Grenke Chess Classic 2019

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 13th April, 2019, 04:28 PM

Grenke Chess Classic 2019

April 13, 2019

The full roster:

(1) Carlsen
(2) Caruana
(6) Anand
(8) Vachier-Lagrave
(10) Aronian
(19) Svidler
(42) Naiditsch
(43) Vallejo
(152) Meier
(651) Keymer

I believe that this is the first meeting of Carlsen and Caruana since their World Chess Championship Match.

And the attendant Open:

Unbelievable: more than 2000 (!) chess players have registered for the GRENKE Chess Open in Karlsruhe from 18-22 April. You can still join the biggest chess party in Europe: https://www.grenkechessopen.de/en/registration #GRENKEchess5

http://www.grenkechessclassic.de/en/

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 17th April, 2019, 03:25 PM

Grenke Chess Classic 2019

April 17, 2019

From chess24.com:

World Champion Magnus Carlsen and his challenger Fabiano Caruana meet for the first time since their World Championship match as the GRENKE Chess Classic starts on April 20th.

Jan Gustafsson and Peter Leko will be there again as official commentators. Last year we got treated to a wonderful story from Peter about Bobby Fischerand Carlsen and Caruana analyzing their games.

**Hans Jung** · Thursday, 18th April, 2019, 03:25 PM

The Grenke Open seemed to me like the ideal tournament - plenty of grandmasters and huge number of players. Then I noticed the schedule: 2 games a day over 4 days and one evening. Ouch! That would hurt my head!

**Hans Jung** · Thursday, 18th April, 2019, 03:27 PM

Beerdsen - Hansch rd1 is a well known opening trap where Black grabs the Rh1 but the eye popping 14...0-0-0 ends abruptly.

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 19th April, 2019, 07:37 PM

Grenke Chess Classic 2019

April 19, 2019

From Colin McGourty at chess24.com

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/key...lassic-round-1

“Keymer vs. Carlsen in GRENKE Classic Round 1

Talk about a baptism of fire! 14-year-old Vincent Keymer has been paired to play World Champion Magnus Carlsen in Round 1 of the GRENKE Chess Classic on Saturday. The good news for the kid? He has White. The bad news? If he survives he then has Black vs. Anand and White vs. Caruana in his next two rounds! Meanwhile the start of the massive GRENKE Chess Open featured an unfortunate incident: 15-year-old Alireza Firouzja forfeited his Round 3 game against Israel’s Or Bronstein rather than get into trouble back in Iran.”

Round 1, Apr. 20

Keymer-Carlsen
Svidler-Caruana
MVL-Anand
Aronian-Naiditsch
Meier-Vallejo Pons

Round 2, Apr. 21

Vallejo Pons-Carlsen
Anand-Keymer
Caruana-MVL
Naiditsch-Svidler
Meier-Aronian

Round 3, Apr. 22

Aronian-Vallejo Pons
Svidler-Meier
MVL-Naiditsch
Keymer-Caruana
Carlsen-Anand

Round 4, Apr. 23

Vallejo Pons-Anand
Caruana-Carlsen
Naiditsch-Keymer
Meier-MVL
Aronian-Svidler

Round 5, Apr. 24

Svidler-Vallejo Pons
MVL-Aronian
Keymer-Meier
Carlsen-Naiditsch
Anand-Caruana

Round 6, Apr. 26

Vallejo Pons-Caruana
Naiditsch-Anand
Meier-Carlsen
Aronian-Keymer
Svidler-MVL

Round 7, Apr. 27

MVL-Vallejo Pons
Keymer-Svidler
Carlen-Aronian
Anand-Meier
Caruana-Naiditsch

Round 8, Apr. 28

Vallejo Pons-Naiditsch
Meier-Caruana
Aronian-Anand
Svidler-Carlsen
MVL-Keymer

Round 9, Apr. 29

Keymer-Vallejo Pons
Carlsen-MVL
Anand-Svidler
Caruana-Aronian
Naiditsch-Meier

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 20th April, 2019, 09:38 PM

Grenke Chess Classic 2019

April 20, 2019

Round One

Peter Doggers at chess.com

https://www.chess.com/news/view/2019...lassic-round-1

Keymer Fights, Loses Marathon Game To Carlsen As Grenke Chess Classic Takes Off

“Magnus Carlsen started the Grenke Chess Classic in Karlsruhe, Germany where he had left his previous tournament, the Gashimov Memorial: winning. The world champion defeated IM Vincent Keymer in a marathon game in which the 14-year-old put up a great fight.

Carlsen needed six hours and 42 minutes to beat an opponent half his age and 329 Elo points lower rated. That, and the fact that Keymer had a promising middlegame position and later was close to a draw, showed the talent of the 14-year-old International Master.”

Antonio Pereira at chessbase.com dissects the game.

https://en.chessbase.com/post/grenke...c-2019-round-1

By move 20, Keymer was ahead. But Carlsen was way ahead on the clock and by the time control and Keymer let go of the initiative. Carlsen gained a pawn. Then, on move 56 Carlsen offered an exchange of rooks that gave White equal chances again. In the position below, Keymer played 67.Bf2?, Black replied with 67…Ne2 and Magnus did not look back from this point on and Keymer resigned at move 81.

Position after 66….Nxc3

Peter Leko was commentating with Jan Gustafsson but left near the end to console his pupil on his loss.

Round 1, Apr. 20
Keymer, Vincent – Carlsen, Magnus
A56 Benoni

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 g6 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Nf3 O-O 7.Be2 e5 8.O-O Ne8 9.Ne1 f5 10.exf5 gxf5 11.f4 Nd7 12.Nd3 e4 13.Nf2 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Ndf6 15.Be3 Ng7 16.Qe1 Bd7 17.Nd1 Ba4 18.h3 Bxd1 19.Qxd1 Qe8 20.Kf2 Qg6 21.Rg1 Kh8 22.a4 Rg8 23.Qf1 Nfh5 24.g3 Raf8 25.Qg2 Qf6 26.Rac1 Qd8 27.Qh2 Nf6 28.g4 Nd7 29.g5 Qa5 30.g6 h6 31.Rb1 Rb8 32.Qg3 Qd8 33.Ke1 Ne8 34.Kd2 Nf8 35.Bf2 Qe7 36.Ke3 Qf6 37.Kd2 Nxg6 38.h4 Ne7 39.Qh3 Rxg1 40.Rxg1 Qf7 41.h5 Nf6 42.Bh4 b6 43.Rb1 Qf8 44.Rg1 Qf7 45.Rb1 Qg7 46.Rg1 Qf8 47.Kc2 Nfg8 48.Kd2 Qf7 49.Kc2 Rf8 50.Kd2 Qe8 51.Ra1 Rf7 52.a5 bxa5 53.Rxa5 Nc8 54.Ra1 Qf8 55.Rb1 Nb6 56.Rg1 Rg7 57.Rxg7 Kxg7 58.Qg3+ Kh8 59.Qg6 a5 60.Bf1 a4 61.Kc2 a3 62.Kb3 Na4 63.Bh3 Qg7 64.Qxg7+ Kxg7 65.Bxf5 Nf6 66.Kxa3 Nxc3 67.Bf2 Ne2 68.Ka4 Nxh5 69.Ka5 Nf6 70.Kb6 Kf7 71.Kc7 Ke7 72.Be3 Nd4 73.Bg6 h5 74.Bf2 Nf3 75.Bf5 Nd2 76.Bh4 e3 77.Bd3 Nf3 78.Bxf6+ Kxf6 79.Kxd6 h4 80.Kc7 Nd4 81.Kc8 e2 0-1

Round 1, Apr. 20
Svidler, Peter - Caruana, Fabiano
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.Bd2 f5 13.a5 a6 14.Na3 e4 15.Nc4 Ne5 16.Nb6 Rb8 17.f4 exf3 18.Bxf3 Bf6 19.c3 g5 20.Be2 f4 21.Nxc8 Qxc8 22.Kh1 b5 23.axb6 Rxb6 24.Qc2 Bg7 25.b3 Qb7 26.b4 Qxd5 27.Qa2 Qxa2 28.Rxa2 d5 29.Rxa6 Rxa6 30.Bxa6 Nc4 31.Rd1 Nxd2 32.Rxd2 Bxc3 33.Rxd5 Bxb4 34.Rxg5+ Kh8 35.Kg1 f3 36.gxf3 Rxf3 37.Bc4 Rf8 38.Kg2 Bc3 39.Bd3 Rg8 40.Rxg8+ Kxg8 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Apr. 20
MVL – Anand, Vishy
B12 Caro-Kann, Advance variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 Qb6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.O-O Qxb2 9.Qe1 cxd4 10.Bxd4 Nxd4 11.Nxd4 Bb4 12.Ndb5 Ba5 13.Rb1 Qxc2 14.Rb3 Ne7 15.Nd6+ Kf8 16.Nxb7 Bb6 17.Nd6 Ba5 18.Nb7 Bb6 19.Nd6 Ba5 20.Nb7 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Apr. 20
Aronian, Levon – Naiditsch, Arkadij
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Byrne Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nf3 Qc7 8.a4 Be7 9.a5 O-O 10.Be2 Nbd7 11.Nd2 b5 12.axb6 Nxb6 13.O-O a5 14.Nb5 Qb8 15.c4 Be6 16.Qb3 Rc8 17.Rfc1 Bd8 18.Qd1 Nbd7 19.f3 Bb6 20.Nf1 Ne8 21.Rc3 Bc5 22.Kh1 Rc6 23.Bd2 Bb4 24.Rcc1 Bxd2 25.Nxd2 Nc7 26.Ra3 Nc5 27.Rca1 Rca6 28.Nb1 Bd7 29.N1c3 N7e6 30.Nd5 a4 31.b4 axb3 32.Rxa6 Rxa6 33.Rxa6 Nxa6 34.Qxb3 Nac5 35.Qd1 Nd8 36.Ne3 Ndb7 37.h3 g6 38.Bf1 Be6 39.Nc2 Qd8 40.Qe1 h5 41.Ne3 h4 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Apr. 20
Meier, Georg – Vallejo Pons, Francisco
D02 Queen’s Pawn game

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 e6 3.g3 b5 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.O-O Bb7 6.a4 b4 7.a5 Be7 8.c3 O-O 9.cxb4 Bxb4 10.Qb3 Qe7 11.Bd2 Na6 12.Rc1 Rab8 13.Bxb4 Nxb4 14.Nbd2 Ba6 15.Qe3 Rb7 16.Ne5 Bb5 17.Bf1 Nd7 18.Nxd7 Qxd7 19.Qa3 Na6 20.Rc3 Rfb8 21.Nb3 Bc4 22.Nd2 Bb5 23.Nb3 Bc4 24.Nd2 Bb5 25.Nb3 1/2-1/2

Chat Room Comments on Keymer-Carlsen

- Let’s hope this doesn’t affect Vincent for the rest of the tourney

- Magnusaurus earns his meal

- Vincent needs better time management

- Magnus playing with knights like Vishy

- The win being much harder than any of us thought at the end

- That knight is so fast that it will travel the whole length of the board

- Very good game, Vincent, congrats! Be proud of it!

- Kid put up a hell of a fight

- Great game by both players!

- A fascinating game, despite all of its flaws – or perhaps in part because of them. Kudos to Keymer for staying in the fight so long!

- Enough for me, I’ve gotten post-traumatic stress syndrome just by watching this thing already

__________

In the Grenke Open, as we reported, Firouzja forfeited his third round game against Israeli national Or Bronstein.

ChessBase says this: But forfeiting a game also cost him dearly; Firoujza seemed to have lost his composure in the next round as he simply left his rook en prise against 1945-rated Antonia Ziegenfuss. Surely one of the biggest upsets we'll see this year!

https://en.chessbase.com/post/irania...nke-chess-open

**Hans Jung** · Sunday, 21st April, 2019, 01:46 PM

Double whammy for Vincent Keymer. First Magnus then Vishy. Long hard games. Nothing like learning direct from the greats. Good seasoning!

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 21st April, 2019, 09:28 PM

Grenke Chess Classic 2019

April 21, 2019

Round Two

From the official site:

http://www.grenkechessclassic.com/en...to-retain-lead

Magnus the magnificent pulls off a miracle to retain lead

Exciting matchups were lined up for the second round of the GRENKE Chess Classic. The youngest player in the field, Vincent Keymer pitted against former five-time world champion Vishy Anand; and then there was the battle between the heavyweights Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Magnus Carlsen was playing Francisco Vallejo Pons with black. The conclusion of the round brought three decisive results: Anand won comfortably against Keymer; Svidler defeated Arkadij Naiditsch; while Carlsen retained his lead winning his second straight black game in a miraculous manner.

After their wins, it seemed Svidler and Anand would be joining Carlsen in the tournament lead as the world champ. Carlsen had been pressing in an equal looking position but the pawnless endgame that eventually arose (diagram below) looked too dull to bear any fruit. But then again, it’s Magnus Carlsen we are talking about. Conclusions drawn by mortals do not really apply to him.

Vallejo Pons vs Carlsen

In the above position, Carlsen had played 49…Nf4+ and after 50.Rxf4, the Norwegian super-computer, Sesse, announced mate in 44! Talking about the position to GM Jan Gustafsson after the game, Carlsen said, “I think, opposite coloured bishops and a rook is basically always winning.” Explaining further, he said that while he knew that it was always winning, he had no clue how and he was sure that against good defence, it will surely take more than 50 moves.

Carlsen persevered for six long hours to pull off this incredible victory

Having won this endgame with such surgical accuracy, Carlsen also pointed out that it’s not the kind of position one gets to play every day. “I guess you get this once in your life and this was mine. I am so curious how to proceed but I will never get to use it again.”

Round 2, Apr. 21
Vallejo Pons, Francisco – Carlsen, Magnus
C78 Ruy Lopez, Moeller Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Bc5 6.c3 O-O 7.d4 Ba7 8.dxe5 Nxe4 9.Bc2 d5 10.exd6 Nxd6 11.Bg5 f6 12.Bf4 g5 13.Bxd6 Qxd6 14.Qxd6 cxd6 15.Nbd2 g4 16.Nh4 d5 17.Nf5 d4 18.Nc4 Bxf5 19.Bxf5 h5 20.Rad1 Rfd8 21.a4 Ne7 22.Be6+ Kg7 23.Rfe1 f5 24.Na5 Rab8 25.Kf1 Kf6 26.Bb3 Ng6 27.Re6+ Kg5 28.g3 dxc3 29.bxc3 Rxd1+ 30.Bxd1 Rd8 31.f4+ gxf3 32.Bxf3 h4 33.Nc4 hxg3 34.hxg3 Bb8 35.Kg2 b5 36.axb5 axb5 37.Ne3 Rd2+ 38.Kh3 Rd3 39.Be2 Rxc3 40.Bxb5 f4 41.Be8 Nf8 42.Rb6 Be5 43.Nf1 fxg3 44.Rc6 Ra3 45.Rb6 Ra2 46.Rb4 Ne6 47.Rg4+ Kf6 48.Bc6 g2 49.Bxg2 Nf4+ 50.Rxf4+ Bxf4 51.Bf3 Bb8 52.Ng3 Kg5 53.Ne2 Bc7 54.Kg2 Kh4 55.Kf2 Bb6+ 56.Ke1 Be3 57.Kd1 Kg5 58.Be4 Kf6 59.Bf3 Ke5 60.Bg2 Kd6 61.Be4 Kc5 62.Bf5 Rd2+ 63.Ke1 Rd8 64.Be4 Kc4 65.Kf1 Rf8+ 66.Ke1 Bf2+ 67.Kd2 Rd8+ 68.Kc2 Be3 69.Bf3 Rd2+ 70.Kb1 Kb3 71.Nc1+ Ka3 72.Ne2 Rb2+ 73.Ka1 Rb8 0-1

- One of the best games I have ever seen

- His two games have been endlessly entertaining

Round 2, Apr. 21
Anand, Vishy – Keymer, Vincent
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Kristiansen Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bd3 e5 7.Nde2 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Ng3 Be6 10.Nd5 Bxd5 11.exd5 g6 12.c4 Nbd7 13.Bh6 Re8 14.Rc1 Bf8 15.Bg5 h6 16.Bd2 a5 17.b3 h5 18.Re1 Bg7 19.h3 Qe7 20.Be3 Qf8 21.Qd2 h4 22.Ne2 Nh5 23.Nc3 f5 24.Bg5 Nf4 25.Bxf4 exf4 26.Re6 Ne5 27.Be2 Rxe6 28.dxe6 Re8 29.Qd5 Qe7 30.Nb5 Qxe6 31.Qxb7 Re7 32.Qb8+ Kh7 33.Qxd6 Qxd6 34.Nxd6 Bf8 35.Nb5 Nc6 36.Kf1 Re5 37.a3 Bc5 38.Bf3 Nd4 39.Nxd4 Bxd4 40.Rb1 Re6 41.b4 Rb6 42.Rd1 Bb2 43.c5 1-0

Round 2, Apr. 21
Caruana, Fabiano – MVL
B23 Sicilian, Closed

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qd2 Nf6 6.b3 e6 7.Bb2 d5 8.exd5 exd5 9.O-O-O Be6 10.a3 Bc5 11.Nf3 O-O 12.Bd3 Rc8 13.Rhe1 Re8 14.h3 Qa5 15.Nb5 Qxd2+ 16.Rxd2 a6 17.Nbd4 Ne4 18.Rde2 Bd7 19.Kd1 f6 20.Nxc6 Bxc6 21.Nd4 Bd7 22.f3 Ng3 23.Rxe8+ Rxe8 24.c4 dxc4 25.Bxc4+ Kf8 26.b4 Bd6 27.Ne6+ Bxe6 28.Rxe6 Rd8 29.Kc2 Nh5 30.Re4 b5 31.Bd3 Nf4 32.Bf1 Re8 33.Kb3 Rxe4 34.fxe4 Ne6 35.a4 Nc7 36.Bd4 Ke7 37.Be2 Kd7 38.Be3 Be5 39.h4 g6 40.h5 gxh5 41.Bxh5 Ne6 42.Bg4 Kd6 43.a5 Nd4+ 44.Ka2 Kc7 45.Bf2 Nc2 46.Kb3 Nd4+ 47.Ka2 Nc2 48.Kb3 Nd4+ 49.Ka2 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Apr. 21
Naiditsch, Arkadij – Svidler, Peter
C68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O Qf6 6.d4 exd4 7.Bg5 Qd6 8.Nxd4 Be7 9.Bxe7 Nxe7 10.Nc3 Bd7 11.Nde2 O-O-O 12.Qc1 Ng6 13.Qe3 Kb8 14.Rad1 Qe7 15.f4 Bc8 16.Nc1 Rxd1 17.Rxd1 b6 18.Nd3 a5 19.Re1 Ba6 20.Nf2 Re8 21.a3 f6 22.Ne2 Bb7 23.Ng3 c5 24.Nf5 Qf7 25.Rd1 Nf8 26.c3 a4 27.h3 Ne6 28.Ng3 Bc6 29.Rd2 Nd8 30.Qd3 Nb7 31.Kh2 Nd6 32.Rd1 h5 33.Re1 h4 34.Nf1 Qb3 35.e5 fxe5 36.fxe5 Qxb2 37.Re2 Qb5 38.Qc2 Nc4 39.e6 Nxa3 0-1

Round 2, Apr. 21
Meier, Georg – Aronian, Levon
B52 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Nxd7 5.O-O Ngf6 6.Qe2 e6 7.c3 Be7 8.d4 O-O 9.e5 dxe5 10.dxe5 Nd5 11.c4 Nb4 12.Nc3 Nc6 13.Rd1 a6 14.Bf4 Qc7 15.h4 Rfd8 16.h5 h6 17.b3 Nf8 18.Ne4 Rxd1+ 19.Rxd1 Rd8 20.Rxd8 Qxd8 21.Ned2 Qa5 22.Ne4 Nd7 23.g3 Kf8 24.Kg2 Ke8 25.g4 Qc7 26.Kg3 Qa5 27.Kg2 Qc7 28.Kg3 Qa5 29.Kg2 1/2-1/2

___________

The broadcast had Jan Gustafsson and Peter Leko doing the English version. But, it was the worst transmission I have ever seen – the action continually held up, the sound was terrible - unwatchable. Finally, they had to shut everything off and fix the problem. The funny thing was that the Spanish version, with Pepe Cuenca was flawless.

Q: How long should you spend on chess?
Leko: It depends what you want. What is your goal?
Jan: I want to be 2650.
L: What are you now?
J: 2640.
L: Ah, it's a hopeless case!

Standings after Round Two

1 Carlsen 2
2-3 Svidler, Anand 1.5
4-7 Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave, Aronian, Meier 1
8-9 Naiditsch, Vallejo Pons 0.5
10 Keymer 0

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 22nd April, 2019, 09:44 PM

Grenke Chess Classic 2019

April 22, 2019

Round Three

From the official site:

http://www.grenkechessclassic.com/en...ournament-lead

Carlsen fails to break through Anand's stiff resistance; Svidler joins tournament lead

Much like the first two rounds of the GRENKE Chess Classic, Magnus Carlsen was seen playing well into the sixth hour of the round and was the last to finish in an action-packed third day. Unlike in his last two rounds, Carlsen did not manage to break through the staunch defence of Vishy Anand. Earlier in the day, Peter Svidler had won his second straight game of the tournament against Georg Meier of Germany. Following Vishy’s save against Magnus, Svidler has joined the world champion in the tournament lead. In the second decisive game of the round, Fabiano Caruana brought down the crowd favourite Vincent Keymer.

Soon after the day began, Magnus Carlsen seemed to be in total command of the position against India’s Viswanathan Anand. Anand had made an error in the opening and was suffering the consequences. His 10...c6 in an English Opening – as he also pointed out after the game – was a bit hasty.

“I just took my eye off the ball for a moment. Even h5-h4 and then c6 might be better than what I did. It’s just so wrong at so many levels,” Anand said after the game.

The result was a very unpleasant, cramped position for black while white enjoyed a space advantage along with total control of the ‘h’ file. Talking of his position, Vishy said that he must have been very close to being lost the whole game. But the ‘Madras Tiger’ kept finding defensive resources despite being caught in a straightjacket and after a 63-move-long struggle, managed to come out alive.

Carlsen’s draw meant that Peter Svidler had joined the world champion in the tournament lead. A sharp Classical French had emerged on the board with Svidler having the white pieces against Georg Meier. After the game, Svidler admitted that Meier’s choice of the 12…Bb4 had caught him completely off guard. The heavily theoretical battle then seemed to have fizzled out into an equal endgame but in the double rook and bishops of opposite colour endgame, the eight-time Russian champion generated a powerful attack despite the reduced material and forced resignation by the 37th move.

Levon Aronian and Francisco Vallejo Pons discussed the exact same line of the French Defence as Svidler and Meier. Interestingly, this game also finished around the same time as the former. Unlike Meier’s 12…Bb4, Vallejo chose the 12…a6 variant in the line but the game remained razor sharp. Aronian gave up a pawn for the initiative in the middle game. However, Vallejo was up to the task of finding enough counterplay. In the end, the Aronian forced matters with a rook sacrifice and repeated the position to sign peace.

The game between Maxime Vachier Lagrave and Arkadij Naiditsch was a mainline Berlin endgame in which the French number one found a fascinating piece sacrifice to spice up the game. As play progressed, he followed up aggressively, thrusting his kingside pawns forward. Another exchange sacrifice followed on the 31st move and despite being a full rook down, his compensation was enough to force a repetition.

Vincent Keymer continued his aggressive play in the third round. In his game against Fabiano Caruana, he was once again marched his kingside pawns aggressively to get an initiative on that side of the board. Caruana’s committal 17…c4 had fixed the structure in the centre but at the same time had given him a nice queenside majority. In the middle game, Caruana said that he felt his position seemed a little vulnerable to him due to his king position and Keymer’s superior pawn structure. However, as the first time control approached, Keymer began to crack and made some errors. Caruana immediately sought counterplay rolling his queenside passer and forced resignation on the 42nd move.

___________

The broadcast was flawless today. This as a preface to Vincent’s game:

"Vincent Keymer getting an easier pairing today - someone who's never even been World Champion... the world no. 2 Fabiano Caruana!" – Jan Gustafsson

Round 3, Apr. 22
Carlsen, Magnus – Anand, Vishy
A22 English, Bremen, Smyslov System

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e4 Bxc3 5.dxc3 d6 6.f3 a5 7.Nh3 a4 8.Nf2 Be6 9.Bd3 Nbd7 10.Qe2 c6 11.f4 Nb6 12.Be3 c5 13.O-O-O Qe7 14.f5 Bd7 15.g4 h6 16.h4 O-O-O 17.g5 Ne8 18.Bd2 hxg5 19.hxg5 Nc7 20.Ng4 Rdg8 21.Rh2 Qf8 22.Rdh1 Kb8 23.b4 axb3 24.axb3 Nc8 25.Kb2 Qd8 26.Rh7 Rxh7 27.Rxh7 Rh8 28.Qh2 Rxh7 29.Qxh7 Qf8 30.Ne3 Ne7 31.Kc2 Qg8 32.Qh4 Qf8 33.Kd1 Nc6 34.Qh7 Ne7 35.Ke2 Nc8 36.Kf2 Ne7 37.Be2 Qg8 38.Qh1 g6 39.Qh6 Ne8 40.f6 Nc6 41.b4 Nc7 42.bxc5 dxc5 43.Nd5 Ne6 44.Be3 Ka7 45.Bg4 b6 46.Nc7 Qc8 47.Nb5+ Kb8 48.Nd6 Qg8 49.Qh1 Qf8 50.Qd1 Ncd8 51.Nb5 Bc6 52.Kg1 Nc7 53.Bf2 Nb7 54.Bg3 Bxb5 55.cxb5 Qd6 56.Qe2 Ne6 57.Bxe6 Qxe6 58.Qh2 Qg4 59.Kf2 Qxe4 60.Bxe5+ Kc8 61.Qh3+ Kd8 62.Qh8+ Kd7 63.Qh3+ Kd8 1/2-1/2

- Tomorrow is your day Carlsen.

- Vishy found Nb7 in the critical moment with no time on the clock

- One simply does not beat Vishy 3 times in a row

Round 3, Apr. 22
Svidler, Peter – Meier, Georg
C11 French, Steinitz, Boleslavsky variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6 9.Qd2 Qxb2 10.Rb1 Qa3 11.Bb5 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Bb4 13.Rb3 Qa5 14.a3 Be7 15.f5 exf5 16.Nxd5 Qxd2+ 17.Kxd2 Bd8 18.Rc3 Ba5 19.Nc7+ Bxc7 20.Rxc7 Kd8 21.Rc3 Nf8 22.Bc5 Bd7 23.Bxf8 Bxb5 24.Bxg7 Rg8 25.Bf6+ Kd7 26.Rd1 f4 27.g3 fxg3 28.Kc1+ Ke8 29.hxg3 Bc6 30.Rd4 Rg6 31.Rcd3 Kf8 32.Rh4 h6 33.g4 Bb5 34.Rd2 Re8 35.g5 Rxg5 36.Rxh6 Rg8 37.Rdh2 1-0

- Svidler!! Huge win again! SO glad to see the big man’s classical chess returning to form

Round 3, Apr. 22
Keymer, Vincent – Caruana, Fabiano
E11 Bogo-Indian Defence, Nimzowitsch variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7 5.g3 Nc6 6.a3 Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 d5 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O b6 10.Qc2 Bb7 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Nc3 Nd8 13.e3 c5 14.Rfd1 Ne6 15.Rac1 Rfd8 16.Qb1 Rac8 17.b4 c4 18.Ne5 g6 19.h4 Nf8 20.Qb2 N8d7 21.f4 a6 22.Bh3 b5 23.g4 Nxe5 24.fxe5 Ne4 25.Nxe4 dxe4 26.g5 Rc7 27.Rf1 Bd5 28.Rf6 Rc6 29.Qf2 a5 30.h5 axb4 31.axb4 Rf8 32.Rf1 c3 33.Kh2 Ra8 34.hxg6 hxg6 35.Rxc6 Bxc6 36.Rc1 Qxb4 37.Kg3 Qa3 38.Rh1 c2 39.e6 Be8 40.Qd2 Qd3 41.Qf2 Ra3 42.Kf4 Qd1 0-1

- Keymer getting free lessons from these merciless beasts

Round 3, Apr. 22
MVL – Naiditsch, Arkadij
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin defence, open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.h3 Ne7 10.Rd1+ Ke8 11.Nc3 Ng6 12.b3 Be7 13.Ne4 a5 14.Re1 a4 15.Bb2 Be6 16.Nd4 Nf4 17.Rad1 h5 18.h4 Nd5 19.c4 Nb4 20.a3 Na6 21.b4 c5 22.Nxe6 fxe6 23.b5 Nb8 24.f4 Rf8 25.Nf6+ gxf6 26.exf6 Bd6 27.Rxe6+ Kf7 28.Rde1 Rd8 29.g4 hxg4 30.h5 Nd7 31.Re7+ Bxe7 32.Rxe7+ Kg8 33.Rg7+ Kh8 34.f7 Rf8 35.f5 Nb6 36.Bf6 Nxc4 37.Rxg4+ Kh7 38.Rg7+ Kh6 39.Rg6+ Kh7 40.Rg7+ Kh6 41.Rg6+ Kh7 42.Rg7+ Kh6 1/2-1/2

Round 3, Apr. 22
Aronian, Levon – Vallejo Pons, Francisco
C11 French, Steinitz, Boleslavsky variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6 9.Qd2 Qxb2 10.Rb1 Qa3 11.Bb5 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 a6 13.Bxd7+ Bxd7 14.Rb3 Qe7 15.Rxb7 Rc8 16.Qe3 Qd8 17.O-O Rc4 18.Rfb1 Be7 19.f5 Bg5 20.Qf2 exf5 21.e6 fxe6 22.Bxg7 Rg8 23.Be5 d4 24.Qe2 Be3+ 25.Kf1 Qh4 26.Rxd7 Kxd7 27.Rb7+ Ke8 28.Rb8+ Kf7 29.Rb7+ Ke8 30.Rb8+ Kf7 31.Rb7+ Ke8 1/2-1/2

Standings after Round Three

1-2 Carlsen, Svidler 2.5
3-4 Caruana, Anand 2
5-6 MVL, Aronian 1.5
7-9 Vallejo Pons, Meier, Naiditsch 1
10 Keymer 0

Tomorrow, is Caruana-Carlsen. With Magnus in “beast” mode, it should be an interesting encounter.

**Hans Jung** · Tuesday, 23rd April, 2019, 09:09 AM

Fantastic tournament so far. Its great seeing Magnus tested like that. and superb defence from Vishy! We note the superb skills of the greats but not usually their incredible defensive abilities. In this case, that was front and foremost!

**Hans Jung** · Tuesday, 23rd April, 2019, 09:11 AM

Yes Svidler against Naiditsch was a spectacle and he continued against Meier. When Peter brings his A game - lookout!

**Hans Jung** · Tuesday, 23rd April, 2019, 03:59 PM

Peter Svidlers streak came to an end, sadly for us fans.

**Hans Jung** · Tuesday, 23rd April, 2019, 04:00 PM

Vishy defends with a queen sac - wow!

**Hans Jung** · Tuesday, 23rd April, 2019, 04:01 PM

Vincent Keymer has more hard lessons.