Tata Steel 2018

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 21st November, 2017, 04:54 PM

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Tata Steel 2018

November 21, 2017

From the official site:

Peter Svidler 13th participant Tata Steel Masters

Multiple Russian Champion Peter Svidler is the 13th participant in the Tata Steel Masters group of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament. Born in Leningrad in 1976, Svidler has been among the world’s best chess players for years. He currently ranks 12th on the world list, with a rating of 2763. His highest ranking ever was fourth in 2004.

The 80th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament will take place in Wijk aan Zee from 12 – 28 January 2018. As part of Tata Steel Chess On Tour the Tata Steel Masters will play a round in Beeld en Geluid in Hilversum on Wednesday 17 January and a round in the Academiegebouw of Groningen University on Wednesday 24 January.

It has been a while since Svidler played in Wijk aan Zee. That was in 2007, the year in which Aronian, Topalov and Radjabov won the tournament. During that edition Svidler beat then 16-year-old Magnus Carlsen, who debuted in the top group that year. Svidler also participated in 1999, 2004 and 2005. Svidler has been active as commentator at large tournaments for several years now, attracting a huge following with his humour, chess strength and sonorous voice.

However, he has never given up playing chess himself, to which his continuous high ranking is testament.

On 1 December the field of participants of the Tata Steel Masters will be complete. The 14th grandmaster will be the highest ranked player in the ACP Competition with a rating under 2750 on 1 December.

https://www.tatasteelchess.com/news/...l-masters.html

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 13th December, 2017, 12:25 AM

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Tata Steel 2018

December 12, 2017

From the official site:

Field of participants Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2018 complete

04-12-2017

Reigning European champion Maxim Matlakov (Russia) and his countryman Dmitry Gordievsky will participate in the 80th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in January. Matlakov will participate in the Tata Steel Masters and Gordievsky in the Tata Steel Challengers.

They have earned their invitations because of their ranking in the ACP competition. The field of participants of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament is now complete. Both the reigning world champion (Magnus Carlsen) as well as the new junior world champion (his countryman Aryan Tari) will participate in Wijk aan Zee. The best female grandmaster, Hou Yifan, will also participate.

The 80th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament will take place in Wijk aan Zee from 12 – 28 January 2018. As part of Tata Steel Chess On Tour the Tata Steel Masters will play a round in Beeld en Geluid in Hilversum on Wednesday 17 January and a round in the Academiegebouw of Groningen University on Wednesday 24 January. All matches, including the ones in Hilversum and Groningen, are open to the public free of charge.

Debut in Wijk aan Zee

Matlakov and Gordievsky will debut in Wijk aan Zee. Matlakov (26) ranks 23rd on the world list. The biggest success of his career so far was winning the European championship in Minsk earlier this year. His countryman Gordievsky (21) is still relatively unknown in the West. He became grandmaster earlier this year and has won the Moscow Open, finishing ahead of strong grandmasters like Kamsky, Khismatullin en Grachev.

Field of participants Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2018, Tata Steel Masters

Name Country Rating World Ranking

Magnus Carlsen Norway 2837 1
Shakhryar Mamedyarov Azerbaijan 2799 3
Fabiano Caruana USA 2799 4
Wesley So USA 2788 6
Vladimir Kramnik Russia 2787 7
Viswanathan Anand India 2782 8
Peter Svidler Russia 2765 12
Sergey Karjakin Russia 2760 13
Anish Giri Netherlands 2752 14
Wei Yi China 2743 19
Maxim Matlakov Russia 2735 23
Hou Yifan China 2680 64
Adhiban Baskaran India 2655 95
Gawain Jones England 2654 96

Average rating: 2753

Field of participants Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2018, Tata Steel Challengers

Name Country Year of Birth Rating

Vidit Gujrathi India 1994 2715
Bassem Amin Egypt 1988 2689
Michal Krasenkow Poland 1963 2671
Anton Korobov Ukraine 1985 2652
Matthias Blübaum Germany 1997 2642
Erwin l'Ami Netherlands 1985 2634
Jeffrey Xiong USA 2000 2634
Jorden van Foreest Netherlands 1999 2629
Dmitry Gordievsky Russia 1996 2610
Benjamin Bok Netherlands 1995 2601
Aryan Tari Norway 1999 2593
Harika Dronavalli India 1991 2504
Olga Girya Russia 1991 2484
Lucas van Foreest Netherlands 2001 2481

Average rating: 2610

https://www.tatasteelchess.com/news/...-complete.html

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 5th January, 2018, 12:42 AM

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Tata Steel 2018

January 4, 2018

Livestream Commentary Schedule Tata Steel Chess 2018

Next to the Live Commentary in Wijk aan Zee you can also follow the Tata Steel Chess Tournament online through our livestream. Livestream Commentary starts at the same time as the round itself.

Saturday 13 January Robin van Kampen (special guest Yasser Seirawan)

Sunday 14 January Robin van Kampen (special guest Yasser Seirawan)

Monday 15 January Robin van Kampen and Stefan Kuipers

Tuesday 16 January Robin van Kampen and Stefan Kuipers

Wednesday 17 January Robin van Kampen and Tex de Wit

Friday 19 January Robin van Kampen and Eric Hansen

Saturday 20 January Robin van Kampen and Eric Hansen

Sunday 21 January Eric Hansen (special guest Ivan Sokolov)

Tuesday 23 January Eric Hansen and Fiona Steil-Antoni

Wednesday 24 January Eric Hansen and Sipke Ernst

Friday 26 January Eric Hansen and Fiona Steil-Antoni

Saturday 27 January Eric Hansen (special guest Jan Smeets)

Sunday 28 January Eric Hansen (special guest Jan Smeets)

More special guests are expected. Follow www.tatasteelchess.com and Facebook for the latest news.

https://www.tatasteelchess.com/news/...hess-2018.html

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 12th January, 2018, 04:03 PM

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Tata Steel 2018

January 12, 2018

The pairings are now out:

Round One, Sat. Jan. 13

Giri-Hou Yifan
Kramnik-Wei Yi
Svidler-Adhiban
Carlsen-Caruana
Jones-Karjakin
Anand-Matlakov
So-Mamedyarov

Round Two, Sun. Jan. 14

Hou Yifan-Mamedyarov
Matlakov-So
Karjakin-Anand
Caruana-Jones
Adhiban-Carlsen
Wei Yi-Svidler
Giri-Kramnik

Round Three, Mon. Jan. 15

Kramnik-Hou Yifan
Svidler-Giri
Carlsen-Wei Yi
Jones-Adhiban
Anand-Caruana
So-Karjakin
Mamedyarov-Matlakov

Round Four, Tue. Jan. 16

Hou Yifan-Matlakov
Karjakin-Mamedyarov
Caruana-So
Adhiban-Anand
Wei Yi-Jones
Giri-Carlsen
Kramnik-Svidler

Round Five, Wed. Jan. 17

Svidler-Hou Yifan
Carlsen-Kramnik
Jones-Giri
Anand-Wei Yi
So-Adhiban
Mamedyarov-Caruana
Matlakov-Karjakin

Round Six, Fri. Jan. 19

Hou Yifan-Karjakin
Caruana-Matlakov
Adhiban-Mamedyarov
Wei Yi-So
Giri-Anand
Kramnik-Jones
Svidler-Carlsen

Round Seven, Sat. Jan. 20

Carlsen-Hou Yifan
Jones-Svidler
Anand-Kramnik
So-Giri
Mamedyarov-Wei Yi
Matlakov-Adhiban
Karjakin-Caruana

Round Eight, Sun. Jan. 21

Hou Yifan-Caruana
Adhiban-Karjakin
Wei Yi-Matlakov
Giri-Mamedyarov
Kramnik-So
Svidler-Anand
Carlsen-Jones

Round Nine, Tue. Jan. 23

Jones-Hou Yifan
Anand-Carlsen
So-Svidler
Mamedyarov-Kramnik
Matlakov-Giri
Karjakin-Wei Yi
Caruana-Adhiban

Round Ten, Wed. Jan. 24

Hou Yifan-Adhiban
Wei Yi-Caruana
Giri-Karjakin
Kramnik-Matlakov
Svidler-Mamedyarov
Carlsen-So
Jones-Anand

Round Eleven, Fri. Jan. 26

Anand-Hou Yifan
So-Jones
Mamedyarov-Carlsen
Matlakov-Svidler
Karjakin-Kramnik
Caruana-Giri
Adhiban-Wei Yi

Round Twelve, Sat. Jan. 27

Hou Yifan-Wei Yi
Giri-Adhiban
Kramnik-Caruana
Svidler-Karjakin
Carlsen-Matlakov
Jones-Mamedyarov
Anand-So

Round Thirteen, Sun. Jan. 28

So-Hou Yifan
Mamedyarov-Anand
Matlakov-Jones
Karjakin-Carlsen
Caruana-Svidler
Adhiban-Kramnik
Wei Yi-Giri

Challengers

Round One, Sat. Jan. 13

Xiong-Bok
Korobov-Bluebaum
Girya-Gordievsky
Van Foreest, J. -Van Foreest, L.
Tari-Vidit
Krasenkow-L'Ami
Amin-Harika

Round Two, Sun. Jan. 14

Bok-Harika
L'Ami-Amin
Vidit-Krasenkow
Van Foreest, L.-Tari
Gordievsky-Van Foreest, J.
Bluebaum-Girya
Xiong-Korobov

Round Three, Mon. Jan. 15

Korobov-Bok
Girya-Xiong
Van Foreest, J.-Bluebaum
Tari-Gordievsky
Krasenkow-Van Foreest, L.
Amin-Vidit
Harika-L'Ami

Round Four, Tue. Jan. 16

Bok-L'Ami
Vidit-Harika
Van Foreest, L.-Amin
Gordievsky-Krasenkow
Bluebaum-Tari
Xiong-Van Foreest, J.
Korobov-Girya

Round Five, Wed. Jan. 17

Girya-Bok
Van Foreest, J.-Korobov
Tari-Xiong
Krasenkow-Bluebaum
Amin-Gordievsky
Harika-Van Foreest, L.
L'Ami-Vidit

Round Six, Fri. Jan. 19

Bok-Vidit
Van Foreest, L.-L'Ami
Gordievsky-Harika
Bluebaum-Amin
Xiong-Krasenkow
Korobov-Tari
Girya-Van Foreest, J.

(thirteen rounds)

All rounds start at 13:30 in Wijk aan Zee, except for Sunday the 28th when the round starts at 12.00.

13:30 in Wijk aan Zee is 7:30 AM in Toronto/Montreal

The tournament may be viewed at:

https://www.tatasteelchess.com/live/live-games

Tweets

Magnus Carlsen

Arrived in Wijk aan Zee today for my 14th Tata Steelchess tournament! Here I am being interviewed for the Norwegian channel TV2, which will cover the tournament live. This is the strongest Tata Steel Masters field in many years!

Judit Polgar

I had special memories from legendary Wijk aan Zee fest which celebrates the 80th anniversary this year! Congratulations! Tomorrow first round!

Nigel Short

32 years since I first won in Wijk aan Zee. That is quite a lot of life..

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 13th January, 2018, 02:40 PM

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Tata Steel 2018

January 13, 2018

Round One

The broadcast commentators are Robin van Kampen and Fiona Steil-Antoni. Yasser is with the live audience. He likes the large weekend audience and the boisterous interaction. He comes in at the end of the round to analyze Kramnik-Wei Yi with Robin.

The temperature in Wijk aan Zee is at 6 degrees C in the afternoon. In contrast, Toronto is at -13 degrees C.

Alexander Grischuk has famously declined to play at Wijk because the weather is too cold and unpleasant at this time of the year.

Sergey Karjakin posed for a few photos in Amsterdam that can be seen on his twitter page. He is wearing a heavy red winter coat obviously believing what Grischuk said

https://twitter.com/SergeyKaryakin

Some wag has taken the red coat picture and put Sergey in the Tata Steel group photo wearing it, while everyone else are in standard dress

https://twitter.com/AntonSquaredMe/s...84916509745152
_______

Robin says that Hou Yifan recently won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford. He is interested to see if she will continue to play chess. She will be doing a Ph.D. in International Relations and will try to play when she can.

The announcement in the China Daily. Note the three people given in the last sentence as fellow Rhodes scholars:

On Saturday, four Chinese students passed a rigorous final round of face-to-face interviews in Shanghai and stood out from 14 final Chinese candidates to each earn prestigious Rhodes Scholarships for postgraduate study at the University of Oxford.

Aiming to educate promising students from around the world, Rhodes Scholarships cover their total expenses at Oxford, equal to 30,000 pounds ($50,000) in every school year.

Over 12,000 students worldwide applied to be 2017 Rhodes Scholars. The four successful Chinese candidates are Mao Xiao, Li Yuhan, Cao Qitong and Hou Yifan.

The last name may already be familiar as Hou is a prodigy known as the "Queen of Chess".

Born in 1994, Hou won the Women's World Chess Championship in 2010 for the first time and defended her crown in 2011, becoming the youngest chess player in history to twice win this competition. She won it again in 2013 and 2016, respectively.

While Hou has conquered the world of chess, she never lowered her academic standards.

The other three Chinese Rhodes Scholars were recognized for their superior studies in law, animal protection and computer science.

The application requirements of Rhodes Scholarships vary from country to country. In China, the final candidates are selected mainly based on their academic performance, English level and education background. The Chinese scheme is backed financially by sponsors including the Li Ka Shing Foundation, founded by Asia's richest person - Li Ka Shing.

Famous Rhodes Scholars include former US president Bill Clinton, Grammy winner Kris Kristofferson and former US national security advisor Susan Rice.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20171...1ddf8e3be.html

A good chess pub trivia question: What do Bill Clinton, Kris Kristofferson, Susan Rice and Hou Yifan have in common?
________

Round One Games

Tata Steel Masters 2018
Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands
Round 1, Jan. 13
Carlsen, Magnus - Caruana, Fabiano
C42 Petrov, Cozio Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.d3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Qxe2+ 8.Bxe2 g6 9.Nd4 a6 10.Bf4 Bg7 11.h3 Bd7 12.Bf3 Nc6 13.Nxc6 Bxc6 14.Bxc6+ bxc6 15.O-O-O Kd7 16.Rhe1 Rhe8 17.Ne4 Nd5 18.Bd2 f5 19.Ng5 h6 20.Nf3 g5 21.c3 c5 22.Kc2 Bf6 23.Rxe8 Rxe8 24.Re1 Rf8 25.Rh1 Re8 26.g3 g4 27.Ng1 Bg5 28.Kd1 a5 29.Ne2 a4 30.Bxg5 hxg5 31.hxg4 fxg4 32.Rh5 Re5 33.Rh7+ Ke6 34.a3 Rf5 35.c4 Nf6 36.Rh2 Rf3 37.Kc2 Nd7 38.d4 Nb6 39.dxc5 dxc5 40.Nc3 Ke5 41.Nd1 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Jan. 13
Svidler, Peter - Adhiban, Baskaran
B12 Caro-Kann, Advance Variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Ne7 6.O-O h6 7.Nbd2 Bh7 8.Nb3 Nd7 9.a4 g5 10.a5 a6 11.c3 Nf5 12.Bd3 g4 13.Ne1 h5 14.Nc2 c5 15.Nxc5 Nxc5 16.dxc5 Bxc5 17.Nd4 Bxd4 18.cxd4 Rc8 19.Ra3 Rc7 20.Bf4 Nh4 21.Qd2 Bxd3 22.Bg5 Qc8 23.Rxd3 Nf5 24.Qb4 Kd7 25.Qa4+ Rc6 26.Rc1 Rg8 27.Bf6 Qc7 28.g3 Rc8 29.Rc5 Ke8 30.b4 Qd7 31.Qd1 Rxc5 32.bxc5 Qb5 33.h3 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Jan. 13
Jones, Gawain - Karjakin, Sergey
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Qb3 Na5 11.Qa4+ Nc6 12.Qb3 Nce7 13.O-O O-O 14.Rfe1 c6 15.Ne4 Nb6 16.Bd3 Ned5 17.Nc5 Nf6 18.Rac1 Rb8 19.Qa3 a6 20.Qb3 Qc7 21.Ne4 Nfd5 22.Nc3 Qd6 23.Be4 Bg4 24.Nxd5 cxd5 25.Bb1 Bxf3 26.Qxf3 Rfe8 27.Qc3 g6 28.Bd3 Kg7 29.g3 Rbc8 30.Rxe8 Rxe8 31.Qb3 Re7 32.Bf1 Qf6 33.Qb4 Re4 34.Rd1 Re7 35.Rc1 Re4 36.Rd1 Re7 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Jan. 13
So, Wesley - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
B29 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rubinstein, Rubinstein Counter-Gambit

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nc3 e6 5.Nxd5 exd5 6.d4 Nc6 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Bd3 d6 9.exd6 Qxd6 10.O-O O-O 11.Re1 h6 12.h3 Bd7 13.Be3 d4 14.Bd2 Rfe8 15.a3 Qd5 16.b4 Bd6 17.c4 dxc3 18.Rxe8+ Rxe8 19.Bxc3 Be6 20.Be4 Qxe4 21.Qxd6 Qc2 22.Qd2 Qxd2 23.Nxd2 Rd8 24.Re1 Nd4 25.a4 Nc2 26.Rc1 Nd4 27.Re1 Nc2 28.Rc1 Nd4 29.Re1 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Jan. 13
Giri, Anish - 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. Bd3 Be6 9. Qe2 Bf6 10. O-O-O Qe7 11. Kb1 a6 12. Rhe1 O-O-O 13. h3 Rhe8 14. g4 h6 15. Nd2 Bg5 16. f4 Bh4 17. Bf2 Bxf2 18. Qxf2 Qf8 19. f5 Bd7 20. f6 g6 21. Be4 Kb8 22. Nc4 Re6 23. Bxc6 Rxe1 24. Rxe1 Bxc6 25. Na5 Re8 26. Nxc6+ bxc6 27. Qg3 Qh8 28. Re7 Rxe7 29. fxe7 Qe8 30. Qe3 Kc8 31. h4 Kd7 32. Qxh6 Qxe7 33. b3 Qe4 34. g5 Qe5 35. Qf8 Qd5 36. Kb2 c5 37. Qg8 Qf3 38. Qf8 Qd5 39. Qg7 Qf5 40. Qg8 Qf3 41. a4 Qf1 42. Qf8 Qf5 43. Qa8 Qf1 44. Qe4 Kd8 45. Qg4 d5 46. a5 Qe1 47. h5 gxh5 48. Qxh5 Qe6 49. Qh8+ Ke7 50. b4 cxb4 51. cxb4 Kd7 52. Qd4 Kc8 53. Qf6 Qxf6+ 54. gxf6 Kd7 55. Kb3 Kc6 56. c4 d4 57. Kc2 Kd6 58. Kd2 c6 59. Ke2 Kd7 60. Kd3 Kc7 61. Kxd4 Kd6 62. Kd3 Kc7 63. Ke4 Kd6 64. Kd4 1-0

Giri is deprived of both of his seconds - Erwin L'Ami is playing in the Challengers and so is Santosh Vidit.

Round 1, Jan. 13
Kramnik, Vladimir - Wei Yi
D77 Neo-Grunfeld

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.O-O O-O 6.c4 dxc4 7.Na3 c5 8.dxc5 c3 9.Nb5 Na6 10.Nxc3 Nxc5 11.Be3 Nfe4 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.Bd4 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 Qxd4 15.Nxd4 Nd6 16.Rac1 Rd8 17.f4 Kf8 18.Kf2 Bg4 19.h3 Bd7 20.e4 Rac8 21.Rxc8 Rxc8 22.Rd1 Ke8 23.e5 Nf5 24.Nb3 Bc6 25.Rc1 Kd7 26.Nc5+ Ke8 27.Nd3 Kd7 28.g4 Nd4 29.Rc4 Ne6 30.f5 gxf5 31.gxf5 Ng7 32.Bxc6+ bxc6 33.Nc5+ Kc7 34.Rh4 h5 35.f6 exf6 36.exf6 Ne8 37.Rxh5 Nxf6 38.Rf5 Nd5 39.Rxf7+ Kd6 40.Ne4+ Ke5 41.Nd2 a5 42.Nc4+ Ke6 43.Rh7 Rb8 44.Ke2 Kf5 45.Rh6 Nf6 46.h4 a4 47.Kd3 c5 48.Ne3+ Ke5 49.h5 Rd8+ 50.Kc4 Ne4 51.Kb5 Kd4 52.Nc4 a3 53.Nxa3 Nd6+ 54.Kc6 Nf7 55.Nb5+ 1-0

Round 1, Jan. 13
Anand, Vishy - Matlakov, Maxim
C77 Ruy Lopez, Anderssen variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Ba7 11.Nbd2 Na5 12.Bc2 Nh5 13.a4 b4 14.cxb4 Nc6 15.b5 Nb4 16.Nc4 Nxg3 17.hxg3 g4 18.Nh4 axb5 19.axb5 Bxf2+ 20.Kxf2 Rxa1 21.Qxa1 Nxc2 22.Qa4 Qf6+ 23.Kg1 Nd4 24.b6+ Bd7 25.Qd1 cxb6 26.Kh2 O-O 27.Rf1 Qg5 28.Nxd6 Be6 29.Nhf5 Nxf5 30.exf5 Bd5 31.Qe2 Qf6 32.Qxg4+ Kh7 33.Ne4 Bxe4 34.dxe4 Rd8 35.Rc1 Rd4 36.Rc7 Rb4 37.Qe2 Kg7 38.Rc8 Qg5 39.Rc6 Rb3 40.Rc3 Rb4 41.b3 Rd4 42.Rc6 Rb4 43.Qf3 Kh7 44.Rd6 Kg7 45.Rd5 Qf6 46.Kg1 Kh7 47.Qd3 Kg7 48.Kf2 Rd4 49.Rxd4 exd4 50.Qb5 Qd8 51.Qd5 Qf6 52.g4 Kg8 53.Kf3 1-0

and the game between the two brothers in the Challengers:

Tata Steel 2018 Challengers
Round 1, Jan. 13
Van Foreest, Jorden (2629) - Van Foreest, Lucas (2481)
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O Nd4 6.Nxd4 Bxd4 7.c3 Bb6 8.Na3 c6 9.Ba4 d6 10.Bc2 Bg4 11.Qe1 Be6 12.Nc4 Bc7 13.f4 exf4 14.Bxf4 Nh5 15.Bd2 Bxc4 16.dxc4 h6 17.c5 O-O 18.Rf5 g6 19.Rxh5 gxh5 20.Bxh6 Qf6 21.Bxf8 Rxf8 22.Qg3+ Qg7 23.Qh4 dxc5 24.Qxh5 Rd8 25.Rd1 Rxd1+ 26.Bxd1 b5 27.Qg4 Be5 28.Qc8+ Qf8 29.Qxc6 Qd8 30.Be2 c4 31.g3 a6 32.Qxa6 Qd2 33.Qc8+ Kg7 34.Qf5 Bf6 35.Bh5 Qc1+ 36.Kg2 Qxb2+ 37.Kh3 Qxc3 38.Qd5 Qe5 39.Qxf7+ Kh8 40.Qf8+ Kh7 41.Bg4 Bg7 42.Bf5+ Kh6 43.Qd8 Qf6 44.Qg8 Kg5 45.Qb8 Kh6 46.Qxb5 c3 47.Bg4 Qf7 48.Qc6+ Kg5 49.Qc5+ Kh6 50.Qb6+ Kh7 51.Bf5+ Kh8 52.Qd8+ Bf8 53.Qh4+ Kg8 54.Qg4+ Kh8 55.e5 c2 56.Bxc2 Qf1+ 57.Kh4 Be7+ 58.Kh5 Qf7+ 59.Bg6 Qxa2 60.h4 Qd5 61.Qf4 Kg8 62.Be4 1-0

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 14th January, 2018, 04:16 PM

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Tata Steel 2018

January 14, 2018

Round Two

They are still talking about the endgame that Hou Yifan lost yesterday.

Sam Copeland on chess.com:

Giri got significantly more with White against Hou Yifan's Petroff than Magnus Carlsen did against Fabiano Caruana's Petroff. Still excellent defensive play in response to Giri's kingside advances earned Hou Yifan a queen endgame that was only slightly worse.

Sadly for Hou Yifan, this was the sort of slightly worse position that has to be defended accurately for long hours. A subtle inaccuracy (...Kd8? instead of ...Kc8!) gave Giri a sizable plus, but further inaccuracies meant that Hou Yifan had another opportunity to claim equality later when in a king and pawn endgame she made an error that mimicked the earlier one (...Kc6? instead of ...Kd6!). This mistake was far more serious, losing the game virtually on the spot.

The king and pawn endgame is well worth review and is sure to appear in some endgame manuals in future.

https://www.chess.com/news/view/winn...ata-steel-8407

The position after Giri's move 55. Hou Yifan to play:

55...Kd6 draws but ..Kc6 loses

________

The games:

Round 2, Jan. 14
Adhiban, Baskaran - Carlsen, Magnus
C47 Four Knights, Scotch variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.exd5 O-O 9.O-O cxd5 10.Bg5 c6 11.Qf3 Bd6 12.Rae1 Rb8 13.b3 a5 14.h3 h6 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Qxf6 gxf6 17.Ne2 c5 18.Ng3 Rd8 19.Nf5 Bf8 20.Ne7+ Bxe7 21.Rxe7 Be6 22.Rd1 c4 23.Be2 a4 24.bxa4 Bf5 25.Bf3 d4 26.a5 Bxc2 27.Rc1 Rb1 28.Rxb1 Bxb1 29.Rc7 c3 30.Bd1 Ra8 31.Rc5 Bxa2 32.Bc2 Be6 33.Kf1 Rc8 34.Rxc8+ Bxc8 35.Ke2 Ba6+ 36.Kf3 d3 0-1

- Magnus is a machine. No one can win against him.
- An embarrassing game for Adhiban with some unnatural-looking moves like 22.Rd1. He is capable of much stronger chess.

Round 2, Jan. 14
Giri, Anish - Kramnik, Vladimir
A13 English

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Qb3 Ba5 4.Nf3 c5 5.d4 Nf6 6.dxc5 Na6 7.Be3 Ne4 8.g3 Naxc5 9.Qc2 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 b6 11.Bg2 Bb7 12.O-O O-O 13.Rfd1 Qe7 14.a4 d6 15.a5 f5 16.axb6 axb6 17.Nd4 Nf6 18.Bxb7 Nxb7 19.Rxa8 Rxa8 20.Nb5 Rc8 21.Qa2 d5 22.Bg5 Rxc4 23.Qa8+ Kf7 24.Ra1 Na5 25.Qb8 Rc6 26.Nd4 Rxc3 27.Qxb6 Nc4 28.Qb8 Nd7 29.Bxe7 Nxb8 30.Bb4 e5 31.Ra7+ Kg8 32.Bxc3 exd4 33.Bxd4 Nc6 34.Rxg7+ Kf8 35.Bf6 1-0

- Giri punished Big Vlad
- His first win vs Kramnik, I think
- LOL, he beat Wei Yi yesterday
- Haha, Giri just said jokingly that he would be happy to draw the rest of the games now except for Round 4. Then, he is going to strike
- Round 4 is Magnus

A tongue-in-cheek post-mortem interview:

Interviewer - In the past you have been criticized for playing too many draws. Did you change your parameters for this tournament somehow?

AG - No, I have been playing for a draw but my opponents are not helping me very much. Actually, I am trying to change back to the drawing parameters because when I was making all the draws I was World Number 3 and when I became a great player, I was Number 15! So, I am trying to make draws again and it works.

Round 2, Jan. 14
Matlakov, Maxim - So, Wesley
E04 Catalan, open

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Qa4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Nd5 8.Bxb4 Nxb4 9.Nc3 Bd7 10.O-O a5 11.Qd1 O-O 12.e3 a4 13.Nxa4 Nxd4 14.Qxd4 Bxa4 15.Qxc4 Qe7 16.a3 Nd5 17.Rfc1 Rfc8 18.b3 Bc6 19.Nd4 Rxa3 20.Nxc6 bxc6 21.Qxc6 Rxa1 22.Rxa1 Nf6 23.Rc1 h5 24.Bf3 Rb8 25.Qxc7 Qxc7 26.Rxc7 Rxb3 27.Rc8+ Kh7 28.Rc7 Kg8 29.Rc8+ Kh7 30.Rc7 Kg8 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Jan. 14
Hou Yifan - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C01 French, Exchange

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.exd5 exd5 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.a3 Ba5 7.Ne2 Nge7 8.O-O O-O 9.Bg5 f6 10.Be3 Bf5 11.Nf4 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Qd7 13.c4 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 Rad8 15.Rab1 b6 16.Rb5 dxc4 17.Qxc4+ Rf7 18.Rd1 Na5 19.Qd3 c6 20.Rbb1 Qf5 21.a4 g5 22.Nh5 Qxd3 23.Rxd3 Nd5 24.Bd2 Nc4 25.Re1 h6 26.h4 Kh7 27.g4 gxh4 28.Re6 Rd6 29.Rxd6 Nxd6 30.f3 f5 31.Be1 a5 32.Bxh4 b5 33.Ra3 Nc4 34.Ra1 fxg4 35.fxg4 Nde3 36.Nf6+ Kg6 37.d5 cxd5 38.axb5 Rxf6 39.Bxf6 Kxf6 40.c3 Ke6 41.b6 Kd7 42.Rb1 Kc8 43.b7+ Kb8 44.Kf2 a4 45.Ke2 a3 46.Kd3 Nxg4 47.Kd4 Nd2 48.Rb4 a2 0-1

Round 2, Jan. 14
Karjakin, Sergey - Anand, Vishy
E04 Catalan, open

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c5 4.O-O Nc6 5.d4 e6 6.c4 dxc4 7.dxc5 Qxd1 8.Rxd1 Bxc5 9.Nfd2 Na5 10.Na3 Bxa3 11.bxa3 O-O 12.Ne4 Nxe4 13.Bxe4 e5 14.Bb2 Re8 15.Bc3 Nc6 16.Rab1 h6 17.f3 Re7 18.Kf2 f6 19.Bd5+ Kh7 20.Be4+ Kg8 21.Bb4 Rc7 22.Bd6 Rd7 23.Bd5+ Kh8 24.Bxc4 Nd4 25.Bc5 Rc7 26.Bxd4 Rxc4 27.Be3 b6 28.Rd8+ Kh7 29.Rc1 Rxc1 30.Bxc1 Bb7 31.Rxa8 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Jan. 14
Caruana, Fabiano - Jones, Gawain
E71 King's Indian, Makagonov System

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.h3 O-O 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 Na6 8.g4 Nc5 9.f3 h5 10.Qd2 Nh7 11.O-O-O h4 12.Bd3 Nxd3+ 13.Qxd3 f5 14.Rh2 Kh8 15.Rg2 Bd7 16.exf5 gxf5 17.g5 f4 18.Bf2 Qe8 19.Ne4 Bf5 20.Bxh4 Qh5 21.Bf2 Bxe4 22.fxe4 Nxg5 23.Rg4 Nh7 24.Nf3 Bf6 25.c5 Rg8 26.Rdg1 Qh6 27.Qf1 Be7 28.Kc2 Nf6 29.Ng5 Raf8 30.Ne6 Qh7 31.Rh4 Nh5 32.Nxf8 Rxf8 33.Rhg4 Qxe4+ 34.Qd3 Qxd3+ 35.Kxd3 e4+ 36.Kc4 dxc5 37.Bxc5 Bxc5 38.Kxc5 Ng3 39.Rh4+ Kg7 40.Kd4 Rf5 41.Rxf4 Rxf4 42.Rxg3+ Kf6 43.Rb3 c6 44.Rxb7 cxd5 45.Kxd5 e3 46.Rb3 Rf2 47.Rxe3 Rxb2 48.a4 Rb7 49.h4 Rd7+ 50.Kc5 Rh7 51.Re4 Rh5+ 52.Kd6 Kf7 53.Re7+ Kg8 54.Re4 Kf7 55.Rf4+ Ke8 56.Kc7 Ke7 57.Re4+ Kf6 58.Kb7 Rh7+ 59.Ka6 Kf5 60.Rb4 Ke6 61.a5 Kd6 62.Rf4 Rh5 63.Rg4 Kc6 64.Rb4 Rh7 65.Rc4+ Kd6 66.Rc1 Rxh4 67.Kxa7 Ra4 68.a6 Rb4 69.Ka8 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Jan. 14
Wei Yi - Svidler, Peter
D80 Grunfeld, Stockholm variation

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Ne4 5. Bh4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 dxc4 7. e3 Be6 8. Nf3 Bg7 9. Qb1 Qd5 10. Be2 Bf5 11. Qb4 c5 12. Qb5+ Bd7 13. Qxc4 Bc6 14. Qb3 e6 15. c4 Qd7 16. Ne5 Qc7 17. O-O O-O 18. Bg3 Qb6 19. Rfd1 Qa6 20. a4 Nd7 21. Nxc6 bxc6 22. Rab1 cxd4 23. exd4 Nb6 24. Ra1 Rfd8 25. a5 Nc8 26. Ra2 Ne7 27. d5 exd5 28. cxd5 Qc8 29. Bh4 Qc7 30. Bxe7 Qxe7 31. dxc6 Rxd1+ 32. Qxd1 Rd8 33. Qc2 Be5 34. g3 Rb8 35. Kg2 Kg7 36. Qc1 Rb3 37. Bf3 Bc7 38. Qc4 Ra3 39. Qd4+ Be5 40. Re2 Rxa5 41. Qd7 Kf8 42. Qc8+ Qe8 43. Qb7 Rc5 44. Qxa7 Qe7 45. Qa3 h5 46. Rd2 Bd6 47. Qd3 Be5 48. Qa3 Bd6 49. Qd3 Be5 50. Qb3 Rc3 51. Qd1 h4 52. Rd7 Qg5 53. Qd5 Qf5 54. Bg4 Qf6 55. f4 Bxf4 56. gxf4 Rc2+ 57. Kh3 Rc3+ 58. Kg2 Rc2+ 59. Kg1 Rc1+ 60. Bd1 Qxf4 61. Qd4 Qxd4+ 62. Rxd4 Rxc6 63. Rxh4 Kg7 64. Rd4 Rf6 65. Kg2 Kh6 66. Bf3 Kg7 67. Kg3 Kh6 68. Kf2 Kg7 69. Rd7 Kg8 70. Ke3 Kg7 71. Bd5 Kg8 72. Bc4 Kg7 73. Rc7 Rf5 74. Ra7 Rf6 75. Rb7 Rf5 76. Ba2 Rf6 77. Bb3 Rf5 78. Rd7 Rf6 79. Bc4 Rf5 80. Bd5 Rf6 81. Rb7 Rf5 82. Ke4 Kg8 83. Ra7 Kg7 84. Kd4 Rf2 85. h3 Rf1 86. Kc5 Rf6 87. Rb7 Kg8 88. Kd4 Rf5 89. Kc4 Kg7 90. Kc5 Rf6 91. Rc7 Kf8 92. Be4 Kg7 93. Kd5 Re6 94. Kd4 Rf6 95. Ra7 Kf8 96. Ra3 Kg7 97. Kd5 Re6 98. Rc3 Rf6 99. Bc2 Kf8 100. Bb3 Kg7 101. Ke5 Rf5+ 102. Kd6 Rf4 103. Bd5 Rf5 104. Rc7 Kf8 105. Ra7 Rf6+ 106. Kd7 Rf5 107. Ra8+ Kg7 108. Kd6 Rf6+ 109. Ke7 Rf5 110. Rd8 Re5+ 111. Kd6 Rf5 112. Be4 Rf6+ 113. Ke5 Re6+ 114. Kf4 Rf6+ 115. Kg5 Re6 116. Rd4 Rf6 117. h4 Re6 118. Bf3 Rf6 119. Bg4 Rf1 120. Rd7 Rf2 121. h5 gxh5 122. Bxh5 Rf1 123. Bxf7 Rxf7 124. Rxf7+ 1/2-1/2

- Svidler escapes
- Wei Yi should retire
- Only Carlsen could win this
- Wei is learning
- Capablanca could win it as well
- And Tal with his healthy kidneys
- And Fischer
________

Maybe someone can explain the third and fourth item on this notice on each Tata Steel playing table:

NO MOBILE PHONES
NO SMART PHONES
NO WHATS APP
NO SMS
NO PICTURES WITH SMART PHONE
NO NO NO NO NO

**Kerry Liles** · Monday, 15th January, 2018, 10:57 AM

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Originally posted by Wayne Komer View Post

Tata Steel 2018

...

Maybe someone can explain the third and fourth item on this notice on each Tata Steel playing table:

NO MOBILE PHONES
NO SMART PHONES
NO WHATS APP
NO SMS
NO PICTURES WITH SMART PHONE
NO NO NO NO NO

"NO WHATS APP" likely means "NO use of Whatsapp" - Whatsapp is a messaging application between mobile phones/computers and other mobile phones or computers
Same for SMS - "text messaging" (although no mention of MMS - messaging with pictures/video possible.

Seems like they wanted to list a few popular things... Items 1 & 2 pretty much include all the others?

**Hans Jung** · Monday, 15th January, 2018, 11:57 AM

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Again I am enjoying Anish's wit - a real treat for the spectators.

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 15th January, 2018, 03:12 PM

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Tata Steel 2018

January 15, 2018

Round Three

The commentators are IM Stefan Kuipers and GM Robin van Kampen

In the interviews:

Wei Yi - It was not an easy game today. Nor was yesterday's against Peter Svidler. After that long game, I went back to my hotel and went straight to bed.

Peter Svidler - I was half dead after yesterday's game and thinking that something less strenuous today would not be bad. I ended up getting what I half-wanted, a rest day after seven and a half hours yesterday.

My first time at Wijk was in 1999 and I drew my first seven games. I am black against Kramnik tomorrow. I always seem to get black against Kramnik here. Those games have not gone well for me. In general, a very difficult tournament and hard to get going.

I suffer from topographical cretinism. I get lost everywhere. But here, I was able to get from place to place and find a couple of my favorite restaurants. You would think it would be pretty easy in a small town, but you have no idea how small a place I can get lost in. It seems that Wijk has imprinted itself on my mind. I am enjoying my time here.

Robin: After 11 years, Peter is back in Wijk and could even find his favorite restaurants. That is not remarkable given that there are only three restaurants in Wijk.
________

Shakhriyar - I played a French for the first time yesterday in seven years (against Hou Yifan). I like to play interesting lines. Yesterday was a good game and I played not like Fischer, not like Kasparov but like Karpov.

Wesley So - I drew again, my third draw in a row (against Karjakin). Tomorrow I play Fabiano with black, so it is going to be a tough game.

It is very difficult in chess to get good fighting positions because it is over scientific and not like the game of GO, where you can play originally on the very first move. But in chess, basically with the computers and databases and million games, we have to follow theory. That is what happened in the game today, we followed theory and then we traded queens. I am not sure how I could have improved. This is sort of a warm-up for the Candidates. It is a great place to test our openings. I do a constant preparation for tournaments and there is still a month left to prepare for the Candidates.

Vishy Anand - This is my 18th time at Wijk and I have won it six times.

The games:

Round 3, Jan. 15
Carlsen, Magnus - Wei Yi
E01 Catalan, Closed

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Qc2 c5 7.O-O cxd4 8.Nxd4 Na6 9.cxd5 Nb4 10.Qb3 e5 11.Nb5 Nbxd5 12.N1c3 Be6 13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.Bxd5 Qxd5 15.Bg5 Qxb3 16.axb3 a6 17.Nc3 h6 18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.Nd5 Rac8 20.Rac1 e4 21.Rc4 Rxc4 22.bxc4 Bxb2 23.Rb1 Ba3 24.Rxb7 Rc8 25.Ra7 Rxc4 26.Rxa6 Bf8 27.Ra8 g6 28.e3 Kg7 29.Kg2 h5 30.h3 Bd6 31.Rd8 Be5 32.Re8 Bd6 33.Rd8 Be5 34.g4 hxg4 35.hxg4 Rc5 36.g5 Rb5 37.Kh3 Rc5 38.Ne7 Rc2 39.Kg2 Rc7 40.Rg8+ Kh7 41.Re8 Rc5 42.Rc8 Rb5 43.Rf8 Kg7 44.Rg8+ Kh7 45.Rf8 Kg7 46.Rg8+ Kh7 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Jan. 15
Svidler, Peter - Giri, Anish
C48 Four Knights, Rubinstein Counter-Gambit

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nd4 5.Bc4 Bc5 6.d3 d6 7.Na4 b5 8.Nxd4 bxc4 9.Ne2 cxd3 10.Qxd3 Bb4+ 11.c3 Qd7 12.b3 Ba5 13.O-O Bb7 14.f3 Bc6 15.Qa6 Bb6+ 16.Nxb6 axb6 17.Qd3 d5 18.exd5 Qxd5 19.Rd1 Qxd3 20.Rxd3 O-O 21.c4 Rfe8 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Jan. 15
Jones, Gawain - Adhiban, Baskaran
C07 French, Tarrasch, open variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.dxc5 Qxc5 6.Ngf3 Nf6 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.Qe2 Qc7 9.c3 Be7 10.O-O b6 11.Ne4 O-O 12.Bg5 Bb7 13.Bh4 Qf4 14.Bg5 Qc7 15.Rad1 Rfd8 16.Rfe1 Rac8 17.Bh4 Qf4 18.Bg3 Qg4 19.Nxf6+ Bxf6 20.Ba6 Bxa6 21.Qxa6 Nc5 22.Rxd8+ Rxd8 23.Qxa7 Nd3 24.h3 Qc4 25.Rd1 h5 26.Qxb6 Qxa2 27.Ne5 Qxb2 28.Qc7 Rf8 29.Nd7 Qe2 30.Ra1 Qb2 31.Ra7 Bd8 32.Qd6 Qb1+ 33.Kh2 Re8 34.Qc6 h4 35.Nf6+ Bxf6 36.Qxe8+ Kh7 37.Qxf7 hxg3+ 38.fxg3 Qb8 39.Qxf6 Qxa7 40.Qh4+ Kg8 41.Qd8+ Kf7 42.Qxd3 Qc5 43.h4 e5 44.g4 g6 45.Qf3+ Kg7 46.g5 Qc4 47.Qb7+ Kg8 48.Qb4 Qd5 49.Qb8+ Kf7 50.Qa7+ Ke6 51.Qa6+ Kf5 52.Kg3 Qd1 53.Qf6+ Ke4 54.Qf3+ Qxf3+ 55.gxf3+ 1-0

Round 3, Jan. 15
So, Wesley - Karjakin, Sergey
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 O-O 7.e3 h6 8.Bh4 Bf5 9.Qb3 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Nbd7 11.Be2 c5 12.dxc5 g5 13.Nd4 Bg6 14.c6 bxc6 15.Nxc6 Qe8 16.Bg3 Nc5 17.Qb5 Nfe4 18.O-O Rc8 19.Nd4 Nxc3 20.Qa5 Nxe2+ 21.Nxe2 Qa4 22.Qxa4 Nxa4 23.Rfd1 Rfd8 24.Be5 Re8 25.Bd4 Rc2 26.Kf1 a6 27.h4 gxh4 28.Nf4 Nb2 29.Rdc1 Rxc1+ 30.Rxc1 Nd3 31.Nxd3 Bxd3+ 32.Kg1 Bc4 33.a3 Rb8 34.Kh2 Rb3 35.Ra1 Rd3 36.Kh3 Rd2 37.f3 Bd3 38.Rg1 Bc2 39.Kxh4 Rd1 40.Rxd1 Bxd1 41.Kg4 Be2 42.Kf5 h5 43.Kg5 Bf1 44.g3 Be2 45.e4 Bxf3 46.exd5 Bxd5 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Jan. 15
Anand, Vishy - Caruana, Fabiano
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack, Marshall variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.O-O O-O 8.c4 c6 9.Qc2 Na6 10.a3 Bg4 11.Ne5 Bf5 12.b4 Nc7 13.f3 Bg6 14.c5 Bxe5 15.dxe5 Ng5 16.Bb2 d4 17.f4 Nd5 18.fxg5 Ne3 19.Qd2 Bxd3 20.Qxd3 Nxf1 21.Kxf1 Qxg5 22.Nd2 Qxe5 23.Nf3 Qh5 24.Qxd4 f6 25.Qc4+ Kh8 26.Bc1 Rfe8 27.Bf4 a5 28.Bd6 axb4 29.Qxb4 Qd5 30.Qxb7 h6 31.Kg1 Ra4 32.h3 Rc4 33.Qb2 Qd3 34.Ra2 Qd1+ 35.Kh2 Rc1 36.a4 f5 37.Qb7 f4 38.Bxf4 Rxc5 39.Rd2 Qxa4 40.Qf7 Rg8 41.Be5 Qc4 42.Rd6 1-0

Vishy revealed he hadn't seen Black's move coming ("for a minute I was annoyed"), and so it was only after it was played that he spotted the queen sacrifice 42.Rd6!!

Round 3, Jan. 15
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Matlakov, Maxim
D45 QGD, Semi-Slav, Stoltz variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Be2 Bd6 7.Qc2 O-O 8.O-O dxc4 9.a4 e5 10.Bxc4 exd4 11.exd4 Nb6 12.Bb3 Nbd5 13.Bg5 Be6 14.Nxd5 cxd5 15.Qd3 Be7 16.Ne5 Ne4 17.Bxe7 Qxe7 18.f3 Nd6 19.Rfe1 Rac8 20.a5 Qg5 21.Rad1 Rfd8 22.g3 Nc4 23.Bc2 g6 24.Nxc4 Rxc4 25.Bb3 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Jan. 15
Kramnik, Vladimir - Hou Yifan
A18 English, Mikenas-Carls variation

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.e4 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.e5 Ne4 6.Nf3 Bf5 7.d3 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Be7 9.d4 O-O 10.Bd3 Qd7 11.O-O Nc6 12.Re1 b6 13.Bb5 Qe6 14.Ng5 Bxg5 15.Bxg5 Qg6 16.h4 a6 17.Be2 h6 18.Bf4 Qe6 19.h5 Be4 20.Bg4 Bf5 21.Bf3 Rad8 22.Qe2 Na5 23.g4 Be4 24.Bxe4 dxe4 25.Bg3 c5 26.dxc5 Nc4 27.Qxe4 Nd2 28.Qf4 bxc5 29.Re3 Nc4 30.Re4 Nd2 31.Re3 Nc4 32.Re4 Nd2 1/2-1/2

Standings after Round Three

Masters

1-2 Anand, Giri 2.5
3-5 Mamedyarov, Jones, Carlsen 2.0
6-9 Karjakin, So, Svidler, Kramnik 1.5
10-12 Caruana, Wei Yi, Matlakov 1.0
13 Hou Yifan 0.5

Challengers

1-2 Vidit, Korobov 2.5
3 Gordievsky 2.0
4-7 Van Foreest, J., L'Ami, Harika, Van Foreest, L. 1.5
8-14 Girya, Xiong, Bok, Tari, Bluebaum, Amin, Krasenkow 1.0

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 16th January, 2018, 02:52 PM

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Tata Steel 2018

January 16, 2018

Round Four

Giri was expecting 1.e4 e5 against Magnus but last night, as he was about to go to sleep, he began to think that a line of the Winawer might make sense against him, so he was not surprised this morning.

Anish says he likes the position of underdog against Magnus, it makes him play better. That is the point of his banter on social media, building up the contest.

Svidler blunders against Kramnik allowing a tactic that ends the game

Round 4, Jan. 16
Kramnik, Vladimir - Svidler, Peter
D78 Neo-Grunfeld

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.d4 O-O 6.c4 c6 7.Ne5 Be6 8.cxd5 Bxd5 9.Nc3 Bxg2 10.Kxg2 Nbd7 11.Qb3 Qb6 12.Rd1 Qxb3 13.axb3 Rfc8 14.f4 c5 15.Be3 cxd4 16.Rxd4 Nxe5 17.fxe5 Ne8 18.Rd7 Rc7 19.Rxa7 Rb8 20.Rd5 b6 21.Nb5 Rxa7 22.Nxa7 Kf8 23.Rd7 Ra8 24.Bd4 1-0

Position after 18.Rc7? 19.Rxa7

With this game, Kramnik's score with white against Svidler is 9-1.

In his game against Giri in his game in Round 2, Kramnik thought he had a slight advantage and spent oceans of time looking for a winning line, when there wasn't one.

The games:

Round 4, Jan. 16
Giri, Anish - Carlsen, Magnus
C18 French, Winawer, Advance

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.Qg4 cxd4 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 Qc7 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 dxc3 12.Nxc3 Nd4 13.Bb2 Bd7 14.O-O-O Qb6 15.Qd3 Ndf5 16.Rd2 Rc8 17.g3 Ne3 18.Ne4 Rxc2+ 19.Rxc2 dxe4 20.Qxe4 Nxc2 21.Qxc2 Bc6 22.Bg2 Bxg2 23.Qxg2 Nd5 24.Kb1 Nc3+ 25.Ka1 Qb3 26.Bxc3 Qxa3+ 27.Kb1 Qxc3 28.Rc1 Qb4+ 29.Qb2 Qe4+ 30.Qc2 Qb4+ 31.Qb2 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Jan. 16
Hou Yifan - Matlakov, Maxim
C89 Ruy Lopez, Marshall Counter-Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d5 9.d4 exd4 10.e5 Ne4 11.cxd4 Bf5 12.Nc3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Na5 14.Bc2 Bxc2 15.Qxc2 Nc4 16.a4 Qd7 17.Bg5 bxa4 18.Rxa4 a5 19.Rea1 Rfb8 20.R4a2 Bxg5 21.Nxg5 g6 22.h3 Rb6 23.Nf3 Rab8 24.Qc1 Kg7 25.Kh2 Qf5 26.Nd2 Nb2 27.Nf3 a4 28.Rxa4 Nxa4 29.Rxa4 Rb2 30.Qe3 Qe4 31.Qxe4 dxe4 32.Ng5 Rxf2 33.Nxe4 Re2 34.Nf6 Rbb2 35.Kg3 Re3+ 36.Kf4 Rxc3 37.Ra8 Rxg2 38.Rg8+ Kh6 39.Rh8 Rf2+ 40.Ke4 Rxf6 41.exf6 Kg5 42.Rxh7 Kxf6 43.Rh8 Kg5 44.h4+ Kg4 45.d5 Rc4+ 46.Ke5 f5 47.h5 Re4+ 48.Kf6 gxh5 49.Rc8 f4 50.Rxc7 f3 51.Rg7+ Kf4 52.Rh7 f2 53.Rxh5 Kg3 54.Rg5+ Rg4 0-1

Round 4, Jan. 16
Adhiban, Baskaran - Anand, Vishy
A09 Reti, Advance variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.b4 c5 4.g3 cxb4 5.a3 b3 6.d3 Nc6 7.Nbd2 e5 8.Bg2 Nf6 9.Nxb3 Be7 10.O-O O-O 11.Bg5 Rb8 12.Ne1 Bd7 13.Nc2 b5 14.Nd2 a6 15.Nb4 Nxb4 16.axb4 bxc4 17.Nxc4 Bb5 18.Nxe5 Bxb4 19.Rb1 a5 20.Ng4 Rb6 21.Qc1 Qc8 22.Ne5 Qe6 23.Nf3 Qxe2 24.Nxd4 Qxd3 25.Rd1 Qg6 26.Bxf6 Qxf6 27.Nxb5 Rxb5 28.Qc6 Qf5 29.Be4 Qe5 30.Rd7 Rc5 31.Qb7 g6 32.Bd5 Qf6 33.Rb3 Rc3 34.Rxc3 Bxc3 35.Rxf7 Rxf7 36.Bxf7+ Qxf7 37.Qc8+ Qf8 38.Qc4+ Qf7 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Jan. 16
Karjakin, Sergey - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.Nbd2 Bf5 9.Re1 Nxd2 10.Qxd2 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 O-O 12.c3 h6 13.Bf4 Bd6 14.Bg3 Qd7 15.Re3 Rfe8 16.Rae1 Rxe3 17.Rxe3 a6 18.Bxd6 Qxd6 19.Nh4 Qd7 20.Qf5 Rd8 21.Qxd7 Rxd7 22.Re8+ Kh7 23.Rc8 Ne7 24.Rb8 c5 25.Nf3 Nc6 26.Rc8 cxd4 27.Nxd4 Nxd4 28.cxd4 Re7 29.Kf1 Re4 30.Rc7 b5 31.Rxf7 Rxd4 32.Ke2 Ra4 33.a3 Rc4 34.Kd3 b4 35.axb4 Rxb4 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Jan. 16
Wei Yi - Jones, Gawain
E71 King's Indian, Makagonov System

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.h3 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.d5 a5 8.Bg5 Na6 9.Be2 Qe8 10.g4 Kh8 11.Nd2 Ng8 12.h4 f5 13.gxf5 gxf5 14.Bh5 Qd7 15.Qe2 Nf6 16.Bf3 fxe4 17.Ndxe4 Nxe4 18.Nxe4 Nb4 19.Bg2 Qa4 20.Nc3 Qc2 21.Be4 Qxe2+ 22.Kxe2 Bg4+ 23.f3 Bh5 24.Rag1 Rf7 25.Be3 Bf6 26.Rg5 Bg6 27.Bxg6 hxg6 28.Rxg6 Nc2 29.Ne4 Be7 30.Ng5 Rf6 31.Rxf6 Bxf6 32.Ne6 Nxe3 33.Kxe3 Rg8 34.Ke4 c6 35.Kf5 Be7 36.Ng5 Re8 37.Ne4 Kg7 38.Ke6 Bf8+ 39.Kd7 Re7+ 40.Kxd6 Kf7 41.Rg1 cxd5 42.cxd5 Ke8 43.Nf6+ Kd8 44.Rg8 Re8+ 45.Rxf8 Rxf8 46.Ke6 Rh8 47.h5 b5 48.d6 1-0

Round 4, Jan. 16
Caruana, Fabiano - So, Wesley
E46 Nimzo-Indian, Reshevsky variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Ne2 d5 6.a3 Be7 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Nf4 Re8 9.Bd3 Bd6 10.O-O Bxf4 11.exf4 Nc6 12.Be3 Ne7 13.Qc2 g6 14.f3 Bf5 15.g4 Bxd3 16.Qxd3 Kg7 17.Rae1 Qd7 18.Bf2 h5 19.h3 c6 20.Ne2 hxg4 21.hxg4 Nfg8 22.Bh4 f5 23.Ng3 Rf8 24.Re5 Rf7 25.Qe2 Kf8 26.Re6 Rc8 27.b4 b6 28.Re1 c5 29.bxc5 bxc5 30.dxc5 Qc7 31.Kg2 Qxc5 32.Qe5 fxg4 33.fxg4 d4 34.Qxc5 Rxc5 35.Ne4 Rc2+ 36.Kf3 Nd5 37.Bg5 Rh7 38.Nd6 d3 39.f5 Rh3+ 40.Ke4 d2 41.Rf1 d1=Q 42.Rxd1 Nc3+ 43.Kd4 Nxd1 44.f6 Nxf6 45.Bxf6 Rd2+ 46.Kc5 Rc2+ 47.Kd4 Rd2+ 48.Kc5 Rc2+ 1/2-1/2

Jonathan Tisdall - Could spend ages trying to work out some of the Caruana-So mysteries with just a human head. In the good old days, a game like this would provide a fleet of annotators with work for months.

Challengers

Round 4, Jan. 16
Van Foreest, Lucas - Amin, Bassem
C58 Two Knights Defence, Bogolyubov variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qf3 Be7 9.Bd3 O-O 10.Nc3 h6 11.Nge4 Nxe4 12.Qxe4 f5 13.Qxe5 Bd6 14.Qd4 Bb7 15.b4 c5 16.bxc5 Qe8+ 17.Kf1 Be5 18.Qb4 Qd8 19.c6 Bxc6 20.Ba3 Qg5 21.f3 Qxd2 22.Bb2 Rab8 23.Qc5 Rfe8 24.Rd1 Qg5 25.Bc1 Qh4 26.Ne2 Qh5 27.Qxa5 Bxf3 28.Qd2 f4 29.Bc4+ Kh8 30.Bd5 Bxd5 31.Qxd5 f3 32.Ng3 Qh4 33.Kf2 Rbd8 34.Qxf3 Rf8 35.Rxd8 Qxd8 36.Nf5 g6 37.Rd1 Qc7 38.Kg1 Rxf5 39.Qe3 Bg7 40.Bb2 Rh5 41.h3 Kh7 42.Bxg7 Kxg7 43.Qe8 Qc5+ 44.Kh1 Re5 45.Rd7+ Kf6 46.Rf7+ 1-0

- Lucas has really improved
- 4 points from the next 8 games will be enough for his GM norm
- this game today was pretty cool

Standings after Round Four

1-2 Anand, Giri 3.0
3-5 Carlsen, Kramnik, Mamedyarov 2.5
6-10 Karjakin, So, Wei Yi, Matlakov, Jones 2.0
11-12 Caruana, Svidler 1.5
13 Adhiban 1.0
14 Hou Yifan 0.5

Challengers

1-2 Korobov, Vidit 3.5
3-4 Gordievsky, Van Foreest, Lucas 2.5
5-7 Van Foreest, J, Xiong, L'Ami 2.0
8-13 Girya, Tari, Bluebaum, Bok, Harika, Krasenkow 1.5
14 Amin 1.0

Tomorrow, the players travel to Hilversum. The blurb:

For the fifth year Tata Steel Chess Tournament is going 'on Tour' to bring the Masters of our tournament to the rest of The Netherlands! In 2018, during the 80th anniversary of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, the Grandmasters of the Tata Steel Masters are playing in the Sound and Vision (Beeld en Geluid) in Hilversum on Wednesday 17 January.

**Hans Jung** · Wednesday, 17th January, 2018, 02:14 PM

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Eric Hansen's commentary starts on Friday (early morning here in Canada) January 19. Not to be missed.

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 17th January, 2018, 03:49 PM

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Tata Steel 2018

January 17, 2018

Round Five

A big discussion as to whether Carlsen's 38.g4 is losing or not in this ending of K, R and pawns:

Carlsen-Kramnik after 38.g4

At the same time, Caruana reached the first time control after having been in severe time trouble. This looks lost for him

Mamedyarov-Caruana after 40.Qb6

Peter Svidler messed up a couple of times and had an equal game against Hou Yifan, then she blundered with 38...d3 and resigned three moves later:

Svidler-Hou Yifan after 38...d3:

Peter comes in and is interviewed by Tex de Wit. He says that he made a couple of blunders. When Tex asks about his game in general, Peter says it is like the curate's egg - good in places!

The origin of the phrase is the George du Maurier cartoon "True Humility", printed in the British satirical magazine Punch, on 9th November 1895. The cartoon gives fuller insight into its meaning, which relies to some extent on an appreciation of irony.

TRUE HUMILITY

Right Reverend Host. "I'm afraid you've got a bad Egg, Mr. Jones!"
The Curate. "Oh no, my Lord, I assure you! Parts of it are excellent!"

Clearly an egg which was partly bad would be entirely unpalatable. The curate, being too timid to complain to his host, looked for something positive to say in reply.

That initial meaning of the phrase; to describe something which partly good but which was ruined by its bad part, is now rather lost.

When asked what he is going to do on the day off tomorrow, Peter says he has tickets to the Hearthstone World Championship (in Amsterdam). How old is too old to not know what Hearthstone is?

https://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en...ship-amsterdam

Hearthstone is a free-to-play online collectible card video game, a turn-based card game between two opponents, using constructed decks of thirty cards along with a selected hero with a unique power.

________

Back to Carlsen-Kramnik - in spite of the -1.4 value on StockFish for Kramnik, it should be a draw. Some viewers think that Kramnik is torturing Carlsen and others, that Carlsen is torturing Kramnik.

Some comments:

- According to tablebases, this should be drawn
- Kram losing on time
- It's a draw unless MC mucks up
- Engines don't really understand rook endgames
- Poor Kramnik, he was +2 around move 38. MC gambled too much there
- Draw agreed and match finished

The games:

Round 5, Jan. 17
Carlsen, Magnus - Kramnik, Vladimir
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.a4 O-O 8.h3 h6 9.Re1 Re8 10.Nbd2 Be6 11.Bxe6 Rxe6 12.b4 Ba7 13.Qc2 Qd7 14.Nf1 d5 15.Ng3 Rd8 16.exd5 Qxd5 17.Be3 Qxd3 18.Qxd3 Rxd3 19.Bxa7 Nxa7 20.Nxe5 Rd5 21.Ng4 Nxg4 22.Rxe6 fxe6 23.hxg4 a5 24.f3 Nc6 25.Rb1 b6 26.Ne4 axb4 27.cxb4 Rd4 28.b5 Ne5 29.Rc1 Nxg4 30.fxg4 Rxe4 31.Rxc7 Rxa4 32.Rc6 Kf7 33.g5 hxg5 34.Rxb6 Rb4 35.Rb8 Kf6 36.b6 Ke5 37.Kh2 Rb3 38.g4 Kf4 39.b7 Kxg4 40.Re8 Rxb7 41.Rxe6 Rb2+ 42.Kg1 Kf3 43.Ra6 Rg2+ 44.Kh1 Re2 45.Kg1 g4 46.Ra1 Re8 47.Rb1 g3 48.Rb3+ Re3 49.Rb1 Re8 50.Rb3+ Kg4 51.Rb5 Re1+ 52.Kg2 Re2+ 53.Kg1 g5 54.Rb8 Re1+ 55.Kg2 Re2+ 56.Kg1 Ra2 57.Rc8 Ra1+ 58.Kg2 Ra2+ 59.Kg1 g2 60.Rc4+ Kh3 61.Rc3+ Kh4 62.Rc4+ g4 63.Rc3 Kh5 1/2-1/2

Round 5, Jan. 17
Jones, Gawain - Giri, Anish
B14 Caro-Kann, Panov-Botvnnik Attack

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bd2 O-O 9.Bd3 Nc6 10.O-O Be7 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.h3 Bf6 13.Bc3 Be6 14.Re1 g6 15.Qd2 Rc8 16.Rac1 a6 17.Qf4 Bg7 18.b3 Qf6 19.Qxf6 Bxf6 20.Ne5 Be7 21.Nxc6 Rxc6 22.Bd2 Rfc8 23.Rxc6 Rxc6 24.Rc1 Rxc1+ 25.Bxc1 1/2-1/2

Round 5, Jan. 17
Matlakov, Maxim - Karjakin, Sergey
A07 Reti, King's Indian Attack, Yugoslav variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.O-O Bg4 5.h3 Bh5 6.d4 e6 7.c4 Be7 8.Nc3 O-O 9.Ne5 Nbd7 10.g4 Bg6 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Qd3 Ne8 13.cxd5 exd5 14.Rb1 a5 15.a3 Nd6 16.b4 axb4 1/2-1/2

Round 5, Jan. 17
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Caruana, Fabiano
D30 QGD, Vienna variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bg5 Bb4+ 5.Nbd2 dxc4 6.e3 b5 7.Be2 Bb7 8.O-O O-O 9.b3 c3 10.a3 Be7 11.Nb1 c5 12.Nxc3 a6 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.Qc2 Nbd7 15.Rfd1 Rc8 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.b4 Be7 18.Rac1 Qe8 19.Qb1 Nb6 20.Nd4 Kh8 21.Bf3 Bxf3 22.Nxf3 Nc4 23.Ne4 Qc6 24.Nfd2 Qb7 25.Nxc4 Rxc4 26.Rxc4 bxc4 27.Qc2 Rc8 28.h3 Qc6 29.Rd4 a5 30.Nd2 Rg8 31.g3 axb4 32.Rxc4 b3 33.Nxb3 Qf3 34.a4 Bd6 35.Rc8 Rxc8 36.Qxc8+ Kg7 37.Qc2 Bb4 38.Qc4 Qb7 39.a5 Bd6 40.a6 Qb6 41.Nd4 Qa5 42.Kg2 Qa3 43.Qc6 1-0

Round 5, Jan. 17
Svidler, Peter - Hou Yifan
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Bb4 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4 O-O 7.Rc1 c6 8.e3 Bd6 9.Bxd6 Qxd6 10.Qc2 Re8 11.Bd3 Nbd7 12.O-O Nf8 13.h3 g6 14.Ne5 Nh5 15.Rfe1 Re7 16.Qa4 Nd7 17.Nf3 Ndf6 18.b4 a6 19.b5 cxb5 20.Nxb5 Bd7 21.Nxd6 Bxa4 22.Rb1 b5 23.Ne5 Nd7 24.Rec1 Nxe5 25.dxe5 Rxe5 26.Rc7 Rf8 27.Rc6 Ra8 28.Rc7 Rf8 29.Rc6 Ra8 30.Rbc1 d4 31.g4 Nf6 32.e4 Re6 33.f4 b4 34.Rc8+ Rxc8 35.Rxc8+ Kg7 36.e5 Nd5 37.Bc4 Nxf4 38.Rc7 d3 39.Rxf7+ Kh6 40.Rxf4 d2 41.Rd4 1-0

Round 5, Jan. 17
Anand, Vishy - Wei Yi
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bf5 7.O-O Be7 8.Re1 O-O 9.c4 Nc6 10.cxd5 Qxd5 11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Rae8 13.Bf4 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 Bd6 15.c4 Qh5 16.Bxd6 cxd6 17.Qa3 Qa5 18.Qxd6 Rxe1+ 19.Rxe1 Rd8 20.Re3 h6 21.Qf4 Qxa2 22.d5 Na5 23.Qc7 Qb1+ 24.Re1 Qb6 25.Re7 Qxc7 26.Rxc7 b5 27.cxb5 Rxd5 28.h3 Rxb5 29.Rxa7 Nc6 1/2-1/2

And the longest game, drawish for a long time, then 66...Kg6 and So pumps out the win

Round 5, Jan. 17
So, Wesley - Adhiban, Baskaran
A10 English Opening

1.c4 d6 2.Nc3 e5 3.g3 Be7 4.Bg2 f5 5.d4 Nf6 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Qxd8+ Bxd8 8.b3 O-O 9.Bb2 c6 10.Nf3 Bc7 11.O-O Na6 12.Rfd1 Re8 13.Rac1 e4 14.Nd4 f4 15.Ndb5 fxg3 16.hxg3 e3 17.f4 Bg4 18.Nxc7 Nxc7 19.Ba3 Ne6 20.Bd6 g5 21.fxg5 Nxg5 22.Rd4 Ne6 23.Rd3 Ng7 24.Rf1 Nf5 25.Bf3 Bh3 26.Bg2 Bg4 27.Rf4 Re6 28.Bc7 h5 29.Bf3 Ng7 30.Bd8 Nge8 31.Kg2 Bxf3+ 32.Rxf3 Ng4 33.Rf5 Ng7 34.Rf4 Rg6 35.Bh4 Ne6 36.Rf5 Re8 37.Ne4 Ng7 38.Nf6+ Nxf6 39.Rxf6 Rxf6 40.Bxf6 Nf5 41.Kf3 Kf7 42.Bg5 Rg8 43.Bf4 Ke6 44.Rd1 b5 45.cxb5 cxb5 46.Rh1 Rh8 47.Bxe3 Nxe3 48.Kxe3 Kf5 49.Rh4 Re8+ 50.Kf3 Kg5 51.Rd4 Rf8+ 52.Rf4 Rc8 53.Re4 Rc3+ 54.e3 Rc5 55.b4 Rf5+ 56.Rf4 Rd5 57.Rf7 a6 58.Rg7+ Kh6 59.Rc7 Rd6 60.Rc5 Rf6+ 61.Ke4 Rg6 62.Kf3 Rf6+ 63.Kg2 Rd6 64.Kh3 Re6 65.Rc3 Kg5 66.a3 Kg6 67.g4 hxg4+ 68.Kxg4 Kf6 69.Kf4 Ke7 70.e4 Rh6 71.Rc7+ Kd8 72.Ra7 Kc8 73.e5 Kb8 74.Rd7 a5 75.bxa5 Ra6 76.Rd5 Rxa5 77.e6 Kc7 78.e7 Ra8 79.Kf5 Kc6 80.Rd8 1-0

Standings after Round Five

1-3 Giri, Anand, Mamedyarov 3.5
4-6 Kramnik, Carlsen, So 3.0
7-11 Wei Yi, Karjakin, Matlakov, Jones, Svidler 2.5
12 Caruana 1.5
13 Adhiban 1.0
14 Hou Yifan 0.5

Challengers

1 Korobov 4.5
2 Vidit 4.0
3 Van Foreest, Lucas 3.0
4-6 Tari, Gordievsky, L'Ami 2.5
7-12 Bluebaum, Van Foreest, Jorden, Krasenkow, Amin, Xiong, Harika 2.0
13-14 Bok, Girya 1.4

(Note: Girya-Bok game still in progress)

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 19th January, 2018, 05:59 PM

Re: Tata Steel 2018

Tata Steel 2018

January 19, 2018

Round Six

Kramnik "sacrifices" his queen for a bit of an edge, makes it difficult for Gawain for a while but the game ends in a draw:

Position after 19.Bxd4

Round 6, Jan. 19
Kramnik, Vladimir - Jones, Gawain
A49 King's Indian, Fianchetto

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O d6 6.Re1 c6 7.e4 Qc7 8.e5 dxe5 9.dxe5 Nd5 10.Qe2 b5 11.Nbd2 a5 12.c4 Nb4 13.Nd4 Rd8 14.a3 Rxd4 15.axb4 bxc4 16.Nxc4 Bg4 17.Qf1 Bf5 18.Be3 Bd3 19.Bxd4 Bxf1 20.Bxf1 c5 21.Bxc5 Nd7 22.Bd4 a4 23.b5 Rb8 24.Rec1 h5 25.b6 Qc6 26.Na5 Qe6 27.Bc4 Qg4 28.Nc6 Rxb6 29.Bxb6 Nxb6 30.Nxe7+ Kf8 31.Nd5 Bxe5 32.Nxb6 Bxb2 33.h3 Qxh3 34.Bf1 Qe6 35.Nxa4 Bxa1 36.Rxa1 h4 37.Nc5 Qd5 38.Rc1 hxg3 39.Nd3 gxf2+ 40.Kxf2 Qd4+ 41.Ke2 Qg4+ 1/2-1/2

Wesley So beat Wei Yi, Mamedyarov beat Adhiban and the rest of the games were draws

Round 6, Jan. 19
Wei Yi - So, Wesley
A06 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.Bxc4 a6 6.b3 c5 7.Bb2 Nc6 8.Qc2 Be7 9.a3 b6 10.g4 h6 11.Rg1 b5 12.Be2 Bb7 13.g5 hxg5 14.Nxg5 Rh6 15.Nce4 Nxe4 16.Nxe4 g6 17.Nxc5 Bxc5 18.Qxc5 Rxh2 19.a4 Qh4 20.Rf1 Rc8 21.Qb6 Nd8 22.axb5 Bg2 23.Ra4 Qh3 24.Ba3 Rh1 25.bxa6 Qh8 26.Rd4 Bxf1 27.Qb5+ Nc6 28.Bxf1 Rxf1+ 29.Kxf1 Qh1+ 30.Ke2 Qh5+ 31.Qxh5 Nxd4+ 32.exd4 gxh5 33.b4 Rb8 34.Kf3 Kd7 35.Kg3 Kc6 36.b5+ Rxb5 37.Bc5 Rb2 38.a7 Kb7 39.d5 exd5 40.Be3 Rb4 41.d4 Rb1 0-1

Round 6, Jan. 19
Adhiban, Baskaran - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
A33 English, symmetrical version

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.a3 Bc5 7.Be3 Nxd4 8.Bxd4 b6 9.e4 Bb7 10.b4 Be7 11.Bd3 d6 12.O-O O-O 13.Qe2 Nd7 14.Rfd1 Rc8 15.Rac1 Qc7 16.Nb5 Qb8 17.Qg4 Nf6 18.Qe2 Nd7 19.Qg4 Ne5 20.Qg3 Ng6 21.f3 Rfd8 22.Bf1 Bh4 23.Qg4 h6 24.Be3 Bf6 25.Nd4 Re8 26.Nb5 Rcd8 27.a4 Bc6 28.Qg3 Bh4 29.Qg4 Re7 30.Bd3 Bf6 31.f4 Qa8 32.Re1 Rdd7 33.Bf2 a5 34.Bxb6 axb4 35.a5 b3 36.Kh1 e5 37.f5 Nf4 38.Bb1 d5 39.exd5 Bxb5 40.cxb5 Qxd5 41.Be4 Qd2 42.a6 b2 43.Rb1 Qb4 44.Bc6 Rd3 45.Be3 Ra3 46.a7 Rexa7 47.Bxa7 Rxa7 48.Qd1 Ra3 49.Be4 Qxb5 50.Qd2 Rb3 51.g3 Nh3 52.Bg2 Ng5 53.h4 Nf3 54.Bxf3 Rxf3 55.Rxb2 Qa4 56.Re3 e4 57.Rb8+ Kh7 58.Kg2 Qc6 59.Rxf3 exf3+ 60.Kf2 Be7 61.Qd3 Bc5+ 62.Kf1 Ba7 63.Rb1 Qc5 64.Ke1 Qf2+ 65.Kd1 f6 66.Rb3 Qg1+ 67.Kc2 Qg2+ 68.Kc3 Qxg3 69.h5 Qe5+ 70.Kb4 Qf4+ 71.Kb5 f2 72.Rb1 Qg4 73.Ra1 Bd4 74.Rf1 Qg2 75.Kc4 Bb6 76.Kb5 Be3 77.Ka4 Bd2 78.Kb5 Be1 79.Kc5 Qg4 80.Kd6 Qxh5 81.Ke7 Qh2 82.Qd8 Qh3 83.Qc8 Bb4+ 84.Ke8 Qh5+ 85.Kd8 Qe2 86.Qc1 Be1 0-1

Round 6, Jan. 19
Svidler, Peter - Carlsen, Magnus
A13 English

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Qb3 c5 4.Nb5 Nc6 5.Nd6+ Kf8 6.Nf3 Qe7 7.Nxc8 Rxc8 8.e3 e5 9.Qc2 e4 10.Ng1 Nf6 11.Ne2 Ba5 12.a3 h5 13.b3 Rd8 14.Bb2 d5 15.cxd5 Rxd5 16.O-O-O Ng4 17.Ng3 Nxf2 18.Bc4 Nxd1 19.Rxd1 Rg5 20.Rf1 Nd8 21.Nf5 Qd7 22.Qxe4 Rg4 23.Bxg7+ Rxg7 24.Nxg7 Qxd2+ 25.Kb1 Bc3 26.Rxf7+ Nxf7 27.Qe8+ Kxg7 28.Qxf7+ Kh6 29.Qf4+ Kg6 30.Qf7+ Kh6 31.Qf4+ 1/2-1/2

The post-game analysis at the board, between the players, was recorded and can be seen on YouTube. It is almost 14 minutes long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptgrISsniDM

Round 6, Jan. 19
Giri, Anish - Anand, Vishy
E03 Catalan, open, Alekhine variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Nbd7 6.Qxc4 a6 7.Qc2 c5 8.Nf3 b5 9.Ne5 Nd5 10.Nxd7 Bxd7 11.Bxd5 exd5 12.dxc5 Bc6 13.O-O d4 14.Bf4 Qd5 15.f3 d3 16.exd3 Qxc5+ 17.Qxc5 Bxc5+ 18.Kg2 Bd4 19.Nc3 Kd7 20.Rae1 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Jan. 19
Hou Yifan - Karjakin, Sergey
B19 Caro-Kann, Classical

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 e6 8.Ne5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nd7 11.f4 Be7 12.Bd2 Nxe5 13.fxe5 Bxh4 14.O-O-O Bxg3 15.Qxg3 Ne7 16.Qxg7 Rg8 17.Qf6 Nf5 18.Bxh6 Qxf6 19.exf6 Rd8 20.Bf4 Nxd4 21.Rd2 c5 22.c3 Nc6 23.Bd6 b6 24.b4 cxb4 25.cxb4 a5 26.b5 Na7 27.a4 Nc8 28.Rhd1 Rg4 29.Bb8 Rxd2 30.Rxd2 Rxa4 31.Rc2 Kd8 32.Rd2+ 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Jan. 19
Caruana, Fabiano - Matlakov, Maxim
C88 Ruy Lopez, Closed, anti-Marshall

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.a4 b4 9.d4 d6 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Nxe5 dxe5 12.Qe2 Bc5 13.Be3 Bd4 14.Bxd4 Qxd4 15.Rd1 Bg4 16.Rxd4 Bxe2 17.Rd2 Rfd8 18.f3 Rxd2 19.Nxd2 Rd8 20.Nc4 Bxc4 21.Bxc4 a5 22.Rc1 Kf8 23.c3 b3 24.Rb1 Rb8 25.Ra1 Rd8 26.Ra3 Rd1+ 27.Bf1 Nd7 28.Rxb3 Nb6 29.Kf2 Nxa4 30.Rb8+ Ke7 31.Rb5 Kd6 32.Be2 Rd2 33.Rxa5 Nxb2 34.Ke3 Rc2 35.Rd5+ Ke6 36.Rc5 Kd6 37.Rd5+ Ke6 38.Rc5 1/2-1/2

Anton Korobov has now scored 5/6 in the Challengers. He says that he is quite cold-blooded and can wait for his opportunities and make no bad moves before. He also said that he is too fat and too old to be in good shape ."Maybe that is the last success before the cemetery!" The sound went down when he was asked if he started smoking after two rounds, so we will never know. I think he didn't want to answer that question and the sound was turned down. An interesting interview.

He is a Ukrainian GM, born in 1985, so 32 years old. He was born Russian and became Ukrainian. For this and a lot more, see his 2012 interview at:

http://chess-news.ru/en/node/8999

Some of his games from the Challengers so far:

Challengers
Round 1, Jan. 13
Korobov, Anton - Bluebaum, Matthias
D02 Queen's Bishop game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 Qb6 6.dxc5 Qxb2 7.Rb1 Qc3 8.Bb5 e6 9.O-O Be7 10.Nb3 O-O 11.Qd3 Ne4 12.Bxc6 bxc6 13.Ne5 Bf6 14.Nxc6 Bd7 15.Nca5 Rfc8 16.Nb7 e5 17.Bg3 Rc7 18.Nd6 Qxd3 19.cxd3 Nxc5 20.Rfc1 Ne6 21.Rxc7 Nxc7 22.Na5 Na6 23.Nab7 Rb8 24.Rb3 Bc6 25.h3 h5 26.h4 Kf8 27.Kh2 Kg8 28.f3 Kh7 29.Na5 Ba4 30.Ra3 Be8 31.Nxe8 Rxe8 32.Nc6 Nc5 33.Nxe5 Rxe5 34.d4 Re6 35.dxc5 a6 36.Rd3 Kg6 37.Bf2 Re5 38.Kh3 Be7 39.c6 Bd6 40.Bg3 Re6 41.c7 1-0

Round 3, Jan. 15
Korobov, Anton - Bok, Benjamin
D45 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.a3 Bd6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O e5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.Nb5 Bb8 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Bxe5 13.f4 Bc7 14.Nxc7 Qxc7 15.b4 Qb6 16.Re1 Re8 17.Qf3 Ne4 18.Bb2 Bf5 19.Rad1 Qg6 20.Be2 Red8 21.Qh5 Rac8 22.Qxg6 hxg6 23.Rc1 Rxc1 24.Rxc1 Rc8 25.Rxc8+ Bxc8 26.b5 f6 27.Bd4 a6 28.bxa6 bxa6 29.g4 g5 30.h3 Kf7 31.Bd3 g6 32.Kg2 Ke6 33.Kf1 Ke7 34.Ke1 Ke6 35.a4 Bd7 36.a5 Bc8 37.Be2 Ng3 38.Bd3 Ne4 39.Bb2 Bb7 40.Ba3 Bc8 41.Bb4 f5 42.Be2 Bb7 43.fxg5 Nxg5 44.h4 Ne4 45.g5 Ke5 46.Be7 d4 47.exd4+ Kxd4 48.h5 Nxg5 49.Bxg5 gxh5 50.Kf2 Kc5 51.Bxh5 Bd5 52.Bd2 Kc6 53.Ke3 Kb7 54.Kd4 Be4 55.Kc5 f4 56.Bxf4 Bg2 57.Kd6 Be4 58.Bg4 Bc6 59.Bc8+ 1-0

Round 4, Jan. 16
Korobov, Anton - Girya, Olga
E00 Catalan Opening

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.d4 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.Qc2 Nbd7 8.O-O c6 9.a4 Ne4 10.Bf4 g5 11.Bc1 f5 12.b3 Bf6 13.Bb2 Bg7 14.Nbd2 a5 15.Rad1 Qe7 16.Qc1 g4 17.Ne1 Nxd2 18.Rxd2 Rd8 19.Nd3 Nf6 20.Rc2 Ne4 21.Ba3 Qe8 22.Ne5 Nd6 23.h3 gxh3 24.Bf3 Ne4 25.Qf4 c5 26.Bxe4 dxe4 27.Bxc5 Qh5 28.Kh2 Bh6 29.Qh4 Qxh4 30.gxh4 Bf4+ 31.Kxh3 Bxe5 32.dxe5 Bd7 33.Be7 Re8 34.Bf6 Kf7 35.h5 Bc6 36.Rd2 e3 37.fxe3 Rg8 38.e4 Rae8 39.e3 Bxe4 40.Rd7+ Kf8 41.Rf2 h6 42.Rfd2 Rg1 43.Rd1 Rxd1 44.Rxd1 Bc6 45.Rg1 Be4 46.Kh4 Ra8 47.Bg7+ Kf7 48.Bxh6 Rg8 49.Bg5 Bc2 50.Rg2 Be4 51.Rd2 Bc6 52.Rd4 Re8 53.Bd8 Rg8 54.Bxa5 Rg1 55.b4 Bxa4 56.b5 Rg4+ 57.Kh3 Kg7 58.Rd7+ Kh6 59.Rxb7 Rxc4 60.b6 Rc5 61.Bd2 Rc2 62.Rb8 Bc6 63.Rh8+ Kg7 64.Rd8 Kh6 65.Kh4 Be4 66.b7 Bxb7 67.e4+ Kh7 68.Rd7+ Kg8 69.exf5 exf5 70.Rxb7 Rxd2 71.Kg5 Rh2 72.e6 1-0

Round 5, Jan. 17
Van Foreest, Jorden - Korobov, Anton
C77 Ruy Lopez, Anderssen variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 g6 7.h3 Bg7 8.Be3 O-O 9.O-O Ne7 10.Nbd2 c5 11.d4 exd4 12.cxd4 b5 13.Bb3 c4 14.Bc2 d5 15.e5 Ne8 16.Re1 Bf5 17.Nf1 Bxc2 18.Qxc2 Nf5 19.Bg5 Nxd4 20.Nxd4 Qxg5 21.Rad1 Nc7 22.Nc6 Ne6 23.g3 Rfe8 24.h4 Qh5 25.f4 Bf8 26.Ne3 Qf3 27.Qg2 Qxg2+ 28.Kxg2 Rec8 29.Nd4 Bc5 30.Nf3 d4 31.Nd5 h5 32.b4 Ba7 33.Ne7+ Kf8 34.Nxc8 Rxc8 35.Nd2 d3 36.Ne4 Nd4 37.Rd2 Ke7 38.Rc1 Rd8 39.Rc3 Nc6 40.Ra3 a5 41.Nd6 Rb8 42.bxa5 Bc5 43.Rc3 Bb4 0-1

Standings after Round Six

Masters

1 Mamedyarov 4.5
2-4 Giri, Anand, So 4.0
5-6 Kramnik, Carlsen 3.5
7-10 Karjakin, Matlakov, Jones, Svidler 3.0
11 Wei Yi 2.5
12 Caruana 2.0
13-14 Adhiban, Hou Yifan 1.0

Challengers

1 Korobov 5.5
2 Vidit 4.5
3 Van Foreest, Lucas 3.5
4-5 L'Ami, Gorievsky 3.0
6-14 Bluebaum, Girya, Xiong, Bok, Tari, van Foreest, Jorden, Harika, Krasenkow, Amin all with 2.5

**Hans Jung** · Saturday, 20th January, 2018, 01:19 PM

Re: Tata Steel 2018

The most remarkable player of the top section is Gawain Jones. Never been over 2700, he quietly goes about his business holding equal against the superstars. Look at the sensational Kramnik - Jones game from rd 6. Actually Gawain is playing very resourceful chess. However he still has to face Magnus and Vishy and none of his last six games should be easy.