Shamkir 2019 - The Gashimov Memorial

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 30th March, 2019, 02:12 PM

Shamkir 2019 - The Gashimov Memorial

March 30, 2019

Tournament Pairings

Round 1, Mar. 31

Giri-Topalov
Karjakin-Ding Liren
Grischuk-Mamedyarov
Radjabov-Carlsen
Anand-Navara

Round 2, Apr. 1

Topalov-Navara
Carlsen-Anand
Mamedyarov-Radjabov
Ding Liren-Grischuk
Giri-Karjakin

Round 3, Apr. 2

Karjakin-Topalov
Grischuk-Giri
Radjabov-Ding Liren
Anand-Mamedyarov
Navara-Carlsen

Round 4, Apr. 3

Topalov-Carlsen
Mamedyarov-Navara
Ding Liren-Anand
Giri-Radjabov
Karjakin-Grischuk

Round 5, Apr. 4

Grischuk-Topalov
Radjabov-Karjakin
Anand-Giri
Navara-Ding Liren
Carlsen-Mamedyarov

Rest Day, Apr. 5

Round 6, Apr. 6

Topalov-Mamedyarov
Ding Liren-Carlsen
Giri-Navara
Karjakin-Anand
Grischuk-Radjabov

Round 7, Apr. 7

Radjabov-Topalov
Anand-Grischuk
Navara-Karjakin
Carlsen-Giri
Mamedyarov-Ding Liren

Round 8, Apr. 8

Topalov-Ding Liren
Giri-Mamedyarov
Karjakin-Carlsen
Grischuk-Navara
Radjabov-Anand

Round 9, Apr. 9

Anand-Topalov
Navara-Radjabov
Carlsen-Grischuk
Mamedyarov-Karjakin
Ding Liren-Giri

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 31st March, 2019, 02:25 PM

Shamkir 2019 - The Gashimov Memorial

March 31, 2019

Round One

Round 1, Mar. 31
Anand, Vishy – Navara, David
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bd3 g6 7.f3 Bg7 8.Be3 Nc6 9.Qd2 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.g4 b5 12.h4 Qa5 13.a3 h6 14.O-O-O Rb8 15.g5 Nh5 16.Bxg7 Nxg7 17.gxh6 Nh5 18.Qg5 f6 19.Qxg6+ Bf7 20.Qg1 b4 21.axb4 Qxb4 22.Kd2 Nf4 23.Qe3 Nxd3 24.Qxd3 Rxh6 25.Qxa6 Kf8 26.Ra1 d5 27.Ra4 Qc5 28.exd5 Rxb2 29.Qa7 Qd6 30.Qe3 Rg6 31.Ra8+ Kg7 32.Kc1 Qb4 33.Ra4 Rb1+ 34.Nxb1 Qxa4 35.Qxe7 Rg2 36.Qe4 Qa7 37.Re1 Rg1 38.Nc3 Qa1+ 39.Kd2 Rg2+ 40.Re2 Rg1 41.Qe7 Rd1+ 1/2-1/2

Position after Black’s 40….Rg1

Vishy has a won game at move 40. Navara plays Rg1, Vishy continues 41.Qe7 and Navara replies with Rd1+, which the commentators are calling a swindle – for the draw!!

- Anand probably wanted to avoid Qc1+ followed by Bg6...

Round 1, Mar. 31
Giri, Anish – Topalov, Veselin
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.O-O Qe7 7.Nbd2 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.a3 Nd7 10.b4 Bd6 11.Nc4 f6 12.Ne3 Nf8 13.Nf5 Qd7 14.Be3 Ne6 15.c3 O-O-O 16.Ng3 Bxf3 17.Qxf3 Kb8 18.Rfd1 g6 19.d4 exd4 20.cxd4 Rhf8 21.Bh6 Rf7 22.d5 cxd5 23.Rxd5 Qe8 24.Rad1 Rc8 25.Qg4 Bf8 26.Bxf8 Nxf8 27.Ne2 h5 28.Qf3 Nd7 29.Nc3 Ne5 30.Qe2 Re7 31.f4 Nf7 32.R5d4 Nd6 33.Qd3 Re6 34.b5 b6 35.a4 g5 36.f5 Re5 37.Rf1 Rd8 38.Rd1 Rc8 39.Ra1 g4 40.hxg4 hxg4 41.Rd1 Kb7 42.Rd5 Rxd5 43.Qxd5+ Kb8 44.Qd4 Qh5 45.Nd5 g3 46.Nxf6 Qh2+ 47.Kf1 Qh1+ 48.Qg1 Qh4 49.Qd4 Qh1+ 50.Qg1 1/2-1/2

- By the way - a little info for people who are not bulgarians. The red/white bracelet on Topalov's hand is called Martenica and it is bulgarian tradition for good health and luck

We put it on 1st March till we see the storks coming in Bulgaria (usually at the end of March

Round 1, Mar. 31
Radjabov, Teimour – Carlsen, Magnus
C55 Two Knights Defence (Modern Bishop’s Opening

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.h3 d6 7.a4 a5 8.Nbd2 Nd7 9.Re1 Nb6 10.Bb3 Kh8 11.c3 f5 12.exf5 Bxf5 13.Nf1 Bg6 14.Ng3 Bf6 15.Ne4 d5 16.Nxf6 Qxf6 17.Bg5 Qf5 18.Qd2 Rae8 19.Be3 Bh5 20.Bd1 Qd7 21.Bxb6 cxb6 22.Qg5 Qf7 23.Qh4 Bg6 24.Bb3 Qd7 25.Qg3 d4 26.Nxe5 Nxe5 27.Rxe5 dxc3 28.Rxe8 Rxe8 29.bxc3 Qxd3 30.Qxd3 Bxd3 31.Rd1 Be4 32.Rd6 Bc6 33.Bd5 Bxd5 34.Rxd5 Re1+ 35.Kh2 h6 36.Rd7 Rc1 37.Rxb7 Rxc3 38.Rxb6 Rc4 39.Ra6 Rxa4 40.f4 Rxf4 41.Rxa5 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Mar. 31
Karjakin, Sergey – Ding, Liren
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d6 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Nh7 11.d4 Bb6 12.dxe5 h5 13.h4 Bg4 14.Nbd2 Nxe5 15.Be2 Nxf3+ 16.Nxf3 Re8 17.Qd2 Bxf3 18.Bxf3 gxh4 19.Bf4 Qf6 20.Bxh5 Qg7 21.Bh6 Qf6 22.Bf4 Qg7 23.Bh6 Qf6 24.Bf4 Qg7 1/2-1/2

- ding need to be little more forceful to challenge magnus
- i agree but he is very young
- draw offer with bh6 bf4
- no draw before move 40 is rule
- Artemiev is the future
- which event is artemiev playing in next?

Round 1, Mar. 31
Grischuk, Alexander – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
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.d4 Bf6 10.Re1 Re8 11.Bf4 Rxe1 12.Qxe1 Ne8 13.c3 d5 14.Bd3 c6 15.Nd2 g6 16.Qe2 Ng7 17.Re1 Bf5 18.Nf3 Bxd3 19.Qxd3 Qa5 20.a3 Re8 21.Rxe8+ Nxe8 22.Qe2 Qd8 23.g3 Qd7 24.Kg2 Kg7 25.Bb8 a6 26.Be5 Bxe5 27.Qxe5+ f6 28.Qe2 Kf7 29.Ne1 Nd6 30.Nd3 a5 31.a4 b6 32.f3 Qe6 33.Kf2 Qh3 34.Kg1 Qe6 35.Kf2 Qh3 36.Kg1 Qe6 37.Kf2 Qh3 1/2-1/2

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 1st April, 2019, 03:19 PM

Shamkir 2019 - The Gashimov Memorial

April 1, 2019

Round Two

Round 2, Apr. 1
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Radjabov, Teimour
E00 Catalan Opening

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.Qc2 c6 9.Rc1 b6 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Qd1 Bb7 12.a3 a6 13.Bf4 Rc8 14.Nbd2 Rxc1 15.Rxc1 Qa8 16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.Bxe5 Rc8 18.Bxf6 Rxc1 19.Qxc1 Bxf6 20.e3 Qc8 21.Qxc8+ Bxc8 22.Bf1 e5 23.Nf3 exd4 24.Nxd4 Bxd4 25.exd4 Kf8 26.Kg2 Ke7 27.Kf3 Kd6 28.Bd3 h6 29.g4 g5 30.Kg3 f6 31.f4 a5 32.f5 Bd7 33.b4 axb4 34.axb4 b5 35.h4 Be8 36.h5 Bd7 37.Kf3 Kc7 38.Kg3 Kd6 39.Kf3 Kc7 40.Kg3 Kd6 41.Kf3 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Apr. 1
Ding, Liren – Grischuk, Alexander
A65 Benoni, Samisch formation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.e4 e6 6.Nc3 exd5 7.cxd5 Bg7 8.Nge2 Nbd7 9.Ng3 h5 10.Be2 Nh7 11.Nf1 Qh4+ 12.g3 Qe7 13.Ne3 O-O 14.a4 Ne5 15.O-O Bh3 16.Re1 Rae8 17.Bd2 a6 18.Ra3 Qc7 19.f4 Nd7 20.Bxh5 c4 21.Bf3 Nc5 22.Qc2 Nb3 23.Rxb3 cxb3 24.Qxb3 Kh8 25.Ncd1 f5 26.Nf2 fxe4 27.Bxe4 Bf5 28.Rc1 Qd7 29.Bf3 Nf6 30.Rc4 Qe7 31.Nxf5 gxf5 32.Kg2 Rc8 33.Rb4 Rc7 34.a5 Nd7 35.Bd1 Qf7 36.Rxb7 Rxb7 37.Qxb7 Rb8 38.Qc6 Rxb2 39.Bc2 Bd4 40.Nd3 Qe7 41.Kf1 Rb8 42.Ne1 Nc5 43.Nf3 Bf6 44.Bxf5 Rb3 45.Qc8+ Kg7 46.Ng5 Bxg5 47.fxg5 Rf3+ 48.Kg2 Qe2+ 49.Kh3 Rxf5 50.Qxf5 Qxd2 51.Qf6+ Kg8 52.Qg6+ Kh8 53.Qxd6 Nd3 54.Qh6+ Kg8 55.Qe6+ Kg7 56.Qe7+ Kg8 57.d6 Nf2+ 58.Kh4 Qd4+ 59.Kh5 Qd1+ 60.g4 Nxg4 61.Qe8+ Kg7 62.Qd7+ Kh8 63.Qxg4 Qxd6 64.Qc8+ Kg7 65.Qc3+ Kh7 66.Qc2+ Kg7 67.h4 Qe6 68.Qc7+ Kh8 69.Qd8+ Kh7 70.Qc7+ Kh8 71.Qb6 Qc4 72.Qd8+ Kg7 73.Qe7+ Kg8 74.Kh6 Qc6+ 75.g6 Qc1+ 76.Qg5 Qd1 77.Qf4 1-0

In the last ten moves, these comments on chessbomb:

- Time to resign
- Grischuk dying for a smoke now

Final position

Round 2, Apr. 1
Carlsen, Magnus – Anand, Vishy
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.a3 Qa5 10.Rd1 Rd8 11.Be2 Ne4 12.cxd5 Nxc3 13.bxc3 exd5 14.O-O h6 15.a4 Bd6 16.Bxd6 Rxd6 17.c4 Be6 18.c5 Rdd8 19.Rb1 Qc7 20.Qb2 Rab8 21.Nd4 Nxd4 22.Qxd4 b6 23.cxb6 Rxb6 24.h3 Rc8 25.Rfd1 Qc3 26.Qxc3 Rxc3 27.a5 Rxb1 28.Rxb1 Rc5 29.a6 g6 30.Rb7 Rc1+ 31.Kh2 Rc2 32.Bb5 Rb2 33.Kg3 Bc8 34.Rb8 Kg7 35.Rxc8 Rxb5 36.Rc7 Ra5 37.Rxa7 Kf6 38.Ra8 Ra3 39.Kh2 h5 40.a7 Ra2 41.h4 Kf5 42.f3 Ra1 43.g3 1-0

- black was lost since move 29
-Black was only lost at move 37...Kf6 IMO
- 37... d4 was still draw.
- The comp suggestion after 37. ..d4 is nonsense. If black goes Rd5 then Rc7 and a7 and it is won.
- Magnus is the post-computer Rubinstein when it comes to R endings.

Round 2, Apr. 1
Giri Anish – Karjakin, Sergey
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O a6 7.a4 h6 8.Re1 O-O 9.h3 a5 10.d4 Ba7 11.Bb3 Re8 12.Bc2 Bd7 13.Na3 Qc8 14.Nb5 Bb6 15.Bb1 exd4 16.cxd4 Nb4 17.Ra3 Re7 18.e5 dxe5 19.dxe5 Nfd5 20.Nh4 Qe8 21.Qe2 Nc6 22.Nf3 Rd8 23.Kh2 f5 24.g4 fxg4 25.Qd3 g6 26.Qxd5+ Be6 27.Qe4 gxf3 28.Rg1 Bf7 29.Ba2 Bxa2 30.Rxg6+ Qxg6 31.Qxg6+ Rg7 32.Qxg7+ Kxg7 33.Rxa2 Rd1 34.Ra1 Kf7 0-1

Evidently 24.g4 was a big mistake

Position after Black’s 23…f5

- 24.g4 was played at full tilt.
- Total miscalculation
- what a slap !
- great job karjakin !!

Round 2, Apr. 1
Topalov, Veselin – Navara, David
B12 Caro-Kann

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.dxc5 e6 5.a3 Bxc5 6.Qg4 Ne7 7.Nf3 Qb6 8.Bd3 Nbc6 9.O-O Ng6 10.Nc3 Qc7 11.Re1 O-O 12.Qh5 Bd7 13.b4 Be7 14.Bd2 f5 15.exf6 Bxf6 16.Rac1 Nd4 17.Nxd4 Bxd4 18.Nd1 Qb6 19.Be3 e5 20.c3 Bxe3 21.Nxe3 Rae8 22.Bb1 d4 23.cxd4 exd4 24.Nc4 Qf6 25.f3 Rxe1+ 26.Rxe1 Bf5 27.Bxf5 Qxf5 28.Qxf5 Rxf5 29.Re8+ Rf8 30.Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Nd6 Nf4 32.Kf2 d3 33.Ke3 Nxg2+ 34.Kxd3 Ne1+ 35.Ke4 Nc2 36.Nxb7 Nxa3 37.Nd8 Nc2 38.Nc6 a6 39.Kd3 Ne1+ 40.Ke2 Nc2 41.Kd2 Na3 42.Kd3 Nb5 43.Nb8 Nc7 44.Ke4 Ke7 45.Ke5 Kd8 46.h4 g6 47.f4 Ke7 48.Nc6+ Kd7 49.Nd4 Ke7 50.Nc2 Ne8 51.Ne3 Nf6 52.f5 Kf7 53.Nc4 gxf5 54.Kxf5 Nd5 55.b5 1/2-1/2

- Topa back in top form ?
- not sure if Topalov is all that serious about chess nowadays
- If Topalov re-enters the top ten at the expense of either Grischuk or Nepomniachtchi, we will have ten different countries represented in the world top ten for the first time ever.

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 2nd April, 2019, 01:19 PM

Shamkir 2019 - The Gashimov Memorial

April 2, 2019

Round Three

Round 3, Apr. 2
Grischuk, Alexander – Giri, Anish
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 O-O 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 c5 10.g4 cxd4 11.cxd4 dxc4 12.Bxc4 b6 13.g5 hxg5 14.Rg1 Ba6 15.Bxa6 Nxa6 16.Nxg5 Qf5 17.e4 Qa5+ 18.Kf1 Qb5+ 19.Ke1 Qa5+ 20.Kf1 Qb5+ 21.Ke1 Qa5+ 22.Kf1 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Apr. 2
Karjakin, Sergey – Topalov, Veselin
C53 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.Bb5 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb6 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Be3 Ba5 11.Qb3 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Na5 13.Qb4 b6 14.O-O Bf5 15.Rfc1 Rc8 16.Ba6 Rb8 17.Bd3 Re8 18.h3 c6 19.Bf4 Rb7 20.Qb2 b5 21.Qe2 Nc4 22.Ng5 Nxg5 23.Bxf5 Ne6 24.Bg3 b4 25.Qg4 Qb8 26.h4 a5 27.h5 Qa7 28.Rab1 Nd2 29.Rb2 Nc4 30.Rb3 Nd2 31.Rb2 Nc4 32.Rb3 Nd2 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Apr. 2
Navara, David – Carlsen, Magnus
B33 Sicilian, Pelikan variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Nb8 9.a4 Be7 10.Be2 O-O 11.O-O Nd7 12.Kh1 a6 13.Na3 a5 14.f4 f5 15.Nc4 b6 16.Ra3 exf4 17.Bxf4 Nc5 18.Re3 g5 19.Rxe7 gxf4 20.Re6 Nxe6 21.dxe6 Bxe6 22.Rxf4 Bxc4 23.Bxc4+ Kh8 24.g4 Qf6 25.c3 Qe5 26.Qf1 Rae8 27.gxf5 Rf6 28.Qf2 Qc5 29.Kg2 Qc6+ 30.Kh3 Qc5 31.Kg2 Qxf2+ 32.Rxf2 Re4 33.Be6 Rxa4 34.Kf3 Kg7 35.Rd2 Kh6 36.Rxd6 Kg5 37.Rd8 Rh6 38.Rg8+ Kf6 39.Rb8 Rxh2 40.Rxb6 Kg5 41.f6 Rf4+ 42.Kg3 Rhf2 43.Rb5+ Kxf6 44.Bg4 a4 45.c4 Kg6 46.c5 a3 47.bxa3 h5 48.Rb4 Rf8 49.Bd1 Rd2 50.Bf3 Rd3 51.Rf4 h4+ 52.Kg4 Rxf4+ 53.Kxf4 Rxa3 54.c6 Rc3 55.Bd5 h3 56.Ke5 Rc5 57.Kd6 Rxd5+ 58.Kxd5 h2 0-1

Position after White’s 48.Rb4

- After Magnus played 49. . . . R2d2, the force was clearly with him.

- Carlsen extends his record unbeaten streak to 44 games by beating Navara with black, taking him to 2851,4 35 points ahead of Caruana on #2. He is now in the sole lead after 3 rounds in #ShamkirChess with 2,5 points.

- Navara is a fascinating man. Czech nationality, spanish name, German accent, rook hallucinations...

Round 3, Apr. 2
Radjabov, Teimour – Ding, Liren
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.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qf3 Qh4 15.g3 Qh3 16.Nd2 Rae8 17.Ne4 Bg4 18.Qg2 Qxg2+ 19.Kxg2 f5 20.h3 Bh5 21.Bf4 Bxf4 22.gxf4 fxe4 23.dxe4 Bf3+ 24.Kxf3 Rxf4+ 25.Kg3 Rfxe4 26.Rxe4 Rxe4 27.f3 Re2 28.c4 bxc4 29.Bxc4 Rxb2 30.Bxa6 g5 31.Bc4 Kg7 32.Bxd5 cxd5 33.a4 h5 34.h4 Kg6 35.a5 Rb7 36.a6 Ra7 37.hxg5 Kxg5 38.Ra5 h4+ 39.Kh3 Kf4 40.Rxd5 Rxa6 41.Kxh4 Rh6+ 42.Rh5 Rxh5+ 43.Kxh5 Kxf3 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Apr. 2
Anand, Vishy – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.a4 Ba7 8.Na3 Ne7 9.Nc2 Ng6 10.Be3 Bxe3 11.Nxe3 O-O 12.Qc2 c6 13.a5 d5 14.Bb3 Be6 15.exd5 cxd5 16.d4 e4 17.Ne5 Qd6 18.f4 exf3 19.Nxf3 Rae8 20.Rfe1 Bd7 21.g3 h6 22.Qg2 Re7 23.Nc2 Rfe8 24.Nb4 Bb5 25.Rxe7 Rxe7 26.Bd1 h5 27.Qh3 Bd7 28.Qg2 Bb5 29.Qh3 h4 30.Bc2 hxg3 31.Qxg3 Nf4 32.Kh1 Re3 33.Rg1 g6 34.Qf2 Re2 35.Qh4 Ne4 36.Bxe4 dxe4 37.Ne5 Nd3 38.Qh8+ Kxh8 39.Nxf7+ Kh7 40.Nxd6 Bd7 41.Nxe4 Bf5 42.Ng5+ Kh6 43.Nxd3 Bxd3 44.Rg3 Re1+ 45.Kg2 Re2+ 46.Kg1 Re1+ 47.Kf2 Re2+ 48.Kf3 Rxb2 49.Kf4 Bf5 50.Ke5 Rxh2 51.Nf7+ Kg7 52.Nd6 Re2+ 53.Kd5 Kf6 54.c4 Re7 55.Rf3 Rd7 56.c5 Re7 57.Rf2 Rh7 58.Nxf5 gxf5 59.Kd6 Rh8 60.Rd2 f4 61.Kc7 Rh7+ 62.Kc8 f3 63.d5 1-0

- Mamedyarov was winning today. Then lost it in time trouble

- Mamedyarov cannot play against Anand. Just like Anand cannot play against Nakamura for example

- happy for Anand, for the result, but no won can deny that he was lucky today

- at least he is back to 50%..

Standings

1 Carlsen 2.5
2-3 Ding Liren, Karjakin 2
4-6 Anand, Radjabov, Topalov 1.5
7-10 Grischuk, Giri, Mamedyarov, Navara

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 3rd April, 2019, 08:55 PM

Shamkir 2019 - The Gashimov Memorial

April 3, 2019

Round Four

Round 4, Apr. 3
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Navara, David
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Nbd7 9.e3 b5 10.a4 c6 11.Qb1 Qa5 12.Qb2 Ne4 13.axb5 Qxb5 14.Qc1 c5 15.Be2 O-O 16.O-O Bb7 17.Rb1 Qc6 18.Bxc4 cxd4 19.Bb5 Qc7 20.cxd4 Rfc8 21.Qb2 Nb6 22.Rfc1 Qd6 23.Ne5 g5 24.f3 gxh4 25.fxe4 Bxe4 26.Qf2 Qe7 27.Ra1 Rxc1+ 28.Rxc1 Nd5 29.Bd3 Bxd3 30.Nxd3 Qf6 31.Qxf6 Nxf6 32.Kf2 a5 33.Ra1 a4 34.Ra3 Ne4+ 35.Ke1 Rb8 36.Nc5 Rb1+ 37.Ke2 Rb2+ 38.Kd3 Nf6 39.Rxa4 Rxg2 40.d5 Rg5 41.Ne4 Rxd5+ 42.Ke2 Nxe4 43.Rxe4 h3 44.Rh4 Kg7 45.Rxh3 Kg6 46.Rh4 Rh5 47.Rg4+ Rg5 48.Rh4 Rf5 49.Rg4+ Kh5 50.Ra4 Kg5 51.Rb4 Kg6 52.Rg4+ Rg5 53.Rh4 Rh5 54.Rg4+ Kf6 55.Rf4+ Ke7 56.h4 Re5 57.Ra4 f5 58.Kf3 Kf6 59.Rb4 Kg6 60.Kf4 Ra5 61.Kf3 Kh5 62.e4 Ra3+ 63.Kf2 f4 64.Rb6 Kg4 65.Rxe6 Ra2+ 66.Kg1 Kf3 67.Rxh6 Ke3 68.e5 f3 69.e6 Rg2+ 70.Kh1 Rg7 71.Kh2 f2 72.Rf6 Ke2 73.Kh3 f1=R 74.Rxf1 Kxf1 75.h5 Kf2 76.Kh4 Kf3 77.h6 Rg1 78.Kh5 Kf4 79.h7 Kf5 80.Kh6 Rg6+ 81.Kh5 Rg2 82.Kh6 Kxe6 83.h8=Q Rh2+ 84.Kg7 Rxh8 85.Kxh8 Ke5 1/2-1/2

Position after White’s 70.Kh1. Navara could have won with 70…Rg8 but played Rg7 instead.

70...Rg8 71.Rf6 f2 72.Kh2 Ke2 73.Kh3 f1=Q+ 74.Rxf1 Kxf1 75.e7 Kf2 76.e8=Q Rxe8

Round 4, Apr. 3
Ding, Liren – Anand, Vishy
D37 QGD

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Qc2 c6 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Bd3 O-O 9.g4 Bb4 10.Bd2 Qe7 11.Rg1 Bxc3 12.Bxc3 Ne4 13.g5 a5 14.a4 Re8 15.h4 b6 16.h5 Ba6 17.Bxe4 dxe4 18.Nh4 Qe6 19.Rg3 Bd3 20.Qd1 b5 21.axb5 cxb5 22.Ng2 b4 23.Nf4 Qf5 24.Bd2 Nb6 25.g6 fxg6 26.hxg6 h6 27.Qg4 Qxg4 28.Rxg4 Nc4 29.Nxd3 exd3 30.d5 Ne5 31.Rg3 Nc4 32.Rg4 Ne5 33.Rg3 Nc4 34.Rg4 1/2-1/2

Round 4, Apr. 3
Topalov, Veselin – Carlsen, Magnus
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 O-O 8.e3 Bf5 9.Ne5 c5 10.Bd3 cxd4 11.exd4 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Qd6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.O-O Bxc3 15.Qxc3 Re8 16.Rac1 Nc6 17.Nxc6 Qxc6 18.Qxc6 bxc6 19.Rxc6 Re2 20.Ra6 Rxb2 21.g3 Re8 22.Rxa7 Ree2 23.Ra5 Rxa2 24.Rxd5 Red2 25.h4 Ra4 26.Kg2 Raxd4 27.Rxd4 Rxd4 28.Kf3 h5 29.Kg2 g6 30.Kf3 Kg7 31.Kg2 Rd5 32.Kf3 Rf5+ 33.Kg2 Rd5 34.Kf3 Rf5+ 35.Kg2 Rd5 36.Kf3 1/2-1/2

Final position

Round 4, Apr. 3
Karjakin, Sergey – Grischuk, Alexander
D73 Neo-Grunfeld

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.c4 c6 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Ne5 Ne4 8.Nc3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 O-O 10.O-O Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Qa4 Qb6 13.e4 Qa6 14.Qb4 dxe4 15.Bxe4 e5 16.dxe5 Bxe5 17.Be3 Be6 18.Qc5 Bg7 19.Rfd1 Rad8 20.Rxd8 Rxd8 21.h4 Qc4 22.Qxc4 Bxc4 23.Bxa7 Bxc3 24.Rc1 Bd4 25.Bxd4 Rxd4 26.Bxc6 Bxa2 27.Kg2 Bd5+ 28.Bxd5 Rxd5 29.Rh1 h5 30.Rg1 Kg7 31.Rh1 Kg8 32.Rg1 Kg7 1/2-1/2

Final position

Compare this position with the final one in Topalov-Carlsen

Round 4, Apr. 3
Giri, Anish – Radjabov, Teimour
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.c5 Nh5 8.Bd3 Nxf4 9.exf4 b6 10.b4 a5 11.a3 c6 12.O-O Qc7 13.g3 Ba6 14.Kg2 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 Ra7 16.Rfc1 Rfa8 17.Qd1 b5 18.Rab1 axb4 19.axb4 Ra3 20.Rb3 R3a7 21.Qe2 Bf6 22.h4 h5 23.Rc2 g6 24.Ra2 Rxa2 25.Nxa2 Qa7 26.Rb2 Qa3 27.Qd2 Qa6 28.Nc1 Qb7 29.Nd3 Ra7 30.Nde5 Qa8 31.Qe3 Kg7 32.Rb3 Kg8 33.Ng5 Nxe5 34.fxe5 Bxg5 35.Qxg5 Ra3 36.Rxa3 Qxa3 37.Qd8+ Kg7 38.Qf6+ Kg8 39.Qd8+ Kg7 40.Qf6+ Kg8 1/2-1/2

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 4th April, 2019, 03:59 PM

Shamkir 2019 - The Gashimov Memorial

April 4, 2019

Round Five

Round 5, Apr. 4
Grischuk, Alexander – Topalov, Veselin
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Be2 dxc4 8.O-O c5 9.dxc5 Nxc5 10.Bxc4 b6 11.Qc2 Bb7 12.Rfd1 Qc8 13.Nb5 a6 14.Nd6 Bxd6 15.Bxd6 Rd8 16.Rac1 Nce4 17.Bb4 Rxd1+ 18.Qxd1 Qe8 19.Be2 Rd8 20.Qb3 Bd5 21.Qa3 a5 22.Be1 h6 23.Ne5 Rc8 24.b3 Rxc1 25.Qxc1 Qb8 26.Qb2 Nc5 27.f3 Nfd7 28.Bg3 Qc8 29.Nc4 Bxc4 30.Bxc4 Qc6 31.Qe2 f6 32.Bb5 Qd5 33.Bc4 Qc6 34.Qb2 Kf7 35.h3 Nb7 36.Qd4 Ke7 37.Qg4 Kf7 38.Kh2 Ndc5 39.a3 g6 40.b4 axb4 41.axb4 h5 42.Qf4 Nd7 43.Ba6 Nd8 44.Qh6 Nf8 45.Bd3 f5 46.e4 Qd7 47.Qe3 Qc6 48.Qd4 Qd7 49.Qc3 g5 50.exf5 exf5 51.Bc4+ Nde6 52.Qh8 Kg6 53.Be5 Qe7 54.Qg8+ Ng7 55.Qd5 Qd7 56.Bd6 Nfe6 57.Qe5 h4 58.Bb5 Qc8 59.Qd5 Qc3 60.Be8+ Kh7 61.Bd7 Qe1 62.Be5 f4 63.Qd3+ Kh6 64.Bc3 Qe3 65.Qc4 Kg6 66.Bc6 Kf7 67.Bd5 Ne8 68.Bd4 b5 69.Qc6 1-0

Position after White’s 59.Qd5

- Just a miserable position for black.
- Looks like Veselin is going to Topple-Off
- Giri, Ding and Topalov losing on the same day. Does life get any better than this?

Round 5, Apr. 4
Carlsen, Magnus – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
D32 QGD, Tarrasch Defence

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 c5 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nf3 a6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.g3 Nc6 8.Bg2 c4 9.Ne5 Bb4 10.Bd2 O-O 11.O-O Re8 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.b3 a5 14.Qc2 cxb3 15.axb3 g6 16.Rfc1 Bf5 17.Qd1 Qd6 18.Ra2 h5 19.Na4 h4 20.Nc5 Kg7 21.Bxb4 axb4 22.Rxa8 Rxa8 23.Ra1 Rh8 24.Qe1 hxg3 25.hxg3 Ne4 26.Nxe4 Bxe4 27.Bxe4 dxe4 28.Ra5 Rh5 29.Rxh5 gxh5 30.Kg2 c5 31.dxc5 Qxc5 32.Qd1 Qc3 33.Qd5 Kf6 34.Qd6+ Kg7 35.Qd5 Kf6 36.Qd6+ Kg7 37.Qd5 Kf6 1/2-1/2

- Magnus has to conjure his inner alpha zero
- Carlsen is the alphazero of endgames
- The strength of AlphaZero is unknown.
- It's a draw
- Even if heavy pieces come off it's an instant draw
- It's not a draw. They are still playing.
- I think AZ strength in chess is unknown by design.
- Regardless of which side to move

Round 5, Apr. 4
Anand, Vishy – Giri, Anish
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.Nbd2 Re8 7.O-O a6 8.Bxc6 dxc6 9.Nc4 Nd7 10.Re1 Bf8 11.d4 exd4 12.cxd4 Nb6 13.Nxb6 cxb6 14.h3 b5 15.Bf4 Be6 16.Re3 f6 17.b3 Qd7 18.Qc2 Rad8 19.Rd1 Qf7 20.Bg3 Qh5 21.Bc7 Rd7 22.Bb6 Bb4 23.Ne1 Bf7 24.Nd3 Bd6 25.Rde1 Bb8 26.f4 f5 27.Ne5 Bxe5 28.dxe5 fxe4 29.Qxe4 Rd2 30.R3e2 Bd5 31.Qe3 Rxe2 32.Rxe2 Qf5 33.g4 Qb1+ 34.Kf2 h5 35.f5 Qh1 36.Kg3 Re7 37.Bc5 Re8 38.e6 Kh7 39.Qg5 1-0

Final position

- I'm sure Giri will win a string tournament one day. But it won't be this one.
- he's only 24, so there's some time left.
- great to see Vishy playing a great game and back in the hunt for first place....

Round 5, Apr. 4
Navara, David – Ding, Liren
D49 QGD, Semi-Slav, Meran, Blumenfeld variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.O-O Qb6 14.Qe2 b4 15.Bf4 h5 16.Rfc1 Bc5 17.a4 bxa3 18.bxa3 Ba6 19.Rab1 Bxd3 20.Qxd3 Rxa3 21.Qxa3 Bxa3 22.Rxb6 Bxc1 23.Rc6 Bxf4 24.Rc8+ Ke7 25.Rxh8 d3 26.Kf1 Nc5 27.Rxh5 Ne4 28.Rh4 e5 29.g3 d2 30.Nxd2 Nxd2+ 31.Ke2 Bg5 32.Rb4 e4 33.Rd4 Nb3 34.Rxe4+ Kd6 35.h4 Bh6 36.h5 Kd7 37.Rb4 Nc1+ 38.Kf3 Ke6 39.Rb6+ Kf5 40.Rb5+ Ke6 41.Ke4 Ne2 42.Rb6+ Ke7 43.Kd3 Nc1+ 44.Kc4 Ne2 45.Rb1 1-0

Final position

In my mind, Navara is like a young Ivanchuk – brilliant and unworldly and capable of beating anyone at times. Ding Liren is very hard to defeat.

- congrats, mr. Navara
- Ding needs to work on his endgame if he wants to ever challenge Carlsen.
- he came out with a terrible position, tried to complicate things, maybe underestimated Navara ...and lost

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 6th April, 2019, 12:53 PM

Shamkir 2019 - The Gashimov Memorial

April 6, 2019

Round Six

Round 6, Apr. 6
Giri, Anish – Navara, David
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 O-O 8.e3 Bf5 9.Be2 Nbd7 10.Qb3 Ba5 11.O-O c6 12.Ne5 Qb6 13.Nxd7 Nxd7 14.Rfc1 Qxb3 15.axb3 Bb4 16.Na2 Bd6 17.Bg3 Be7 18.Bc7 a5 19.Nc3 Rfe8 20.Na4 Bb4 21.Nb6 Nxb6 22.Bxb6 Bd2 23.Rd1 Bb4 24.Rdc1 Bd2 25.Rd1 Bb4 26.Rdc1 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Apr. 6
Grischuk, Alexander – Radjabov, Teimour
D20 QGA

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 e5 4.Nf3 exd4 5.Bxc4 Nc6 6.O-O Be6 7.Nbd2 Qf6 8.a3 Nge7 9.b4 Ng6 10.Bb5 Be7 11.Nc4 Bxc4 12.Bxc4 O-O 13.Bd5 Rad8 14.Bd2 Rd7 15.Qa4 Nf4 16.Bxf4 Qxf4 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.Qxc6 Rfd8 19.Rfd1 d3 20.Rac1 h5 21.Rc4 g5 22.h3 g4 23.e5 Qf5 24.hxg4 hxg4 25.Nd2 Rd5 26.Nf1 Rxe5 27.Ne3 Qh5 28.Rxg4+ Kf8 29.Qf3 Bg5 30.Rd4 Qxf3 31.Rxd8+ Bxd8 32.gxf3 a5 33.Rxd3 Be7 34.bxa5 Rxa5 35.Nc4 Ra4 36.Rc3 Bf6 37.Rc2 Be7 38.Rc3 Bf6 39.Rc2 Be7 40.Rc3 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Apr. 6
Ding, Liren – Carlsen, Magnus
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Ne5 O-O 8.Nc3 Bf5 9.O-O Ne4 10.Bf4 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Nc6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.Qa4 e6 14.Qxc6 Rc8 15.Qa4 Rxc3 16.Rfc1 Rxc1+ 17.Rxc1 Qb6 18.e3 Qb2 19.Qd1 h5 20.a4 Bg4 21.Qe1 Be2 22.Bf1 Bxf1 23.Kxf1 Re8 24.Qc3 Qxc3 25.Rxc3 e5 26.dxe5 Bxe5 27.Rd3 Bxf4 28.gxf4 Rd8 29.a5 Kf8 30.Ke2 Ke7 31.Rb3 Kd6 32.Kd3 Rd7 33.h4 Rc7 34.Rb8 Rc5 35.Rb7 Rxa5 36.Rxf7 Ra3+ 37.Kd4 Ra4+ 38.Kd3 Ra3+ 39.Kd4 Ra4+ 1/2-1/2

Round 6, Apr. 6
Karjakin, Sergey – Anand, Vishy
D37 QGD, Hastings variation, main line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.Rd1 Qa5 10.a3 Rd8 11.Nd2 d4 12.Nb3 Qb6 13.Na4 Bb4+ 14.axb4 Qxb4+ 15.Nd2 e5 16.Bg5 Qa5 17.Qb3 Nb4 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Be2 Bd7 20.Ra1 dxe3 21.fxe3 b5 22.O-O bxa4 23.Qc3 f5 24.Nf3 f6 25.Nh4 Nc6 26.Qa3 e4 27.Bd1 Ne5 28.Bxa4 Qxa4 29.Qxa4 Bxa4 30.Rxa4 f4 31.c5 fxe3 32.Rxe4 Rab8 33.Rxe3 Rxb2 34.h3 Rc2 35.Rxf6 Rxc5 36.Ra6 Nc6 37.Nf3 Rc8 38.Re6 Rc7 39.Kh2 Kg7 40.Ra4 h5 41.Ra6 Ne7 42.Nd4 Nf5 43.Ne2 Rc4 44.Rg6+ Kf8 45.Rg5 Ng7 46.Rf6+ Rf7 47.Rh6 Ke7 48.Ra5 Ke8 49.Rh8+ Rf8 50.Rh7 Rf7 51.Re5+ Kd8 52.Rexh5 1-0

Position after White’s 47.Rh6

Round 6, Apr. 6
Topalov, Veselin – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C92 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Flohr-Zaitsev System

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 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Ng5 Rf8 12.Nf3 Re8 13.Nbd2 Bf8 14.a3 g6 15.Ba2 Bg7 16.b4 exd4 17.cxd4 a5 18.Rb1 axb4 19.d5 Ne5 20.Nxe5 dxe5 21.Rxb4 c6 22.dxc6 Bxc6 23.Qf3 Bf8 24.Rb1 Ra4 25.Nf1 Rxe4 26.Rd1 Qe7 27.Bg5 Bg7 28.Ne3 Qxa3 29.Ra1 Qc5 30.Rdc1 Rc4 31.Qd1 Ne4 32.Bxc4 bxc4 33.Rxc4 1-0

- One bad move by Shak (29…Qc5) , but a good game overall by Topalov

Standings

1-2 Carlsen, Karjakin 4
3-8 Anand, Navara, Ding Liren, Grischuk, Topalov, Radjabov 3
9-10 Mamedyarov, Giri 2

Carlsen and Karjakin meet in Round 8, with Sergey as White

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 7th April, 2019, 09:27 PM

Shamkir 2019 - The Gashimov Memorial

April 7, 2019

Round Seven

Round 7, Apr. 7
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Ding, Liren
D30 QGD

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bg5 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Nbd7 6.e4 Be7 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Bxc4 Nb6 9.Qb3 Nxc4 10.Qxc4 a6 11.O-O b5 12.Qe2 Bb7 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.Rfd1 Qe8 15.Qe3 e5 16.dxe5 Bxe5 17.Nxe5 Qxe5 18.f3 Rad8 19.Rxd8 Rxd8 20.Rd1 Rxd1+ 21.Nxd1 h6 22.Qc3 Qxc3 23.Nxc3 c5 24.a3 Kf8 25.b4 Ke7 26.Kf2 Kd6 27.Ke3 Bc8 28.f4 Be6 29.e5+ Kc6 30.h3 h5 31.Ne4 cxb4 32.axb4 Kd5 33.Nd6 h4 34.Ne8 g6 35.Nc7+ Kc4 36.Nxe6 fxe6 37.g4 hxg3 38.h4 Kd5 39.Kf3 Kc6 40.Kxg3 a5 41.bxa5 b4 42.h5 gxh5 43.f5 b3 44.f6 b2 45.f7 b1=Q 46.f8=Q Qg1+ 47.Kh3 Qg4+ 48.Kh2 Qe2+ 49.Kh3 Qxe5 50.Qb4 Qb5 51.Qe4+ Qd5 52.Qb4 Qb5 53.Qe4+ Qd5 54.Qb4 Qb5 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Apr. 7
Navara, David – Karjakin, Sergey
A13 English, Neo-Catalan open

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Nbd7 6.Qxc4 a6 7.Qb3 Rb8 8.d4 b5 9.Ne5 Nxe5 10.dxe5 Nd7 11.O-O c5 12.a4 Be7 13.axb5 O-O 14.Rd1 Qc7 15.Nc3 axb5 16.Nxb5 Qb6 17.Qa4 Nxe5 18.Bf4 Bf6 19.Nc3 Bb7 20.Bxb7 Qxb7 21.Ne4 Qxb2 22.Ra2 Qb4 23.Qxb4 cxb4 24.Ra5 Nc4 25.Bxb8 Nxa5 26.Bd6 Rd8 27.Rb1 Nc6 28.Rc1 Nd4 29.Kf1 b3 30.Rb1 Nf5 31.Nxf6+ gxf6 32.Bb4 Rb8 33.Rxb3 h5 34.Rb2 Kg7 35.Bc3 Rc8 36.Rb3 Rc4 37.Kg2 Nd4 38.Bxd4 Rxd4 39.e3 Ra4 40.Rb5 f5 1/2-1/2

- David has found a new level of confidence in his play.
- Yes Navara is having a good tourney
- On his best day, Navara is no worse than any of the players in this tournament, except maybe Carlsen.

Round 7, Apr. 7
Radjabov, Teimour – Topalov, Veselin
C45 Scotch, Mieses variation, main line

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4 Nb6 9.Nc3 a5 10.Bd2 g6 11.Ne4 Bg7 12.Nf6+ Kd8 13.O-O-O Ba6 14.Qg4 Kc8 15.Bxa5 h5 16.Qg3 h4 17.Qg4 Qxe5 18.Bc3 Qf5 19.Qxf5 gxf5 20.Nxd7 Bxc3 21.Nxb6+ cxb6 22.bxc3 Kc7 23.Be2 Rag8 24.Rhg1 c5 25.g3 hxg3 26.hxg3 Rh2 27.Rgf1 f4 28.Rd2 Bc8 29.Bf3 fxg3 30.fxg3 Rxd2 31.Kxd2 Rxg3 32.Bd5 Be6 33.Bxe6 fxe6 34.Rf7+ Kd6 35.Rb7 Kc6 36.Re7 Kd6 37.Rb7 Kc6 38.Re7 Kd6 1/2-1/2

Round 7, Apr. 7
Anand, Vishy – Grischuk, Alexander
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 d5 6.Nbd2 dxe4 7.dxe4 O-O 8.O-O a5 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.Nxe5 Re8 11.Nb3 Qxd1 12.Rxd1 Bb6 13.Nc4 Nxe4 14.Nxb6 cxb6 15.f3 Nc5 16.Nxc5 bxc5 17.Rd6 Bf5 18.Bf4 Re6 19.g4 Rxd6 20.Bxd6 Be6 21.Bxc5 a4 22.Kf2 h5 23.h3 hxg4 24.hxg4 Rb8 25.b3 axb3 26.axb3 Rxb3 27.Bd4 c5 28.Bxc5 Rxc3 29.Be3 Rc2+ 30.Kg3 Rc3 31.Kf2 Rc2+ 32.Kg3 Rc3 1/2-1/2

- Vishy is almost nearing 50 with a 2779 rating. Impressive compared to his peers.
- Gelfand is now 2650ish. Ivanchuk is 2677.
- Only Topalov and Svidler are the other active players in their 40's.
- Vishy rules, let's face it. I think only Korchnoi and Lasker and Smyslov were this impressive at this age.
- Botvinnik also, hehe-hehe

Round 7, Apr. 7
Carlsen, Magnus – Giri, Anish
A29 English, Bremen

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Bc5 7.O-O O-O 8.d3 h6 9.Nxd5 Qxd5 10.a3 a5 11.Bd2 Qe6 12.Rc1 Qe7 13.Bc3 Nd4 14.e3 Nxf3+ 15.Qxf3 Bd6 16.Qh5 c6 17.f4 exf4 18.gxf4 Qxe3+ 19.Kh1 Rd8 20.Rce1 Qc5 21.f5 Bf8 22.Be4 Rd5 23.Rf3 b5 24.Rg1 Ra7 25.Bf6 g6 26.Qh3 Rd6 27.Qh4 Rxf6 28.Qxf6 Be7 29.Qxc6 Qxc6 30.Bxc6 Kg7 31.fxg6 fxg6 32.d4 a4 33.d5 b4 34.Be8 Bg5 35.h4 Bxh4 36.Rxg6+ Kh7 37.Rc6 Bg4 38.Rf4 Rg7 1-0

Position after 18.gxf4

- Carlsen TPR: 2931
- In other words, Carlsen really needs to up his game if he hopes to reach 3000. :)
- Carlsen finally started mental coaching prep before competitions? There is a clear shift in his gameplay now. His nerves aren't getting him anymore. Good stuff!
- Besides, Magnus calculates variations deeply impromptu in an amazing speed and accurately..i
- Carlsen has been experimenting for more than a year, playing some pretty wild stuff. I think has been a strategy to take his game to the next level. Now it looks like he is finding his stride!
- Million dollars plus the might of USA and Russia werent able to break the genius champ..that confirms it
- great game
- What a beautiful game today by Magnus Honor to watch him play.

Standings

1 Carlsen 5
2 Karjakin 4.5
3-8 Anand, Navara, Ding, Grischuk, Topalov, Radjabov 3.5
9 Mamedyarov 2.5
10 Giri 2

Shamkir, Round 7: There's no stopping Magnus

by Antonio Pereira

– The one decisive game of round seven saw Magnus Carlsen defeat his Twitter arch-enemy Anish Giri to take the sole lead in Shamkir. It was a rather flashy win, which means Magnus will arrive in Monday's showdown against Sergey Karjakin in high spirits. With only two rounds to go, it seems almost impossible for any player other than Magnus or Sergey to win the event.

https://en.chessbase.com/post/shamkir-chess-2019-7

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 8th April, 2019, 10:56 AM

Shamkir 2019 - The Gashimov Memorial

April 8, 2019

Round Eight

Carlsen beats his nearest competitor, Karjakin, and wins the tournament. At the end, Magnus had a half-hour time advantage with Sergey having only seconds.

Round 8, Apr. 8
Karjakin, Sergey – Carlsen, Magnus
B33 Sicilian, Pelikan variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Ne7 9.c4 Ng6 10.Qa4 Bd7 11.Qb4 Bf5 12.Qa4 Bd7 13.Qb4 Bf5 14.h4 h5 15.Bg5 Qb8 16.Be2 a6 17.Nc3 Qc7 18.g3 Be7 19.Be3 e4 20.O-O O-O 21.Bxh5 Ne5 22.Be2 Qd7 23.Qa4 Qc8 24.c5 dxc5 25.Nxe4 c4 26.Nc3 b5 27.Qd1 b4 28.Na4 Be4 29.Qd4 Qf5 30.f4 Qg6 31.Bf2 Nd3 32.h5 Qf5 33.Bg4 Qxg4 34.Qxe4 Bd6 35.Qg2 Rae8 36.Bd4 Qxh5 37.Qf3 Qg6 38.Kh1 Re4 39.Bf2 Rfe8 0-1

Position after White’s 30.f4

Final position

Evgeny Miroshnichenko is the commentator and said that that black knight on d3 is reminiscent of one in Kasparov’s games that was called the lobster or the octopus.

World Championship Match 1985
Moscow
Game 16, Oct. 15, 1985
Karpov, Anatoly – Kasparov, Garry
B44 Sicilian, Szen variation, Dely-Kasparov Gambit

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Nf6 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 d5 9.cxd5 exd5 10.exd5 Nb4 11.Be2 Bc5 12.O-O O-O 13.Bf3 Bf5 14.Bg5 Re8 15.Qd2 b5 16.Rad1 Nd3 17.Nab1 h6 18.Bh4 b4 19.Na4 Bd6 20.Bg3 Rc8 21.b3 g5 22.Bxd6 Qxd6 23.g3 Nd7 24.Bg2 Qf6 25.a3 a5 26.axb4 axb4 27.Qa2 Bg6 28.d6 g4 29.Qd2 Kg7 30.f3 Qxd6 31.fxg4 Qd4+ 32.Kh1 Nf6 33.Rf4 Ne4 34.Qxd3 Nf2+ 35.Rxf2 Bxd3 36.Rfd2 Qe3 37.Rxd3 Rc1 38.Nb2 Qf2 39.Nd2 Rxd1+ 40.Nxd1 Re1+ 0-1

Position after 16….Nd3

**Hans Jung** · Monday, 8th April, 2019, 04:16 PM

I enjoyed the Karjakhin - Carlsen game (above) more than any of Magnus's others in this tournament. In the final position the old saying is appropriate: the threat is stronger than the execution!

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 8th April, 2019, 11:07 PM

Shamkir 2019 - The Gashimov Memorial

April 8, 2019

Round Eight

The other Round Eight games

Round 8, Apr. 8
Grischuk, Alexander – Navara, David
B12 Caro-Kann

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.dxc5 e6 5.a3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bxc5 7.b4 Bb6 8.b5 Nb8 9.Bb2 a6 10.a4 Nh6 11.Be2 axb5 12.axb5 Rxa1 13.Bxa1 Nd7 14.O-O O-O 15.c4 f6 16.Nbd2 Ng4 17.exf6 Ndxf6 18.h3 Nxf2 19.Rxf2 Ne4 20.Nxe4 dxe4 21.Qxd8 Rxd8 22.Ng5 Rd2 23.c5 Bxc5 24.Nxe4 Bxf2+ 25.Kxf2 Rc2 26.Ke3 Bd7 27.Nd6 Rc5 28.Nxb7 Rg5 29.b6 Rxg2 30.Na5 Bc8 31.Be5 Rg1 32.b7 Bxb7 33.Nxb7 Rh1 34.Bg4 Kf7 35.Nd6+ Ke7 36.Ne4 h5 37.Ng3 Re1+ 38.Be2 g6 39.h4 Ra1 40.Bxa1 1-0

Round 8, Apr. 8
Radjabov, Teimour – Anand, Vishy
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 Bb4+ 11.Nd2 d4 12.Qc2 h6 13.O-O Nc6 14.a3 Bd6 15.Bxd6 Qxd6 16.e4 Ne5 17.Nc4 Nxc4 18.Qxc4 Be6 19.Qb4 Qxb4 20.axb4 Rfc8 21.Rfc1 g5 22.Kf1 Rxc1+ 23.Rxc1 a5 24.b5 a4 25.Ke2 a3 26.bxa3 Rxa3 27.Rc7 Ra2+ 28.Ke1 b6 29.Rc6 Ra1+ 30.Kd2 Ra2+ 31.Ke1 Ra1+ 32.Kd2 Ra2+ 33.Ke1 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Apr. 8
Giri, Anish – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O a6 7.a4 Ba7 8.Re1 Ng4 9.Rf1 Nf6 10.Nbd2 Ne7 11.Re1 Ng6 12.Nf1 O-O 13.Ng3 c6 14.Bb3 Re8 15.h3 d5 16.Bg5 Be6 17.d4 exd4 18.exd5 cxd5 19.Nxd4 h6 20.Be3 Bd7 21.Ndf5 Bxe3 22.Nxe3 Be6 23.a5 Qc7 24.Qd4 Ne7 25.Ba4 Bd7 26.Bc2 Rad8 27.Qh4 Be6 28.Bf5 Qd7 29.Bxe6 fxe6 30.Ng4 Nxg4 31.Qxg4 Nc6 32.Nh5 Kh7 33.Nf4 e5 34.Qxd7 Rxd7 35.Rad1 d4 36.cxd4 Nxd4 37.Kf1 Rdd8 38.Nd3 Nb3 39.f3 Rd5 40.Nf2 Rxa5 41.Rd7 Nc5 42.Rd5 Nb3 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Apr. 8
Topalov, Veselin – Ding, Liren
E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 O-O 5.Qc2 d5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.Qxc3 dxc4 10.Qxc4 Nc6 11.Qc3 Re8 12.Ne5 Rb8 13.g3 Rd8 14.e3 Nxe5 15.dxe5 Qf3 16.Rg1 Qc6 17.Qxc6 bxc6 18.Rb1 c5 19.Be2 Kf8 20.f3 Ke7 21.Bc4 Rb6 22.Ke2 Bd7 23.b3 Rdb8 24.Rbc1 Bb5 25.Rgd1 Ra6 26.Bxb5 Rxb5 27.Rd3 Rxa3 28.Rcd1 Ra2+ 29.Ke1 Rb8 30.Rd7+ Kf8 31.Rxc7 Kg8 32.Rd2 Rxd2 33.Kxd2 Rxb3 34.Rxc5 Rb2+ 35.Kd3 Rxh2 36.g4 Ra2 37.Rc8+ Kh7 38.Rc7 Kg6 39.f4 Rg2 40.Ke4 Rxg4 41.Kf3 Rg1 42.Rxa7 h5 43.Ra8 Kh7 44.Rf8 Kg6 45.Rh8 Ra1 46.Kg2 Ra5 47.Kf3 Rb5 48.Re8 Rb7 49.Rh8 Ra7 50.Kg2 f6 51.exf6 gxf6 52.Re8 Kf7 53.Rh8 Ra5 54.Kf3 Kg7 55.Re8 e5 56.Ke4 h4 57.fxe5 fxe5 58.Kf5 h3 59.Re7+ Kh6 60.Re8 Ra7 61.Rb8 h2 62.Rb6+ Kh5 63.Rb1 Kh4 64.e4 Re7 65.Ra1 Re8 66.Rb1 Kg3 67.Rb3+ Kg2 68.Rb2+ Kh3 69.Rb3+ Kh4 70.Rb1 Rh8 71.Kxe5 Kg3 72.Rh1 Kg2 73.Rxh2+ Rxh2 74.Kf6 Kf3 75.e5 Kf4 76.e6 Rh6+ 77.Kf7 Kf5 78.e7 Rh7+ 79.Kf8 Kf6 80.e8=N+ Kg6 81.Nd6 Rd7 82.Ne8 Rf7+ 83.Kg8 Ra7 84.Kf8 Rd7 85.Kg8 Rf7 86.Nd6 Rd7 87.Ne8 Kf5 88.Kf8 Kg5 89.Kg8 Kg6 90.Kf8 Rf7+ 91.Kg8 Rf1 92.Ng7 Kf6 93.Nh5+ Kg5 94.Ng7 Kg6 95.Ne8 Rf3 96.Ng7 Kf6 97.Nh5+ Ke6 98.Kh7 Kf5 99.Ng7+ Kf6 100.Nh5+ Kg5 101.Ng7 Rh3+ 102.Kg8 Kf6 103.Ne8+ Ke6 104.Ng7+ Ke7 105.Nf5+ Kf6 106.Nd6 Rh5 107.Nf7 Rd5 108.Nh6 Rd8+ 109.Kh7 Rd7+ 110.Kg8 0-1

Position after Black’s 95….Rf3

This is a draw, which turns into a loss for White with the next move

- wow, fantastic effort by Ding Liren
- Guess Topy is too old for these really long games
- Ding draws blood from a rock. Gonna need to study this endgame now!

Standings

1 Carlsen 6
2-4 Ding, Karjakin, Grischuk 4.5
5-6 Anand, Radjabov 4
7-8 Topalov, Navara 3.5
9 Mamedyarov 3
10 Giri 2.5

Last round pairings

Anand-Topalov
Navara-Radjabov
Carlsen-Grischuk
Mamedyarov-Karjakin
Ding-Giri

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 9th April, 2019, 12:21 PM

Shamkir 2019 - The Gashimov Memorial

April 9, 2019

Round Nine

Round 9, Apr. 9
Navara, David – Radjabov, Teimour
B12 Caro-Kann, Advance variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Ne7 8.O-O Nbc6 9.Bb5 a6 10.Bxc6+ Nxc6 11.Nxf5 exf5 12.c3 Be7 13.Nd2 Qd7 14.Nf3 Qe6 15.Qb3 O-O 16.Bb6 Bd8 17.Bc5 Na5 18.Qc2 Re8 19.Rfe1 Rc8 20.Nd4 Qd7 21.Bb4 g6 22.Bxa5 Bxa5 23.Qb3 Rcd8 24.Re2 Qc7 25.e6 f6 26.Rd1 Rd6 27.Nf3 Qc6 28.Red2 Bb6 29.Rxd5 Rxd5 30.Qxd5 Qxd5 31.Rxd5 Rxe6 32.Kf1 Re7 33.c4 Kf7 34.b4 Bc7 35.h3 Ke8 36.a4 b6 37.b5 axb5 38.axb5 Re4 39.c5 bxc5 40.Rxc5 Kd7 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Apr. 9
Ding, Liren – Giri, Anish
D38 QGD, Ragozin, Marshall variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 O-O 8.Rc1 dxc4 9.Bxc4 c5 10.O-O cxd4 11.Nxd4 Bd7 12.Qb3 Nc6 13.Nxc6 Bxc3 14.Qxc3 Bxc6 15.Qxf6 gxf6 16.Rfd1 Rfd8 17.f3 f5 18.Kf2 Kg7 19.Be2 Kf6 20.Rxd8 Rxd8 21.Rd1 Rxd1 22.Bxd1 b6 23.a3 Bb5 24.Bc2 Bc6 25.Bd1 Bb5 26.Bc2 Bc6 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Apr. 9
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Karjakin, Sergey
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.a3 Nc6 9.Qc2 Qa5 10.Rd1 Rd8 11.Be2 Ne4 12.cxd5 Nxc3 13.bxc3 exd5 14.O-O h6 15.a4 Bd6 16.Bxd6 Rxd6 17.c4 Rb8 18.c5 Rd8 19.Rd2 Be6 20.Rb1 Rdc8 21.Nd4 Nxd4 22.exd4 Bd7 23.Bb5 Bf5 24.Bd3 Bd7 25.Bb5 Bf5 26.Bd3 Bd7 27.Bb5 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Apr. 9
Anand, Vishy – Topalov, Veselin
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.O-O d6 6.c3 a6 7.b4 Ba7 8.a4 O-O 9.Nbd2 Ne7 10.h3 c6 11.Re1 Ng6 12.d4 Re8 13.Bd3 Qc7 14.a5 Bd7 15.Nf1 d5 16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.Bf4 Nxe4 18.Bxe4 dxe4 19.Rxe4 f6 20.dxe5 fxe5 21.Bg3 Bf5 22.Re2 Qf7 23.Ne3 Rad8 24.Rd2 Rxd2 25.Qxd2 Be6 26.Re1 e4 27.Qe2 Qf6 28.Qc2 Qg6 29.Qd2 Qf6 30.Qc2 Qg6 31.Qd2 Qf6 1/2-1/2

Round 9, Apr. 9
Carlsen, Magnus – Grischuk, Alexander
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.Ba4 Ne7 8.Bc2 Ng6 9.d4 Bb6 10.a4 c6 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 dxe5 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.a5 Bc5 15.Nd2 Be6 16.Re1 b5 17.Nb3 Bxb3 18.Bxb3 Ng4 19.Re2 Rd6 20.Bg5 Kf8 21.Rf1 Nf6 22.g3 a6 23.Kg2 Nd7 24.Bc1 Ba7 25.f4 f6 26.h4 Re8 27.h5 h6 28.Ba2 c5 29.Be3 exf4 30.gxf4 Rxe4 31.Bb1 Re7 32.Rfe1 f5 33.Bxf5 Nf6 34.Kf3 Nd5 35.Rd2 Rd8 36.Be4 Red7 37.Red1 Nf6 38.Rxd7 Nxd7 39.Rd6 1-0

Position after White’s 32.Rfe1

Chessbomb kibitzer comments

- Wow! Magnus has achieved a TPR of 2988 (!) in the Gashimov Memorial!
- poor grischuk
- Grischuk and Carlsen have huge respect for each other though. Always discussing posisiton calmly and in a friendly manner.
- Looks like MC has gotten his motivation back
- 5 wins 4 draws
- why did Sasha play f5 ? what was the idea?
- everyone talking about Carlsen, the real winner here is Radjabov!! 9 straight draws
- Impressive pawn sac!
- The real impressive thing is that he's two full points ahead of the rest of the field.
- 40 moves win followed by 2 39 move wins looks like time is not enough against MC
- In evening, afternoon or dawn / Never take a Carlsen pawn.
- was f5 to finally free up the black knight? seems like that knight was useless
- I actually really want MVL to win the candidates he deserves a shot, him or Ding
- there is no clear #2 at the moment, with all due respect to Caruana
- carlsen is too big a beast for chess. he should play against engines and let chess players alone
- MC has an intuition for chess that has never been experienced before in known history. His total dominance (also) in blitz is a testament to that.
- Performance rating of 2988 with 7/8 tournament score just tells you how strong the rest of the players were
- Just witnessing one of the greatest chess players of all time, in an era where we can witness it live.
- I'm impatient to see "the Russian Answer" Artemiev in super top tournament
- Amazing game. Even better than yesterday's.
- he gained 16 rating points this tournament if he keeps his form he can do it this year
- Ding , Mvl and Artemiev will be the 3 problems for Magnus in near future
- whoever one day beats Carlsen will truly feel good about being champion. it will probably be one of these up and coming players
- he won 3 games in a row, 3 pawn sacrifices in a row
- first on e3, then on h5, now on e4

Final Standings

1 Carlsen 7
2-3 Ding, Karjakin 5
4-6 Grischuk, Anand, Radjabov 4.5
7-8 Topalov, Navara 4
9 Mamedyarov 3.5
10 Giri 3

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 10th April, 2019, 10:52 PM

Shamkir 2019 - The Gashimov Memorial

April 10, 2019

Tarjei J. Svensen (tweet)

Carlsen's top career rating performances: (5 & 6 round events excluded)

3002: Nanjing '09 (8 out of 10)
2994: London '12 (6.5/8)
2988: Shamkir '19 (7/9)
2981: Shamkir '15 (7/9)
2930: Wijk aan Zee '13 (10/13)
2918: Bazna '10 (7.5/10)

___________

Magnus Carlsen completed a brilliant 2990 performance in the Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir by beating Alexander Grischuk in the final round to end on 7/9, a full two points ahead of Ding Liren and Sergey Karjakin. Grischuk said his opponent played “amazingly well” in what was a third phenomenally good win in a row, taking the World Champion to 2860.8 on the live rating list, heights no-one else has ever reached. His personal record is 2889.2, and he can try to get closer to that when he plays the GRENKE Chess Classic in 10 days’ time.

The chess gods didn't punish Ding Liren for a very quick final day draw, since he still took second place on tiebreaks.
Although Magnus Carlsen had sealed first place with a round to spare, on paper it looked as though world no. 3 Ding Liren had the best chance of taking clear second place, since he had White against the struggling Anish Giri. 20 minutes after the round started, however, the players were already facing the press after a rapid draw, with Ding admitting that following his 7-hour win over Veselin Topalov the day before he couldn’t get himself in the mood for another fight. Giri had seen enough in Shamkir.

Colin McGourty at chess24.com

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/car...ating-grischuk

Comments

- The last three games were very alpha-zero like: open lines with a pawn sacrifice for the bishops and rooks, go for the king, and pose difficult defensive problems, much like what one sees in the games in the excellent book Game Changer. Carlsen had been given a copy at Wijk aan Zee. It would be interesting to know what he thinks about the similarities.

- This is Carlsen's second super-tournament win of this year (after Tata) and indeed his most impressive classical performance since the Gashimov Memorial of 4 years ago - same result and even better quality of play. But it's also worth noting that both Tata/Wijk aan Zee & The Gashimov Memorial are kind of home courts for Carlsen (like Dortmund, say, used to be for Kramnik) - he tends to win there even when he is not at his most dominant (in Wijk 7 times since 2008, in Shamkir 4/4 so far). It would be interesting to see if he can also win in the later part of the year the events where traditionally he has more difficulties, namely Norway & Sinquefield Cup.