 1.5
10. Batsiashvili 1
11. Abasov 1
12. Van Foreest 1
13. Admiraal 0
14. Haast 0

Comments

(Pavel Eljanov) – I think he played brilliantly before the horrific blunder.

(Sergey Karjakin) – In today’s game I was very much hoping for 31.Ba7, where black has a fantastic answer 31…e3!!

(Nigel Short) – The young Chinese boy needs to Wei up his options against Magnus

(Nigel Short) – Holding the World Champion to a draw. Wei to go kid!

(Mark Crowther) – Wei Yi and Carlsen have reached equality, after having spent 2 hours between them on moves 21-22!

(Wesley So) – My opponent was well prepared. At first it seemed that I was all right but when he played e5-e4 and limited my bishop on g2, it was not easy to find the right plan. I don’t know if the e pawn advance was the result of home preparation, but even so, it was very effective.

(Tarjel J. Svensen) – Oh my, Mamedyarov blunders a full rook in a completely winning position vs Eljanov. Blunder of the year. And tomorrow he plays Carlsen, with black. His fifth loss vs the Norwegian in a row?
_____
Later:

Well, Nigel Short finally has gone over the edge with this third pun of the day:

(Nigel Short) – Who thought a 16-year-old couldn’t draw with the World Champion? O Yi of little faith!

Now, a fourth:

And more, much more than this, he did it his Wei

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Punters must have been tearing their hair out after Shakh's egregious 38.c5??. The Stockfish evaluation changed from +6.89 to -7.56, from totally winning to totally losing. I suspect Shakh was playing upon Eljanov's zeitnot, 32 seconds for his final 3 time control moves. Shakh usually owns Pavel, +8, -2, =5 prior to today's 'lucky' win by Eljanov and I'm sure all the Shakh punters were already counting their money and perhaps looking at 'c5' nightmares tonight.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Rd 3 - A fantastic attacking effort by Navarra! Really outstanding - but marred in the end by time pressure. Well worth looking at.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel Masters 2016

January 19, 2016

Round Four

Yasser is joined again by Dutch IM Jan van de Mortel and they start discussing the Giri-Caruana game. Jan says that he was Loek Van Wely’s second for four years at Wijk and each year they prepared for Caruana. About three years ago, he changed his approach – more aggressive – like Fischer wanting to win against a lesser opponent no matter what colour he is playing. This is the Fischer approach.

They discuss van Foreest’s game from the Challengers. He is playing the U.S. junior Sam Sevian and wins a brilliant Sicilian miniature.

Jorden comes on to analyze with Yasser and there is a sexist comment among the tweets:

- wow! this guy Van Foreest on stream is SO handsome! Why is he a chess player and not an actor or something???

Tata Steel 2016 Challengers
Round 4, Jan. 19, 2016
Van Foreest, Jorden – Sevian, Samuel
B23 Sicilian, Closed (3.Nge2)

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.Nge2 a6 4.g3 b5 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 e6 8.O-O Nf6 9.Re1 Qc7 10.Bg5 Be7 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Qh5 Qc4 13.Rad1 Nc6 14.Bf1 Qxd4 15.Rxd4 Nxd4 16.Rd1 Nc6 17.Bh3 O-O 18.Nd5 Bd8 19.Qh6 Ne5 20.Nf4 Nf3+ 21.Kf1 Bxe4 22.Nh5 Nxh2+ 23.Ke1 Ba5+ 24.c3 Nf3+ 25.Ke2 1-0

Yasser relates a story from Bill Hartston’s book How to Cheat at Chess (1976) about a chap trying to protect his king unknowingly takes the rook from the next board. His opponent says he didn’t see that coming and resigns and the guy whose rook was taken also resigns because he is a rook down!

Bill Hartston’s chess career went from 1962 until 1987 and he has had a very successful post-chess life as an author and television personality.

Too much has been made of Mamedyarov’s rook blunder yesterday. It seems to have been on every chess website. Now with black against the World Champion today could have been a disaster but it wasn’t.

Shakh came in afterwards and talked to Yasser and he seemed happy with the draw. He said, “After yesterday’s game I just slept and relaxed. No preparation!”

Tata Steel Masters 2016
Round 4, Jan. 19, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.Qa4 a6 6.cxd5 b5 7.Qd1 cxd5 8.Nf3 Bg7 9.Bf4 O-O 10.O-O Nc6 11.Ne5 Bb7 12.Nxc6 Bxc6 13.Be5 e6 14.Nd2 Bh6 15.Rc1 Rc8 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.e3 b4 18.Re1 Qd8 19.Bf1 Qb6 20.Nf3 Rc7 21.Qd3 Ra8 22.Rc2 Bf8 23.Rec1 Bd6 24.Ne5 Bb5 25.Qd1 Bxe5 26.dxe5 Rac8 27.Rxc7 Rxc7 28.Rxc7 Qxc7 29.Bxb5 axb5 30.Qd4 Qa5 31.Kg2 Kg7 32.b3 Qxa2 33.Qxb4 Qc2 34.Qxb5 Qe4+ 35.Kg1 Qb1+ 36.Kg2 Qe4+ 1/2-1/2

Hou Yifan has been playing some good chess and been up in most of her games out of the opening. She takes down David Navara today.

Round 4, Jan. 19, 2016
Hou Yifan – Navara, David
B12 Caro-Kann, Advance Variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Nd7 6.O-O Bg6 7.Nbd2 Nh6 8.Nb3 Nf5 9.Bd2 Be7 10.g4 Nh4 11.Nxh4 Bxh4 12.f4 f5 13.c4 a5 14.a4 O-O 15.g5 h6 16.gxh6 gxh6 17.Kh1 Kh7 18.cxd5 cxd5 19.Rc1 b6 20.Rc6 Rc8 21.Rxe6 Bf7 22.Rd6 Be7 23.Bd3 Bxd6 24.Bxf5+ Kh8 25.Qg4 Rc7 26.Qh3 h5 27.exd6 Ra7 28.Be6 Nf6 29.f5 Qxd6 30.Bf4 Qd8 31.Be5 Bg8 32.Qxh5+ Rh7 33.Qg5 Qe7 34.Nc1 Qg7 35.Qxg7+ Rxg7 36.Nd3 Rg4 37.Nf4 Kh7 38.h3 Rg3 39.Ng6 Rxh3+ 40.Kg2 1-0

- Wow. R4, Hou Yifan gunned down Navarra brilliantly!

- Happy Hou won, shame some sexists thought she would lose as white despite drawing 3 players all higher rated than navara.

- Yifan - the devastating Caro Kann crusher! She definitely wins the style prize!

So and Ding Liren draw and Eljanov and Karjakin register wins

Round 4, Jan. 19, 2016
So, Wesley – Ding Liren
D11 QBD Slav, 4.e3

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.b3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.Bb2 O-O 8.O-O b6 9.Nbd2 Bb7 10.Ne5 c5 11.cxd5 Bxd5 12.Ndc4 Be7 13.Rc1 cxd4 14.Bxd4 Rc8 15.Qe2 Nc5 16.Bb1 b5 17.Nd2 a6 18.Rfd1 Ncd7 19.Rxc8 Qxc8 20.Nxd7 Nxd7 21.Be4 Nf6 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.Bxd5 exd5 24.Nf3 Qe6 25.h3 Rc8 26.Qd2 h6 27.Rc1 Rc6 28.Kf1 Qc8 29.Rxc6 Qxc6 30.Ne1 Bc3 31.Qc2 Qf6 32.Nd3 d4 33.Nf4 Qd6 34.Ne2 Qf6 35.Kg1 g6 36.Nxd4 Bxd4 37.exd4 Qxd4 38.Qc8+ Kg7 39.Qxa6 Qa1+ 40.Kh2 Qe5+ 41.Kg1 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Jan. 19, 2016
Eljanov, Pavel – Van Wely, Loek
D30 QBD, Semi-Slav, Classical Variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bd3 Nbd7 6.O-O b6 7.b3 Bb7 8.Bb2 Be7 9.Nbd2 O-O 10.Qe2 Rc8 11.Ne5 c5 12.f4 Ne4 13.Bxe4 dxe4 14.Rad1 cxd4 15.Nxe4 Nxe5 16.fxe5 Bxe4 17.Rxd4 Bd5 18.cxd5 Bc5 19.Rd3 exd5 20.Qf3 Qg5 21.Kh1 h6 22.h3 Rc7 23.Kh2 Rfc8 24.Qxd5 Qg6 25.Rfd1 Be7 26.Bd4 Rc2 27.R3d2 Rxd2 28.Rxd2 Bh4 29.Rd1 Rc2 30.a4 Qf5 31.Kh1 Rf2 32.e4 Rf1+ 33.Bg1 Qf2 34.Rxf1 Qxf1 35.e6 Be7 36.Qd7 Qf6 37.exf7+ Qxf7 38.Qxa7 1-0

Round 4, Jan. 19, 2016
Karjakin, Sergey – Tomashevsky, Evgeny
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.Nbd2 d6 7.c3 a5 8.h3 Be6 9.Re1 h6 10.Bb5 Ba7 11.Nf1 Ne7 12.Ng3 c6 13.Ba4 Ng6 14.Bc2 Qc7 15.d4 Rad8 16.Be3 Bb8 17.Bd3 Rfe8 18.Qc2 Qe7 19.Rad1 Bc7 20.c4 Bc8 21.a3 exd4 22.Nxd4 Qf8 23.f4 Nd7 24.Qf2 Nf6 25.Nf3 Re7 26.Kh1 Kh8 27.Bc2 Ree8 28.b4 axb4 29.axb4 d5 30.e5 Ne4 31.Bxe4 dxe4 32.Rxd8 Rxd8 33.Bc5 Qe8 34.Rxe4 Ne7 35.Nd4 b6 36.Bd6 Bxd6 1-0


(To be concluded)

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel Masters 2016

January 19, 2016

Round Four (concluded)

Round 4, Jan. 19, 2016
Adams, Michael – Wei Yi
A37 English, Symmetrical Variation

1.c4 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 c5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 e6 6.h4 d5 7.h5 Nge7 8.d3 dxc4 9.dxc4 Qxd1+ 10.Nxd1 b6 11.h6 Bf6 12.Bg5 Bxg5 13.Nxg5 Bb7 14.Ne3 Nf5 15.Nxf5 gxf5 16.O-O-O Rb8 17.Rd2 Ne5 18.Bxb7 Rxb7 19.b3 Ke7 20.Rh4 Rd7 21.f4 Rxd2 22.Kxd2 Ng4 23.e4 f6 24.Nf3 Kf7 25.Ke2 Rg8 26.Nd2 Kg6 27.exf5+ exf5 28.Nf1 Re8+ 29.Kd2 Re4 30.Nh2 Nxh6 31.Nf3 Nf7 32.Rh1 Nd6 33.Nh4+ Kg7 34.Rf1 Kh6 35.Rh1 Kg7 36.Rf1 Re6 37.Kd3 Re8 38.Rh1 Kf7 39.Ng2 Kg6 40.Rh2 Re6 41.Nh4+ Kg7 42.Ng2 Re8 43.Ne3 Kg6 44.Ke2 Re4 45.Rh1 Rd4 46.Nc2 Re4+ 47.Kf3 Re6 48.Ne3 Re4 49.Nc2 Re6 50.Rd1 Ne4 51.Ne3 Rd6 52.Nd5 1/2-1/2

On the other telecast, Lawrence Trent says that Micky’s wife is a serial emailer of cat videos and Donald Trump stupidities.

Lawrence and Jan Gustafsson follow the last game – Giri vs Caruana. Lawrence is hoping that Fabiano wins the endgame and so Jan gives this short announcement:

“For those of you who don’t know, Lawrence Trent is Fabiano’s manager and therefore is not fully unbiased.”

They say that there is a lot going on in the chess world in the early part of 2016 – Wijk, Zurich, the Candidates, the Thailand Open, Norway Chess, the Olympiad. The Grand Chess Tour is up in the air.

Jan says he likes to play in the Thai Open every year. It is in Bangkok. One of the selling points to prospective competitors is perhaps meeting the world’s youngest IM:

“US chess prodigy FM Liang Awonder is bringing his unique skills to the 16th Bangkok Chess Club Open in April this year. This remarkable 12-year old has already achieved three International Master norms and his application of the IM title is due for approval, making him the world’s youngest IM.

At eight years old, Liang was the youngest ever to beat an International Master; at nine years old he became the youngest person ever to defeat a Grandmaster with a victory over GM Larry Kaufman at the Washington International – beating Fabiano Caruana’s record by over 10 months.”
______

Lawrence says that on Jan’s recommendation, he bought a boxed DVD set of Peaky Blinders for his father for Christmas and also The House of Cards. They wonder when a new season of Game of Thrones hits the airwaves. It is said that that will happen during Jan’s stay in Bangkok and he wonders if he can fit in a round of chess and watching the program on the same day.

Jan had talked incessantly about Peaky Blinders during the broadcast of Bilbao in October, 2015.

As you can see, there is little going on in the Hamburg studios, far away from Wijk, except following the slow Giri-Caruana endgame on the monitor.

It looks like Caruana throws away the win with his 54th and 55th moves and so the game ends in a draw.

Round Four, Jan. 19, 2016
Giri, Anish – Caruana, Fabiano
C80 Ruy Lopez, Open (8….Be6)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Be3 Be7 10.c3 Qd7 11.Nbd2 Nxd2 12.Qxd2 Na5 13.Bg5 c5 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Bxd5 Rd8 16.c4 Nxc4 17.Bc6+ Kf8 18.Qc3 b4 19.Qc1 h6 20.a3 bxa3 21.bxa3 g5 22.Rb1 Qc7 23.Be4 Qa5 24.Rb7 Rg8 25.Rb3 Nd6 26.exd6 Bxb3 27.Qb2 Be6 28.Rd1 Qb5 29.Qf6 Qa4 30.Rb1 Qxe4 31.Qxd8+ Kg7 32.Qb6 g4 33.Nd2 Qd3 34.Qb2+ Kg6 35.f3 c4 36.Ne4 c3 37.Nxc3 gxf3 38.Nd1 Qxd6 39.Ne3 Qd3 40.Qc2 Qxc2 41.Nxc2 Kf6 42.Ne1 fxg2 43.Rb6 a5 44.Ra6 Rg5 45.Nxg2 Rf5 46.h3 Rc5 47.Nf4 Kf5 48.Nxe6 fxe6 49.Kf2 h5 50.a4 e5 51.Ra8 e4 52.Ke3 Rc3+ 53.Kd4 Rd3+ 54.Kc4 Kf4 55.Rxa5 Rxh3 56.Ra8 Rh1 57.a5 h4 58.a6 Ra1 59.a7 Ke3 60.Kb5 h3 61.Kb6 Rb1+ 62.Kc6 Ra1 63.Kb6 1/2-1/2

- Lawrence sees his guy play 55...Rxh3?! instead of the clearly winning 55...Ra3:

Standing After Round Four

1. Caruana 3
2. So 2.5
3. Hou Yifan 2.5
4. Karjakin 2.5
5. Ding Liren 2.5
6. Eljanov 2.5
7. Carlsen 2
8. Wei Yi 2
9. Van Wely 1.5
10. Tomashevsky 1.5
11. Mamedyarov 1.5
12. Giri 1.5
13. Navara 1.5
14. Adams 1

There will be a travel day tomorrow – no chess in the Masters.

Standing After Round Four Challengers

1. Dreev 4
2. Adhiban 3.5
3. Safarli 3
4. Nisipeanu 2.5
5. L’Ami 2.5
6. Batsiashvili 2
7. Antipov 2
8. Van Foreest 2
9. Bok 1.5
10. Sevian 1.5
11. Ju Wenjun 1.5
12. Abasov 1
13. Admiraal 1
14. Haast 0


The Challengers play tomorrow and Dreev-Van Foreest is first on the card.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

No one should be all that surprised that Yifan Hou beat David Navara today. She beat him in their 7 game match for the 2013 Cez Trophy and now stands a composite +3, -1, =5 in 9 classic encounters. Even more impressive, against the elite trio of Anish Giri, David Navara, and Wesley So, Yifan has a score of +5, -1, =15. I'd say those numbers are very Magnus Carlsen like except that Magnus is only +2, -2, =18 against this same trio! (:

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Yifan Hou is still not getting any respect at the betting window. She's the 12 to 1 dog with Black against Caruana Thursday (Wednesday being a rest day). I very much like the 17/10 draw odds and while a far cry from the realm of printing money, that is, imho, a very good bet. (:

https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betting/Chess/

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel Challengers 2016

January 20, 2016

Round Five

The Masters have a day off but the Challengers are still playing.

I was interested in this contest because Van Foreest is playing Dreev, the tournament leader. Van Foreest has been playing uncompromising chess – no draws up until now.

Tata Steel Challengers 2016
Round 5, Jan. 20, 2016
Dreev, Aleksey – Van Foreest, Jorden
E81 King’s Indian, Samisch-Benoni

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 O-O 6.Nge2 c5 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Qd2 Qa5 9.Rd1 Bd7 10.b3 a6 11.dxc5 dxc5 12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.exd5 Nb4 14.Kf2 0.5-0.5

Why the quick draw?

I have written down everything I know about the contest to try and figure this out.

1) Dreev is an expert as White against the Benoni and has written the book Dreev vs. the Benoni (2013)
2) Today is Aleksey’s birthday (Jan. 20, 1969)
3) He spent 28 minutes on 11.dxc5
4) He stands slightly worse after 14.Kf2
5) He now shares the lead with Adhiban
6) He has an ELO of 100 rating points more than Van Foreest

Well, I can’t figure out why he wouldn’t play on a bit. Any suggestions?


Standing of the Challengers after Round Five

1. Dreev 4.5
2. Adhiban 4.5
3. Safarli 3.5
4. Nisipeanu 3
5. Antipov 3
6. Batsiashvili 3
7. Van Foreest 2.5
8. Sevian 2.5
9. L’Ami 2.5
10. Bok 2
11. Ju Wenjun 2
12. Abasov 1
13. Admiraal 1
14. Haast 0

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Yifan Hou is still not getting any respect at the betting window. She's the 12 to 1 dog with Black against Caruana Thursday (Wednesday being a rest day). I very much like the 17/10 draw odds and while a far cry from the realm of printing money, that is, imho, a very good bet. (:

https://www.marathonbet.com/en/betting/Chess/

While it took 79 moves, 'easy money' in the end. (:

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel Masters 2016

January 21, 2016

Round Five

The commentators today are Yasser Seirawan and Tex de Wit. The latter commentated at Tata Steel in both 2014 and 2015. The tournament is being played at the Science Center NEMO in Amsterdam.

Tex is Amsterdam-based. He says that the city has a population of 900,000 and 15 to 20 chess clubs.

There is also the Gambit Chess Café, which was written up in ChessBase twelve years ago. The article concluded with this paragraph:

Schaakhuis Gambit, Bloemgracht 20, 1015 TJ Amsterdam, +31 20 622 1801

Chess café's are rare nowadays – probably it's financially difficult to sustain a café which has its only income from those few drinks that the players consume – some say chess players are not the best on spending money actually...

But in the Netherlands you can find several more: one in Utrecht, the "Ledig Erf", one in Den Haag, one in Enschede, "Het Bolwerk" and a few mixed play cafes in Amsterdam itself, where people also play backgammon, go or various card games besides chess.
In Europe there has been a very famous chess café in Paris – unfortunately it's closed down now. In Tel Aviv you can find the Emmanuel Lasker Chess Club and Café. There is one cafe in Frankfurt, Germany too. It would be nice to see a growing number of chess and play cafés all around the world. So if you like the game and have such ambitions, just start one!

http://en.chessbase.com/post/the-old...f-in-amsterdam
_______

The early games:

Tata Steel Masters 2016
Round Five, Jan. 21, 2016
Tomashevsky, Evgeny – Eljanov, Pavel
E00 Queen’s Pawn Game

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Nd2 c5 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 cxd4 7.Nf3 b6 8.Bg2 Bb7 9.O-O Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Nc6 11.b3 O-O 12.Bb2 Rc8 13.Bxd4 Nxd4 14.Qxd4 Rc5 15.b4 Rc7 16.e4 d6 17.Rfd1 e5 18.Qd3 Qc8 19.Be2 Rd8 20.Qe3 g6 21.Rd2 Kg7 22.Rad1 Qe6 23.Kg2 h6 24.f3 Rdd7 25.Bf1 Qe7 26.Kg1 Qe6 27.Kg2 Qe7 28.Kg1 Qe6 29.Re1 Rd8 30.Qf2 Kh7 31.Ra1 Qe7 32.Re1 Qe6 33.Ra1 Qe7 34.Qe3 Rc6 35.Rad1 Rcc8 36.Qf2 Kg7 37.Qe3 Nh7 38.Rd5 1/2-1/2

Round Five, Jan. 21, 2016
Wei Yi – Giri, Anish
B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bc1 Nf6 8.g3 e5 9.Nb3 Be7 10.Bg2 O-O 11.O-O Be6 12.a4 Nbd7 13.Re1 Qc7 14.Nd2 Bd8 15.Nf1 Qc5 16.Ne3 Ba5 17.Bd2 Rac8 18.Ne2 Bxd2 19.Qxd2 Ng4 20.Nxg4 Bxg4 21.Rac1 b5 22.b4 Qc6 23.axb5 axb5 24.h3 Be6 25.Red1 Qc4 26.Qe1 Nf6 27.Rxd6 Nxe4 28.Rd3 Nf6 29.Re3 Bd5 30.Rxe5 Bxg2 31.Kxg2 Rfe8 32.Nf4 Rxe5 33.Qxe5 Qxb4 34.Nd5 Nxd5 35.Qxd5 g6 36.c3 Qc4 37.Qxc4 Rxc4 38.Rb1 Rxc3 39.Rxb5 1/2-1/2

On the other broadcast, there are three analyzing – Jan Gustafsson, Lawrence Trent and Fiona Steil-Antoni. Discussing David Navara, Jan says that his results are up and down – some times he is brilliant and other times… Lawrence adds that he has all the hallmarks of Vassily Ivanchuk.

In any case, this game is a draw:

Round Five, Jan. 21, 2016
Navara, David – So, Wesley
D38 QBG, Ragozin Variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.Qa4+ Nc6 8.e3 O-O 9.Be2 dxc4 10.O-O Bd7 11.Bxc4 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Rfd8 13.Qa3 Qe7 14.Qxe7 Nxe7 15.Ne5 Be8 16.Rfb1 Rab8 17.a4 b6 18.a5 Nc6 19.Nxc6 Bxc6 20.f3 Kf8 21.Kf2 Ke7 22.Be2 f6 23.e4 b5 24.Ke3 Bd7 25.c4 bxc4 26.Bxc4 c5 27.dxc5 Rxb1 28.Rxb1 Rc8 29.Bb5 Rxc5 30.Bxd7 Kxd7 31.Rb8 Rxa5 32.Rb7+ Kd6 33.Rxg7 Rg5 34.Rxa7 Rxg2 35.Rf7 f5 36.exf5 Rxh2 37.Kf4 Rh4+ 38.Kg3 Rh5 39.Kg4 Rg5+ 40.Kf4 Rxf5+ 41.Rxf5 exf5 42.Kxf5 h5 43.Kg5 Ke6 44.f4 h4 45.Kxh4 Kf5 46.Kh5 Kxf4 1/2-1/2

Carlsen gets his first win, after four draws. He played a dangerous game between moves 35 and 40 and it looks like he could have lost if Loek played 28.Qh6+ Kf6 and 29.Qh4+ instead of 29.Rc3

Not a clean win, Magnus said he kept posing Loek problems so he could win before dinner.

Round Five, Jan. 21, 2016
Van Wely, Loek – Carlsen, Magnus
D83 Grunfeld, Grunfeld Gambit, Capablanca Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Rc1 Be6 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Nxd5 Bxd5 9.Bxc7 Qd7 10.Bg3 Bxa2 11.Ne2 Bd5 12.Nc3 Bc6 13.h4 Rd8 14.Qb3 Qf5 15.h5 e6 16.hxg6 hxg6 17.Qd1 Nd7 18.Bd3 Qa5 19.Kf1 Nf6 20.Be5 Rac8 21.Qd2 Ng4 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.f3 Qg5 24.fxg4 Rxd4 25.Ke1 Qe5 26.Ne2 Rxg4 27.e4 Rxg2 28.Qh6+ Kf6 29.Rc3 Rd8 30.Qh3 Qg5 31.Rf1+ Kg7 32.Qf3 Rd7 33.Rf2 Rg4 34.Nf4 Qh4 35.Be2 Rg1+ 36.Bf1 Kg8 37.Ne2 Rxf1+ 38.Kxf1 Rd1+ 39.Kg2 Bxe4 0-1

Round Five, Jan. 21, 2016
Ding Liren – Karjakin, Sergey
E15 Queen’s Indian, Nimzowitsch Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 c6 8.e4 d5 9.Bd3 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Bb7 11.Qe2 Nbd7 12.O-O-O Nxe4 13.Bxe4 Nf6 14.Bc2 a5 15.Rhe1 b5 16.c5 b4 17.g4 Ba6 18.Qe5 O-O 19.g5 Nh5 20.Qe4 g6 21.Qxc6 Ra7 22.Be4 Bb7 23.Qb6 Qxb6 24.cxb6 Bxe4 25.Rxe4 Rb7 26.Be3 Rc8+ 27.Kb1 Rxb6 28.d5 Rd6 29.Rd2 Kf8 30.dxe6 Rxe6 31.Rxe6 fxe6 32.Rc2 Rd8 33.Nd4 Ng7 34.Nc6 Rd1+ 35.Rc1 Rd5 36.Nxe7 Kxe7 37.Rc7+ Kf8 38.Rc5 Ke7 39.Rxd5 exd5 40.Bb6 Kd6 41.Bxa5 Kc5 42.Bd8 Nf5 43.Kc2 Nd4+ 44.Kd3 Nf5 45.Bc7 Kc6 46.Bf4 Kc5 47.Be3+ Kb5 48.Ke2 Nh4 49.Bd2 Nf5 50.Kf3 Nd4+ 51.Kf4 Nc6 52.Be3 Ka6 53.Bc5 Kb5 54.Bd6 Ka5 55.Ke3 1-0

(Sergey Karjakin) - Too many wins against Chinese players last year
_________

Lawrence was contacted by Wikipedia from Boston about having an entry on him. Lawrence O.K.ed the draft and you can find it online.

Three points from it: He was born in 1986 in Walthamstow, London

- As commentator, Trent demonstrates an anecdotal style. His commentating career began in 2009, while he was co-hosting a chess news podcast called "Full English Breakfast", produced by Macauley Peterson and co-hosted by Stephen J. Gordon. After listening to Trent on the pilot episode, tournament director. Malcolm Pein invited him to host-commentate the annual London Chess Classic. It's a position he has held ever since, and it gave him the experience necessary to host-commentate the FIDE World Championship Candidates Tournament in 2013, together with GM Nigel Short.

- Outside of chess, Lawrence Trent enjoys football (Chelsea FC), and the Mambo style or New York style of Salsa dancing

Jan goes off. He was working on a video series with Artur Yusupov today and tomorrow he will be back with Peter Svidler to commentate on Tata, each round, until the end.
_______

Lawrence is so deeply involved with both Caruana and his good friend, Mickey Adams that almost everything he says is biased about the two.

Mickey goes down to defeat:

Round Five, Jan. 21, 2016
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Adams, Michael
E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.Bd2 O-O 6.Rc1 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.g3 Bb7 9.Bg2 Ne4 10.O-O Nxd2 11.Qxd2 Qe7 12.a3 a5 13.Rfd1 Rd8 14.Na4 d6 15.Nd4 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 Qb7+ 17.f3 d5 18.Nb3 Bf8 19.Qd4 b5 20.Nac5 Qa7 21.cxb5 a4 22.Na1 Qb6 23.Nxa4 Qxb5 24.Nc5 Nc6 25.Qf2 Ne5 26.Nd3 Nxd3 27.exd3 g6 28.Rc3 Rdb8 29.Rd2 Qa4 30.Rcc2 Bh6 31.f4 e5 32.Qf3 exf4 33.Rf2 Qd4 34.Rce2 Ra6 35.Nc2 Qc5 36.Nb4 Rd6 37.gxf4 Bg7 38.f5 Rbd8 39.Rc2 Qb5 40.fxg6 Rxg6+ 41.Kh1 Qd7 42.Rg2 Re8 43.Rce2 Bd4 44.Qxd5 Rd8 45.Qxd7 Rxd7 46.Nc6 Bf6 47.d4 Rd6 48.Rc2 Kf8 49.Rxg6 hxg6 50.Rc4 1-0

And the last game to finish:

Round Five, Jan. 21, 2016
Caruana, Fabiano – Hou Yifan
C24 Petrov, Nimzowitsch Attack

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Qd2 Be6 9. O-O-O Qd7 10. h4 h6 11. a3 Rg8 12. Nd4 Nxd4 13. Qxd4 c5 14. Qf4 d5 15. Qg3 O-O-O 16. Be2 g5 17. hxg5 hxg5 18. Rh7 Qa4 19. Kb1 Rd7 20. Bc1 Bd6 21. Qd3 Bf4 22. Be3 Bxe3 23. Qxe3 Qe4 24. Qxe4 dxe4 25. Kc1 Rxd1+ 26. Kxd1 Kd7 27. Kd2 Kd6 28. Bh5 Ke7 29. Ke3 Kf6 30. Be2 Kg6 31. Rh1 f5 32. g3 Rd8 33. a4 Kf6 34. a5 Ke5 35. Rh5 Rg8 36. f4+ exf3 37. Bxf3 Rg7 38. Rh8 Re7 39. Ra8 a6 40. Rd8 f4+ 41. gxf4+ gxf4+ 42. Kf2 Rc7 43. Rb8 Bc8 44. c4 Kd6 45. c3 Ke5 46. Bd5 Kf6 47. Kf3 Kf5 48. b3 Ke5 49. b4 cxb4 50. cxb4 Kf5 51. Ke2 Ke5 52. Kd3 Bf5+ 53. Kd2 Kd4 54. Rf8 Ke5 55. Kc3 Re7 56. Rh8 Be4 57. Rh5+ Kd6 58. Kd4 Bxd5 59. Rxd5+ Kc6 60. Rc5+ Kd6 61. Rf5 Rh7 62. Rf6+ Kc7 63. Rxf4 Rh5 64. Rf7+ Kc6 65. Rf6+ Kc7 66. Re6 Rg5 67. Re5 Rg6 68. b5 axb5 69. cxb5 Rg1 70. Re7+ Kb8 71. b6 Rd1+ 72. Kc5 Rc1+ 73. Kd6 Rd1+ 74. Ke6 Re1+ 75. Kd7 Rxe7+ 76. Kxe7 Ka8 77. Kd7 Kb8 78. Kd8 Ka8 79. a6 Kb8 ½-½

The games that Hou Yifan has played in the past few months against the very best have really impressed me. I should say that she is a shoo-in for winning the Women’s World Championship, which takes place in Lviv, Ukraine, March 1 t0 19, 2016, with Mariya Muzychuk.

Standing After Round Five

3.5 Caruana, Ding Liren
3 Hou Yifan, So, Carlsen, Eljanov
2.5 Karjakin, Wei Yi, Mamedyarov
2 Giri, Navara, Tomashevsky
1.5 Van Wely
1 Adams

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel Masters 2016

January 22, 2016

Round Six

Jan Gustafsson and Peter Svidler commentate today.

Peter said that it was -17°C in St. Petersburg when he left yesterday and it was 0°C in Hamburg, when he arrived.

Both guys are wearing ties for appearance sake but would be more comfortable without. Peter tries to sneak a look at cricket that is streaming on his smartphone but he misses a critical play.

They talk about grabbing material on the board, then use the word “materialism” and then Peter says “dialectical materialism”. He related that when his parents were in university, they had a course in “dialectical materialism”. He associates that with 4-volume collections of Lenin and Marx that were on each family’s bookshelves in the past.

I will give the dictionary definition just for completeness. If it gives rise to one of those spirited ChessTalk controversies – then blame me.

The Marxist theory (adopted as the official philosophy of the Soviet communists) that political and historical events result from the conflict of social forces and are interpretable as a series of contradictions and their solutions. The conflict is believed to be caused by material needs.

(Mark Crowther) - Magnus Carlsen made light work of Evgeny Tomashevsky in the sixth round of the Tata Steel Masters to win in just 30 moves of a London System. Tomashevsky seemed thrown by the choice of opening and allowed a dangerous attack, when he traded to an endgame to try and defend his position was close to hopeless. Carlsen's second win in a row allowed him to join Ding Liren and Fabiano Caruana in the lead on 4/6.

Anish Giri finally got back to 50% with a win against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Giri was one of the pre-event favourites but has struggled so far however with the tournament only passing the half way mark tomorrow he has plenty of time to improve his standing.

Joint leader Fabiano Caruana had to work hard to defend against Wesely So but eventually reached a drawn endgame. The other leader Ding Liren had a large opening advantage against David Navara but his 18.e3 (18.Bf4 or 18.g4 are better according to the computers) lost most of this edge and Navara then managed to hold.

Loek van Wely found a nice combination to win a pawn against Michael Adams but the Englishman managed to find sufficient counterplay for the draw.

Hou Yifan got a winning endgame against Wei Yi but an inaccuracy allowed counterplay and after giving up the exchange her position was only good enough for a draw. Sergey Karjakin against Pavel Eljanov liquidated to a drawn endgame after only 28 moves.

The games:

Tata Steel Masters 2016
Round 6, Jan. 22, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Tomashevsky, Evgeny
D02 Queen’s Pawn, London System

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 b6 4.e3 Bb7 5.h3 Be7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.O-O c5 8.c3 Nc6 9.Nbd2 d5 10.Qe2 Bd6 11.Rfe1 Ne7 12.Rad1 Ng6 13.Bxg6 hxg6 14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Ne5 g5 16.f4 gxf4 17.Rf1 Nd7 18.Qh5 Nf6 19.Qh4 Qd8 20.Rxf4 Ne4 21.Nxe4 Qxh4 22.Rxh4 dxe4 23.dxc5 bxc5 24.Rd7 Rab8 25.b3 a5 26.Rc7 a4 27.bxa4 Ba8 28.a5 Rb7 29.Rxc5 Ra7 30.Nc4 1-0

Jan and Peter call the London, the lazy man’s opening or “The Grischuk”.

(Nigel Short) - Why did Tomashevsky resign? It was bad, but if I resigned every time I had a lousy position I would never score any points

Round 6, Jan. 22, 2016
Karjakin, Sergey – Eljanov, Pavel
E00 Queen’s Pawn Game

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Nd2 d5 5.Bg2 O-O 6.Nf3 b6 7.O-O Bb7 8.b3 c5 9.Bb2 Nc6 10.cxd5 exd5 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Ne1 Qe7 13.Ndf3 Rfe8 14.Nd3 Ba3 15.Bxa3 Qxa3 16.Re1 Rac8 17.Qc1 Qd6 18.Qb2 d4 19.Nd2 Nd5 20.Ne4 Qe7 21.Rac1 Ncb4 22.Nxb4 Nxb4 23.Nd6 Qxd6 24.Bxb7 Rxc1 25.Rxc1 d3 26.exd3 Nxd3 27.Qd2 Qb8 28.Qxd3 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Jan. 22, 2016
So, Wesley – Caruana, Fabiano
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.Re1 Ba7 8.a4 Be6 9.Bxe6 fxe6 10.Qb3 Qc8 11.Be3 Bxe3 12.Rxe3 O-O 13.Nbd2 Na5 14.Qa2 c5 15.d4 c4 16.b4 cxb3 17.Nxb3 Nc4 18.Ree1 Qc6 19.Nc5 dxc5 20.Qxc4 exd4 21.cxd4 Nd7 22.a5 Rac8 23.d5 exd5 24.exd5 Qd6 25.Re6 Qf4 26.Re4 Qd6 27.Rb1 Rb8 28.Re6 Qf4 29.Qe2 c4 30.Re4 Qf5 31.Qxc4 b5 32.axb6 Nxb6 33.Qe2 Nxd5 34.Rxb8 Rxb8 35.Re8+ Rxe8 36.Qxe8+ Qf8 37.Qe6+ Qf7 38.Qxa6 h6 39.Qc8+ Kh7 40.h4 Qg6 41.Qb8 Qe4 42.Qb7 Qf5 43.Qb5 Qe4 44.Nd2 Qe1+ 45.Nf1 Nf6 46.Qd3+ Kg8 47.g3 Kf7 48.Kg2 Qe4+ 49.Qxe4 Nxe4 50.Ne3 h5 51.Kf3 Nc5 52.Nd5 g6 53.Nf4 Kf6 54.Ke3 Kf5 55.f3 Nd7 56.Nd3 Nf8 57.Nc5 Ke5 58.g4 hxg4 59.fxg4 Nh7 60.Nd3+ Ke6 61.Kf4 Nf6 62.Kg5 Kf7 63.Nf4 Kg7 64.Ne6+ Kf7 65.Nc5 Kg7 66.Kf4 Nd5+ 67.Ke5 Ne3 68.Kf4 Nd5+ 69.Ke4 Nf6+ 70.Kf3 Nd5 71.Nd3 Kf6 72.Nf2 Ke6 73.Ke4 Nf6+ 74.Kf4 Kf7 75.Ke5 Ke7 76.g5 Nd7+ 77.Kf4 Ke6 78.Ng4 Nb6 79.Nf6 Nc4 80.Ke4 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Jan. 22, 2016
Giri, Anish – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
E00 Catalan Opening

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.d4 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bd6 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.b3 dxc4 9.bxc4 c5 10.e3 Qc7 11.Qc2 cxd4 12.Nxd4 a6 13.Rc1 Rd8 14.Nb3 Rb8 15.c5 Be5 16.Nd4 b6 17.c6 Nf8 18.Nc3 Ng6 19.Rab1 Qe7 20.c7 Qxc7 21.Nc6 Bb7 22.Nxd8 Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Rxd8 24.Na4 Qb7+ 25.f3 b5 26.Nc5 Qa8 27.Nd3 h5 28.Ba5 Nd5 29.Qe2 Re8 30.e4 Nde7 31.Bc3 Bb8 32.Qb2 f5 33.Qb3 fxe4 34.Qxe6+ Kh7 35.Qxe4 Qd5 36.Rb2 Qf7 37.Re2 h4 38.Qe6 Qxe6 39.Rxe6 Rd8 40.Nf2 Nf5 41.Ne4 Rd5 42.Rxa6 hxg3 43.hxg3 Bxg3 44.Rh1+ Bh4 45.Bd2 Rd4 46.Bg5 Rb4 47.Rxg6 Rb2+ 48.Kh3 Kxg6 49.Bxh4 Rxa2 50.Rg1+ Kf7 51.Bf2 Rb2 52.Kg4 g6 53.Bc5 b4 54.Nd6+ Nxd6 55.Bxd6 Ke6 56.Bf8 Kf7 57.Bd6 Ke6 58.Bb8 b3 59.Kf4 Kf7 60.Ke3 Rc2 61.Be5 Rc5 62.f4 Rb5 63.Bb2 Rh5 64.Rg2 Rh1 65.Kf3 Rf1+ 66.Kg4 1-0

Round 6, Jan. 22, 2016
Ding, Liren – Navara, David
D73 Neo-Grunfeld

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Ne5 e6 9.Bg5 Qb6 10.O-O Qxb2 11.Qd3 Qb6 12.Rab1 Qa5 13.Qd2 Kh8 14.Nb5 Qxd2 15.Bxd2 Na6 16.Nd6 Kg8 17.Rfc1 b6 18.e3 Ne4 19.Bxe4 dxe4 20.Nc6 Bd7 21.Nxe4 Bxc6 22.Rxc6 Rfc8 23.Rbc1 Rxc6 24.Rxc6 e5 25.d5 Rd8 26.Nc3 f5 27.e4 fxe4 28.d6 Kf7 29.Nxe4 Ke6 30.Rc4 Rd7 31.Rc8 Nc5 32.Nxc5+ bxc5 33.Be3 Rxd6 34.Bxc5 Rd1+ 35.Kg2 Rc1 36.Re8+ Kf6 37.Bxa7 Ra1 38.Rb8 Rxa2 39.Be3 h5 40.Rb7 Bf8 41.Rb6+ 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Jan. 22, 2016
Adams, Michael – Van Wely, Loek
B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 e5 7.Nde2 Be7 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O b5 10.Nd5 Nbd7 11.Nec3 Bb7 12.Be3 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 Nf6 14.Bb6 Qd7 15.Nxe7+ Qxe7 16.Re1 Nxe4 17.Rxe4 f5 18.Re3 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Qb7+ 20.Rf3 g5 21.Kg1 Qxb6 22.Qd5+ Kg7 23.Rd1 Rad8 24.Qe6 h6 25.Rfd3 Rfe8 26.Qb3 f4 27.Rd5 fxg3 28.hxg3 Rf8 29.R1d2 Rf6 30.Qb4 Qc7 31.a4 bxa4 32.Qxa4 Qb6 33.c4 Rdf8 34.Qc2 R8f7 35.b3 Rb7 36.R2d3 Rbf7 37.Rd2 Rb7 38.R2d3 Rbf7 39.Rd2 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Jan. 22, 2016
Hou, Yifan – Wei, Yi
A16 English, (Grunfeld, King’s Indian)

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Qb3 Nb6 6.d4 Bg7 7.Bf4 Be6 8.Qa3 O-O 9.e3 N8d7 10.Rd1 c6 11.Ne4 Bd5 12.Bd3 f5 13.Nc5 Nxc5 14.Qxc5 Bxa2 15.h4 Bb3 16.Ra1 Nd5 17.Be5 a5 18.h5 Nb4 19.Bb1 Bd5 20.Bxg7 Kxg7 21.Ne5 Qd6 22.Qc3 Be4 23.Bxe4 fxe4 24.Rh4 Nd5 25.Qd2 Qb4 26.Qxb4 axb4 27.Rxa8 Rxa8 28.hxg6 hxg6 29.Rxe4 Nf6 30.Rh4 Ra1+ 31.Ke2 Rc1 32.Kd2 Rg1 33.g3 g5 34.Rh2 c5 35.Nf3 Ra1 36.dxc5 Ne4+ 37.Kc2 Ra5 38.Nd4 Nxc5 39.g4 Ne4 40.Nf5+ Kf6 41.f3 Nc5 42.Rh6+ Ke5 43.Nxe7 Ra1 44.Ng6+ Kd5 45.Rh5 b3+ 46.Kc3 Kc6 47.Rxg5 Kb5 48.Rxc5+ Kxc5 49.Ne5 Rc1+ 50.Kxb3 Kd5 51.Nd3 Rf1 52.Nb4+ Ke5 53.f4+ Ke4 54.Nc2 Rg1 55.g5 Kd3 56.Nd4 Kxe3 57.Ne6 Ke4 58.Kc4 Rg2 59.b4 Kf5 60.Kd5 Rd2+ 61.Nd4+ Kxf4 62.Kc4 Rg2 63.Ne6+ Ke5 64.Nc5 Rxg5 65.Nxb7 Rg4+ 66.Kb3 Rxb4+ 1/2-1/2

The critical point in the endgame was when Hou Yifan played 48.Rxc5. instead of 48.Nf4

Standing After Round Six Masters
Caruana 4
Carlsen 4
Ding Liren 4
So 3.5
Hou Yifan 3.5
Eljanov 3.5
Giri 3
Wei Yi 3
Karjakin 3
Navara 2.5
Mamedyarov 2.5
Tomashevsky 2
Van Wely 2
Adams 1.5

Standing After Round Six Challengers
Dreev 5
Adhiban 5
Safarli 4.5
Nisipeanu 3.5
Antipov 3.5
Batsiashvili 3.5
L’Ami 3
Van Foreest 2.5
Bok 2.5
Ju Wenjun 2.5
Sevian 2.5
Abasov 2
Admiraal 2
Haast 0

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel 2016

Round Seven

January 23, 2016

Half Time Report

Is Carlsen starting to run away with the tournament?

Tata Steel Masters 2016
Round 7, Jan. 23, 2016
Eljanov, Pavel – Carlsen, Magnus
E00 Catalan

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.Qc2 Ne4 9.Bf4 c6 10.Nc3 g5 11.Be3 Nd6 12.b3 Nf5 13.g4 Nxe3 14.fxe3 b5 15.e4 b4 16.exd5 bxc3 17.dxc6 Nb8 18.Qe4 f5 19.gxf5 exf5 20.Qd5+ Qxd5 21.cxd5 Na6 22.Rac1 Nc7 23.Ne5 f4 24.Nc4 Rd8 25.Rxc3 Nxd5 26.c7 Nxc7 27.Bxa8 Nxa8 28.e3 Bb4 29.Rc2 Bb7 30.h4 Be4 31.Rh2 Nb6 32.Ne5 fxe3 33.hxg5 Rxd4 34.Ng4 Nd5 0-1

Round 7, Jan. 23, 2016
Tomashevsky, Evgeny – Adams, Michael
D35 QGD, Exchange (Tartakower System)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 Be7 7.Bd3 h6 8.Bh4 Nbd7 9.Qc2 Nh5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.O-O-O Nb6 12.h3 Be6 13.Nf3 Nf6 14.Kb1 O-O-O 15.Nd2 Kb8 16.Nb3 Rhe8 17.f3 Nfd7 18.Rhe1 Rc8 19.Rc1 Rc7 20.Nb5 Rcc8 21.Nc3 a6 22.Ne2 Nc4 23.Nf4 Nd6 24.Nc5 g5 25.Nfxe6 fxe6 26.e4 dxe4 27.Bxe4 Nxc5 28.dxc5 Nxe4 29.Qxe4 Rcd8 30.Qe5+ Qc7 31.Qxc7+ Kxc7 32.Re4 Rd2 33.Rc2 Rd1+ 34.Rc1 Rd2 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Jan. 23, 2016
Navara, David – Karjakin, Sergey
D45 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O e5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.e4 exd4 11.Nxd5 Nxd5 12.exd5 h6 13.Rd1 Ne5 14.Nxd4 Bg4 15.Be2 Rc8 16.Qb3 Re8 17.Bf4 Qf6 18.Bg3 Bxe2 19.Nxe2 h5 20.Nd4 h4 21.Bxe5 Rxe5 22.h3 Re4 23.Qxb7 Rb8 24.Qxa7 Rxb2 25.Nf3 Ree2 26.Rf1 Bg3 27.Rad1 Rxa2 28.Qc5 Bxf2+ 29.Rxf2 Rxf2 30.Qxf2 Rxf2 31.Kxf2 Kf8 32.d6 Ke8 33.Rd4 g5 34.Re4+ Kd8 35.Re5 Qxd6 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Jan. 23, 2016
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Hou Yifan
D38 QGD, Ragozin Variation

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 d5 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.e3 O-O 7.Qc2 Bd6 8.h3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 e5 10.O-O a6 11.a3 Bd7 12.Rd1 h6 13.b4 Qe7 14.d5 Na7 15.e4 Nc8 16.Be3 a5 17.b5 Re8 18.a4 Bb4 19.Bd3 Nb6 20.Nd2 Bc5 21.Bxc5 Qxc5 22.Nb3 Qd6 23.Be2 Rec8 24.Rab1 Qe7 25.Qc1 Ne8 26.Qe3 Nd6 27.Rbc1 Qg5 28.Qxg5 hxg5 29.Nc5 Kf8 30.Nb1 Ke7 31.Nd2 g6 32.Rc3 Be8 33.Rb1 Rab8 34.Ndb3 c6 35.bxc6 bxc6 36.dxc6 Bxc6 37.Nxa5 Nxa4 38.Rxb8 Nxc3 39.Bg4 f5 40.exf5 gxf5 41.Rxc8 Nxc8 42.Nxc6+ Kd6 43.Bxf5 Kxc6 44.Ne6 Nd6 45.Bg4 Nde4 46.f3 Ne2+ 47.Kf1 N2g3+ 48.Ke1 Nc5 49.Nxg5 Nd3+ 50.Kd2 Nf4 51.Ke3 Nh1 52.Ke4 Kd6 53.Nf7+ Ke7 54.Nxe5 Nxg2 55.Kf5 1-0

Early on, both broadcasts of the tournament were running into transmission problems.

Two interesting games from the Challengers:

It looks like Adhiban may win the tournament now and be promoted into next year’s Masters.

Tata Steel Challengers 2016
Round 7, Jan. 23, 2016
Adhiban, Baskaran – Dreev, Alexey
D45 QBD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 b6 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.O-O Be7 9.b3 dxc4 10.bxc4 c5 11.d5 exd5 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.Rd1 Bf6 15.e4 c4 16.Be2 Bxa1 17.Rxd5 Qc7 18.Ba3 Bf6 19.Bxc4 Be7 20.Qa4 Bxa3 21.Rxd7 Qxd7 22.Bb5 Qxb5 23.Qxb5+ Kf8 24.Qb3 1-0

and these comments from the chessbomb kibitzers:

- Anne winning???? Wow! Looks like a miracle

- nisipeanu is undefeated and anne has lost all her games so far!

- That's chess, folks!

Tata Steel Challengers
Round 7, Jan. 23, 2016
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter - Hast, Anne
C54 Giuoco Piano, d3 variation (Lasker)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.Nbd2 a6 7.Bb3 Ba7 8.O-O O-O 9.h3 Nh5 10.Re1 Qf6 11.d4 exd4 12.e5 Nxe5 13.Nxd4 Nf4 14.Ne4 Qh4 15.Nf3 Nxh3+ 16.Kf1 Nxf3 17.Qxf3 Bg4 18.Qg3 Qxg3 19.fxg3 Rae8 20.Bd2 Kh8 21.Ng5 Nxg5 22.Bxg5 Be6 23.Re2 Bxb3 24.axb3 Rxe2 25.Kxe2 Re8+ 26.Kd3 f6 27.Bd2 Kg8 28.g4 Kf7 29.b4 Bb6 30.c4 c6 31.Rf1 d5 32.c5 Bc7 33.g5 Re4 34.gxf6 gxf6 0-1

Van Foreest, as Black, has a better game against L’Ami, which is almost unheard of. We shall see if he can carry it off.

Robin Van Kampen is the co-host with Yasser Seirawan today. Judith Polgar is in town doing book signings and they might be able to get her to be on the program tomorrow.

(To be Concluded)

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel Masters 2016

January 23, 2016

Round Seven (concluded)

Van Wely said that he had two ambitions coming into this tournament, namely to finish 2 points ahead of the currently best Dutch player Anish Giri, and also beat him in 20 moves.

Tata Steel Masters 2016
Round 7, Jan. 23, 2016
Van Wely, Loek – Giri, Anish
D11 QGD Slav, 4.e3

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bh5 6.Nc3 e6 7.g4 Bg6 8.Ne5 Nbd7 9.h4 dxc4 10.Nxc4 h5 11.g5 Nd5 12.Bg2 N5b6 13.b3 Bb4 14.Bd2 e5 15.a3 Nxc4 16.bxc4 Ba5 17.O-O O-O 18.c5 Re8 19.Ra2 Qc7 20.Rb2 b6 21.cxb6 axb6 22.d5 e4 23.dxc6 Qxc6 24.Nb5 Ne5 25.Bxa5 Rxa5 26.Nd4 Qd6 27.Ne2 Nd3 28.Nf4 Rxa3 29.Rb5 Qc6 30.Qb1 Nxf4 31.exf4 Qd7 32.Rxb6 Qg4 33.Rb8 Rxb8 34.Qxb8+ Kh7 35.Qe5 Rf3 36.f5 Bxf5 37.Re1 Rf4 38.Re3 Bg6 39.Qd6 Qxh4 40.Rg3 Rg4 41.Qe5 Rxg3 42.fxg3 Qg4 43.Kf2 Bf5 44.Qe7 Kg6 45.Qe5 Qxg5 0-1

Round 7, Jan. 23, 2016
Wei Yi – So, Wesley
C80 Ruy Lopez, Open, Bernstein Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 Be7 11.Bc2 d4 12.Nb3 d3 13.Bb1 Nxb3 14.axb3 Bf5 15.Re1 O-O 16.Be3 Qd5 17.Bd4 Rfd8 18.Re3 Nxd4 19.cxd4 c5 20.Bxd3 cxd4 21.Re2 Qe6 22.Rd2 Bxd3 23.Rxd3 Bc5 24.Qd2 Rd5 25.h3 h6 26.Qf4 Re8 27.Qd2 Ba7 28.Rd1 Bb8 29.Re1 Bxe5 30.Nxe5 Rxe5 31.Rxe5 Qxe5 32.Rxd4 Qe1+ 33.Kh2 Qxd2 34.Rxd2 Kf8 35.Kg3 Re6 36.Kf3 Ke7 37.b4 Rc6 38.Ke3 Ke6 39.b3 Ke5 40.f4+ Ke6 41.Rd3 Rc2 42.Rd2 Rc3+ 43.Rd3 Rc1 44.Kf3 Rf1+ 45.Ke3 g5 46.fxg5 hxg5 47.Kd4 f5 48.Re3+ Kf6 49.Re2 f4 50.Kc5 Ra1 51.Rd2 Ra3 52.Rd6+ Kf5 53.Rd5+ Kg6 54.Rd3 Ra1 55.g4 Kf6 56.Kd4 Rc1 57.Ke4 Re1+ 58.Kd4 Rc1 59.Ke4 Ke6 60.Kd4 Rc2 61.Ke4 Re2+ 62.Kd4 Kd6 63.Rf3 Re7 64.Rd3 Re8 65.Rf3 Re5 66.Rc3 Re6 67.Rf3 Re8 68.Rd3 Kc6 69.Rf3 Kd6 70.Rd3 Re5 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Jan. 23, 2016
Caruana, Fabiano – Ding Liren
C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a3 Na5 9.Ba2 c5 10.Nc3 Be6 11.Nh4 c4 12.Nf5 Bxf5 13.exf5 O-O 14.dxc4 Nxc4 15.Bxc4 bxc4 16.Bg5 Rb8 17.Rb1 Nd7 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.Nd5 Qd8 20.Qg4 Rb5 21.Qxc4 Nb6 22.Nxb6 Qxb6 23.b4 d5 24.Qb3 Qc6 25.Rfe1 d4 26.a4 Rd5 27.h4 Rb8 28.Qf3 f6 29.Red1 Qc4 30.Qd3 Rc8 31.Rb2 Rd6 32.b5 Rb6 33.Ra1 h5 34.Ra3 Qd5 35.Rab3 e4 36.Qd1 Rd8 37.bxa6 Rxa6 38.Rb5 Qd6 39.a5 d3 40.cxd3 exd3 41.Rd2 Rc6 42.Rb3 Qc7 43.Rb1 Qxa5 44.Rxd3 Rdc8 45.Qxh5 Qe5 46.Rbd1 Rc1 47.Qf3 Rxd1+ 48.Rxd1 Qe8 49.g3 Rc5 50.Ra1 Qd7 51.Ra8+ Rc8 52.Ra5 Kh7 53.Rd5 Qe8 54.Kg2 Rc7 55.Ra5 Qf7 56.Qd5 Qxd5+ 57.Rxd5 Rc4 58.Rd2 Kg8 59.f3 Kf8 60.g4 Rc1 61.Kg3 Rg1+ 62.Rg2 Ra1 63.g5 Kf7 64.Kg4 Ra4+ 65.f4 fxg5 66.hxg5 Ra1 67.Rb2 Rg1+ 68.Kh3 Rf1 69.Rb7+ Kf8 70.Kg4 Rh1 71.f6 gxf6 72.g6 Ra1 73.Kf5 Ra6 74.Rf7+ Kg8 75.Re7 Ra4 76.Re4 Ra6 77.Re6 Ra4 78.Rxf6 Ra5+ 79.Kg4 Kg7 80.Rd6 Ra1 81.Kg5 Rg1+ 82.Kf5 Kh6 83.Rd8 1-0

Erwin blunders in a very difficult endgame and Jorden gets the full point:

Tata Steel Challengers
Round 7, Jan. 23, 2016
L’Ami, Erwin – Van Foreest, Jorden
D12 QGD Slav, Nc3

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bf5 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bd3 Bg6 7. O-O Nbd7 8. b3 Bd6 9. Bb2 Ne4 10. Ne2 Qb8 11. Ng3 a6 12. a4 O-O 13. Ba3 Bxa3 14. Rxa3 e5 15. Bxe4 dxe4 16. Nh4 Nf6 17. dxe5 Qxe5 18. Ra2 Bh5 19. Qa1 Qxa1 20. Rfxa1 Rfd8 21. Nhf5 Bg4 22. c5 Bxf5 23. Nxf5 Rd3 24. Rb2 Rad8 25. h3 g6 26. Nd6 Rc3 27. b4 Rd7 28. Rd2 Re7 29. Rd4 h5 30. h4 Kg7 31. Rad1 Ra3 32. a5 Rb3 33. Kh2 Rb2 34. Kg3 Nd5 35. Nxe4 Nxb4 36. R1d2 Rb3 37. Ng5 Nd5 38. R2d3 Rb5 39. Re4 Rxe4 40. Nxe4 Rxa5 41. Nd6 Rxc5 42. Nxb7 Rc2 43. Nd8 a5 44. Nxc6 Nxe3 45. Rxe3 Rxc6 46. Ra3 Ra6 47. Ra4 Kf6 48. Kf4 Ke6 49. Ke4 Kd6 50. Kd4 Kc6 51. Kc4 Ra8 52. f3 Kb6 53. Kb3 Re8 54. Rd4 Re7 55. Rd6+ Kc5 56. Rf6 Kd5 57. g4 Ke5 58. g5 Kd4 59. f4 Ke4 60. f5 gxf5 61. Rh6 f4 0-1

Standing After Round Seven Masters

Caruana 5
Carsen 5
So 4
Ding Liren 4
Giri 4
Eljanov 3.5
Hou Yifan 3.5
Wei Yi 3.5
Karjakin 3.5
Mamedyarov 3.5
Navara 3
Tomashevsky 2.5
Van Wely 2
Adams 2

Standing After Round Seven Challengers

Adhiban 6
Safarli 5.5
Dreev 5
Batsiashvili 4
Antipov 3.5
Nisipeanu 3.5
Van Foreest 3.5
Bok 3
Ju Wenjun 3
Sevian 3
L’Ami 3
Abasov 2.5
Admiraal 2.5
Haast 1
_______

Yochanan Avek came in for a moment to talk to Yasser about a concurrent study-solving tournament at Wijk, sponsored by ARVES. This is The Dutch-Flemish Association for Endgame Study. There were 20 solvers, and 9 original studies to be solved in 3 hours.

The winner was Twan Burg of the Netherlands, followed by Oleg Pervakov of Russia.

[Jack Maguire]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Stockfish doesn't like Yifan Hou's 7.g4 but I most certainly do. (:

http://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2016-...-Van_Wely_Loek

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel Chess 2016

January 24, 2016

Round Eight

Switching between Yasser’s coverage and that of Peter and Jan. Some viewers complain about sound trouble and difficulties with the streaming. One thing is clear, when the guys go for a break, the interval music plays so loud that the computer shakes!

Peter is asked what he thinks of present time controls. Peter believes that a uniform time control should be mandated by FIDE. The Zurich Tournament is pushing for two hours for the whole game. Peter is not a great fan of the shorter game right now. He points out that a cricket match can last up to five days.

Judit Polgar comes in to talk with Yasser. She said that she retired from active chess because her priorities had changed – with two kids. Also, she had played professional chess for three decades and she had started to lose her motivation. It required more and more effort to update theory and using the strongest chess engines to stay ahead.

Since 2007 Judit Polgar has organized a yearly chess festival in Budapest. Over the years the event has grown into a highly prestigious social event, in which well-known personalities (sportsmen, artists, scientists, etc.) and, most importantly, a great number of children, like to take part. In 2015 the event became international under the name Global Chess Festival (www.globalchessfestival.com).

"Our goal is to attract five million people from five continents to join the Global Chess Festival within the next ten years." The start was promising: ten cities from four continents joined the first edition by organizing events at the same time in the various cities and on four continents. The ten cities which took part in the event: Budapest, Santiago de Chile, St. Louis, Szabadka, Gyor, Satu Mare, Boca Raton, Christchurch, Melbourne and Miami.

Judit is asked about the present state of Hungarian chess. She mentions that the brightest light is Richard Rapport. Almasi and Leko are now probably past their prime and Benjamin Gledura (b. 1999) is a player of promise.

She captained the Hungarian team at Reykjavik and will do so for the coming Olympiad. She likes Aronian’s chances in the Candidates.

The early games:

Tata Steel Masters 2016
Round 8, Jan. 24, 2016
Karjakin, Sergey – Carlsen, Magnus
C76 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.c3 a6 6.Ba4 d6 7.d4 Bd7 8.Re1 Nf6 9.d5 Ne7 10.Bxd7+ Nxd7 11.Be3 Ng8 12.c4 Bh6 13.Nc3 Bxe3 14.Rxe3 Ngf6 15.b4 O-O 16.Rc1 Qe7 17.Nd2 a5 18.a3 axb4 19.axb4 Nb6 20.h3 Rfc8 21.Ra1 Rxa1 22.Qxa1 Ra8 23.Qb2 Qe8 24.Qc2 c6 25.Kh2 Qc8 26.dxc6 Qxc6 27.Qb3 Kg7 28.Rd3 Ra1 29.Qb2 Ra8 30.Qb3 Ra1 31.Qb2 Ra8 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Jan. 24, 2016
Hou Yifan – Van Wely, Loek
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Byrne Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.g4 h6 8.Qf3 Nbd7 9.Qg2 g5 10.O-O-O Ne5 11.Be2 b5 12.h4 Rg8 13.hxg5 hxg5 14.Nf3 Nexg4 15.Bd4 Bb7 16.Ne1 b4 17.Bxg4 bxc3 18.Bxc3 Rc8 19.Bxf6 Qxf6 20.Nd3 Qd4 21.f3 Bg7 22.Kb1 Ke7 23.Qd2 Bf6 24.Rh6 Qb6 25.a3 a5 26.Qh2 Bg7 27.Rh5 Ba6 28.Qd2 Bc3 29.Qc1 Bd4 30.Qd2 Bxd3 31.cxd3 Rc3 32.Rh2 Rxa3 33.Qc1 Rb8 34.Rc2 Rb3 35.Rdd2 Be3 36.Qd1 Bxd2 37.Qxd2 Qg1+ 38.Qc1 Qxc1+ 39.Kxc1 R8b7 40.d4 a4 41.Bh5 R3b4 42.d5 exd5 43.exd5 Rd4 0-1

Round 8, Jan. 24, 2016
Ding Liren – Wei Yi
D97 Grunfeld, Russian, Byrne Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 Nc6 8.Be2 e5 9.d5 Nd4 10.Nxd4 exd4 11.Qxd4 c6 12.Qc4 b5 13.Qxc6 Bd7 14.Qd6 Re8 15.f3 Nh5 16.Be3 f5 17.Qa3 b4 18.Qxb4 Rb8 19.Qa3 fxe4 20.f4 Qh4+ 21.g3 Nxg3 22.Bf2 Qh3 23.Bxg3 Rec8 24.Bf1 Qg4 25.Be2 Qh3 26.Bf1 Qg4 27.Be2 1/2-1/2

- This was Wei Yi's preparation which no doubt went a lot deeper too. Very scary for Ding to face instant replies the whole game

(Mark Crowther) - Wei Yi's frightening opening preparation nets him a quick draw with black against Ding Liren

Round 8, Jan. 24, 2016
So, Wesley – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.Re1 d6 7.c3 a6 8.a4 Ba7 9.Na3 h6 10.Nc2 Re8 11.Be3 Be6 12.Bxe6 Rxe6 13.Bxa7 Rxa7 14.d4 exd4 15.Nfxd4 Nxd4 16.Qxd4 Ra8 17.f3 a5 18.Ne3 Qd7 19.Red1 b6 20.Qc4 Rae8 21.Qb5 Qc8 22.b4 Qa8 23.Qd3 c6 24.bxa5 bxa5 25.c4 g6 26.Qc3 Nd7 27.Nc2 Nc5 28.Nd4 R6e7 29.Rd2 h5 30.Qe3 Qa6 31.Nf5 gxf5 32.Qg5+ Kf8 33.Qh6+ Kg8 34.Qg5+ Kf8 35.exf5 Qxc4 36.Qh6+ Kg8 37.Qg5+ Kf8 38.Qh6+ 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Jan. 24. 2016
Navara, David – Caruana, Fabiano
E39 Nimzo-Indian, Classical

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 O-O 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Na6 7.g3 Nxc5 8.Bg2 Nce4 9.O-O Nxc3 10.bxc3 Be7 11.e4 d6 12.e5 dxe5 13.Nxe5 Qc7 14.Qe2 Nd7 15.Bf4 Nxe5 16.Bxe5 Bd6 17.Rfe1 Rb8 18.Rad1 Bxe5 19.Qxe5 Qxe5 20.Rxe5 b6 21.c5 f6 22.cxb6 axb6 23.Re2 Kf7 24.f4 e5 25.fxe5 Bg4 26.e6+ Kg6 27.Be4+ f5 28.e7 Bxe2 29.Rd6+ Kg5 30.exf8=R Rxf8 31.Bd5 Rf6 32.Rd7 Kh6 33.Kf2 Bb5 34.Rc7 Rd6 35.c4 Be8 36.Rc8 Bd7 37.Rd8 Kg6 38.Ke3 Kf6 39.Kd4 Ke7 40.Rg8 Rg6 41.Ke5 Rg5 42.Rb8 Rg6 43.Rh8 Rh6 44.h4 Be6 45.Ra8 Bd7 46.Rh8 Be6 47.a4 Bd7 48.Ra8 Rg6 49.Ra7 Rxg3 50.a5 bxa5 51.c5 Kd8 52.h5 f4 53.Kd6 Bc8 54.c6 Rg5 55.Bf7 1-0
_________

In the Challengers Anne Haast wins again!

Tata Steel Challengers
Round 8, Jan. 24, 2016
Haast, Anne – Batsiashvili, Nino
C70 Ruy Lopez, Cozio Defence Deferred

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nge7 5.c3 g6 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Bg7 8.d5 Na5 9.Bd2 Nc4 10.Bc3 Bxc3+ 11.Nxc3 Nxb2 12.Qd4 O-O 13.Bb3 c5 14.Qd2 c4 15.Qxb2 cxb3 16.d6 Nc6 17.Nd5 Qa5+ 18.Nd2 Rd8 19.Nf6+ Kf8 20.Ng4 1-0

Standing After Eight Rounds Challengers

Adhiban 6.5
Safarli 6
Dreev 5.5
Nisipeanu 4
Antipov 4
Sevian 4
Van Foreest 4
Batsiashvili 4
Bok 3.5
L’Ami 3.5
Admiraal 3
Abasov 3
Ju Wenjun 3
Haast 2
________

And in the rest of the world – the East Coast of the United States is buried under a giant snowstorm:

Due to the winter storm, these tournaments have been cancelled: Marshall Chess Club Saturday Junior, Chess NYC – all chess events for this weekend..

(To Be Concluded)