Tata Steel Masters 2016

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel Masters 2016

January 24, 2016

Round Eight (Concluded)

Peter talks about an isolani being “marooned” and Jan affects not to understand what that means. Later the question comes up as to which player in this tournament you would choose to be with, if you were to be marooned on a desert island.

Wei Yi is ruled out right away because you probably could not communicate with him. Peter goes with Mickey Adams, who is affable and co-operative. The viewer suspects that the two will talk about cricket all day long.

It becomes apparent that Jan wants to lean back against a palm tree and let his partner do all the work. He chooses Eljanov because he has the robust build to climb trees and build boats.

On further consideration, they say that Loek Van Wely would be a good second choice.

Anish Giri would be a witty companion but you just can’t picture him in that situation. He presents the image of someone to whom only the good things in life happen!

With the outages and so forth in the transmission, the kibitzers online say that they must be caused by the cleaning lady mopping among the tv cables. One gives this anecdote:

Once M. Tal came in on a rest day at Wijk. There was no one around. So, he played chess with the cleaning lady all afternoon. Actual true story.

I believe that Tal played at Wijk in 1968, 1973 and 1976. Has anyone else heard this story?

With lots of time on their hands, the guys talk about their favorite television series, old computer games and so forth. Lots of popular culture.

Peter said that his first chess book was the Russian translation of Edmar Mednis’s “How to Beat Bobby Fischer”. (Kak pobeždali Bobbi Fišera, 1981)

Jan says (tongue in cheek) that his first chess book was Dan Heisman´s ¨Everyone´s 2nd Chess Book¨ (2000).

After six and a half hours the final game is over:

Tata Steel Masters
Round 8, Jan. 24, 2016
Adams, Michael – Eljanov, Pavel
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open 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 Be7 10. Rd1+ Ke8 11. g4 Nh4 12. Nxh4 Bxh4 13. Nc3 h5 14. f3 f5 15. exf6 gxf6 16. Ne2 Kf7 17. b3 Re8 18. Nf4 hxg4 19. fxg4 f5 20. Rf1 Bf6 21. Rb1 Bd4+ 22. Kh1 fxg4 23. Bb2 Bxb2 24. Rxb2 Re3 25. c4 Rf3 26. Rxf3 gxf3 27. Rf2 Bf5 28. Kh2 Be4 29. Nd3 Ke6 30. Ne1 Kd6 31. Kg3 Kc5 32. Nxf3 Kb4 33. Kf4 Bb1 34. Rb2 Rf8+ 35. Ke3 Bf5 36. Rh2 Ka3 37. h4 Bb1 38. h5 Bxa2 39. Nd2 Bxb3 40. Kd4 Bc2 41. Kc3 Bh7 42. Rh1 Ka2 43. Rh2 b6 44. Ne4+ Ka3 45. Ng5 Bb1 46. Rh1 Ba2 47. Rh3 b5 48. Ne6 Rg8 49. h6 Bxc4 50. Nd4 Bd5 51. h7 Rh8 52. Nc2+ Ka4 53. Kd4 b4 54. Kc5 a5 55. Rh4 Kb3 56. Nd4+ Ka3 57. Nc2+ Kb2 58. Rh2 b3 59. Ne3+ Ka3 60. Nd1 a4 61. Nc3 b2 62. Rh3 Be6 63. Re3 Bf5 64. Nd5+ Ka2 65. Nb4+ Ka1 66. Ra3+ Kb1 67. Rf3 Kc1 68. Rf1+ Kd2 69. Rf2+ Ke3 70. Rxb2 Rxh7 71. Ra2 Rh1 72. Ra3+ Ke4 73. Na2 Ke5 74. Rxa4 Be4 75. Ra8 Bg6 76. Rf8 Ra1 77. Rf2 Be4 78. Re2 Kf4 79. Nc3 Bf3 80. Re7 Rc1 81. Kd4 c5+ 82. Kd3 c6 83. Ne2+ Bxe2+ 84. Rxe2 Kf5 85. Re8 ½-½

Standing After Round Eight Masters

Carlsen 5.5
Caruana 5
So 4.5
Ding Liren 4.5
Giri 4.5
Eljanov 4
Karjakin 4
Navara 4
Wei Yi 4
Mamedyarov 4
Hou Yifan 3.5
Tomashevsky 3
Van Wely 3
Adams 2.5

There is a rest day tomorrow, with the games resuming on Tuesday

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel Masters 2016

January 26, 2016

Round Nine

Peter and Jan are analyzing Mamedyarov’s game and Peter says that Alexander Khalifman is helping Shakhriyar and you can see his influence in the way Shakh is playing these days.

Jan says to Peter, “I pretend to be a chess player for the first hour by dropping some opening knowledge and then I lean back and let you do the heavy lifting, young padawan.”

Evidently a padawan is a young Jedi pupil and the nickname is used, often demeaningly, on someone trying to be as good as you!

Peter gets a comment, which says that the show could be improved if they altered their mind state before the broadcast. This seems to be a reference to cannabis. Jan asks 1) How do you know that we don’t? 2) Is it possible for us two to be any calmer than we are?

Peter: By this comment it seems that we haven’t yet reached total laid-backedness and dudeness.

They acknowledge that Tradewise Gibraltar is on now and Vishy Anand is playing in his first open in 23 years. And it as a measure of the strength of the field that Vishy is seeded third, behind Nakamura and Vachier-Lagrave.

The games here:

Tata Masters 2016
Round 9, Jan. 26, 2016
Eljanov, Pavel – Giri, Anish
E04 Catalan, Open

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 c5 6.O-O Nc6 7.Na3 cxd4 8.Nxc4 Bc5 9.a3 a5 10.Bd2 O-O 11.Rc1 Bd6 12.Nxd6 Qxd6 13.e3 e5 14.exd4 Bg4 15.h3 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Nxd4 17.Be3 Rad8 18.Bxd4 exd4 19.Qd2 Qb6 20.b4 axb4 21.Qxb4 Qxb4 22.axb4 Rd7 23.Rc5 Re8 24.Rd1 g6 25.Rc4 d3 26.Kf1 Re6 27.g4 h6 28.h4 Re5 29.Rc5 Rxc5 30.bxc5 Rc7 31.Rxd3 Nd7 32.Rd6 Nxc5 33.Rb6 Kg7 34.Kg2 f6 35.Kg3 g5 36.hxg5 hxg5 37.Rb5 Kf7 38.Rb6 Ke7 39.Rb5 Kd6 40.Rb6+ Ke5 41.Rb5 Kd4 42.Rb6 Rf7 43.Rd6+ Kc3 44.Rb6 Kd4 45.Rd6+ Kc4 46.Rb6 Kc3 47.Kg2 Kc4 48.Kg3 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Jan. 26, 2016
Van Wely, Loek – So, Wesley
D38 QGD, Ragozin Variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Qa4+ Nc6 9.e3 O-O 10.Be2 Be6 11.O-O a6 12.Rfc1 Bd6 13.a3 g5 14.Qd1 Rad8 15.Na4 Bc8 16.Nc5 Rfe8 17.Rc3 Ne7 18.Rac1 Nf5 19.Nd2 Re7 20.b4 Kg7 21.Nf1 Rh8 22.Bh5 c6 23.a4 Rc7 24.Nd2 Re8 25.h3 Qe7 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Jan. 26, 2016
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Ding Liren
D47 QGD, Semi-Slav, Meran, Wade Variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.a3 b4 10.Ne4 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 Nf6 12.Bd3 bxa3 13.O-O axb2 14.Bxb2 a5 15.Qb3 Bb4 16.Ba3 c5 17.Bb5+ Ke7 18.dxc5 Bxf3 19.gxf3 Qd5 20.Qxd5 Nxd5 21.Bc6 Ra7 22.Bxd5 Bxa3 23.Rxa3 exd5 24.Rd1 Ke6 25.Rb1 Rc8 26.Rb5 a4 27.Rb4 Rxc5 28.Rbxa4 Rxa4 29.Rxa4 Rc6 30.Kg2 Rb6 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Jan. 26, 2016
Tomashevsky, Evgeny – Hou Yifan
E54 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System, Main Line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.O-O cxd4 8.exd4 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b6 10.Bg5 Bb7 11.Qe2 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Nbd7 13.Nd2 Qc7 14.Rac1 Nd5 15.f3 e5 16.Rfe1 Rae8 17.Bxd5 Bxd5 18.c4 Bb7 19.d5 f5 20.Be3 Rc8 21.a4 a5 22.Qd3 Rf6 23.Qa3 Ba6 24.Bf2 Rh6 25.h3 Rg6 26.Qe7 h5 27.h4 Qd8 28.Qxd8+ Rxd8 29.Kh2 Kf7 30.Rc3 Re8 31.Bg3 Nc5 32.Rxe5 Rxe5 33.Bxe5 Nxa4 34.Ra3 Nc5 35.Bd4 Nd7 36.Kg1 Rh6 37.Kf2 Rh8 38.Re3 Rc8 39.d6 Re8 40.Rxe8 Kxe8 41.Bxg7 Kf7 42.Bb2 f4 43.Ke2 b5 44.cxb5 Bxb5+ 45.Kd1 Ke6 46.Ne4 Nb6 47.Bc1 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Jan. 26, 2016
Caruana, Fabiano – Karjakin, Sergey
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 O-O 7.Nc4 Nd7 8.Qe2 Re8 9.Bd2 Bd6 10.h4 Nf8 11.h5 Ne6 12.O-O-O c5 13.Qf1 f6 14.Nh4 Nd4 15.c3 Nc6 16.Nf5 Bxf5 17.exf5 h6 18.g4 Bf8 19.Qe2 Qd7 20.Be3 Rad8 21.Qc2 Kh7 22.Qb3 a6 23.Nd2 Na5 24.Qc2 Qd5 25.Kb1 Qxd3 26.Qxd3 Rxd3 27.Ne4 c4 28.b4 Nc6 29.Rxd3 cxd3 30.a4 Rd8 31.Rd1 Kg8 32.Kb2 Kf7 33.a5 b6 34.axb6 cxb6 35.Ra1 d2 36.Nxd2 a5 37.b5 Na7 38.c4 Nc8 39.Ne4 Bb4 40.Kc2 Ke8 41.Rd1 Rxd1 42.Kxd1 Kd7 43.Kc2 Kc7 44.c5 a4 45.f3 bxc5 46.Nxc5 Bxc5 47.Bxc5 Nd6 48.b6+ Kc6 49.b7 Nxb7 50.Bf8 Nd6 51.Bxg7 Nf7 52.Bxf6 a3 53.Bh4 Kd5 54.Be1 a2 55.Kb2 Kd4 56.Bd2 Kd3 57.Bc1 Ke2 58.f4 exf4 59.Bxf4 Kf3 60.Bxh6 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Jan. 26, 2016
Wei Yi – Navara, David
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 O-O 7.Nc4 Nd7 8.Qe2 Re8 9.Bd2 Bd6 10.h4 c5 11.h5 h6 12.O-O-O Nb8 13.Rdg1 Nc6 14.g4 f6 15.g5 fxg5 16.Nxg5 Nd4 17.Qd1 hxg5 18.Bxg5 Be7 19.Be3 Bf6 20.h6 Re7 21.hxg7 Rxg7 22.Qh5 Be6 23.Bh6 Bf7 24.Bxg7 Bxh5 25.Bxf6+ Kf8 26.Bxd8 Ne2+ 27.Kb1 Nxg1 28.Bxc7 1-0

If 28...Nf3 29.Rxh5 Kg7 30.Nxe5 Nd4 31.Bd6 Ne6 32.Ng4 Kg6 33.Rh6+ Kg5 34.Rxe6 Kxg4 35.Bxc5
______

Carlsen-Adams gets a lot of attention. Peter is directed to a website that puzzles him. It appears to be dedicated only to the Carlsen game that is being immediately played. Peter speculates that it is a Norwegian university supercomputer that trawls the Internet looking for Carlsen games and when it finds one, it starts analyzing it!!

I believe the machine is called sesse. I don’t know if this link is always open or just when Carlsen is playing:

http://analysis.sesse.net/

Round 9, Jan. 26, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Adams, Michael
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O d6 5.c3 Nf6 6.d3 h6 7.a4 a5 8.Na3 O-O 9.Nc2 Re8 10.Re1 Ba7 11.Be3 Be6 12.Bb5 Bd7 13.Bxa7 Nxa7 14.Bc4 Be6 15.Bxe6 Rxe6 16.Ne3 Nc8 17.Nf5 Ne7 18.d4 exd4 19.N3xd4 Re5 20.Ng3 Ng6 21.Qc2 c6 22.Rad1 Qc7 23.Ndf5 Rd8 24.Qd2 Kh7 25.f4 Qb6+ 26.Kh1 Ree8 27.h3 Rd7 28.Nxd6 Rxd6 29.Qxd6 Qf2 30.Qd3 Nxf4 31.Qf3 Nxh3 32.Re2 Qxf3 33.gxf3 Ng5 34.Kg2 Ne6 35.Red2 g6 36.Nf1 h5 37.Ne3 h4 38.Nc4 g5 39.Nxa5 g4 40.Nxb7 g3 41.Nd6 Rg8 42.Nf5 Nf4+ 43.Kh1 h3 44.a5 N6h5 45.a6 Ne6 46.a7 Ra8 47.Ra1 Ng5 48.Nh4 Nf4 49.b4 g2+ 50.Nxg2 hxg2+ 51.Rxg2 Nxg2 52.Kxg2 Ne6 53.c4 Nc7 54.Kg3 Kg6 55.Kf4 Kf6 56.e5+ Ke7 57.Ke4 f6 58.f4 fxe5 59.Kxe5 Ne8 60.f5 Nd6 61.f6+ Kd7 62.Rd1 Re8+ 63.Kd4 Kc7 64.Re1 Nf5+ 65.Kc3 Ra8 66.f7 1-0

Standing After Round Nine

1. Carlsen 6.5
2. Caruana 5.5
3. So 5
4. Wei Yi 5
5. Ding Liren 5
6. Giri 5
7. Eljanov 4.5
8. Karjakin 4.5
9. Mamedyarov 4.5
10. Hou Yifan 4
11. Navara 4
12. Tomashevsky 3.5
13. Van Wely 3.5
14. Adams 2.5

In Round Ten, two games of interest – Giri-Carlsen and Caruana-Wei Yi

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel 2016

January 27, 2016

Round Ten

The commentators at the official site are Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam and Jan Timman. Dirk and Jan are both editors of New in Chess magazine. Dirk first started commentating at the World Championship Match in 2012 at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow (Anand and Gelfand).

Dirk says that they are in the Railway Museum in Utrecht and the tables are in front of a huge locomotive. David Navara came up and said that he was not sure about it because they were told that engines weren’t allowed in the playing hall!

Jan is asked about Wei Yi and says that he is playing very cautiously in his first big international tournament. He had eight draws and then in Round Nine, there were two games with the same variation of the Berlin – Wei Yi-Navara and Caruana-Karjakin. Navara played it slightly inaccurately and Karjakin played it better and the former lost and latter drew.

Dirk is a very good interviewer. He can put in a question or two to keep the momentum going and with Jan here, have enough to fill several pages of text.

Dirk asks him about the Chinese players and he says that Carlsen in Qatar couldn’t understand Li Chao’s game, even though he appeared to beat him easily. On the other hand Bu Xiangzhi is a very classical player with Ding Liren in between the two and Wei Yi at a point where he could go either way. In any case, China has seven players over 2700. Ni Hua is not sure if he wants to continue on in competitions or become a trainer.

One cannot actually speak of a Chinese School of chess but their play, taken as a whole, is sufficiently different from that of other countries to distinguish it.

The Ding Liren-Wei Yi match in the World Cup 2015, at Baku was interesting enough to merit a book written about it. You’ll recall that Wei Yi won the match 3.5-2.5 and Peter Svidler knocked him off in the Quarterfinals.

Karjakin told Dirk that he wants to play a real tournament, this one, as his preparation for the Candidates. Jan says that this is very valuable practice. It is apparent that Sergey is concentrating on his play rather than on opening theory. You get a kick from that.

Jan: Chess is an addiction, but a beautiful addiction. I am 64 years old and still get a kick from the game. It is like a criminal going back to the place where he committed the crime.

Jan is sometimes called the grandmaster from Delft, but he was born in Amsterdam and moved to Delft when he was very young. The last time when he was at the Railway Museum was 50 years ago. He came to Utrecht by train.

They discuss countries without railways and can think of only two, Jordan and Iceland.

Tata Steel Masters 2016
Round 10, Jan. 27, 2016
Giri, Anish – Carlsen, Magnus
D38 QGD, Ragozin Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.Qb3 Bxc3+ 8.Qxc3 c6 9.e3 Nd7 10.Bd3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 O-O 12.Bd3 c5 13.O-O b6 14.Be4 Rb8 15.b4 Bb7 16.Bxb7 Rxb7 17.Rac1 Rc8 18.dxc5 bxc5 19.Qxf6 gxf6 20.a3 Rcc7 21.g3 cxb4 22.Rxc7 Rxc7 23.axb4 Rb7 24.Ra1 Rxb4 25.Rxa7 Nc5 26.Ra2 Kg7 27.Kg2 Rb7 28.Rc2 Ne4 29.Nd4 f5 30.Ne2 Rd7 31.Nd4 Rb7 32.h3 Rd7 33.Kf3 Ng5+ 34.Kg2 Ne4 1/2-1/2

Round 10, Jan. 27, 2016
Caruana, Fabiano – Wei Yi
C83 Ruy Lopez, Open, Classical Defence

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.c3 Be7 10.Bc2 Bg4 11.h3 Bh5 12.g4 Bg6 13.Nd4 Qd7 14.f4 Nxd4 15.cxd4 f5 16.Be3 O-O 17.Nc3 c6 18.Bxe4 dxe4 19.d5 b4 20.dxc6 Qxd1 21.Nxd1 Rfd8 22.Rc1 Rd3 23.Bc5 Bd8 24.e6 Rc8 25.e7 Ba5 26.gxf5 Be8 27.Nf2 Rd5 28.Nxe4 Bxc6 29.Bxb4 Bxb4 30.Rxc6 Re8 31.f6 Rd4 32.Re6 1-0

Round 10, Jan. 27, 2016
So, Wesley – Tomashevsky, Evgeny
A29 English, Bremen

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Nd4 5.Bg2 Nxf3+ 6.Bxf3 Bb4 7.Qb3 Bc5 8.O-O O-O 9.Na4 Bd6 10.Rd1 Re8 11.d4 exd4 12.Rxd4 Be5 13.Rd1 Qe7 14.Nc3 h6 15.Nd5 Nxd5 16.cxd5 c5 17.Bd2 d6 18.Bc3 b6 19.Rd3 Bd7 20.Re3 Qf6 21.a4 Re7 22.Rxe5 Rxe5 23.Be4 Qe7 24.Bxe5 Qxe5 25.Bd3 Re8 26.Bc4 Qd4 27.Qc3 Qxc3 28.bxc3 Re4 29.Bb5 Bxb5 30.axb5 Rxe2 31.Rxa7 Rb2 32.c4 Rb4 33.Ra8+ Kh7 34.Ra6 Rxc4 35.Rxb6 Rb4 36.Kf1 Rb2 37.Ke1 c4 38.Rxd6 Rxb5 39.Rc6 Rxd5 40.Rxc4 1/2-1/2

Round 10, Jan. 27, 2016
Ding Liren – Van Wely, Loek
D97 Grunfeld, Russian Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 Na6 8.Be2 c5 9.d5 e6 10.O-O exd5 11.exd5 Bf5 12.Bg5 h6 13.Be3 Qb6 14.b3 Rfe8 15.Nd2 Nd7 16.Rac1 Bd4 17.Rfd1 Nb4 18.Nf3 Rxe3 19.fxe3 Bxe3+ 20.Kh1 Bxc1 21.Rxc1 Qd6 22.Qh4 g5 23.Qf2 Qf4 24.Rd1 Bg6 25.Bb5 Ne5 26.Ne2 Qf6 27.Qxc5 Nxf3 28.Qxb4 Nh4 29.Ng3 Qb6 30.Rd4 a5 31.Qc4 Rd8 32.a4 Qf6 33.Rd2 Qa1+ 34.Nf1 Nf5 35.Qc7 Rd6 36.Kg1 Rf6 37.d6 Ne3 38.Qd8+ Kg7 39.Qxf6+ Qxf6 40.Nxe3 Qc3 41.Nf1 Bf5 42.d7 Bxd7 43.Rxd7 Qxb3 44.Rxb7 h5 45.Rd7 h4 46.h3 Qe6 47.Kh1 Qe4 48.Rc7 Kf8 49.Rc3 Kg7 50.Rf3 Qe1 51.Kh2 Qe5+ 52.Kg1 Qe1 53.Rf2 Qb1 54.Rd2 f5 55.Kf2 g4 56.Ne3 Qe4 57.hxg4 fxg4 58.Rd5 Kf6 59.Rf5+ Ke7 60.Ke2 h3 61.gxh3 gxh3 62.Rh5 Qh1 63.Rh7+ Kf8 64.Bc4 h2 1/2-1/2

Round 10, Jan. 27, 2016
Karjakin, Sergey – Adams, Michael
D02 Queen’s Bishop Game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 d5 3.e3 e6 4.Nf3 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Nbd2 Bd6 7.Bg3 O-O 8.Bd3 b6 9.Ne5 Bb7 10.f4 Ne7 11.Qf3 Nf5 12.Bf2 Be7 13.g4 Nd6 14.g5 Nfe4 15.O-O-O c4 16.Bc2 b5 17.Qh3 b4 18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.Be1 Bd5 20.Rg1 b3 21.axb3 cxb3 22.Bb1 f5 23.gxf6 Bxf6 24.Rg4 Nf5 25.Kd2 Qa5 26.Ke2 Bxe5 27.dxe5 Rad8 28.Kf2 Qa1 29.Bd2 Bc4 30.Qh5 Qxb2 31.Ke1 Rxd2 0-1

Round 10, Jan. 27, 2016
Hou Yifan – Eljanov, Pavel
C53 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.Nbd2 a6 8.Bb3 Be6 9.Bc2 h6 10.h3 Re8 11.Re1 d5 12.exd5 Bxd5 13.b4 Ba7 14.a4 b5 15.Bb2 Qb8 16.Nf1 Qb6 17.Ne3 Rad8 18.a5 Qb7 19.Nxd5 Nxd5 20.Nh4 Re6 21.d4 Rf6 22.Qh5 Qc8 23.Be4 Nf4 24.Qf3 Ng6 25.Qg3 Nxh4 26.Qxh4 exd4 27.Bf3 d3 28.Rad1 Qf5 29.c4 g5 30.Qe4 Bd4 31.Bxd4 Nxd4 32.Rxd3 Ne2+ 33.Rxe2 Rxd3 34.Qe8+ Kg7 35.Be4 Rd1+ 36.Kh2 Qf4+ 37.g3 Qd6 38.cxb5 Rd2 39.Bg2 Rxf2 40.Rxf2 Rxf2 41.Qe3 Rf6 42.bxa6 Qxa6 43.Qc5 Qd6 44.Qc3 Kg8 45.b5 Rf2 46.Qe1 Ra2 47.a6 Qd5 48.Qf1 Qd4 49.Qg1 Qxg1+ 50.Kxg1 Kf8 51.Bd5 Ra3 52.Kf2 Ke7 53.g4 f6 54.Ke2 Kd6 55.Be4 Kc5 56.Bd3 Kd4 57.Bf5 Rxh3 58.Bd7 Ra3 59.Bc6 Kc5 60.Bd7 Kb6 61.Kf2 c5 62.bxc6 Rxa6 63.Kf3 Ra4 64.Ke3 Kc7 65.Kf3 Kd6 66.Ke3 Ra5 67.Ke4 Re5+ 68.Kf3 Re7 0-1

Round 10, Jan. 27, 2016
Navara, David – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C76 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defence, Bronstein Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.c3 a6 5.Ba4 d6 6.d4 Bd7 7.O-O Bg7 8.Re1 h6 9.Nbd2 exd4 10.e5 Nge7 11.cxd4 O-O 12.Ne4 Bg4 13.Nf6+ Bxf6 14.exf6 Nf5 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Re4 Bxf3 17.Qxf3 Qxf6 18.Bxh6 Rfe8 19.Rxe8+ Rxe8 20.g4 Qh4 21.gxf5 Qxh6 22.Qxc6 Re2 23.fxg6 Qxg6+ 24.Qg2 Rxb2 25.Rc1 Rxa2 26.Qxg6+ fxg6 27.Rxc7 Ra4 28.d5 Ra1+ 29.Kg2 Ra5 30.Rc6 Rxd5 31.Rxa6 Kg7 1/2-1/2

Standing After Round Ten Masters

1. Carlsen 7
2. Caruana 6.5
3. So 5.5
4. Giri 5.5
5. Ding Liren 5.5
6. Eljanov 5.5
7. Wei Yi 5
8. Mamedyarov 5
9. Navara 4.5
10. Karjakin 4.5
11. Van Wely 4
12. Tomashevsky 4
13. Hou Yifan 4
14. Adams 3.5

Standing After Round Ten Challengers

1. Adhiban 7.5
2. Dreev 7
3. Safarli 6.5
4. Van Foreest 6
5. Sevian 6
6. Nisipeanu 5
7. Antipov 5
8. Abasov 5
9. Bok 4.5
10. L’Ami 4.5
11. Batsiashvili 4
12. Ju Wenjun 4
13. Admiraal 3.5
14. Haast 2

Tomorrow is a travel/rest day and play resumes on Friday, the 29th.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel 2016

January 29, 2016

Round Eleven

Jan and Peter in the commentators chairs again. You can see that we are nearing the end of the tournament because today, the ties are off and the collars open.

One problem with writing up the conversations of these two is knowing what to record and what to drop. There are often running jokes. If you don’t recognize one on the first day and it continues, trying to explain it becomes increasingly difficult.
A few rounds back they talked about what chess player they would like to be marooned on a desert island with. Today they say that it is tradition to use this word in chess broadcasts and we are continuing on in that tradition. The etymology of “maroon” is obscure. I have always taken the meaning to put (a person) ashore and leave him on a desolate island or coast (as was done by the buccaneers and pirates) by way of punishment.

Speaking of etymology, someone once asked Peter the origin of his twitter handle “polborta” and he answered that it is a Russian billiard term, which means a really bad, miss, literally by half a cushion. A viewer added that this is the equivalent of a golden duck in cricket, i.e. a batsman who is dismissed for a zero score.

Since I know nothing about billiards or cricket and being marooned has been dropped as a subject, I had better stop here.

There is a discussion about who has had a run of the most draws at Wijk and the score between Judit Polgar and Peter in classical games. Two easy answers for an Internet search but it goes on for a long time.

The game between arguably the best male and female player in the world.

Tata Masters 2016
Round 11, Jan. 29, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Hou Yifan
C42 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.b3 Bf6 11.h3 O-O-O 12.g4 h6 13.Bg2 Kb8 14.Rhe1 Rhe8 15.Kb2 a6 16.Re2 Qe7 17.Rde1 Qf8 18.Nd4 Nxd4 19.Bxd4 Bxd4 20.Qxd4 Bd7 21.f4 Rxe2 22.Rxe2 Re8 23.Rxe8+ Bxe8 24.Qb4 c6 25.Bf1 Kc8 26.g5 Qe7 27.gxh6 gxh6 28.Qd4 f6 29.Qa7 Bd7 30.a4 Qd8 31.Qg1 Qe7 32.Qg6 Qe1 33.Bd3 Qh4 34.Bf5 Bxf5 35.Qxf5+ Kb8 36.c4 Kc7 37.Qa5+ Kc8 38.Qd2 Kd7 39.c5 d5 40.Qe3 Qh5 41.Qg3 Qf7 42.Qg4+ f5 43.Qg3 Qf6+ 44.Qc3 Qxc3+ 45.Kxc3 h5 46.Kb4 Kc8 47.Ka5 Kc7 48.h4 Kb8 49.Kb6 Kc8 50.b4 Kb8 51.b5 cxb5 52.axb5 axb5 53.Kxb5 Kc7 54.c3 1-0

45….h5 appears to be the losing move, best was a5

Round 11, Jan. 29, 2016
Adams, Michael – Giri, Anish
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.O-O Bg7 6.Re1 Nh6 7.c3 O-O 8.h3 f5 9.e5 Nf7 10.d3 Ba6 11.c4 d6 12.e6 Ne5 13.Nc3 Rb8 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.Na4 Qc7 16.Bh6 Rf6 17.Rxe5 dxe5 18.Nxc5 Bc8 19.d4 g5 20.Bxg5 Rg6 21.Qh5 Qd6 22.Re1 Qxd4 23.Be3 Qxc4 24.b3 Qb4 25.Rd1 Bxe6 26.Nxe6 Rxe6 27.Qxf5 Rd6 28.Rc1 Qa5 29.Rc4 Rg6 30.Rg4 Rxg4 31.Qxg4+ Kh8 32.Qe6 Re8 33.Qxc6 Rd8 34.a4 Qd5 35.Qxd5 Rxd5 36.Bxa7 Rd1+ 37.Kh2 Rb1 38.Bc5 Rxb3 39.Bxe7 Rb2 40.Bf6+ Kg8 41.Bxe5 Rxf2 42.a5 1/2-1/2

The guys say that if Adams had played 23.Rd1, it would have made this a game for the textbooks. But instead Be3 and Anish was let off the hook.

Round 11, Jan. 29, 2016
Eljanov, Pavel – So, Wesley
D92 Grunfeld

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.Rc1 dxc4 7.e4 c5 8.dxc5 Qa5 9.Nd2 Be6 10.Bxc4 Bxc4 11.Nxc4 Qxc5 12.b3 Nc6 13.Be3 Qh5 14.Qxh5 Nxh5 15.g4 Nf6 16.f3 Rfd8 17.Ke2 Nd4+ 18.Kf2 Nc6 19.a4 Kf8 20.h4 Rd3 21.e5 Nd5 22.Nxd5 Rxd5 23.f4 Rad8 24.Ke2 Ke8 25.Rhe1 f6 26.exf6 exf6 27.Red1 Rxd1 28.Rxd1 Rxd1 29.Kxd1 Kd7 30.f5 gxf5 31.gxf5 b6 32.Bf2 Ne7 33.a5 b5 34.Nd2 a6 35.Ne4 Nxf5 36.Nc5+ Kc6 37.Nxa6 Bf8 38.h5 Bd6 39.b4 Ng7 40.Bc5 Ne6 41.Be3 Kb7 42.Nc5+ Bxc5 43.bxc5 Ka6 44.Bd2 Nxc5 45.Ke2 Ne6 46.Kf3 f5 47.Be1 Kb7 48.Bd2 Kc7 49.Kg3 Kd6 50.Bb4+ Kd7 51.Kh4 Nc7 52.Kg5 Ke6 53.Bc3 Na6 54.h6 b4 55.Ba1 b3 56.Bb2 Nb4 57.Ba1 Na6 58.Bb2 Nc5 59.Ba1 Ne4+ 60.Kf4 Nc5 1/2-1/2

So has been very quiet this tournament. This is his tenth straight draw after beating Giri in Round One.

Round 11, Jan. 29, 2016
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Caruana, Fabiano
B22 Sicilian-Alekhine-Alapin

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 e6 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 d6 7.Bd3 dxe5 8.dxe5 Nb4 9.Be4 Qxd1+ 10.Kxd1 Nd7 11.Bd2 a5 12.a3 Nc5 13.axb4 Nxe4 14.Be1 b6 15.Nc3 Nxc3+ 16.Bxc3 a4 17.Nd2 Bb7 18.f3 Bd5 19.Kc1 b5 20.b3 a3 21.Kb1 Be7 22.Ka2 O-O 23.Rac1 Rfc8 24.Nb1 Bg5 25.Bd2 Rxc1 26.Rxc1 Bxb3+ 27.Kxb3 a2 28.Na3 Bxd2 29.Ra1 Bf4 30.h3 Bxe5 31.Rxa2 Rb8 32.Rc2 Bd6 33.Rc6 Be7 34.Rc7 Bf8 35.Ra7 g6 36.Ra5 Rd8 37.Rxb5 Rd2 38.Rb8 Kg7 39.Nc4 Rxg2 40.b5 Rg1 41.Rxf8 Kxf8 42.b6 Rg5 43.Kb4 Rg1 44.Nd2 Rd1 45.b7 Rxd2 46.b8=Q+ Kg7 47.Qe5+ Kg8 48.Qb8+ Kg7 49.Qe5+ Kg8 50.Qb8+ 1/2-1/2

Caruana committed an inaccuracy on his 40th move, better was Rg5.

Shakh’s fiftieth move threw away the win evidently, although I don’t see why it is so bad.

Round 11, Jan. 29, 2016
Tomashevsky, Evgeny – Ding Liren
E11 Bogo-Indian Defence

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O c6 8.Bf4 Nbd7 9.Nc3 dxc4 10.e4 Re8 11.a4 b6 12.Qe2 Ba6 13.Rfd1 Bb4 14.Ne1 Qc8 15.Nc2 Bf8 16.Ne3 e5 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Bxe5 Rxe5 19.f4 Re8 20.e5 Qe6 21.Kh1 Nd7 22.Nc2 Nc5 23.Nd4 Qc8 24.Bxc6 Nd3 25.Qf3 Rb8 26.Rd2 Bb7 27.Rf1 Rd8 28.Bxb7 Rxb7 29.Nf5 Rc7 30.Ne3 Qe6 31.Ne4 h6 32.Rc2 Rcc8 33.Re2 a6 34.g4 Nc5 35.Nc3 Rd3 36.Qg2 Rcd8 37.f5 Qxe5 38.Nxc4 Qf6 39.Ne5 R3d6 40.Nf3 b5 41.axb5 axb5 42.Nxb5 Rd1 43.Nc3 Rxf1+ 44.Qxf1 Qc6 45.Re3 Rb8 46.Qg2 Qa6 47.Ne4 Nxe4 48.Rxe4 Rb3 49.Re1 Qb5 50.Nd4 Qb4 51.Qe4 Rxb2 52.f6 Qd6 53.Qe5 Rb1 0-1

Tomashevsky had an increasingly difficult game after the time control. 55…Rbi is a beautiful tactical shot. Ding Liren wins. Carlsen considers him the strongest Chinese player.

Round 11, Jan. 29, 2016
Van Wely, Loek – Navara, David
A04 Reti (English Symmetrical)

1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Nb3 d6 7.O-O h5 8.h3 Be6 9.e4 Qd7 10.Kh2 f5 11.exf5 gxf5 12.N1d2 h4 13.gxh4 Nf6 14.Nf3 Ne4 15.Bg5 Bc4 16.Re1 Bxb2 17.Nbd2 Nc3 18.Nxc4 Nxd1 19.Raxd1 Bg7 20.Nxd6+ Kf8 21.Nb5 Qc8 22.Bf4 Bf6 23.Nc7 e5 24.Nxe5 Bxe5 25.Rxe5 Nxe5 26.Bxe5 Rh7 27.Nxa8 Qxa8 28.c4 Qc8 29.Bd6+ Kf7 30.Bd5+ Kf6 31.Re1 Qd7 32.Be5+ Ke7 33.Bf4+ Kd8 34.Bg5+ Kc7 35.Bf4+ Kd8 36.Bg5+ Kc7 37.Bf4+ Kd8 1/2-1/2

Loek screwed up the opening early. David tried to punish him. He was doing well until he took the pawn at b2. There followed a fantastic game, ending in a draw. David is really playing the most interesting chess in this tournament.

Round 11, Jan. 29, 2016
Wei Yi – Karjakin, Sergey
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open Variation

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. Nc3 Ne8 10. Nd5 Bd6 11. Re1 c6 12. Ne3 Be7 13. c4 Nc7 14. d4 d6 15. g3 Bf6 16. Bg2 g6 17. Qd3 d5 18. cxd5 cxd5 19. b3 Be6 20. Bb2 Qd7 21. Rac1 Rac8 22. f4 Bg7 23. Rc2 Na6 24. Rf2 Nb4 25. Qd1 Nc6 26. f5 gxf5 27. Ref1 Ne7 28. Ba3 Bh6 29. Qd3 Rfe8 30. Bxe7 Qxe7 31. Nxf5 Bxf5 32. Rxf5 Qe2 33. Qf3 Qxf3 34. Bxf3 Re7 35. Kg2 Be3 36. Bxd5 Rcc7 37. Rd1 Rc1 38. Rxc1 Bxc1 39. Bc4 Rd7 40. d5 Ba3 41. g4 Kg7 42. Rg5+ Kh8 43. Rh5 Kg7 44. Bd3 h6 45. g5 hxg5 46. Rxg5+ Kh6 47. Rf5 Kg7 48. Kf3 Rd6 49. Rg5+ Kh6 50. Kg4 Bc1 51. Re5 Bb2 52. Rh5+ Kg7 53. Rg5+ Kf8 54. Rh5 Kg7 55. Kf4 Rf6+ 56. Ke3 Ba3 57. h4 Bc5+ 58. Ke4 Rf2 59. Ke5 Rd2 60. Rg5+ Kf8 61. Rg3 Rh2 62. Rg4 Ke7 63. a4 Rh3 64. Bc2 Bd6+ 65. Kf5 Rf3+ 66. Kg5 Be5 67. Rb4 b6 68. h5 Rh3 69. Rc4 Bf6+ 70. Kh6 Be5 71. Kg5 Bf6+ 72. Kh6 Be5 73. Kg5 ½-½

- They finally agreed to a draw. I admire Wei Yi for his determination for trying to win this game

- yep , good try , Wei is in the senior league now

- extremely precise play, by both. Congratulations!

Wei Yi had a slight advantage but both players conducted an accurate game and the result was a draw. Jan and Peter stuck it out to the bitter end.

Both were very tired. Jan said: My vocabulary is only 100 words but I try to make them all rhyme with Wei Yi, which makes my commentary worth watching!

Jan kept talking through the last game about having a steak for dinner and he was wondering how to see a movie, surf the Internet and eat all at the same time.

Standings after Round 11

1. Carlsen 8
2. Caruana 7
3. Ding Liren 6.5
4. So 6
5. Eljanov 6
6. Giri 6
7. Wei Yi 5.5
8. Mamedyarov 5.5
9. Navara 5
10. Karjakin 5
11. Van Wely 4.5
12. Tomashevsky 4
13. Hou Yifan 4
14. Adams 4

In the Challengers Dreev and Adhiban co-lead with 8, Safarli is third with 7.5 and Van Foreest and Sevian are tied for fourth with 6 points

[Hans Jung]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

This round was a treat if you like interesting endgames.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

It was also nice to see Yifan holding Magnus as Black, and then not so nice to see her make an endgame strategical error to lose. Shows how much strategy there is in chess and the overwhelming assessments needed throughout a single game

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel 2016

January 30, 2016

Round Twelve

Comments from Colin McGourty at chess24.com:

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/tat...till-it-s-over

Magnus Carlsen takes a half-point lead into the final round of the Tata Steel Masters, but penultimate round wins for Fabiano Caruana and Ding Liren, over Loek van Wely and Pavel Eljanov, have ensured there’s still plenty to play for. Ding Liren is a point behind but plays Magnus and could tie him for first place, while Caruana could potentially consign the World Champion to second place if he wins while Carlsen loses. The action starts 90 minutes earlier than usual!

The games:

Tata Steel Masters
Round 12, Jan. 30, 2016
So, Wesley – Carlsen, Magnus
A30 English, Symmetrical, Hedgehog System

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.g3 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.O-O Be7 7.Re1 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.e4 Nb4 10.d4 cxd4 11.Nxd4 N8c6 12.Nxc6 Qxd1 13.Rxd1 Bxc6 14.Rb1 Rd8 15.Rxd8+ Kxd8 16.a3 Nd3 17.Be3 Kc7 18.f4 a5 19.e5 Rd8 20.Bxc6 Kxc6 21.Kf1 Bc5 22.Ke2 Bxe3 23.Kxe3 Nc5 24.Rc1 Rd3+ 25.Ke2 Rd4 26.Ke3 Rd3+ 27.Ke2 Rd4 28.Ke3 1/2-1/2

Round 12, Jan. 30, 2016
Hou Yifan – Adams, Michael
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, Open 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 Ke8 10.Nc3 h5 11.Rd1 Be7 12.Ne2 Nh4 13.Nxh4 Bxh4 14.Bf4 Be7 15.a4 g5 16.Be3 a5 17.f3 g4 18.Kh2 Bd7 19.Rd2 Rd8 20.Rad1 gxf3 21.gxf3 h4 22.Rg1 c5 23.Nc3 Bc6 24.Rxd8+ Kxd8 25.f4 Kd7 26.Rg7 Ke6 27.Nb5 Bxb5 28.axb5 c4 29.Kg2 a4 30.Bd4 Rd8 31.Bc3 Bc5 32.f5+ Kxf5 33.Rxf7+ Ke4 34.Rg7 Rf8 35.Rxc7 Rf2+ 36.Kh1 Rf1+ 37.Kg2 Rf2+ 38.Kh1 Be3 39.e6 Rf1+ 40.Kg2 Rf2+ 41.Kh1 Rf1+ 42.Kg2 Rf2+ 1/2-1/2

Round 12, Jan. 30, 2016
Wei Yi – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C95 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer, Borisenko Variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.c4 c6 12.Nc3 b4 13.Ne2 Nxe4 14.Qc2 f5 15.c5+ d5 16.Be3 Kh8 17.Nxe5 Nxe5 18.dxe5 Bh4 19.Rf1 a5 20.f3 Ng3 21.Nxg3 Bxg3 22.f4 Be6 23.Ba4 Rc8 24.Rf3 Bh4 25.Qd2 Rg8 26.Raf1 Rc7 27.g3 Be7 28.Qd4 Qd7 29.Kf2 Rcc8 30.Ke1 g6 31.Kd2 Rg7 32.Kc1 Rcg8 33.h4 1/2-1/2

Round 12, Jan. 30, 2016
Navara, David – Tomashevsky, Evgeny
E15 Queen’s Indian, Nimzowitsch Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qa4 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.dxc5 bxc5 8.O-O Be7 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Rd1 Qb6 11.Bf4 d6 12.Rab1 Nbd7 13.b4 Rfb8 14.a3 h6 15.h3 a6 16.g4 Qc7 17.Qa5 Qxa5 18.bxa5 Ne8 19.Ne5 Nxe5 20.Bxb7 Nxc4 21.Bxa8 Rxa8 22.Rb7 Bd8 23.Ne4 Bc7 24.Rc1 Nxa5 25.Rxc7 Nxc7 26.Bxd6 Nb5 27.Bxc5 Nb3 28.Rb1 Nxc5 29.Nxc5 Nxa3 30.Ra1 Nb5 31.Rxa6 Rxa6 32.Nxa6 1/2-1/2
_________

The most promising opening was Sergey Karjakin’s 1.b3 against Anish Giri! There were various theories behind why he did it:

To avoid getting into a theoretical discussion and showing any secrets against a Candidates Tournament rival

To make his Candidates Tournament rivals waste their time preparing an opening he wouldn’t dream of playing in that event

To train the opening and actually use it in the Candidates Tournament

Because he can! His score against Giri in classical games is 4 wins to 0!

Alas, the excitement didn’t last long, with Anish revealing he’d prepared an antidote to such swashbuckling play from the likes of Richard Rapport:

I felt comfortable today. He played not very critical in the opening and I played a rather simple variation. I played very solid. I think I intended to play it a couple of years ago against Richard Rapport – to bore him to death with it!

Round 12, Jan. 30, 2016
Karjakin, Sergey – Giri, Anish
A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack, Classical Variation

1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 Bg4 3.g3 e6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.h3 Bh5 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.d3 Bd6 8.Nbd2 O-O 9.O-O c6 10.c4 a5 11.a3 e5 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.g4 Bg6 14.Nh4 Re8 15.Nxg6 hxg6 16.e3 Nc5 17.Qb1 d4 18.b4 axb4 19.axb4 Ne6 20.Rxa8 Qxa8 21.Nc4 Bxb4 22.Nxe5 Bc5 23.Nc4 Qa7 24.Bc1 Rb8 25.Qb5 g5 26.Bd2 dxe3 27.fxe3 Rd8 28.Qxb7 Qxb7 29.Bxb7 Rxd3 30.Kg2 Rb3 1/2-1/2

Round 12, Jan. 30, 2016
Ding Liren – Eljanov, Pavel
E15 Queen’s Indian, 4.g3

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Nc3 Bb7 7.Bg2 c6 8.O-O d5 9.Qb3 O-O 10.Rfd1 Nbd7 11.Rac1 Rc8 12.Ne1 dxc4 13.Qxc4 b5 14.Qb3 Qb6 15.Bg5 h6 16.Bxf6 Nxf6 17.e3 c5 18.Bxb7 Qxb7 19.Qxb5 Qxb5 20.Nxb5 a6 21.Nc3 cxd4 22.exd4 Rfd8 23.Nf3 Rc4 24.Kf1 g5 25.h3 Rb4 26.Rc2 Kg7 27.b3 Nd5 28.Na4 Rb5 29.Rdd2 Bf6 30.Rc6 Nb4 31.Rc7 Rf5 32.Kg2 Rd6 33.Nc5 a5 34.Ra7 Bd8 35.Ne4 Rc6 36.Ne5 Rc7 37.Ra8 Bf6 38.Nd6 1-0
______

Round 12, Jan. 30, 2016
Caruana, Fabiano – Van Wely, Loek
B80 Sicilian, Scheveningen, English Variation, Main Line

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 e6 7.Be3 b5 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.g4 h6 10.O-O-O Bb7 11.h4 b4 12.Na4 Qa5 13.b3 Be7 14.Rh3 Nc5 15.a3 Rc8 16.axb4 Nxb3+ 17.Nxb3 Qxa4 18.Kb2 d5 19.Bc5 Qd7 20.g5 hxg5 21.hxg5 Rxh3 22.Bxh3 Nh7 23.f4 Qc7 24.Bxe7 Kxe7 25.Nc5 a5 26.g6 Nf6 27.e5 Nd7 28.Nxd7 Qxd7 29.f5 Rc4 30.f6+ gxf6 31.exf6+ Kd6 32.Qh2+ Kc6 33.g7 Qd8 34.Qe5 Bc8 35.b5+ Kb7 36.Rg1 Qb6 37.g8=Q 1-0

Loek played the Najdorf, and it was a flashback to the glory days of the opening. Until move 13 he was following a game he played, and drew, against Garry Kasparov back in 2000

Garry had gone for 14. Kb1, but Fabiano Caruana thought for 24 minutes before playing the computer’s recommendation 14. Rh3! A mere six moves later Svidler “had no words” to describe how badly things had gone for Black, but there were some glimmers of hope for the Dutchman. Fabiano has a terrible – for a player of his calibre – record against the Najdorf and there was mutual time trouble, which Loek felt he would be more comfortable with.

It seems objectively Fabiano may have rushed the final assault, but a single slip from Loek was enough to signal game over:
30. f6+!! was the “one little move” (his own words) Loek had missed. Fittingly, the game ended with Fabiano queening the g-pawn seven moves later.

Jan said at this point: I don’t want to criticize Loeky’s play here because the old adage is “Don’t criticize someone until you have walked a mile in his shoes. Then you can criticize him because you will be a mile away and have his shoes!”

Standings After Round Twelve Masters

1. Carlsen 8.5
2. Caruana 8
3. Ding Liren 7.5
4. So 6.5
5. Giri 6.5
6. Eljanov 6
7. Wei Yi 6
8. Mamedyarov 6
9. Navara 5.5
10. Karjakin 5.5
11. Van Wely 4.5
12. Tomashevsky 4.5
13. Adams 4.5
14. Hou Yifan 4.5

Standings After Round Twelve Challengers

1. Adhiban 8.5
2. Dreev 8.5
3. Safarli 8
4. Antipov 6.5
5. Bok 6.5
6. Van Foreest 6
7. Nisipeanu 6
8. Abasov 6
9. L’Ami 6
10. Sevian 6
11. Ju Wenjun 5
12. Batsiashvili 5
13. Admiraal 4
14. Haast 2

Tomorrow:

Tomashevsky-Caruana
Carlsen-Ding Liren
Sevian-Adhiban
Admiraal-Dreev
Batsiashvili-Safarli

Round Thirteen starts at 6 a.m. Toronto/Montreal time

[Hans Jung]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

None of the challengers winners (3 way tie Adhiban, Dreev, Safarli) had it easy and all had some really embarrassing moments. I enjoyed following the games of the Challengers section.

[Hans Jung]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

I really enjoyed following this tournament (both sections) and thanks for the informative posts Wayne!

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tata Steel 2016

January 31, 2016

Round Thirteen

Tata Steel Masters
Round 13, Jan. 31, 2016
Van Wely, Loek – Wei Yi
A16 English

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.h4 Bg7 6.h5 Nc6 7.g3 e5 8.Bg2 Nxc3 9.dxc3 Qxd1+ 10.Kxd1 Bg4 11.h6 Bf6 12.Ng5 Be7 13.Be3 f6 14.Ne4 Rd8+ 15.Ke1 Be6 16.b3 Kf7 17.Rd1 a5 18.Nc5 Rxd1+ 19.Kxd1 Rd8+ 20.Kc2 Bd5 21.f3 b6 22.Ne4 Bf8 23.f4 exf4 24.Bxf4 Ne5 25.Bxe5 Bxe4+ 26.Bxe4 fxe5 27.Bd3 Rd6 28.Bc4+ Ke7 29.Bg8 g5 30.Bxh7 Rxh6 31.Rxh6 Bxh6 1/2-1/2

Round 13, Jan. 31, 2016
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Karjakin, Sergey
D27 QGA, Classical

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 a6 6.O-O c5 7.Bb3 cxd4 8.exd4 Nc6 9.Nc3 Be7 10.Bg5 O-O 11.Qd2 Na5 12.Bc2 b5 13.Rad1 Bb7 14.d5 exd5 15.Rfe1 Rc8 16.Bf5 Rc7 17.Qf4 Nh5 18.Qh4 Bxg5 19.Nxg5 h6 20.Qxh5 Qxg5 21.Qxg5 hxg5 22.Nxd5 Bxd5 23.Rxd5 g6 24.Bd3 g4 25.a4 Nc6 26.Rc5 bxa4 27.Bxa6 Ra8 28.Be2 Rb8 29.Bxg4 Rxb2 30.Ra1 a3 31.h4 1/2-1/2

Round 13, Jan. 31, 2016
Adams, Michael – 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.Nxc5 dxc2 14.Qxd8+ Rxd8 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Be3 Rd5 17.Rfc1 Nxe5 18.Nxe5 Rxe5 19.Bd4 Rg5 20.Rxc2 Kf7 21.Be3 Rh5 22.a4 Rd8 23.axb5 axb5 24.g3 Bc5 25.Bxc5 Rxc5 26.Re2 Ke7 27.Kg2 Rcd5 28.Ra7 R8d7 29.h4 h6 30.Kf3 Rf5+ 31.Kg2 Rfd5 32.Kf3 Rf5+ 33.Kg2 1/2-1/2

Round 13, Jan. 31, 2016
Eljanov, Pavel – Navara, David
E12 Queen’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.e3 Be7 6.b3 O-O 7.Bb2 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 Qxd5 10.Bd3 Qa5+ 11.Nd2 Bb4 12.a3 Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 Qh5 14.f3 Nd7 15.O-O c5 16.Rac1 Rfd8 17.b4 Ne5 18.dxe5 Ba6 19.Rc3 c4 20.a4 cxd3 21.Rfc1 Qg5 22.Rc7 h5 23.b5 Bc8 24.R1c6 a6 25.Rd6 Rxd6 26.exd6 axb5 27.axb5 e5 28.d7 Bxd7 29.Rxd7 e4 30.fxe4 Ra2 31.Rd5 Qh4 32.g3 Qxe4 33.Rxd3 h4 34.Qc3 Qg6 35.e4 h3 36.Qc8+ 1-0

Magnus and Ding Liren play an endgame of K+R+B vs K+R, which should be drawn, if you know the theory of such endings. But Magnus has nothing to lose and it goes on and on and just before the hundredth move, White stalemates it.

Round 13, Jan. 31, 2016
Carlsen, Magnus – Ding, Liren
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.Nxc5 dxc2 14.Qxd8+ Rxd8 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Be3 Rd5 17.Rfc1 Nxe5 18.Nxe5 Rxe5 19.Bd4 Rg5 20.Rxc2 Kf7 21.Be3 Re5 22.c4 b4 23.Rd1 Rd8 24.Rxd8 Bxd8 25.Kf1 Bg5 26.Bd4 Ra5 27.b3 Bf6 28.Be3 Bg5 29.f4 Be7 30.g4 h5 31.h3 g6 32.Ke2 hxg4 33.hxg4 e5 34.Kf3 exf4 35.Bxf4 Bd6 36.c5 Bxc5 37.Bxc7 Rb5 38.Ke4 Ke6 39.Bf4 Ra5 40.Bd2 Be7 41.Rc6+ Kd7 42.Rxg6 Rxa2 43.Bf4 Ra3 44.g5 Rxb3 45.Rb6 Bxg5 46.Bxg5 a5 47.Ra6 a4 48.Rxa4 Kc6 49.Ra5 Ra3 50.Rf5 b3 51.Bf6 Ra2 52.Bd4 b2 53.Rc5+ Kb6 54.Rc3+ Kb5 55.Rb3+ Kc4 56.Rb8 b1=Q+ 57.Rxb1 Re2+ 58.Be3 Rc2 59.Rb8 Kc3 60.Rc8+ Kb3 61.Bc5 Kc4 62.Rc7 Kc3 63.Kd5 Kd3 64.Rh7 Re2 65.Rh3+ Kc2 66.Kc4 Re4+ 67.Bd4 Kd2 68.Rh2+ Re2 69.Rh4 Rg2 70.Re4 Re2 71.Bc3+ Kd1 72.Rf4 Kc2 73.Rd4 Rf2 74.Rd3 Re2 75.Bd4 Re4 76.Ra3 Re2 77.Be3 Kd1 78.Rd3+ Ke1 79.Rc3 Kf1 80.Kd3 Ra2 81.Rc1+ Kg2 82.Ke4 Kg3 83.Rc8 Rg2 84.Rf8 Kg4 85.Bf2 Kh3 86.Kf3 Rg3+ 87.Kf4 Rg4+ 88.Kf5 Rg7 89.Bd4 Rg3 90.Be5 Rf3+ 91.Bf4 Kg2 92.Kg4 Rf2 93.Rh8 Re2 94.Rh3 Kf2 95.Rf3+ Kg2 96.Be3 Rc2 97.Rg3+ Kf1 98.Kf3 Rf2+ 99.Bxf2 1/2-1/2

Caruana having to win today, plays a risky game and loses to Tomashevsky.

Round 13, Jan. 31, 2016
Tomashevsky, Evgeny – Caruana, Fabiano
E44 Nimzo-Indian, Fischer Variation (5. Ne2)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Ne2 c5 6.a3 Ba5 7.Rb1 Na6 8.Ng3 Bb7 9.f3 O-O 10.Bd3 d5 11.O-O cxd4 12.Nb5 dxc4 13.Bxc4 Rc8 14.Qe2 Bd5 15.Bxd5 Qxd5 16.e4 Qa2 17.Bg5 Rc4 18.Rbd1 d3 19.Qxd3 Rc5 20.Be3 Qxb2 21.Bxc5 Nxc5 22.Qe2 Qxe2 23.Nxe2 a6 24.Nd6 b5 25.Nd4 Bb6 26.Kh1 g5 27.Nc6 Kg7 28.g3 h5 29.Rfe1 Na4 30.Rd3 Nc5 31.Rd2 Nb3 32.Rc2 Nc5 33.Kg2 Na4 34.Rd1 g4 35.Rd3 Nc5 36.Rd1 Na4 37.h3 gxf3+ 38.Kxf3 Nh7 39.e5 Bc5 40.Rd3 f6 41.Kg2 Bb6 42.exf6+ Nxf6 43.Nd4 Bxd4 44.Rxd4 Nd5 45.Re4 Rd8 46.Nb7 Rd7 47.Na5 Rd6 48.Rc6 Rxc6 49.Nxc6 Nc5 50.Re5 Nd3 51.Rg5+ Kh6 52.Rg8 Ne3+ 53.Kf3 Nc4 54.Nb4 Nde5+ 55.Ke2 a5 56.Nc2 Nd7 57.Rc8 Kg6 58.Rc7 Nf6 59.Rc6 Kf7 60.a4 Nd5 61.axb5 Ne5 62.Ra6 Nc3+ 63.Kf1 1-0

Hou Yifan has the better game against Giri but lets him off the hook with her 70th move.

There is a discussion as to the equivalence of four terms concerning a game – holdable, tenable, defensible and defendable. They do say that holdable is used almost exclusively for chess.

With the game dragging on, lots of odd topics come up. It seems that Jan is very much against dolphins, saying that their cuteness is just a cover-up for all their illegal activity. Jan says he doesn’t trust dolphins. He then starts reading from a list that proves that dolphins are a vicious nightmare. One of the points is, “Dolphins Kill Baby Porpoises ‘Cause They Resemble Their Own”.

Peter says there is a marvelous dolphin joke told by Norm McDonald on the Conan O’Brien Show.

The game is finally a draw so I can go and watch the dolphin joke clip.

Round 13, Jan. 31, 2016
Giri, Anish – Hou Yifan
D02 Queen’s Bishop Game

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bf4 d5 4. e3 c5 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Bd6 7. Ne5 Qc7 8. Ndf3 O-O 9. Bd3 b6 10. Nxc6 Qxc6 11. Ne5 Qc7 12. Qf3 Ne4 13. Nc4 Bxf4 14. Qxf4 Qxf4 15. exf4 Ba6 16. Bxe4 dxe4 17. Nd2 cxd4 18. Nxe4 f5 19. Ng5 dxc3 20. O-O-O Bc4 21. b3 Bd5 22. Rhe1 Rfe8 23. Re3 Rac8 24. Rdd3 Bxg2 25. Rd7 Red8 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8 27. Nxe6 Rd6 28. Ng5 Bc6 29. Rxc3 h6 30. Nh3 Bb5 31. Re3 Bf1 32. Ng1 Rd4 33. Re1 Bg2 34. Ne2 Re4 35. Kd2 Bf3 36. Ng3 Rxf4 37. Re8+ Kf7 38. Ke3 g5 39. Rh8 Kg7 40. Rc8 Bg4 41. Rc7+ Kf6 42. h3 Rf3+ 43. Kd4 Bxh3 44. Rc6+ Ke7 45. Rxh6 Bg4 46. Rg6 Rxf2 47. Rxg5 Kf7 48. b4 Rf3 49. Ne2 Rh3 50. Nc3 Rh8 51. Nd5 Re8 52. a3 Re4+ 53. Kd3 Be2+ 54. Kd2 Rd4+ 55. Kxe2 Rxd5 56. Rh5 Kg6 57. Rh8 Rd7 58. a4 Kf6 59. a5 Ke5 60. Rc8 bxa5 61. bxa5 Rd5 62. a6 Ra5 63. Rc6 Kd5 64. Rf6 Ke4 65. Re6+ Kf4 66. Kd3 Ra4 67. Rg6 Kf3 68. Kc3 f4 69. Kb3 Ra1 70. Kb4 Ke3 71. Kb5 f3 72. Re6+ Kd4 73. Rf6 Rb1+ 74. Ka4 Rf1 75. Kb3 Ke3 76. Re6+ Kd2 77. Rd6+ Ke3 78. Re6+ Kd4 79. Rf6 Ke4 80. Rf7 Ra1 81. Re7+ Kd4 82. Rf7 Ke3 83. Re7+ Kd2 84. Rd7+ Ke1 85. Re7+ Kf1 86. Rxa7 f2 87. Kc4 Ke2 88. Re7+ Kd2 89. Rf7 f1=Q+ 90. Rxf1 Rxf1 91. Kb5 Kc3 92. a7 Rf8 93. Kc6 Kb4 94. Kb7 Rf7+ 95. Kb6 Rxa7 ½-½

Final Standings in the Masters

1. Carlsen 9
2. Caruana 8
3. Ding Liren 8
4. So 7
5. Eljanov 7
6. Giri 7
7. Wei Yi 6.5
8. Mamedyarov 6.5
9. Karjakin 6
10. Navara 5.5
11. Tomashevsky 5.5
12. Van Wely 5
13. Adams 5
14. Hou Yifan 5

Norwegian media says that Magnus got 10 000 Euros for winning, and over 100 000 Euros for participating.

(Tarjel J. Svensen) –
Carlsen is #1 at Tata!
- 3rd victory in a row, 6th of last 8
- 22 wins (out of 32 total) since Jan '10
- 35 games without a loss

I am not quite sure that I understand all of Svensen's statistics above but I suppose they prove that Carlsen is on a roll and playing the best chess.

Final Standings Challengers

1. Adhiban 9
2. Safarli 9
3. Dreev 9
4. Bok 7
5. Antipov 7
6. Van Foreest 6.5
7. Nisipeanu 6.5
8. Abasov 6.5
9. L’Ami 6.5
10. Sevian 6.5
11. Ju Wenjun
12. Batsiashvili 5
13. Admiral 4.5
14. Haast 2

(To Be Concluded)

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Tata Steel Masters 2016

Tradewise Tata Steel

January 31, 2016

From the Official Site:

http://www.tatasteelchess.com/news/v...ournament_2016

Magnus Carlsen wins Tata Steel Chess Tournament

World Champion Magnus Carlsen has won the 78th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament and unbeaten as well. It is the fifth time that Carlsen has won the tournament in Wijk aan Zee, equaling the record set by Anand. Fabiano Caruana (United States) and Ding Liren (China) shared second spot. Carlsen received his prize from Theo Henrar, chairman of the directors of Tata Steel Nederland. Henrar also announced that the 79th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament will take place from Friday 13 - Sunday 29 January 2017.

Adhiban Baskaran (India), Alexey Dreev (Russia) and Eltaj Safarli (Azerbaijan) share first place in the Tata Steel Challengers. Having the best result in his matches against the other two, Baskaran has earned promotion to the Tata Steel Masters at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2017. Vladimir Dobrov (Russia) has won the Top 10 Tournament. This means that he will participate in the Tata Steel Challengers in 2017.

The Vugar Gashimov Award for fair play, introduced this year by Sarkhan Gashimov in memory of his brother Vugar, who died in 2014, has been awarded to David Navara and Jorden van Foreest. Both have shown good sportsmanship in many ways during the tournament. They received the prize from Sarkan Gashimov. Professor Johan van Hulst, who turned 105 last week, awarded the prize for the most promising talent to Jorden van Foreest and Wei Yi.

Mental strength - The winner’s trophy consists of a partly folded automotive steel rod that has weathered a crash test. This represents the link with Tata Steel and symbolizes a chess player’s mental strength, of which resilience is an integral part.

Comments

- Nice to see Magnus at 2850 and around 50 Elo ahead of any competition again, after three big tournament wins in a row. He has regained much of his old stability, but at a more versatile playing level than before. When he had some rough months, I commented here, that I hope he is on the way of widening his playing style, going for sharp, unbalanced games as additional option. I thought he would be able to be second to none there as well. He obviously went that way and has successfully incorporated new sharp opening and middlegame options into his play.

Fabio Cariana played strong as well, despite his two losses, one obviously a result of the tournament situation at the end. Anish Giri is obviously with his head in the candidates already, dreaming sweet "After Magnus"-dreams making it hard to stay cool.

Oh, and both the Seirawan and Svidler-Gustafsson commenting has often been really great! Congratulations to all of them!

- Magnus has sent a thundering 3-word message to the candidates who are about to scrum for a title shot: London, Qatar, Tata

- Another impressive feat from the WC - and congratulations to his well deserved first place.

I was also impressed by Ding Liren who was able to save the draw in an endgame where most other players (I guess) would have lost. He must have known the theory of R vs R+B inside out, and that is really impressive.

- You have to appreciate how hard it is for Carlsen to increase his rating. In this tournament he had 6 wins and 6 draws, but I assume he only gained a handful of rating points because his performance rating was "only" 2880.

- Tata steel's Wijk aan Zee is a shell of what it used to be. Weak field for this type of event. Hou needs to be less timid, Navara as well. Both of them are 2750 quality but they are too modest and timid and unfortunately that shows in their chess. Hou spoiled at least four great positions in this event and should have finished +2 but her timidity ruined her event. Magnus bores me. Watching him is like Watching Tiger Woods in his 2002-2006 era

- Saying that Hou Yifan blew it is a bit harsh (though Ke4 does stand out), as really it was Giri who blew it with Rc8 on move 60 when a draw was in sight, though maybe Hou blew it before that when allowing it to get to a drawn rook ending. The technical difficulties for her were rather high though, but I'd expect certain players to make it look easy.

- In other news of this very day, on the tennis front Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber each pocket $3.85 million (yes, each) for winning the Australian Open Singles titles.

- Why is it that chess pundits always have to refer to tennis? When was the last time someone in tennis (or golf) referred to chess