Tata Steel 2020

**Hans Jung** · Sunday, 26th January, 2020, 11:36 AM

Firoujza impressed many and led thru the first half but eventually succumbed to big lessons from Magnus, Fabulous Fabi, and Vishy Anand.

**Hans Jung** · Sunday, 26th January, 2020, 01:01 PM

Great entertainmnent towards the end of the Artemiev - Caruana game

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 26th January, 2020, 04:16 PM

Tata Steel 2020

January 26, 2020

Round Thirteen

Caruana wins the tournament. These are the final standings:

1 Caruana 10
2 Carlsen 8
3 So 7.5
4-5 Van Foreest, J., Dubov 7
6-9 Anand, Duda, Firouzja, Giri 6.5
10-11 Xiong Artemiev 6
12 Vitiugov 5
13 Yu 4.5
14 Kovalev

This tournament is being compared to Linares 1994. Did Caruana benefit from playing an opponent after they had met Carlsen in the previous round? For a discussion of the so-called Linares ’94 Effect, see

https://forum.chesstalk.com/forum/ch...-quotes/page38

Round 13, Jan. 26
So, Wesley – 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.Bd2 O-O 9.O-O Bxc3 10.Bxc3 dxe4 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Bxe4 Qxb2 13.Bxc6 Rb8 14.Rb1 Qxb1 15.Qxb1 Rxb1 16.Rxb1 Rd8 17.Bf3 Kf8 18.Rb8 Re8 19.h4 Ba6 20.Rb3 Be2 21.Bxe2 Rxe2 22.Rc3 Re7 23.f3 Ke8 24.Kf2 Kd7 25.Ra3 Re5 26.Rxa7 Rc5 27.Ke3 Rxc2 28.g4 h5 29.gxh5 Rc4 30.Ra5 Rxh4 31.Rg5 Ke6 32.Rc5 Ra4 33.h6 gxh6 34.Rxc7 Kf6 35.Rc6+ Kg7 36.Rc2 Kg6 37.Kf2 h5 38.Kg3 Kg5 39.Rc7 h4+ 40.Kh3 f5 41.Rh7 Rc4 42.Rh8 Rc1 43.a3 Kf4 44.Rh5 Ra1 45.a4 Ra2 46.Rxh4+ Kxf3 47.Rb4 f4 48.Rb3+ Kf2 49.Kg4 Rxa4 50.Rf3+ Kg2 51.Rxf4 Rxf4+ 52.Kxf4 1/2-1/2

Round 13, Jan. 26
Kovalev, Vladislav – Vitiugov, Nikita
C07 French, Tarrasch, open variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.Ne4 Be7 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.c4 Nf6 10.Nxf6+ Bxf6 11.O-O O-O 12.Be3 a6 13.Bxd7 Qxd7 14.Rc1 Rd8 15.Qf3 Nc6 16.Nxc6 Qxc6 17.Qxc6 bxc6 18.b3 1/2-1/2

Round 13, Jan. 26
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Anand, Vishy
A18 English, Mikenas-Carls, Flohr variation

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 d4 5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 Qxf6 7.Nf3 b6 8.d4 Bb7 9.Bd3 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 Qxf3 11.gxf3 Nd7 12.Rb1 Bd6 13.Be4 Rd8 14.f4 c5 15.Ke2 Rc8 16.Bd3 f5 17.a4 Kf7 18.Be3 Rc7 19.Rb5 Be7 20.a5 Rd8 21.Ra1 g6 22.axb6 axb6 23.Ra4 1/2-1/2

Round 13, Jan. 26
Artemiev, Vladislav – Caruana, Fabiano
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nd7 3.c4 dxc4 4.Qa4 a6 5.Qxc4 b5 6.Qc2 Bb7 7.Bg2 Ngf6 8.O-O e6 9.d3 Be7 10.a4 c5 11.Nc3 Qb6 12.axb5 axb5 13.Rxa8+ Bxa8 14.Bg5 O-O 15.Ra1 h6 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Nd2 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Rc8 19.Qb3 Rb8 20.Nce4 Be7 21.Kg1 f5 22.Nc3 Ne5 23.h3 h5 24.Nf3 Nxf3+ 25.exf3 Bf6 26.Re1 Kf7 27.Ne2 g5 28.g4 hxg4 29.hxg4 fxg4 30.fxg4 Qd6 31.Ng3 Qd5 32.Qc2 Bd4 33.Qe2 Rh8 34.Ne4 Qe5 35.Qf3+ Kg7 36.b3 Rf8 37.Qe2 Qd5 38.Rf1 Kg6 39.Qd1 c4 40.bxc4 bxc4 41.Kg2 Ba7 42.f3 cxd3 43.Qa1 Be3 44.Rd1 Qc4 45.Qc3 Qa2+ 46.Nd2 Qc2 47.Qe5 Bxd2 48.Qxe6+ Kg7 49.Qe7+ Rf7 50.Qe5+ Kf8 51.Qb8+ Ke7 52.Qe5+ Kd8 53.Qb8+ Kd7 54.Qb7+ Kd6 55.Qb6+ Ke5 56.Qb5+ Kd4 57.Qb6+ Kc4 58.Qe6+ Kc3 59.Qe5+ Kb3 60.Qd5+ Kb2 61.Qb5+ Bb4+ 62.Kg3 Qxd1 63.Qxb4+ Qb3 64.Qd2+ Kb1 65.Qe1+ Kc2 66.Qf2+ d2 0-1

Final Position

Round 13, Jan. 26
Giri, Anish – Van Foreest, Jorden
D10 QGD Slav Defence, Exchange variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Bg5 Nc6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Bxf6 gxf6 7.e3 e6 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.Nf3 f5 10.g3 Bd7 11.O-O Rc8 12.Rc1 O-O 13.a3 Kh8 14.Qe2 Rg8 15.Kh1 Na5 16.Nd2 Qb6 17.b4 Nc4 18.Bxc4 dxc4 19.Kg1 Qa6 20.Ra1 b5 21.Nf3 Qb6 22.e4 a5 23.exf5 axb4 24.fxe6 Bxe6 25.axb4 Bg4 26.Qe3 Rce8 27.Ne5 Bxe5 28.dxe5 Qxe3 29.fxe3 Bh5 30.Nxb5 Rxe5 31.Nd6 Rxe3 32.Nxf7+ Bxf7 33.Rxf7 Re2 34.Rc7 Rd8 35.Rxc4 Rb2 36.Rc7 Rxb4 37.Raa7 h5 38.Rh7+ Kg8 39.Rxh5 Rb2 40.Rg5+ Kh8 41.Rh5+ Kg8 42.Rg5+ Kh8 43.Ra1 Rdd2 44.Rh5+ Kg7 45.Kh1 Rf2 46.g4 Kg6 47.Rg1 Rb8 48.Rh3 Kg5 49.Rhg3 Rbb2 50.Rh3 Rb8 51.Rh7 Kg6 52.Rh5 Rc8 53.Ra1 Rcc2 54.Ra6+ Kg7 55.Rg5+ 1/2-1/2

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 Nh5 6.dxc5 Nxf4 7.exf4 g6 8.c3 Bg7 9.Bb5 O-O 10.O-O d4 11.Bxc6 dxc3 12.Be4 cxd2 13.Qxd2 Qxd2 14.Nxd2 Bxb2 15.Rab1 Ba3 16.c6 1/2-1/2

Round 13, Jan. 26
Yu, Yangyi – Xiong, Jeffery
A57 Benko Gambit

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.Nf3 g6 5.cxb5 a6 6.b6 d6 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.e4 Bg7 9.Be2 O-O 10.O-O Nxb6 11.a4 Bg4 12.Nd2 Bxe2 13.Qxe2 Qc7 14.a5 Nc8 15.Nc4 Nd7 16.Bd2 Rb8 17.Na4 Qb7 18.Bc3 Na7 19.Nab6 Nc8 20.Bxg7 Kxg7 21.b4 Ncxb6 22.axb6 Nxb6 23.Na5 Qc7 24.Nc6 Nd7 25.Nxb8 Rxb8 26.bxc5 Nxc5 27.Rfb1 Qa5 28.e5 Qc3 29.exd6 exd6 30.h3 a5 31.Rxb8 Qxa1+ 32.Kh2 Qd4 33.Ra8 Nd3 1/2-1/2

Challengers Results of Round Thirteen

Warmerdam-Smeets 1-0
Van Foreest-Anton 0.5-0.5
Smirnov-Ganguly 0-1
Eljanov-L’Ami 0.5-0.5
Grandelius-Keymer 0-1
Nihal-Mamedov 1-0
Abdusattorov-Saduakassova 0.5-0.5

Final Standings Challengers

1 Anton 8.5
2-4 Abdusattorov, Eljanov, L’Ami 8
5 Ganguly 7.5
6-7 Keymer, Nihal 7
8-9 Grandelius, Van Foreest, L. 6.5
10-11 Smeets, Mamedov 6
12-13 Warmerdam, Smirnov 4.5
14 Saduakassova 3

Challengers
Round 13, Jan. 26
Smirnov, Anton – Ganguly, Surya
E20 Nimzo-Indian, Kmoch variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 c5 5.d5 O-O 6.e4 b5 7.e5 Ne8 8.f4 exd5 9.cxd5 Bb7 10.Nf3 c4 11.Be2 Qb6 12.Bd2 Nc7 13.d6 Ne6 14.f5 Nd4 15.f6 Re8 16.a3 Ba5 17.fxg7 Nxf3+ 18.Bxf3 Rxe5+ 19.Kf1 Na6 20.Be1 Bxc3 21.Bf2 Nc5 22.bxc3 Rae8 23.h4 Bxf3 24.Qxf3 Qxd6 25.h5 Nd3 26.Bg3 Qxa3 0-1

Challengers
Round 13, Jan. 26
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack, Yugoslav variation

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 c6 4.O-O Nd7 5.h3 Bh5 6.d4 e6 7.c4 Ngf6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Ne5 Ne4 10.Bxe4 dxe4 11.Nc3 Be7 12.Bf4 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Bg6 14.Qb3 Qc8 15.Rac1 O-O 16.Kh2 Bf5 17.g4 Be6 18.Qc2 h5 19.Qxe4 hxg4 20.hxg4 Bxg4 21.Rg1 Qf5 22.Qxf5 Bxf5 23.e4 Bg6 24.Rg3 Rfe8 25.Kg2 Bb4 26.f3 Rad8 27.Rh1 Bxc3 28.bxc3 Rd3 29.Rgh3 f6 30.Rh8+ Kf7 31.Rxe8 Kxe8 32.Rh8+ Ke7 33.Rb8 Bh5 34.Rxb7+ Ke6 35.exf6 gxf6 36.Rb3 Bxf3+ 37.Kf2 Bxe4 38.Be3 a5 39.Ra3 f5 40.Bd4 f4 41.Rxa5 Bd5 42.Ke2 Rh3 43.a4 Rh1 44.Ra8 c5 45.Ra6+ Kf5 46.Ra5 f3+ 47.Kf2 Rh2+ 48.Kg1 f2+ 0-1

Challengers
Round 13, Jan. 26
Nihal Sarin – Mamedov, Rauf
D00 Queen’s Pawn, Mason variation

1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Bf5 3.e3 e6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.c4 Bxb1 6.Qxb1 Bb4+ 7.Kd1 Be7 8.c5 Ne4 9.Qc2 O-O 10.Bd3 Nc6 11.Bxe4 dxe4 12.Qxe4 Bxc5 13.Ke2 Bd6 14.Ng5 g6 15.Bxd6 cxd6 16.Qh4 h5 17.g4 Qb6 18.gxh5 Qb5+ 19.Ke1 Qxb2 20.Rd1 Qb4+ 21.Kf1 Qb5+ 22.Kg1 Kg7 23.hxg6 Kxg6 24.Ne4 Rg8 25.h3 Qh5 26.Qxh5+ Kxh5+ 27.Kh2 Kh4 28.Nxd6 Rad8 29.Nxb7 Rb8 30.Rb1 a5 31.a3 Ne7 32.Nxa5 Ra8 33.Nc4 Nd5 34.Rhg1 f5 35.Rxg8 Rxg8 36.Nd2 Rc8 37.Nf3+ Kh5 38.Rb2 Rc3 39.Ne5 Rxa3 40.Rc2 Kg5 41.Rc6 Ra2 42.Kg1 Kf6 43.Nd7+ Kf7 44.Nc5 f4 45.Rxe6 fxe3 46.fxe3 Re2 47.e4 Nf4 48.Re5 Nxh3+ 49.Kf1 Rc2 50.Rh5 Rc3 51.Ke2 Kg6 52.Rf5 Ng5 53.Rf1 Ra3 54.e5 Ra2+ 55.Kd3 Ra3+ 56.Kc4 Nf3 57.Kd5 Re3 58.e6 Kg7 59.Ne4 Rd3 60.Rxf3 Rxf3 61.e7 1-0

Comments - David Anton had the better tiebreakers, but in the end he didn't need them as he qualified for the Masters by finishing clear 1st in the Challengers! Meanwhile the three 15-year-olds performed well after a slow start

- Congratulations to Fabiano Caruana on scoring the only win of the final day to finish with a stunning 10/13 (+7), a score last posted in the Wijk top group by Carlsen in 2013 and Kasparov in 1999!

Agadmator - Had the weirdest dream last night. Peter Svidler visited me in my home and he had a pet snake. We hung out during the day but during night my cat ate his pet snake. In the morning he was really pissed, like: Dude, where's my snake??? I told him my cat ate it and he left.

- Peter & Jan's current topic of discussion is whether the famous UK International Master Lawrence Trent is a lunatic

Caruana: "Certainly one of the best tournaments I’ve ever played in terms of results"

Carlsen: "He’s played wonderfully... he certainly deserves to win it"

Megalovic -

#TataSteelChess 2020 15th win in SuperTournament (closed classic Elo>2700) Fabiano Caruana Candidates 2018 Dortmund 2012 2014 2015 Grenke 2018 Kings 2013 London 2017 Norway 2018 Sinquefield 2014 2018* Zurich 2013 GP FIDE Paris 2013* Baku 2014*Khanty 2015* *ex aequo