Skilling Open 2020

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  • Skilling Open 2020

    Skilling Open 2020

    November 18, 2020

    This is the 16-player opening event of the $1.5 million Champions Chess Tour. It starts on Sunday, November 22, 2020.

    The organizers are building up interest by releasing the players’ names one by one. So far, the list:

    1. Ding Liren
    2. Levon Aronian
    3. Teimour Radjabov
    4. David Anton
    5. Sergey Karjakin
    6. Liem Quang Le
    7. Wesley So
    8. Anish Giri
    9. Jan-Krzysztof Duda
    10. Vidit Gujrathi
    11. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
    12. Magnus Carlsen
    13. Ian Nepomniachtchi
    14. Peter Svidler

    with two more grandmasters yet to be named.

    Details of the tour at:

    https://forum.chesstalk.com/forum/ch...hess-tour-2021


  • #2
    Skilling Open 2020

    November 20, 2020


    From chess24.com:

    Nakamura and Firouzja complete Skilling Open line-up

    Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour runner-up Hikaru Nakamura and the world’s most exciting junior Alireza Firouzja are the final players to be confirmed for the Skilling Open, the first event on the $1.5 million Champions Chess Tour. The action kicks off at 18:00 CET on Sunday, with the 16 players battling over the first three days for a place in the 8-player knockout on the final six days. The top 8 will also automatically be invited back for the next $200,000 event to be held in December.

    The 16-player field for the Skilling Open has an average classical rating of 2758 and includes 7 of the world’s top 10. The average age of the players is the same as that of Magnus Carlsen, 29, though the World Champion turns 30 on the final day of the event.

    There are five rounds of 15-minute + 10-second increment per move rapid chess each day, with top seed Magnus Carlsen on Day 1 facing world no.4 Nepomniachtchi, no. 5 MVL and no. 10 Radjabov before playing outsider Anton and then, in one of the most awaited clashes, 17-year-old Alireza Firouzja.

    Colin McGourty at:

    https://chess24.com/en/read/news/nak...g-open-line-up

    Comment


    • #3
      Skilling Open 2020

      November 21, 2020

      From chess24.com this morning

      Introducing the new Skilling Open commentary teams and our slick TV studio

      The $1.5 million Champions Chess Tour kicks off on Sunday with the first event, The Skilling Open, featuring 16 of the world's top chess stars.

      The event will have commentary in 8 languages, with 4 broadcasts in English. For the first time, one of them includes a state-of-the-art live studio in Oslo!

      The Champions Chess Tour studio in Oslo will feature GM David Howell, IM Jovanka Houska and host Kaja Snare

      There will be four different broadcasts in English, all starting at 17.45 CET:

      The Oslo studio with GM David Howell and IM Jovanka Houska, hosted by Kaja Snare

      A chess24 broadcast hosted by IM Tania Sachdev and GM Peter Leko

      A Chessable broadcast hosted by GM Simon Williams, with new guests every day

      An Indian broadcast, with chess24's WGM Soumya Swaminathan joined by ChessBase India's husband and wife team of IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal

      As usual, there will also be separate broadcasts in other languages such as Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Turkish and Portuguese.

      For the Champions Chess Tour, chess24 will be taking chess broadcasts to a completely new level. Not only will we have our regular shows with world-class commentators providing commentary for keen chess fans around the world, but we will also be running a brand new broadcast targeting a new audience.

      GM David Howell, IM Jovanka Houska and Kaja Snare will be providing commentary targeting new viewers.

      The historic broadcast will be hosted from Oslo by Kaja Snare, who gained extensive experience working as a reporter for the 2016 World Championship match in New York, and also worked on chess broadcasts and as a sports reporter for Norwegian TV channels NRK and TV 2. She will be joined by 3-time British Champion David Howell and 9-time British Women's Champion Jovanka Houska.

      Tour Director Arne Horvei said the goal is to make chess interesting and exciting entertainment for millions of potential viewers with only basic chess skills.

      The Champions Chess Tour will be the first time the world’s best chess player is determined over a full competitive season of online chess. This Tour will not only reinvent the sport, it will also reinvent how chess is broadcast to a wide audience.

      He added:

      In Norway chess is well established as a TV sport. We are building on this knowledge and producing a broadcast never before seen in international chess. We truly believe chess has a great potential to attract a dedicated, global audience with a production that highlights the excitement, the time trouble, the genius moves, and the inevitable blunders.

      Kaja already filmed interviews with players that will be aired during the various broadcasts.

      While one studio targets a new audience, you can also choose high-level chess commentary from fan-favourites Tania Sachdev and Peter Leko. The duo received widespread praise for their performances during the Magnus Carlsen Chess Tour

      https://chess24.com/en/read/news/the...4a2e-161154725

      Comments

      - Where's Gustafsson, Grischuk, Judit and Kramnik? Four different broadcasts but not one by top commentators/players. It's a shame.

      - Some people are never happy. lol
      They made 4 (read: four) English broadcasts. There should be something for everyone. Long-time c24 regular like myself is more than happy with Leko and Tania. Both are excellent.
      Also, the tour is long and I will not be surprised if we see all those names commentating during some other events.

      - I think I'll watch the studio as it looks like the most exciting and professional setup but it pains me to miss out on both Peter Leko as well as Soumya/Sagar/Amruta.
      I wonder why there are parallel streams and that many. I can imagine:
      1) Targeting different skill levels in the audience
      2) Testing multiple approaches to which ones get most views
      3) Dividing the 8 games so that people can follow their horse in the race.
      Also, will Eurosport plug into the studio feed or have a separate production?

      - My guess is that Judit and Kramnik are not always available, Grischuk considers himself more a player and we could see Gustafsson in the German feed. Having said that, there is an abundance of absolutely excellent commentators present here.

      - I was fully expecting two broadcasts. The usual one for more advanced viewers and the one for new to chess.
      But having separate broadcast to Indian fans seems reasonable as well. We have seen how many viewers Sagar or Vidit have. Also, it seems that most of these viewers don't actually watch anything non-Indian. Indian chess on Youtube looks like a bit separate thing from chess on Youtube/Twitch.
      Also, I guess Simon has his own supporters and it's a good platform to promote Chessable products. Probably more relaxed coffeehouse stream that is totally different to the studio or Leko. I'm sure it's good as well.

      - Peter Leko is fantastic, Simon Williams very entertaining and you can only be happy listening Sagars enthusiasm. I will have hard time choicing.

      Comment


      • #4
        Skilling Open 2020

        November 22, 2020


        Day One

        Round One Results

        1 Giri-MVL 0.5-0.5
        2 Karjakin-Ding Liren 0.5-0.5
        3 Nakamura-Duda 0.5-0.5
        4 Le-Aronian 0-1
        5 Vidit-Firouzja 0.5-0.5
        6 So-Anton 0.5-0.5
        7 Svidler-Radjabov 0.5-0.5
        8 Nepomniachtchi-Carlsen 1-0

        15+10

        Game 4, Nov. 22
        Le, Quang-Liem – Aronian, Levon
        D63 QGD, Orthodox Defence

        1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Rc1 dxc4 8.Bxc4 a6 9.a4 b6 10.O-O Bb7 11.Qe2 c5 12.Rfd1 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Qe8 14.e4 Ne5 15.Bb3 Bc5 16.Bf4 Ng6 17.Be3 Rc8 18.f3 Qe7 19.Bc4 a5 20.Bb5 Bd6 21.g3 h5 22.Qf2 h4 23.Nde2 Bc5 24.Rd2 Ne5 25.Rcd1 g5 26.Bxc5 Rxc5 27.g4 Bc6 28.Nd4 Bxb5 29.axb5 Qc7 30.Na4 Rc1 31.Ne2 Rc4 32.b3 Rb4 33.Nd4 Rc8 34.Qe3 Kh7 35.Nc6 Nxc6 36.bxc6 Qf4 37.Qc3 Nxe4 38.Qd3 Rxc6 39.fxe4 Qxe4 40.h3 Qxd3 41.Rxd3 b5 42.Nc3 Rxb3 43.Ne4 Rxd3 44.Rxd3 Kg6 45.Rd8 f5 46.Nf2 b4 47.Rb8 Rc3 48.gxf5+ exf5 49.Rb6+ Kh5 50.Kf1 b3 51.Ke2 a4 52.Nd3 a3 53.Rb8 Rxd3 0-1

        Game 8, Nov. 22
        Nepomniachtchi, Ian – Carlsen, Magnus
        C60 Ruy Lopez, Cozio Defence

        1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7 4.Nc3 Ng6 5.d4 exd4 6.Nxd4 Bc5 7.Be3 Bxd4 8.Bxd4 Qg5 9.g3 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Ne5 11.Be2 Nc6 12.Qc4 d6 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.Qc3 O-O 15.O-O-O Re8 16.f3 Be6 17.Bb5 Bd7 18.h4 a6 19.Ba4 b5 20.Bb3 a5 21.a3 b4 22.axb4 axb4 23.Nxb4 Nxb4 24.Qxb4 Be6 25.Bxe6 Rxe6 26.Qc3 h5 27.b3 Rg6 28.f4 Ra6 29.Kb2 Re6 30.Qc4 Qf6+ 31.c3 Ra8 32.Rhe1 Qe7 33.Rd5 c6 34.Rd4 d5 35.Qe2 Qa3+ 36.Kc2 Qa2+ 37.Kd3 Qxb3 38.Qc2 Qb4 1-0

        Tarjei J. Svensen - Oh dear! Carlsen just lost against Nepomniachtchi after mouseslipping his queen on the wrong square.

        Game 5, Nov. 22
        Vidit, Santosh – Firouzja, Alireza
        E05 Catalan, open, Classical line

        1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Nc6 9.Qxc4 Qd5 10.Nbd2 Rd8 11.e3 Qh5 12.h3 Nd5 13.a5 Ndb4 14.Qc3 Nxa5 15.g4 Qb5 16.Qxc7 Nac6 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.Qxe7 Nec6 19.Qh4 e5 20.Nf3 Bd7 21.dxe5 Nd3 22.Bd2 Ndxe5 23.Nxe5 Nxe5 24.Bc3 Ng6 25.Qh5 Qb3 26.Ra3 Qb6 27.Qa5 Qe6 28.Bxb7 Bc6 29.Bxa8 Rxa8 30.Qf5 Qe8 31.e4 Bxe4 32.Re1 Bxf5 33.Rxe8+ Rxe8 34.gxf5 Nf4 35.Kh2 Ra8 36.f6 g6 37.Be5 Nd5 38.Ra5 Nb4 39.Bc3 Nc6 40.Ra4 h6 41.Kg3 Kh7 42.h4 g5 43.h5 Nd8 44.Rd4 Ne6 45.Ra4 Nc5 46.Rc4 Ne6 47.Ra4 Nc5 48.Rc4 Ne6 49.Ra4 1/2-1/2

        Position after Black’s 31…Bxe4

        

        Round Two Results

        9 MVL-Carlsen 0.5-0.5
        10 Radjabov-Carlsen 0.5-0.5
        11 Anton-Svidler 1-0
        12 Firouzja-So 1-0
        13 Aronian-Vidit 1-0
        14 Duda-Le 0.5-0.5
        15 Ding Liren-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
        16 Giri-Karjakin 1-0

        Game 11, Nov. 22
        Anton, David – Svidler, Peter
        D85 Grunfeld, Exchange variation

        1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 Nb6 6.e3 Bg7 7.h4 h5 8.Nf3 Bg4 9.Qb3 O-O 10.Ng5 e5 11.d5 c6 12.f3 Bc8 13.dxc6 Nxc6 14.Nce4 Qe7 15.Bb5 Rd8 16.O-O Bf5 17.Rfd1 Bxe4 18.Nxe4 Qxh4 19.a4 Qe7 20.a5 Nd7 21.a6 Rab8 22.Qa2 Nc5 23.Bxc6 bxc6 24.Qa3 Bf8 25.Bb4 Rxb4 26.Qxb4 Nd3 27.Qxe7 Bxe7 28.Rd2 f5 29.Nf2 Nb4 30.Rxd8+ Bxd8 31.Ra4 Nd5 32.Rc4 1-0

        Game 12, Nov. 22
        Firouzja, Alireza – So, Wesley
        D04 Queen’s Pawn game

        1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 c5 4.dxc5 e6 5.b4 a5 6.c3 axb4 7.cxb4 b6 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Bxd7+ Nbxd7 10.a4 bxc5 11.b5 Bd6 12.Bb2 O-O 13.O-O Qc7 14.Nbd2 c4 15.Bc3 e5 16.a5 e4 17.b6 Qb8 18.Nd4 Bxh2+ 19.Kh1 Be5 20.Nc6 Qd6 21.Nxe5 Nxe5 22.g3 Nfg4 23.Kg2 Qe6 24.Rb1 Rfb8 25.Qe2 Nd3 26.Rb5 Ra6 27.Nb1 h5 28.Bd4 h4 29.Rh1 hxg3 30.fxg3 Nh6 31.Nc3 Qd6 32.Rxd5 Qa3 33.Rxh6 gxh6 34.Qg4+ Kf8 35.Bg7+ 1-0

        "A wonderful victory!" (Leko)

        Alireza Firouzja catches Wesley So in a mating attack:

        Game 13, Nov. 22
        Aronian, Levon – Vidit, Santosh
        D41 QGD, Semi-Tarrasch

        1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 cxd4 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.e3 Nc6 8.Qd3 Bc5 9.Be2 d4 10.exd4 Nxd4 11.O-O O-O 12.Nxd4 Qxd4 13.Qg3 Ne4 14.Nxe4 Qxe4 15.Bf3 Qb4 16.Bf4 Bf5 17.a3 Qb6 18.Bc7 Qb5 19.b4 Be7 20.Rad1 Be6 21.Be5 g6 22.Ba1 Rac8 23.Bxb7 Rc4 24.Bf3 Qb8 25.Bd4 a6 26.Qxb8 Rxb8 27.Be5 Rbc8 28.Bb7 Re8 29.Bxa6 Rc2 30.Rc1 Ra2 31.Ra1 Rc2 32.Bb7 Bc4 33.Rfe1 Bg5 34.Bc6 Rc8 35.Be4 Rd2 36.h3 Re8 37.Bc3 Rd6 38.a4 Rc8 39.Bb7 Rcd8 40.b5 Rd3 41.Ba5 Rb8 42.Bc6 Bb3 43.Bc7 Rf8 44.a5 Bd2 45.a6 Bxe1 46.Rxe1 Rc3 47.a7 Ba4 48.Bb8 Rxc6 49.a8=Q Bxb5 50.Qb7 Ba4 51.Qb4 Ra6 52.Bf4 Bc6 53.Bh6 Rfa8 1-0

        Game 16, Nov. 22
        Giri, Anish – Karjakin, Sergey
        D37 QGD, Hastings variation

        1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.a3 b6 7.Qc2 c5 8.Rd1 Bb7 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.dxc5 Qc8 11.Nxd5 Bxd5 12.e4 Bb7 13.Bd3 Qxc5 14.Qxc5 Bxc5 15.O-O Nd7 16.e5 Bd5 17.Bb5 Rad8 18.Bg5 f6 19.exf6 gxf6 20.Bh6 Rf7 21.Nd4 Kh8 22.Ne2 Ne5 23.Nf4 Nf3+ 24.Kh1 Nd4 25.Nxd5 exd5 26.Bd3 a5 27.Rfe1 a4 28.h3 Ra7 29.Bb1 Kg8 30.Re3 Nb3 31.Rg3+ Kh8 32.Rf3 Rf7 33.Ba2 f5 34.Kg1 d4 35.Bxb3 axb3 36.Rxb3 Ra8 37.Rbd3 Rf6 38.Bc1 b5 39.b4 Bb6 40.Bb2 Kg7 41.Bxd4 Bxd4 42.Rxd4 Rxa3 43.Rd5 1-0

        Round Three Results

        17 Karjakin-MVL 0.5-0.5
        18 Nakamura-Giri 0.5-0.5
        19 Le-Ding Liren 0.5-0.5
        20 Vidit-Duda 0.5-0.5
        21 So-Aronian 1-0
        22 Svidler-Firouzja 0.5-0.5
        23 Nepo-Anton 0-1
        24 Carlsen-Radjabov 1-0

        Game 18, Nov. 22
        Nakamura, Hikaru – Giri, Anish
        B93 Sicilian, Najdorf

        1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 e5 7.Nb3 Nc6 8.Be2 Be7 9.O-O O-O 10.Kh1 Re8 11.f5 b5 12.Bg5 Bb7 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.Nd5 Nd4 15.c4 Rc8 16.Nxd4 exd4 17.cxb5 axb5 18.Bd3 Bxd5 19.exd5 b4 20.Qd2 Re3 21.Rae1 Qb6 22.Rc1 Rce8 23.Bc4 h5 24.Rcd1 h4 25.Rfe1 h3 26.gxh3 Qc5 27.b3 d3 28.Rxe3 Rxe3 29.Bxd3 Rxh3 30.Bf1 Rc3 31.Bc4 Be5 32.Re1 Rh3 33.Re2 Rh5 34.Qd3 Qc8 35.Rf2 Qd8 36.f6 Bxf6 37.Qf3 Rh4 38.Bd3 Qe8 39.Qf5 Be5 40.Qg5 Rh6 41.Rg2 Bd4 42.Re2 Be5 43.Rg2 Bd4 44.Re2 Be5 45.Rg2 1/2-1/2

        Leko on Nakamura-Giri ending in a draw:

        "This shows how much respect people have for Hikaru in this online format. Over-the-board I just cannot imagine anyone ever agreeing to a draw in this position with Black"

        Game 21, Nov. 22
        So, Wesley – Aronian, Levon
        E05 Catalan, open, Classical line

        1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bf4 Bd6 11.Nc3 Bxf4 12.gxf4 a5 13.e3 Nbd7 14.Qb3 Ra6 15.Rfd1 Qe7 16.Qc2 g6 17.Rac1 Bxf3 18.Bxf3 c6 19.b3 Rb6 20.Nb1 Nd5 21.Nd2 Nb4 22.Qb1 Qh4 23.Be2 Nf6 24.Nf3 Qh3 25.Ng5 Qh4 26.Nf3 Qh3 27.Ne5 Rd8 28.Rc5 Nbd5 29.Bf1 Qh4 30.h3 Nd7 31.Nxd7 Rxd7 32.Qc2 Qd8 33.Rxa5 Ra6 34.Rxa6 bxa6 35.Bxa6 Nb4 36.Qe2 c5 37.Bb5 Rd6 38.Qe1 Nd5 39.Be2 Qb6 40.dxc5 Qxc5 41.Bc4 Rc6 42.a5 Nf6 43.a6 Rc8 44.Qd2 Qh5 45.a7 Ra8 46.Qd8+ 1-0

        Game 23, Nov. 22
        Nepomniachtchi, Ian – Anton, David
        A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack, Classical variation

        1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 Bf5 3.d3 e6 4.Nd2 Nf6 5.g3 a5 6.a3 a4 7.b4 c5 8.c3 Be7 9.Bg2 O-O 10.e4 Bg6 11.Nh3 dxe4 12.dxe4 b5 13.Nf4 Nc6 14.h4 Ne5 15.Qe2 Nh5 16.Bf1 c4 17.Qe3 Nxf4 18.gxf4 Ng4 19.Qg3 Nf6 20.Bg2 Qc7 21.e5 Nh5 22.Qg4 Rad8 23.O-O-O f5 24.Qf3 Rd3 25.Qc6 Qxc6 26.Bxc6 Be8 27.Bb7 Nxf4 28.Kc2 Bh5 29.Bc6 Bxd1+ 30.Rxd1 Rb8 31.Nf3 Rb6 32.Bd7 Rxf3 0-1

        Bottom seed David Anton follows a win over Svidler by taking down leader Nepomniachtchi!

        (to be continued)

        Comment


        • #5
          Skilling Open 2020

          November 22, 2020


          Day One

          Round Three (continued)

          Game 24, Nov. 22
          Carlsen, Magnus – Radjabov, Teimour
          D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

          1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qb3 c5 6.dxc5 Nc6 7.Bg5 Qa5 8.Bxf6 dxc4 9.Qxc4 gxf6 10.Rc1 Qxc5 11.Qf4 Ke7 12.g3 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 Bd7 14.Bg2 Rac8 15.O-O b6 16.Rfd1 Ne5 17.Nd4 Nc4 18.h4 Qc7 19.Qh6 Rcg8 20.Rb1 Rg6 21.Qh5 Rhg8 22.Nb5 Qe5 23.Qxe5 fxe5 24.Nxa7 Ne3 25.Rd2 Nc4 26.Rd3 Rg4 27.Rb4 Na5 28.Rxb6 1-0

          It's been a bumpy start, but Magnus Carlsen picks up a 1st win!

          Round Four Results

          25 MVL-Radjabov 0-1
          26 Anton-Carlsen 0-1
          27 Firouzja-Nepo 0.5-0.5
          28 Aronian-Svidler 0.5-0.5
          29 Duda-So 0-1
          30 Ding Liren-Vidit 0.5-0.5
          31 Giri-Le 1-0
          32 Karjakin-Nakamura 0-1

          Game 25, Nov. 22
          MVL – Radjabov, Teimour
          B30 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack 

          1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.O-O Nge7 5.Re1 a6 6.Bf1 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bd7 10.Nf5 Qa5 11.Nd2 Nf6 12.Bd3 Ne5 13.Nb3 Qd5 14.Ne3 Qd6 15.Bf1 Qc7 16.Bd2 Bd6 17.Bc3 O-O 18.Qd4 Nc6 19.Qh4 Be5 20.Bxe5 Nxe5 21.Rad1 Rac8 22.c3 Ng6 23.Qg3 Qxg3 24.hxg3 Rc7 25.Rd4 e5 26.Rc4 Rfc8 27.Rxc7 Rxc7 28.Nc4 Ng4 29.Rd1 Kf8 30.Be2 Nf6 31.Nb6 Ke7 32.Na5 Be6 33.Bc4 Nf8 34.a4 N8d7 35.Bxe6 Kxe6 36.Nbc4 Nd5 37.Nd2 Nc5 38.Ra1 Nb6 39.b3 Nd5 40.b4 Nd3 41.b5 axb5 42.axb5 b6 43.c4 bxa5 44.cxd5+ Kxd5 45.Rxa5 Rc1+ 46.Nf1 Rb1 47.Ra7 Ke6 48.Ra6+ Kf5 49.g4+ Kg5 50.Ra7 Kg6 51.Rb7 Nc5 52.Rb6+ f6 53.f3 e4 54.Kf2 Nd3+ 55.Ke2 Re1+ 56.Kd2 Rxf1 57.fxe4 0-1

          Game 26, Nov. 22
          Anton, David – Carlsen, Magnus
          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.O-O O-O 8.Qc2 b6 9.e4 Nxe4 10.Nxe4 dxe4 11.Qxe4 Bb7 12.Rd1 Qc7 13.c5 bxc5 14.dxc5 Nxc5 15.Qc2 Rad8 16.Bg5 Be7 17.Rxd8 Rxd8 18.Rc1 Rd5 19.Be3 Nd7 20.Nd4 Bc5 21.Nb5 cxb5 22.b4 Qc6 23.Bf3 Bxe3 24.fxe3 Qb6 25.Bxd5 Qxe3+ 26.Kh1 Bxd5 0-1

          Game 27, Nov. 22
          Firouzja, Alireza – Nepo, Ian
          E60 King’s Indian

          1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.h3 O-O 5.Nc3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.e4 Nxc3 8.bxc3 c5 9.Be2 b6 10.Be3 Bb7 11.Qd3 Qd7 12.O-O Ba6 13.Qd2 Qa4 14.Rac1 Rd8 15.Bg5 cxd4 16.cxd4 Bxd4 17.Bxa6 Nxa6 18.Bxe7 Rd7 19.Nxd4 Rxe7 20.Nf5 Rd7 21.Nh6+ Kg7 22.Qf4 f5 23.Qg5 fxe4 24.Ng4 Kh8 25.Qf6+ Rg7 26.Rc6 Qa3 27.Rd6 h5 28.Ne5 Kg8 29.Nxg6 Re8 30.Rfd1 e3 31.Rd8 exf2+ 32.Qxf2 Nc7 33.R8d7 Ne6 34.Rxg7+ Nxg7 35.Nf4 Rf8 36.Qd2 Qc5+ 37.Kh1 Qg5 38.Qd5+ Qxd5 39.Nxd5 Rf2 40.a4 Ra2 41.Rd4 Kf7 42.Re4 Nf5 43.Kh2 h4 44.Nc3 Ra1 45.Ne2 Kf6 46.Ng1 a5 47.Rf4 Rb1 48.Nf3 Rb4 49.Rg4 Rxg4 50.hxg4 Nd6 51.Kh3 b5 52.axb5 Nxb5 53.g5+ Kg6 54.Kxh4 a4 55.Ne5+ Kg7 56.Nc4 a3 57.Nxa3 Nxa3 58.g6 Nb5 59.g4 Nd6 60.g5 Kxg6 61.Kg3 Kxg5 1/2-1/2

          Game 29, Nov. 22
          Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – So, Wesley
          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 Ba6 13.g3 Bf6 14.Qe2 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 Ra7 16.Ra2 Qa8 17.Rfa1 Rb8 18.Qc2 Rab7 19.Kg2 bxc5 20.bxc5 Qa6 21.Na4 Rb5 22.Re1 Qb7 23.f5 Nf8 24.g4 Qc7 25.h3 h6 26.Nc3 R5b7 27.Re3 exf5 28.gxf5 Bg5 29.Nxg5 hxg5 30.Qd1 Qf4 31.Qg4 g6 32.Rg3 Rb2 33.Rxb2 Rxb2 34.Qxf4 gxf4 35.Rf3 gxf5 36.Na4 Rd2 37.Nb6 Rxd4 38.Nc8 Ng6 39.Rb3 Kg7 40.Nd6 Nh4+ 41.Kf1 f3 42.Rb1 Rd3 43.a4 Rc3 44.Nb7 Ng6 45.Nxa5 Ne5 46.Nb3 Nd3 47.a5 Rc2 48.a6 Rxf2+ 49.Kg1 Rg2+ 50.Kf1 Rf2+ 51.Kg1 Rg2+ 52.Kf1 Nf4 53.a7 Nxh3 54.Ke1 Rg1+ 55.Kd2 Rxb1 56.a8=Q f2 57.Qb8 f1=Q 58.Qe5+ Kh7 0-1

          Game 31, Nov. 22
          Giri, Anish – Le, Quang Liem
          D41 QGD, Semi-Tarrasch

          1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 cxd4 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.e4 dxe4 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Ng5 Be6 10.Nxe6+ fxe6 11.Bd2 Nc6 12.O-O-O Ke8 13.Bb5 Rc8 14.Rhe1 Kf7 15.Kb1 Nd4 16.Bf1 Be7 17.Nxe4 Nxe4 18.Rxe4 Rhd8 19.Rc1 Rxc1+ 20.Bxc1 Bf6 21.Re1 a6 22.Rd1 Nc6 23.Rxd8 Bxd8 24.Be3 Bf6 25.Bd2 Ke7 26.Bd3 h6 27.Be4 Kd6 28.Kc2 b6 29.b4 b5 30.a3 Kc7 31.f4 Nd8 32.Bg6 e5 33.Be4 exf4 34.Bxf4+ Kd7 35.Bf5+ Kc6 36.Bc8 Nb7 37.Kb3 Bd4 38.a4 bxa4+ 39.Kxa4 Kb6 40.Kb3 Kc6 41.h4 Kb6 42.h5 Bf6 43.Bh2 Nd8 44.Bg1+ Kc7 45.Bxa6 Ne6 46.Kc4 Nf4 47.g4 Be5 48.b5 g6 49.hxg6 Nxg6 50.Kd5 Bg3 51.b6+ Kb8 52.Ke4 Ne5 53.Kf5 Nf3 54.Be3 Nh4+ 55.Ke4 Ng6 56.Bxh6 Bf2 57.Be3 Bxe3 58.Kxe3 Ne5 59.g5 Nd7 60.b7 Ka7 61.g6 1-0

          Game 32, Nov. 22
          Karjakin, Sergey – Nakamura, Hikaru
          C28 Vienna game

          1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d3 Bb4 5.Nf3 d6 6.O-O Bxc3 7.bxc3 Be6 8.Bb3 h6 9.Re1 O-O 10.h3 Ne7 11.Nh4 c5 12.Qf3 Kh7 13.g4 Nfg8 14.g5 c4 15.dxc4 Rc8 16.Nf5 Qd7 17.c5 dxc5 18.Rd1 Qc6 19.Nxe7 Nxe7 20.gxh6 c4 21.hxg7 Kxg7 22.Ba3 Ng6 23.Bxf8+ Rxf8 24.h4 Nxh4 25.Qg3+ Ng6 26.f3 cxb3 27.axb3 Rh8 28.c4 Qc5+ 29.Kf1 Kf6 30.Qg1 Bh3+ 31.Ke2 Nf4+ 32.Kd2 Rd8+ 0-1

          Anton 0-1 Carlsen & Karjakin 0-1 Nakamura as the favourites gather momentum!

          Round Five Results

          33 Nakamura-MVL 0.5-0.5
          34 Le-Karjakin 1-0
          35 Vidit-Giri 0-1
          36 So-Ding Liren 0.5-0.5
          37 Svidler-Duda 0.5-0.5
          38 Nepo-Aronian 0.5-0.5
          39 Carlsen-Firouzja 1-0
          40 Radjabov-Anton 0-1

          Game 34, Nov. 22
          Le, Quang Liem – Karjakin, Sergey
          B67 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack

          1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.O-O-O Bd7 9.f3 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Be7 11.h4 h6 12.Be3 h5 13.Bg5 Qc7 14.Kb1 b5 15.Qd2 b4 16.Ne2 a5 17.Nf4 Rb8 18.Rc1 a4 19.c4 bxc3 20.Rxc3 Qb6 21.Bc4 Bc6 22.Qc2 Bd7 23.Rd1 g6 24.Nd3 d5 25.Ne5 Rd8 26.exd5 exd5 27.Nxd7 Rxd7 28.Bxd5 Kf8 29.Rc8+ Kg7 30.Rxh8 Kxh8 31.Bxf7 Rxd1+ 32.Qxd1 Kg7 33.Bc4 a3 34.Qe2 Bb4 35.Qe5 axb2 36.Be3 Qd8 37.Bd4 Bd6 38.Qd5 Qf8 39.Qe6 Be7 40.a4 Qd8 41.Qd5 Qe8 42.Bb3 Kh8 43.Bxb2 Kh7 44.Qf7+ Qxf7 45.Bxf7 Nd7 46.a5 Bxh4 47.Bd4 Nb8 48.Be8 Bd8 49.Bb5 Bxa5 50.Be5 1-0

          Game 39, Nov. 22
          Carlsen, Magnus – Firouzja, Alireza
          D35 QGD, Exchange, positional line

          1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 O-O 9.Bg3 Nbd7 10.h3 Re8 11.Nf3 Bb4 12.Qb3 c5 13.O-O Bxc3 14.Qxc3 c4 15.Bc2 a5 16.a4 Qb6 17.b3 Ne4 18.Bxe4 dxe4 19.Nd2 cxb3 20.Rfb1 Qg6 21.Rxb3 Nf6 22.Rb5 Be6 23.Rxa5 Nd5 24.Rxa8 Rxa8 25.Qb3 b6 26.Kh2 h5 27.Qb5 Rc8 28.a5 bxa5 29.Rxa5 Kh7 30.Qb1 Nc3 31.Qb7 Bf5 32.Rc5 Rxc5 33.dxc5 Ne2 34.Qd5 Qe6 35.Qxe6 Bxe6 36.Nxe4 Bd5 37.Nd6 Nc3 38.f3 f6 39.e4 Bc6 40.Nf5 Nb5 41.Ne7 Be8 42.c6 Na7 43.c7 Bd7 44.Bf2 Nc8 45.Nd5 Kg8 46.g4 hxg4 47.hxg4 Kf7 48.Bc5 Bc6 49.f4 Bb5 50.f5 Bd3 51.Nb6 Nxb6 52.Bxb6 Ba6 53.Bd4 g6 54.Kg3 gxf5 55.exf5 Ke7 56.Kf4 Kd7 57.Bxf6 Kxc7 58.g5 Kd7 59.g6 Ke8 60.Kg5 Kf8 61.Bc3 Bc4 62.f6 Kg8 63.Bb4 Bb3 64.Kf4 1-0

          Game 40, Nov. 22
          Radjabov, Teimour – Anton, David
          D39 QGD, Ragozin, Vienna variation

          1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.Qa4+ Nc6 7.e3 Bd7 8.Qc2 b5 9.Be2 a6 10.a3 Be7 11.e4 O-O 12.Rd1 Re8 13.h4 Ng4 14.Bf4 e5 15.Nxe5 Ngxe5 16.dxe5 Bf8 17.Qd2 Be6 18.Qe3 Qe7 19.O-O Qc5 20.Qg3 Rad8 21.h5 Nd4 22.Bg4 Bxg4 23.Qxg4 c6 24.Bg5 Be7 25.Be3 Qxe5 26.f4 Qe6 27.f5 Qe5 28.Bf4 Qc5 29.Kh1 Bf6 30.e5 Bxe5 31.Ne4 Qd5 32.Bg5 Rd6 33.Nc3 Qc5 34.Ne4 Qd5 35.Be3 c5 36.f6 g6 37.hxg6 hxg6 38.Nxd6 Qxd6 39.Bh6 Bxf6 40.Qf3 Re6 41.Qa8+ Kh7 42.Bf4 Qd7 43.Rfe1 Rxe1+ 44.Rxe1 Qg4 45.Bh2 Nf5 46.Qf8 Nh6 47.Qxc5 Bxb2 48.Qd6 Bg7 49.Qxa6 Qh4 50.g3 Qh5 51.Qc6 Ng4 52.Re2 Qf5 53.Bg1 Qd3 54.Qg2 f5 55.Re7 Nf6 56.Qb7 Nh5 57.Bf2 Qf1+ 0-1

          The last game is taking place at 3:30 in the morning in India. Tania says that over 14,000 Indians are still awake watching the game.

          Game 35, Nov. 22
          Vidit, Gurathi – Giri, Anish
          D85 Grunfeld, Modern Exchange variation

          1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Be3 Qa5 9.Qd2 Nc6 10.Rb1 a6 11.Rc1 cxd4 12.cxd4 Qxd2+ 13.Kxd2 e6 14.h4 O-O 15.Bd3 h6 16.Rb1 Rd8 17.e5 b5 18.Rhc1 Bd7 19.Be4 Rac8 20.Ke1 Na5 21.Nd2 Bc6 22.f3 Bf8 23.Ke2 Kg7 24.Nb3 Nc4 25.Nd2 Na5 26.Kd1 Be7 27.g3 f6 28.Ke2 fxe5 29.dxe5 Ba3 30.Rd1 Bxe4 31.Nxe4 Rc2+ 32.Kf1 Rd5 33.Rxd5 exd5 34.Nf6 Nc4 35.Bf4 g5 36.hxg5 hxg5 37.Bxg5 Nxe5 38.Rb3 Bc5 39.f4 Rf2+ 40.Ke1 Nf3+ 41.Kd1 Nxg5 42.fxg5 Be7 43.Nxd5 Bxg5 44.Nb4 Rd2+ 45.Ke1 a5 46.Nc6 Rxa2 47.Rxb5 Bf6 48.Nxa5 Bc3+ 49.Kd1 Bxa5 50.Rb7+ Kf6 51.Ra7 Ke5 52.g4 Kd4 53.g5 Kd3 54.Rd7+ Kc4 55.Ra7 Kb5 56.g6 Rd2+ 57.Kc1 Rg2 58.g7 Bc3 59.g8=Q Rxg8 60.Kc2 Bd4 61.Rc7 Rg3 62.Rc8 Bc5 63.Kd2 Kc4 64.Ke2 Ra3 65.Rc7 Kd5 66.Rc8 Kc4 67.Rc7 Kd4 68.Rc8 Be7 69.Rc2 Bf6 70.Rd2+ Ke4 71.Kf1 Bd4 72.Ke2 Bc3 73.Rc2 Be5 74.Rc4+ Bd4 75.Rc2 Bc3 76.Kd1 Kf3 77.Rc1 Ke3 78.Kc2 Kd4 79.Rd1+ Kc4 80.Rd8 Ra2+ 81.Kb1 Rh2 82.Kc1 Bd4 83.Kd1 Kd3 84.Re8 Rb2 85.Rc8 Bb6 86.Rc6 Be3 87.Rd6+ Bd4 88.Rc6 Rg2 89.Re6 Rd2+ 90.Ke1 Rb2 91.Kf1 Rf2+ 92.Ke1 Rf5 93.Rd6 Rg5 0-1

          Position after White’s 82.Kc1

          

          Standings after Day One

          1 Giri 4
          2-3 Carlsen, Anton 3.5
          4-7 So, Nepo, Aronian, Nakamura 3
          8-9 Firouzja, Ding Liren 2.5
          10-13 Duda, Le, Svidler, MVL 2
          14-15 Radjabov, Vidit 1.5
          16 Karjakin 1

          Comment


          • #6
            Skilling Open 2020

            November 23, 2020

            Day Two

            Round Six


            Round Six Results

            41 MVL-Anton 1-0
            42 Firouzja-Radjabov 0-1
            43 Aronian-Carlsen 0.5-0.5
            44 Duda-Nepo 0-1
            45 Ding-Svidler 0.5-0.5
            46 Giri-So 0.5-0.5
            47 Karjakin-Vidit 1-0
            48 Nakamura-Le 0-1

            Game 41, Nov. 23
            MVL – Anton, David
            C81 Ruy Lopez, open, Howell Attack

            1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Qe2 Be7 10.Nbd2 Nc5 11.c3 O-O 12.Rd1 Qd7 13.Bc2 Bf5 14.Nf1 Bxc2 15.Qxc2 Qe6 16.Nd4 Qd7 17.Nf3 Qe6 18.Bf4 Rad8 19.Ne3 Rfe8 20.h3 Na4 21.b3 Nb6 22.Rd2 Nb8 23.Nf5 Bf8 24.Re1 c6 25.N5d4 Qg6 26.e6 Qxc2 27.Rxc2 Na8 28.Bxb8 Rxb8 29.Nxc6 Rbc8 30.exf7+ Kxf7 31.Rxe8 Rxe8 32.Kf1 Rc8 33.Nfd4 Nb6 34.Nb4 Bc5 35.Rd2 Bxd4 36.cxd4 a5 37.Nd3 Rc3 38.Ke2 a4 39.Nc5 Ke7 40.Kd1 axb3 41.axb3 Nd7 42.Re2+ Kd8 43.Ne6+ Ke7 44.Nxg7+ Kf6 45.Ne8+ Kf7 46.Nd6+ Kf6 47.Nxb5 Rxb3 48.Nc7 Nb6 49.Re5 Nc4 50.Nxd5+ Kg6 51.Re2 Rd3+ 52.Kc2 Rxd4 53.Ne7+ Kf7 54.Kc3 1-0

            Game 42, Nov. 23
            Firouzja, Alireza – Radjabov, Teimour
            C47 Four Knights game

            1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.h3 Bb4 5.Bd3 d6 6.Ne2 O-O 7.O-O Re8 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Qxd5 10.Bc2 e4 11.Ne1 Bd6 12.d4 exd3 13.Nxd3 Bf5 14.Nef4 Qc4 15.Bb3 Qa6 16.Nb4 Nxb4 17.cxb4 Rad8 18.Qf3 Bxb4 19.Bxf7+ Kxf7 20.Qb3+ Be6 21.Nxe6 Rxe6 22.Be3 Be7 0-1

            Position after White’s 19.Bxf7+?

            

            Game 44, Nov. 23
            Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Nepo, Ian
            D85 Grunfeld, Modern Exchange variation

            1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be3 c5 8.Nf3 Qa5 9.Qd2 Bg4 10.Rc1 Bxf3 11.gxf3 e6 12.Rb1 a6 13.Rxb7 Nc6 14.f4 O-O 15.Bg2 Rab8 16.Rb3 Rxb3 17.axb3 cxd4 18.cxd4 Qb5 19.e5 Rc8 20.d5 Nb4 21.Qe2 Nc2+ 22.Kf1 Qxb3 23.Kg1 Nxe3 24.Qxe3 Rc3 25.Qe2 Rc1+ 26.Bf1 Qxd5 27.h4 Bh6 28.h5 Bxf4 29.hxg6 hxg6 30.Qxa6 Qf3 0-1

            Game 47, Nov. 23
            Karjakin, Sergey – Vidit, Santosh
            C50 Giuoco Piano

            1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 O-O 7.h3 h6 8.Nbd2 a5 9.Re1 Be6 10.Bb5 Bb6 11.Ba4 Nd7 12.Nf1 f5 13.exf5 Bxf5 14.Ng3 Bh7 15.d4 exd4 16.Bxc6 bxc6 17.cxd4 a4 18.Qe2 Kh8 19.Be3 Nf6 20.Qc4 Nd5 21.Bd2 Qd7 22.Rac1 Ne7 23.a3 Bg8 24.Qd3 Bh7 25.Qc4 Bg8 26.Qd3 Rf7 27.Re2 Raf8 28.Rce1 Bh7 29.Qc4 Ng6 30.Nh2 c5 31.d5 Nf4 32.Bxf4 Rxf4 33.Qc3 R4f7 34.Ng4 Kg8 35.Nh5 Bg6 36.Nf4 Bf5 37.Ne6 Ra8 38.Qg3 Kh7 39.Qh4 Kg8 40.Re3 c4 41.Rf3 Bxg4 42.Qxg4 Rxf3 43.gxf3 Ra5 44.Qxc4 Qf7 45.Qe4 Qh5 46.Nf4 Qg5+ 47.Kf1 Qe5 48.Qg6 Qxf4 49.Re8+ Qf8 50.Qe6+ 1-0

            Game 48, Nov. 23
            Nakamura, Hikaru – Le, Quang Liem
            A29 English, Bremen

            1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.O-O Be7 8.a3 O-O 9.b4 Re8 10.d3 Bf8 11.Re1 a5 12.b5 Nd4 13.Nd2 a4 14.Rb1 Ra7 15.e3 Ne6 16.Nf3 Ng5 17.Nxg5 Qxg5 18.Bb2 Be6 19.Ne4 Qd8 20.f4 f5 21.Ng5 Ba2 22.Ra1 Bb3 23.Qh5 h6 24.Nf3 exf4 25.gxf4 Ra5 26.Nd4 Bf7 27.Qh3 Nd5 28.Qg3 Qf6 29.Rac1 Rxb5 30.Nxb5 Qxb2 31.Bxd5 Bxd5 32.Nxc7 Rxe3 33.Nxd5 Rxg3+ 34.hxg3 Qd4+ 35.Ne3 Bxa3 36.Rc4 Qd7 37.Kf2 b5 38.Rc2 b4 39.Ra1 b3 40.Rxa3 bxc2 41.Nxc2 Qb5 42.Ke2 Qc5 43.Ra2 Qd5 44.Rxa4 Qg2+ 45.Kd1 Qxg3 46.Kd2 h5 0-1

            Round Seven

            Round Seven Results

            49 Nakamura-Le 0-1
            50 Vidit-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
            51 So-Karjakin 0.5-0.5
            52 Svidler-Giri 0.5-0.5
            53 Nepo-Ding 0.5-0.5
            54 Carlsen-Duda 1-0
            55 Radjabov-Aronian 1-0
            56 Anton-Firouzja 0-1

            Game 49, Nov. 23
            Le, Quang Liem – MVL
            B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb variation

            1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Bg5 Be6 9.f4 exf4 10.Bxf4 Nc6 11.Qd2 O-O 12.O-O-O Ne5 13.Nd4 Bd7 14.Kb1 Rc8 15.h3 b5 16.a3 Qb6 17.g4 b4 18.axb4 Qxb4 19.g5 Rxc3 20.gxf6 Rb8 21.Nb3 Rxb3 22.cxb3 Qxe4+ 23.Ka1 Bxf6 24.Bg2 Nf3 25.Qe3 Qc2 0-1

            Game 50, Nov. 23
            Vidit, Santosh – Nakamura, Hikaru
            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 Nb6 9.a4 a5 10.Ne5 Nfd5 11.Bg3 c5 12.Nxc4 Nxc4 13.Bxc4 cxd4 14.exd4 Bb4 15.Rc1 Nb6 16.Bb3 Bd7 17.d5 Bxc3 18.Rxc3 Nxd5 19.Bxd5 exd5 20.Qxd5 Bc6 21.Qxd8 Rfxd8 22.b3 Rd5 23.h3 h5 24.Rfc1 Rad8 25.h4 f6 26.Bc7 R8d7 27.Bb6 Re5 28.Re3 Rxe3 29.Bxe3 Rd3 30.Rc5 g6 31.Rxa5 Rxb3 32.Ra8+ Kf7 33.a5 Ra3 34.Bf4 Ra4 35.Bg3 g5 36.hxg5 fxg5 37.f3 Ra1+ 38.Kh2 Ra2 39.Kg1 g4 40.Bf2 gxf3 41.gxf3 Bxf3 42.Bc5 Bc6 43.Bb6 Kg7 44.Bd4+ Kg6 45.Rg8+ Kf5 46.Rf8+ Kg4 47.Bb6 Rg2+ 48.Kf1 Rc2 49.Kg1 Bd5 50.Rf2 Rc6 51.Rd2 Be4 52.Kf2 h4 53.Ke3 Re6 54.Rd4 h3 55.Bc7 Kf5 56.Bh2 Bc6+ 57.Kf2 Rg6 58.Ke3 Rg2 59.Rd2 Rg8 60.Rf2+ Ke6 61.Ra2 Bd5 62.Rb2 Ra8 63.Rb6+ Kf7 64.Rb5 Bg2 65.Kf2 Ke6 66.Rh5 Rf8+ 67.Ke3 Rf3+ 68.Kd4 Ra3 69.Kc4 Kf6 70.Kb4 Ra2 71.Bb8 Kg6 72.Rh8 Kf5 73.Kb3 Ra1 74.Kb2 Rd1 75.Kc3 Ke4 76.Rh6 Ke3 77.a6 bxa6 78.Rxa6 Rc1+ 79.Kb2 Rc8 80.Bh2 Be4 81.Ra3+ Bd3 82.Kb3 Rc1 83.Ra8 Rh1 84.Bd6 h2 85.Bxh2 Rxh2 86.Rd8 Rh5 87.Rb8 Rh1 88.Kb4 Rc1 89.Rb6 Bc4 90.Kc5 Bd3+ 91.Kd6 Kd4 92.Rb4+ Bc4 93.Rb7 Rh1 94.Re7 Rh6+ 95.Kc7 Kc5 96.Re5+ Bd5 97.Re7 Ra6 98.Kd8 Bc6 99.Rg7 Ra1 100.Ke7 Re1+ 101.Kf6 Kd6 102.Rg5 Be4 103.Rg3 Rf1+ 104.Kg5 Rf8 105.Kh4 Ke5 106.Kg5 Rh8 107.Kg4 Rf8 108.Kg5 Bf3 109.Kh4 Kf4 110.Rg4+ Ke3 111.Rg7 Kf4 112.Rg4+ Kf5 113.Rg5+ Kf6 114.Rg1 Rh8+ 115.Kg3 Be4 116.Kf4 Bf5 117.Rg2 Rh4+ 118.Ke3 Ke5 119.Rb2 Rh3+ 120.Kd2 Bd3 121.Kc3 Bf1+ 122.Kd2 Kd4 123.Ke1 Rh1 124.Kd2 Rh3 125.Ke1 Bc4 126.Kd2 Bb3 127.Kc1 Kc4 128.Rf2 Kc3 129.Rc2+ Kb4 130.Rf2 Rd3 131.Kb2 Bd5 132.Kc1 Ra3 133.Kd2 Kc5 134.Kc1 Kd4 135.Rd2+ Kc3 1/2-1/2

            Vidit lost Rook vs. Rook + Bishop to Giri yesterday - can he draw it vs. Nakamura today!?

            After losing to Giri yesterday, this time Vidit does it, holding the Rook vs. Rook + Bishop ending in a 135-move draw against Nakamura!

            Mr. Dodgy - From my latest book "100 Endgames Vidit Now Knows"

            Game 54, Nov. 23
            Carlsen, Magnus – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
            D11 QGD Slav

            1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bd3 Nbd7 6.b3 b6 7.O-O Bb7 8.Bb2 Bd6 9.Nbd2 O-O 10.Qe2 Qe7 11.Ne5 Rad8 12.Rad1 c5 13.f4 cxd4 14.exd4 g6 15.a4 Nh5 16.cxd5 Bxd5 17.Ndc4 Ndf6 18.Nxd6 Qxd6 19.Nc4 Qb8 20.Qe5 Qa8 21.Rd2 Be4 22.Bxe4 Qxe4 23.Ba3 Rd5 24.Qxe4 Nxe4 25.Re2 Rxd4 26.Bxf8 Kxf8 27.Re3 Nhf6 28.Ne5 Nd5 29.Rd3 Rxd3 30.Nxd3 Nd2 31.Rc1 Nxb3 32.Rc8+ Kg7 33.Ra8 a5 34.Ra7 Kf8 35.g3 Nd4 36.Ne5 f6 37.Nd7+ Ke8 38.Rb7 h6 39.Nxb6 Nc3 40.Ra7 Nb3 41.Kg2 g5 42.fxg5 fxg5 43.Rh7 e5 44.Rxh6 Kf7 45.Rc6 Nd1 46.Nc4 e4 47.Nd6+ Ke6 48.Nxe4+ Kd5 49.Rd6+ 1-0

            Game 55, Nov. 23
            Radjabov, Teimour – Aronian, Levon
            D37 QGD, Hastings variation

            1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 c6 8.Be2 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Bd3 a6 11.b4 a5 12.Rb1 axb4 13.axb4 Bb7 14.Qc2 Nb6 15.e4 Nc4 16.Bc1 Nd7 17.e5 f5 18.exf6 Bxf6 19.Bxh7+ Kh8 20.Be4 e5 21.d5 cxd5 22.Nxd5 Qc8 23.Qe2 Nd6 24.Ng5 Qxc1+ 25.Rxc1 Bxg5 26.Rd1 Nxe4 27.Qxe4 Nf6 28.Qg6 Bxd5 29.Qxg5 Bc4 30.Rc1 Bd3 31.Rc7 Rg8 32.Qh4+ Nh7 33.Kd2 Rad8 34.Rhc1 Bc4+ 35.Ke1 Rd4 36.Qe7 Re4+ 37.Kd2 Nf6 38.Rc3 Re2+ 39.Kd1 Rxf2 40.Rh3+ Nh7 41.Rxh7+ 1-0

            Game 56, Nov. 23
            Anton Guijarro, David – Firouzja, Alireza
            E71 King’s Indian, Makagonov System

            1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.h3 Nbd7 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 Nc5 8.f3 Nh5 9.Nge2 O-O 10.Qd2 f5 11.exf5 gxf5 12.g4 Nf4 13.O-O-O Nfd3+ 14.Kb1 f4 15.Bxc5 Nxc5 16.b4 e4 17.bxc5 e3 18.Qc2 dxc5 19.Ne4 c6 20.N2c3 Qa5 21.Bd3 Rb8 22.Qb3 Kh8 23.dxc6 Be6 24.c7 Qxc7 25.Qa3 Bg8 26.Bc2 b5 27.cxb5 a6 28.Qxa6 Ra8 29.Qc6 Qa5 30.a4 Qb4+ 31.Kc1 Qa3+ 32.Kb1 Ba2+ 33.Ka1 Bxc3+ 34.Nxc3 Qxc3+ 0-1

            Total turnaround as Firouzja beats Anton just when it looked as though he was going to lose a 3rd game in a row!

            (to be continued)

            Comment


            • #7
              Skilling Open 2020

              November 23, 2020

              Day Two (continued)

              Round Eight


              Round Eight Results

              57 MVL-Firouzja 0.5-0.5
              58 Aronian-Anton 0.5-0.5
              59 Duda-Radjabov 0-1
              60 Ding-Carlsen 0.5-0.5
              61 Giri-Nepo 0.5-0.5
              62 Karjakin-Svidler 0.5-0.5
              63 Nakamura-So 0.5-0.5
              64 Le-Vidit 0.5-0.5

              Game 59, Nov. 23
              Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Radjabov, Teimour
              A05 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

              1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 c5 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O e5 7.c4 O-O 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.d3 h6 10.Nd2 Be6 11.Rc1 Qd7 12.a3 Rac8 13.Nd5 b6 14.Bc3 Bg4 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Ne4 Bg7 17.Bd2 f5 18.Nc3 f4 19.Bd5+ Kh8 20.f3 Bh3 21.Rf2 Ne7 22.Be4 Nf5 23.gxf4 exf4 24.Bxf4 Bd4 25.Nd5 Qg7 26.Bd2 g5 27.e3 g4 28.fxg4 Bxg4 29.Qe1 Bf3+ 30.Kf1 Nh4 31.exd4 Bg2+ 32.Ke2 Qg4+ 33.Ke3 Bxe4 34.Bc3 Ng2+ 35.Kd2 Nxe1 36.dxc5+ Kg8 0-1

              Round Nine

              Round Nine Results

              65 Vidit-MVL 0.5-0.5
              66 So-Le 1-0
              67 Svidler-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
              68 Nepo-Karjakin 0.5-0.5
              69 Carlsen-Giri 0.5-0.5
              70 Radjabov-Ding 0-1
              71 Anton-Duda 1-0
              72 Firouzja-Aronian 1-0

              Game 66, Nov. 23
              So, Wesley – Le, Quang Liem
              C50 Giuoco Piano

              1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.a4 h6 8.Re1 O-O 9.h3 Re8 10.Nbd2 Be6 11.Bxe6 Rxe6 12.b4 Ba7 13.Qc2 Qd7 14.Nf1 d5 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.Nxe3 Rd8 17.b5 Ne7 18.c4 d4 19.Nf5 a5 20.c5 Re8 21.Ng3 Ng6 22.Rac1 Nf4 23.Kh2 Nh7 24.Qd2 f6 25.Nf5 Ng6 26.Qxa5 Ng5 27.Nxg5 fxg5 28.c6 bxc6 29.bxc6 Qf7 30.Qb5 Nh4 31.f3 Nxf5 32.exf5 Qxf5 33.Re4 Qf8 34.a5 Ra8 35.a6 Kh7 36.Qb7 Qb8 37.Rb1 Qa7 38.Ra1 Ree8 39.Qb5 Qb6 40.Rxe5 Rxe5 41.Qxe5 Rxa6 42.Qf5+ 1-0

              Game 67, Nov. 23
              Svidler, Peter – Nakamura, Hikaru
              C54 Giuoco Piano

              1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.O-O h6 7.Re1 O-O 8.h3 a5 9.Nbd2 Bb6 10.b3 Ne7 11.d4 Ng6 12.Bf1 c6 13.Nc4 Bc7 14.Ba3 Re8 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Nd6 Bxd6 17.Qxd6 Be6 18.Nxe5 Nxe5 19.Qxe5 Bc4 20.Qxe8+ Qxe8 21.Bxc4 a4 22.Bd6 b5 23.Bd3 Qe6 24.e5 Nd5 25.c4 Nf4 26.Bf1 g5 27.cxb5 cxb5 28.Rad1 axb3 29.axb3 Qxb3 30.Rb1 Qc2 31.Rxb5 Ne6 32.Rb8+ Rxb8 33.Bxb8 Qd2 34.Rb1 Qc2 35.Re1 h5 36.Ba7 Qc3 37.Re4 Qa1 38.Be3 h4 39.Bxg5 Nxg5 40.Rg4 Qxe5 41.f4 Qe3+ 42.Kh2 f6 43.fxg5 f5 44.Rxh4 Qf2 45.Rc4 Qxf1 46.Rc3 Qf4+ 47.Kh1 Kg7 48.Rf3 Qc1+ 49.Kh2 Kg6 50.Rb3 Qd1 51.Rf3 Qd4 52.Kh1 Qa1+ 53.Kh2 Qd1 54.Rf2 Qd6+ 55.Kh1 Qc7 56.Rf3 Qe5 57.Kg1 Kxg5 58.Kh1 Kf6 59.Kg1 Ke6 60.Kh1 Kd5 61.Kg1 Ke4 62.Kh1 Qa1+ 63.Kh2 Qd1 64.Rc3 Qd6+ 65.Kh1 f4 66.Rf3 Qd1+ 67.Kh2 Qxf3 68.gxf3+ Kxf3 69.h4 Kg4 70.Kg2 Kxh4 71.Kf3 Kg5 72.Kf2 f3 73.Kxf3 1/2-1/2

              Position after Black’s 62…Qa1+

              

              Is this winnable or just a fortress?

              Chess24: 67...Qe1! for Nakamura here is mate-in-24 with perfect play by both sides (the tablebases tell us!), but after 67...Qxf3 it was drawn a few moves later:

              Game 70, Nov. 23
              Radjabov, Teimour – Ding, Liren
              B97 Sicilian, Najdorf, Poisoned Pawn variation

              1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.e5 h6 11.Bh4 dxe5 12.fxe5 Nfd7 13.Ne4 Qxa2 14.Rd1 Qd5 15.Qe3 Qxe5 16.Be2 Bc5 17.Bg3 Qd5 18.c4 Bxd4 19.Rxd4 Qa5+ 20.Rd2 O-O 21.Bd6 f5 22.Bxf8 Nxf8 23.Nd6 Nbd7 24.g4 fxg4 25.Bxg4 Qe5 26.Ke2 b5 27.Bf3 Rb8 28.Qxe5 Nxe5 29.cxb5 axb5 30.Nxc8 Rxc8 31.Rb1 Rc3 32.Bg2 Nfg6 33.Rxb5 Nf4+ 34.Kf1 Ng4 35.Rd8+ Kf7 36.Rb7+ Kg6 37.Be4+ Kh5 38.Rb1 Nxh2+ 39.Kg1 Ng4 40.Rd2 Kh4 41.Rf1 Kg3 42.Kh1 g5 43.Rg1+ Kh4 44.Re1 h5 45.Kg1 Kg3 46.Rc2 Nh3+ 0-1

              After 8 draws, world no. 2 Ding Liren wins a brilliant game against Teimour Radjabov, who had won all 3 of his games today!

              Game 71, Nov. 23
              Anton Guijarro, David – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
              D35 QGD, Exchange variation

              1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.Rb1 Be7 8.Nf3 O-O 9.Bc4 Nc6 10.O-O b6 11.d5 Na5 12.Bd3 c4 13.Bc2 exd5 14.exd5 Bf6 15.d6 Re8 16.Bf4 Bb7 17.Nd4 Be4 18.Nb5 Bxc2 19.Qxc2 Be5 20.Qd2 Bxf4 21.Qxf4 Re6 22.Rfe1 Rf6 23.Qe4 h6 24.d7 Rb8 25.Qe8+ Kh7 26.Rbd1 Nb7 27.Qe4+ Rg6 28.Qd5 Qg5 29.Qxg5 Rxg5 30.Re8 Rd8 31.Nxa7 Rc5 32.Kf1 Rc7 33.Rxd8 Nxd8 34.Nb5 Rc5 35.a4 Re5 36.Rd6 Re7 37.Na7 Kg8 38.Nc8 Re5 39.Nxb6 Ra5 40.Rd4 Ra6 41.Rxc4 Kf8 42.Re4 1-0

              Game 72, Nov. 23
              Firouzja, Alireza – Aronian, Levon
              A07 Reti, KIA, Neo-Grunfeld

              1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.c4 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Nfd7 6.Qxc4 Bg7 7.Nc3 Nb6 8.Qh4 h6 9.d4 Nc6 10.O-O Bf5 11.g4 Bd7 12.Rd1 e5 13.Qg3 exd4 14.Nb5 O-O 15.Nxc7 Rc8 16.Nb5 a6 17.Nbxd4 Nxd4 18.Nxd4 Ba4 19.b3 Bxd4 20.Bxh6 Qf6 21.g5 Qh8 22.Rac1 Bd7 23.Qd6 Bg4 24.Rxc8 Rxc8 25.Rxd4 Rc1+ 26.Rd1 Qa1 27.Qf8+ 1-0

              Firouzja 1-0 Aronian, and Alireza is back on a positive score

              Round Ten

              Round Ten Results

              73 MVL-Aronian 0.5-0.5
              74 Duda-Firouzja 1-0
              75 Ding-Anton 1-0
              76 Giri-Radjabov 0.5-0.5
              77 Karjakin-Carlsen 1-0
              78 Nakamura-Nepo 1-0
              79 Le-Svidler 1-0
              80 Vidit-So 0.5-0.5

              Game 74, Nov. 23
              Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Firouzja, Alireza
              B10 Caro-Kann Defence

              1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d3 dxe4 4.dxe4 Qxd1+ 5.Kxd1 Nf6 6.Nfd2 g5 7.a4 Rg8 8.a5 g4 9.Bd3 Nbd7 10.Nc4 Nc5 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Be3 Nfd7 13.Bd4 Bg7 14.Bxg7 Rxg7 15.Ke2 O-O-O 16.b4 Nxd3 17.cxd3 Bxc4 18.dxc4 Ne5 19.a6 b6 20.c5 b5 21.Rad1 Rgg8 22.Ke3 Nc4+ 23.Ke2 Nb2 24.Rb1 Nc4 25.Rbd1 Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Kc7 27.Na2 Rg5 28.Nc1 Rh5 29.Rh1 Re5 30.f3 gxf3+ 31.gxf3 Rg5 32.Kf2 Rg8 33.Rd1 Ne5 34.Nd3 Nd7 35.h4 e5 36.Ne1 Nb8 37.Ra1 f6 38.Nc2 Rd8 39.Ke2 Rd7 40.h5 Rg7 41.Ne3 Rg5 42.h6 Rg8 43.Ng4 Rf8 44.Kd3 Nd7 45.Ne3 Rg8 46.Ke2 Rg5 47.Rd1 Nb8 48.Rd6 Nd7 49.Re6 Rg6 50.Ng4 Rg5 51.Re7 1-0

              Game 75, Nov. 23
              Ding, Liren – Anton Guijarro, David
              07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

              1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 c6 5.O-O Nf6 6.b3 O-O 7.Bb2 a5 8.a4 Bf5 9.e3 Ne4 10.Qe2 Nd7 11.c4 Qb6 12.Nbd2 Ndf6 13.Rfc1 Bg4 14.Qd3 Bf5 15.Qe2 Bg4 16.cxd5 Nxd2 17.Qxd2 Nxd5 18.Qd3 Rad8 19.Nd2 Nb4 20.Qf1 Bf5 21.Nc4 Qa6 22.Bc3 Bd3 23.Qd1 Bxc4 24.bxc4 e5 25.d5 f5 26.Rab1 c5 27.e4 f4 28.Rb2 Qf6 29.Bh3 h5 30.Kh1 Bh6 31.Rcb1 f3 32.Rb3 Kg7 33.Ba1 Kh7 34.Ra3 Qa6 35.Bf1 Nc6 36.Rxf3 Nd4 37.Rxf8 Rxf8 38.Bxd4 exd4 39.f4 b6 40.e5 Kh8 41.Bd3 Kg7 42.Qf3 Qb7 43.Qe4 1-0

              A crazy game with the World Champion going down to his one-time challenger

              Game 77, Nov. 23
              Karjakin, Sergey – Carlsen, Magnus
              C41 Philidor, Exchange variation

              1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.g3 O-O 7.Bg2 Re8 8.O-O Bf8 9.h3 Nbd7 10.g4 Nc5 11.Re1 c6 12.g5 Nfd7 13.f4 a5 14.Be3 Qc7 15.a4 Na6 16.Qd2 Ndc5 17.Rad1 Bd7 18.Nde2 Rad8 19.Ng3 Qc8 20.Kh2 d5 21.e5 Nb4 22.Qf2 b6 23.Bd4 Bf5 24.Re2 g6 25.Nxf5 Qxf5 26.h4 Ne6 27.Rf1 c5 28.Be3 d4 29.Bh3 dxe3 30.Qg3 Qxc2 31.Rxc2 Nxc2 32.f5 Rd2+ 33.Kh1 gxf5 34.Bxf5 e2 35.Nxe2 Rxe2 36.Bxe6 Rxe6 37.Qf3 Re7 38.Qxe2 Nd4 39.Qc4 Nc6 40.Qb5 Nxe5 41.Qxb6 Nc4 42.Qb8 Re4 43.Rf4 Rxf4 44.Qxf4 Nxb2 45.h5 c4 46.Qd4 Nxa4 47.Qxc4 Nc5 48.g6 hxg6 49.hxg6 Ne6 50.Qd5 a4 51.Qf5 Nd8 52.Qd7 1-0

              (to be continued)

              Comment


              • #8
                Skilling Open 2020

                November 23, 2020

                Day Two

                Round Ten (continued)


                Game 78, Nov. 23
                Nakamura, Hikaru – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
                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.a3 Nc5 14.Bc2 b5 15.b4 Nb7 16.cxb5 axb5 17.Bh6 Re8 18.Bd3 Nxd5 19.Qf3 Nc3 20.Qxb7 d5 21.Bd2 Rb8 22.Qa7 Ne4 23.Bxe4 dxe4 24.Rfd1 f5 25.Bc3 Bd6 26.Qe3 Qf6 27.Bb2 Bc7 28.Qb3+ Kh8 29.Rd7 Bb6 30.Rad1 Re6 31.Bc1 Rbe8 32.Be3 Bxe3 33.fxe3 h5 34.Rc7 h4 35.Ne2 f4 36.exf4 exf4 37.Nxf4 Rf8 38.Qxe6 Qxf4 39.Qb6 h3 40.Qd4+ Rf6 41.Rc6 1-0

                Game 79, Nov. 23
                Le, Quang Liem – Svidler, Peter
                B85 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Classical main line

                1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e6 7.O-O Be7 8.f4 Qc7 9.Bf3 O-O 10.Be3 Nc6 11.a4 Re8 12.Kh1 Rb8 13.g4 Nxd4 14.Bxd4 e5 15.fxe5 dxe5 16.Ba7 Ra8 17.g5 Rd8 18.Qe2 Ne8 19.Be3 Be6 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.exd5 Nd6 22.a5 e4 23.Bg2 Rac8 24.Rf2 Qc4 25.Rd1 Qa2 26.Bh3 Rc4 27.b3 Rc3 28.Bd4 Qxa5 29.Qe1 Nb5 30.Qxe4 Bf8 31.Be6 Nd6 32.Qe1 1-0

                Standings at the end of Day Two

                1 Giri 6.5
                2-4 Ding, Carlsen, So 6
                5-7 Nakamura, MVL, Nepo 5.5
                8-10 Radjabov, Anton, Firouzja 5
                11-13 Le, Aronian, Karjakin 4.5
                14 Svidler 4
                15 Vidit 3.5
                16 Duda 3

                At the end of tomorrow, the top 8 players advance to a 6-day knockout, with two days each for the quarterfinals, semifinals and final.

                In the knockout stage, instead of having best-of-3 (5 or 7) matches, each encounter will be decided over two days. On Day 1 there will be four rapid games, and if the match ends 2:2 it will simply be a draw (there doesn’t have to be a winner).

                On Day 2 another 4-game match will be held. If both matches are drawn, or the players have traded wins, then shortly after the second match there will be a playoff: two blitz games followed, if needed, by Armageddon.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Game 70 Beautiful coordination of the king and two knights by Ding! What a finish!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Game 56 Firoujza spots Anton the two knights and still wins (however it was a dangerous attack). Game 72 against Aronian. WoW! The kid is an amazing tactician.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Skilling Open 2020

                      November 24, 2020

                      Day Three

                      Round Eleven

                      Round Eleven Results

                      81 So-MVL 0.5-0.5
                      82 Svidler-Vidit 0-1
                      83 Nepo-Le 0.5-0.5
                      84 Carlsen-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
                      85 Radjabov-Karjakin 1-0
                      86 Anton-Giri 0.5-0.5
                      87 Firouzja-Ding 1-0
                      88 Aronian-Duda 1-0

                      Game 82, Nov. 24
                      Svidler, Peter – Vidit, Santosh
                      A37 English, symmetrical variation

                      1.c4 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Nf3 d6 6.O-O Rb8 7.e3 Nf6 8.d4 O-O 9.b3 Be6 10.Bb2 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 Nd5 13.Qd2 Nxc3 14.Bxc3 Bxc3 15.Qxc3 Qc7 16.Rac1 Rfc8 17.Qb2 Qa5 18.Rfd1 b5 19.b4 bxc4 20.a3 Qa4 21.Rd2 a5 0-1

                      Position after White’s 19.b4?

                      

                      Vidit picks up a first win after a blunder by Peter Svidler!

                      Game 84, Nov. 24
                      Carlsen, Magnus – Nakamura, Hikaru
                      C24 Bishop’s Opening, Berlin Defence

                      1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Bxd2+ 7.Nbxd2 Qc7 8.O-O dxe4 9.Ng5 O-O 10.Ndxe4 Nd5 11.d4 h6 12.Nf3 Bg4 13.dxe5 Nd7 14.h3 Bxf3 15.Qxf3 Qxe5 16.Rfe1 Rae8 17.c3 N5f6 18.Rad1 Nxe4 19.Rxd7 Ng5 20.Qe3 Nf3+ 21.gxf3 Qg5+ 22.Qxg5 Rxe1+ 23.Kg2 hxg5 24.Rxb7 a5 25.a4 g6 26.Bc4 Kg7 27.Rc7 Re5 28.Rxc6 Rb8 29.Rc7 Rxb2 30.Bxf7 Re1 31.Bc4+ Kh8 32.Rc8+ Kg7 33.Rc7+ Kh8 34.Rc8+ Kg7 35.Rc7+ 1/2-1/2

                      Magnus escapes with a draw against Hikaru, but it was anything but smooth!

                      Game 85, Nov. 24
                      Radjabov, Teimour – Karjakin, Sergey
                      D63 QGD, Orthodox Defence

                      1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Rc1 h6 8.Bh4 c5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Bxe7 Nxe7 11.Be2 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Nf6 13.O-O Bd7 14.Qb3 Rb8 15.Qa3 a6 16.Rfd1 Re8 17.Nb3 Qb6 18.Na5 Nc6 19.Nc4 Qa7 20.Nd6 Red8 21.b4 Qb6 22.Rb1 Ne5 23.b5 axb5 24.Ncxb5 Ne8 25.f4 Ra8 26.Qc3 Bxb5 27.Rxb5 Qc6 28.Rc5 Rxd6 29.Rxc6 Rxd1+ 30.Bxd1 Nxc6 31.Qb3 Ra7 32.Bf3 Na5 33.Qb5 Ra8 34.Qc5 g6 35.g4 Ng7 36.h3 Ne8 37.Kg2 Ng7 38.Kg3 Ne8 39.a4 Ng7 40.Qb4 Ra6 41.Be2 Ra8 42.Bb5 Kh7 43.Qe7 Kg8 44.Qc7 Kf8 45.e4 Kg8 46.Kf3 g5 47.f5 exf5 48.gxf5 Nh5 49.Qe7 Nb3 50.Kg4 Ng7 51.Bc4 1-0

                      Game 87, Nov. 24
                      Firouzja, Alireza – 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.h3 h6 9.Bb3 b5 10.d4 Bb6 11.Be3 a4 12.Bc2 exd4 13.cxd4 Nb4 14.Nc3 Nxc2 15.Qxc2 Ba5 16.Bd2 Rb8 17.e5 dxe5 18.dxe5 Bxc3 19.Qxc3 Nd5 20.Qc5 Be6 21.Rac1 Qd7 22.Red1 Rfc8 23.Nd4 c6 24.Kh2 Rb7 25.Be1 Qe8 26.a3 Bd7 27.Nf3 Nf4 28.Qe3 Nd5 29.Qe4 Nb6 30.Rc5 Be6 31.Nd4 Bd5 32.Qg4 Qxe5+ 33.f4 Qf6 34.Bc3 Qg6 35.Nf5 Qxg4 36.hxg4 Rd7 37.Nxg7 Be6 38.Rxd7 Bxd7 39.Nh5 Be6 40.Nf6+ Kf8 41.Rh5 Nd5 42.Nxd5 Bxd5 43.Rxh6 Re8 44.Bf6 1-0

                      17-year-old Alireza Firouzja takes down the previously unbeaten Ding Liren!

                      Game 88, Nov. 24
                      Aronian, Levon – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
                      C24 Bishop’s Opening, Berlin Defence

                      1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb3 a5 6.a4 Bb4+ 7.c3 Bd6 8.exd5 cxd5 9.Bg5 Be6 10.Na3 Nc6 11.Nb5 Bb8 12.O-O O-O 13.Re1 h6 14.Bh4 g5 15.Bg3 Bg4 16.h3 Bh5 17.Re3 Kg7 18.Rc1 Ng8 19.d4 e4 20.Bxb8 Rxb8 21.g4 Bg6 22.Ne5 Bh7 23.c4 dxc4 24.Nxc4 Nf6 25.Ncd6 Nb4 26.d5 Qb6 27.Rc7 Nd3 28.Qc2 Bg6 29.Qc3 Rfd8 30.Nc4 Qa6 31.d6 Nf4 32.Ne5 Rxd6 33.Nxf7 Bxf7 34.Rxf7+ Kg6 35.Qc7 1-0

                      Big wins for Radjabov, Firouzja, Aronian & Vidit as the race to finish in the Top 8 knockout qualification spots heats up!

                      Round Twelve

                      Results of Round Twelve

                      89 MVL-Duda 1-0
                      90 Ding-Aronian 0.5-0.5
                      91 Giri-Firouzja 0-1
                      92 Karjakin-Anton 0-1
                      93 Nakamura-Radjabov 0.5-0.5
                      94 Le-Carlsen 0.5-0.5
                      95 Vidit-Nepo 0.5-0.5
                      96 So-Svidler 0.5-0.5

                      Game 89, Nov. 24
                      MVL – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
                      C01 French, Exchange

                      1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d3 Nf6 6.d4 d5 7.Bd3 Bd6 8.Qe2+ Qe7 9.Qxe7+ Kxe7 10.O-O Nc6 11.Re1+ Kf8 12.c3 h6 13.Ne5 Ne7 14.Nd2 Bf5 15.Bf1 Rd8 16.g3 c6 17.a4 Ne8 18.a5 f6 19.Nd3 g5 20.Nc5 Bxc5 21.dxc5 a6 22.Nf3 Nc7 23.Nd4 Bc8 24.Bd3 Kf7 25.Be3 Ne6 26.Be2 h5 27.Nxe6 Bxe6 28.Ra4 h4 29.g4 h3 30.f4 d4 31.Bxd4 gxf4 32.g5 Nd5 33.Bxf6 Kg6 34.Bxd8 Rxd8 35.Rd4 Rf8 36.Bxa6 bxa6 37.Rxe6+ Kxg5 38.Rxc6 Ne3 39.Re6 Kf5 40.Ree4 Rg8+ 41.Kf2 Ng4+ 42.Ke1 Nxh2 43.Rxf4+ Ke5 44.Ke2 1-0

                      For the next game, I switched the commentary over to Peter Leko and Tania Sachdev. I am used to them from the Lindores Abbey tourney.

                      Giri seemed to build up an overwhelming position and then faltered. Firouzja immediately took advantage and finally won the game.

                      Game 91, Nov. 24
                      Giri, Anish – Firouzja, Alireza
                      B67 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack

                      1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d3 Nf6 6.d4 d5 7.Bd3 Bd6 8.Qe2+ Qe7 9.Qxe7+ Kxe7 10.O-O Nc6 11.Re1+ Kf8 12.c3 h6 13.Ne5 Ne7 14.Nd2 Bf5 15.Bf1 Rd8 16.g3 c6 17.a4 Ne8 18.a5 f6 19.Nd3 g5 20.Nc5 Bxc5 21.dxc5 a6 22.Nf3 Nc7 23.Nd4 Bc8 24.Bd3 Kf7 25.Be3 Ne6 26.Be2 h5 27.Nxe6 Bxe6 28.Ra4 h4 29.g4 h3 30.f4 d4 31.Bxd4 gxf4 32.g5 Nd5 33.Bxf6 Kg6 34.Bxd8 Rxd8 35.Rd4 Rf8 36.Bxa6 bxa6 37.Rxe6+ Kxg5 38.Rxc6 Ne3 39.Re6 Kf5 40.Ree4 Rg8+ 41.Kf2 Ng4+ 42.Ke1 Nxh2 43.Rxf4+ Ke5 44.Ke2 1-0

                      What a turnaround as Firouzja beats Giri and we now have a 5-way tie for 1st place!

                      Firouzja's win has really set the cat among the pigeons! We now have 5 players in 1st and 5 just half a point behind, but only 8 can make the knockout stage

                      They then flash all sixteen players on the screen and Tania says:

                      At the end of the day today, eight of these players will be eliminated and have to go home. Wait a minute, they are at home – so they will stay at home and the others will go forward.

                      Brava, Tania!

                      Game 92, Nov. 24
                      Karjakin, Sergey – Anton Guijarro, David
                      C54 Giuoco Piano

                      1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.h3 h6 7.Nbd2 a5 8.Nf1 O-O 9.Ng3 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.O-O Nb6 12.Bb5 Bd6 13.d4 exd4 14.Bxc6 bxc6 15.Nxd4 Qf6 16.Ne4 Qg6 17.Nxd6 cxd6 18.Nxc6 Re8 19.Nd4 Bxh3 20.Qf3 Bd7 21.b3 Re4 22.Bf4 Nd5 23.Bd2 Rae8 24.Rfe1 Nf6 25.Rxe4 Nxe4 26.Bf4 h5 27.Re1 h4 28.c4 Kh7 29.Qd3 h3 30.g3 f5 31.Qf1 Qh5 32.f3 h2+ 33.Kh1 Nf6 34.Rxe8 Nxe8 35.Qe2 Qf7 36.a4 Qf6 37.Qxh2+ Kg8 38.Qd2 Nc7 39.Nb5 Ne6 40.Qxd6 Qa1+ 41.Kg2 Qe1 42.Qb8+ Kh7 43.Qe5 Qd1 44.Qxf5+ g6 45.Qf7+ Ng7 46.Be3 Bh3+ 47.Kh2 Qf1 0-1

                      Round Thirteen

                      Results of Round Thirteen

                      97 Svidler-MVL 1-0
                      98 Nepo-So 0.5-0.5
                      99 Carlsen-Vidit 1-0
                      100 Radjabov-Le 0.5-0.5
                      101 Anton-Nakamura 0-1
                      102 Firouzja-Karjakin 1-0
                      103 Aronian-Giri 1-0
                      104 Duda-Ding 1-0

                      Game 97, Nov. 24
                      Svidler, Peter – MVL
                      B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

                      1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nb3 e6 7.g4 b5 8.Bg2 Bb7 9.g5 Nfd7 10.h4 Be7 11.f4 h6 12.Qg4 Nc6 13.Be3 Na5 14.O-O-O Nc4 15.Bf2 Qc7 16.Nd4 h5 17.Qh3 b4 18.g6 bxc3 19.gxf7+ Kxf7 20.Qxe6+ Kf8 21.Qf5+ Kg8 22.Qe6+ Kh7 23.Bh3 Bf6 24.Bf5+ Kh6 25.b3 Nf8 26.Qxc4 Qxc4 27.bxc4 g6 28.Rhg1 Rg8 29.Nb3 Re8 30.Rxd6 Be7 31.Rb6 Bxe4 32.Bxe4 Ba3+ 33.Kb1 Rxe4 34.Rxa6 Be7 35.Re1 Rxe1+ 36.Bxe1 Nd7 37.Ra7 Rd8 38.Bxc3 Bxh4 39.Ba5 Bf2 40.c5 1-0

                      "He simply deserved it!" says Peter Leko as Svidler grabs a first win, beating MVL in a wild Najdorf!

                      Currently Firouzja has beaten the players in 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th in the standings! (out of a 16 player field) He's pushing against Karjakin

                      Game 99, Nov. 24
                      Carlsen, Magnus – Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi
                      C50 Giuoco Piano

                      1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.a4 d6 6.a5 a6 7.c3 Ba7 8.O-O O-O 9.Be3 Bxe3 10.fxe3 Be6 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.Nbd2 d5 13.Qb3 Qd6 14.exd5 Qxd5 15.e4 Qxd3 16.Qxb7 Nxe4 17.Qxc6 Nxd2 18.Nxd2 Qxd2 19.Qxe6+ Kh8 20.Qxa6 Qxb2 21.Rxf8+ Rxf8 22.Rf1 Rxf1+ 23.Qxf1 h6 24.Qf8+ Kh7 25.Qf5+ Kh8 26.Qxe5 Qc1+ 27.Kf2 Qd2+ 28.Kf3 Qd3+ 29.Kf4 Qd2+ 30.Kf5 Qd3+ 31.Ke6 Qc4+ 32.Kd7 c5 33.Qb8+ Kh7 34.Qb1+ Kh8 35.Qb6 Qxc3 36.a6 Qd2+ 37.Kc8 c4 38.a7 Qxg2 39.Qb8 Qc6+ 40.Kd8 Qd5+ 41.Ke7+ Kh7 42.a8=Q Qg5+ 43.Kd7 Qf5+ 44.Kc6 Qe4+ 45.Kc5 Qe3+ 46.Kxc4 Qe2+ 47.Kb3 Qd3+ 48.Kb2 Qd2+ 49.Ka1 Qd4+ 50.Qb2 1-0

                      (to be continued)

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Skilling Open 2020

                        November 24, 2020

                        Day Three

                        Round Thirteen (continued)

                        Game 101, Nov. 24
                        Anton Guijarro, David – Nakamura, Hikaru
                        E46 Nimzo-Indian

                        1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd2 c5 6.a3 Bxc3 7.Bxc3 Ne4 8.Ne2 b6 9.d5 Bb7 10.f3 Nxc3 11.Nxc3 exd5 12.cxd5 d6 13.e4 a6 14.Bd3 b5 15.Qd2 Nd7 16.O-O Qf6 17.Kh1 Ne5 18.Be2 g5 19.Nd1 Ng6 20.Ne3 Bc8 21.g3 Bh3 22.Rf2 Rac8 23.Bf1 Bd7 24.Bg2 c4 25.Rc1 Ne5 26.Qd4 Qg7 27.Bf1 f5 28.exf5 Bxf5 29.Nxf5 Rxf5 30.Be2 Nd7 31.Qd2 Nf6 32.Qc2 Rxd5 33.f4 g4 34.Bf1 Qg6 35.f5 Qg5 36.Re1 Re5 37.Rxe5 dxe5 38.Qd1 Qe3 39.Qd6 Rf8 40.Re2 Qf3+ 41.Kg1 Qxf5 42.Rxe5 Qd7 43.Rg5+ Kf7 44.Qxd7+ Nxd7 45.Rxg4 Nc5 46.Bxc4+ bxc4 47.Rxc4 Ne6 48.Ra4 Rb8 49.Rxa6 Rxb2 50.a4 Nd4 51.h4 Kg7 52.a5 Nf5 53.Ra8 Nxg3 54.a6 Ra2 55.Ra7+ Kh6 56.Ra8 Kh5 57.a7 Kxh4 58.Rb8 Rxa7 59.Kg2 Nf5 60.Kf3 Kg5 0-1

                        Game 102, Nov. 24
                        Firouzja, Alireza – Karjakin, Sergey
                        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.Nd4 Na6 10.c6 Nd5 11.Nab5 Nab4 12.Nxc3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Nxc6 14.Be3 Bd7 15.Rb1 Na5 16.Nb3 Nxb3 17.Rxb3 Bc6 18.Bxc6 bxc6 19.Qxd8 Rfxd8 20.Rfb1 a5 21.Ra3 h5 22.Kg2 e6 23.Rb6 a4 24.c4 c5 25.Rd3 Rdb8 26.Rdd6 Bf8 27.Rxb8 Rxb8 28.Ra6 Rb2 29.Rxa4 Rxe2 30.Kf3 Rb2 31.Ra8 Kg7 32.Ke4 Be7 33.a4 g5 34.a5 Ra2 35.a6 Ra3 36.Bc1 Ra2 37.Kd3 Bf6 38.Be3 Ra5 39.Kc2 g4 40.Kb3 Be5 41.a7 Bf6 42.Bxc5 Rxc5 43.Rb8 Ra5 44.a8=Q Rxa8 45.Rxa8 Bd4 46.Kb4 Bxf2 47.c5 h4 48.gxh4 Bxh4 49.Kb5 Bf6 50.Ra4 Be5 51.Rxg4+ Kh6 52.c6 f5 53.Rg8 f4 54.Re8 Kg5 55.Rxe6 1-0

                        Game 103, Nov. 24
                        Aronian, Levon – Giri, Anish
                        B50 Sicilian

                        1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 e6 5.O-O Be7 6.c3 O-O 7.Re1 a6 8.Bb3 b5 9.Bf4 Bb7 10.Nbd2 Nbd7 11.h3 Re8 12.d4 cxd4 13.cxd4 Nb6 14.Qe2 Rc8 15.Bh2 h6 16.Rad1 d5 17.e5 Ne4 18.Bf4 Na4 19.Rb1 Nb6 20.Nf1 Nc4 21.Ng3 a5 22.Bc2 Ncd2 23.Rbc1 Nxf3+ 24.Qxf3 Rc4 25.Ne2 b4 26.Qg4 Bg5 27.f3 f5 28.exf6 Nxf6 29.Bxg5 hxg5 30.Qxg5 Qd6 31.Bd3 Rxc1 32.Rxc1 Ba6 33.Bxa6 Qxa6 34.Rc7 1-0

                        Game 104, Nov. 24
                        Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Ding, Liren
                        D45 QGD, Semi-Slav

                        1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O e5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.e4 exd4 11.Nxd5 Nxd5 12.exd5 h6 13.Nxd4 Qh4 14.Nf3 Qh5 15.Bh7+ Kh8 16.Qf5 Qxf5 17.Bxf5 Nf6 18.Bxc8 Rfxc8 19.Rd1 Rd8 20.Be3 Be7 21.d6 Bxd6 22.Kf1 Kg8 23.Rac1 a6 24.Rc4 Rd7 25.g3 Rc7 26.Rxc7 Bxc7 27.Rd3 Rd8 28.Rb3 b5 29.Ra3 a5 30.Rc3 Nd5 31.Rc5 b4 32.Ke2 a4 33.Bd4 a3 34.bxa3 bxa3 35.Rb5 Ne7 36.Bc5 Rd5 37.Nd4 Nf5 38.Nb3 g5 39.Rb4 Bd6 40.Bxd6 Nxd6 41.Rd4 Re5+ 42.Kd3 Nf5 43.Ra4 Re1 44.Rxa3 Rh1 45.Ra5 Ng7 46.a4 Rxh2 47.Ke3 Ne6 48.Rb5 Rh1 49.a5 Re1+ 50.Kd2 Re4 51.a6 Ra4 52.Ra5 Rxa5 53.Nxa5 Nc7 54.a7 h5 55.Ke3 Kg7 56.Nc4 Kg6 57.Nb6 Kf5 58.Kf3 g4+ 59.Kg2 Kg5 60.a8=Q Nxa8 61.Nxa8 f5 62.Nc7 h4 63.gxh4+ Kxh4 64.Ne6 1-0

                        Final Position, White wins in 20 moves

                        

                        Round Fourteen

                        Results of Round Fourteen

                        105 MVL-Ding 0.5-0.5
                        106 Giri-Duda 0.5-0.5
                        107 Karjakin-Aronian 0-1
                        108 Nakamura-Firouzja 1-0
                        109 Le-Anton 1-0
                        110 Vidit-Radjabov 0.5-0.5
                        111 So-Carlsen 0.5-0.5
                        112 Svidler-Nepo 0-1

                        Game 107, Nov. 24
                        Karjakin, Sergey – Aronian, Levon
                        A45 Trompovsky Attack

                        1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.dxc5 e6 5.e4 h6 6.Bh4 dxe4 7.Nxe4 Qa5+ 8.Nd2 Qxc5 9.Ngf3 Nbd7 10.Bd3 b6 11.Qe2 Bb7 12.O-O-O Be7 13.Kb1 Rc8 14.Rhe1 O-O 15.g4 Rfd8 16.g5 hxg5 17.Bxg5 Nd5 18.Rg1 Bxg5 19.Rxg5 Qb4 20.Ne4 Nf4 21.Qe3 Nxd3 22.cxd3 Bxe4 23.dxe4 Nf6 24.Nd4 g6 25.a3 Qa4 26.Rd2 e5 27.Rxe5 Ng4 28.Qf4 Nxe5 29.Qxe5 Qc4 30.Rd1 Rc6 31.b3 Qc3 0-1

                        Levon Aronian celebrates with his dog Ponchik after a 3rd win today!

                        Nakamura finds the brilliant 31.Qxb7 and wins the game

                        Game 108, Nov. 24
                        Nakamura, Hikaru – Firouzja, Alireza
                        B19 Caro-Kann, Classical, Spassky variation

                        1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bf4 Qa5+ 12.Bd2 Bb4 13.c3 Be7 14.c4 Qb6 15.Bc3 Ngf6 16.Ne5 Rd8 17.Qe2 Bb4 18.O-O Bxc3 19.bxc3 O-O 20.Rab1 Qc7 21.f4 c5 22.Qf3 Nb6 23.Rfd1 Nfd7 24.Ne4 cxd4 25.cxd4 f5 26.Nc5 Nxc5 27.dxc5 Qxc5+ 28.Kh2 Qc7 29.a4 Rxd1 30.Rxd1 Rd8 31.Qxb7 Qxb7 32.Rxd8+ Kh7 33.Ng6 Qc8 34.Rxc8 Nxc8 35.c5 Kg8 36.Kg3 Kf7 37.Kf3 Ke8 38.Ke3 Kd7 39.Kd4 a6 40.Ke5 Kc6 41.Kxe6 Kxc5 42.Kf7 Kb4 43.Kxg7 1-0

                        Position after Nakamura’s 31.Qxb7

                        

                        Game 109, Nov. 24
                        Le, Quang Liem – Anton Guijarro, David
                        C83 Ruy Lopez, open, Classical

                        1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Be7 10.c3 O-O 11.Bc2 f5 12.Nb3 Qd7 13.Nfd4 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 c5 15.Nxe6 Qxe6 16.f3 Ng5 17.Bxg5 Bxg5 18.f4 Be7 19.Qf3 Rad8 20.Rfd1 g6 21.Rd2 Rd7 22.Rad1 Rfd8 23.h3 h5 24.g4 hxg4 25.hxg4 fxg4 26.Qh1 Bf8 27.Qh4 Bg7 28.Qg5 Kf7 29.Re2 Re7 30.f5 gxf5 31.Bxf5 Qh6 32.Bg6+ 1-0

                        Game 112, Nov. 24
                        Svidler, Peter – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
                        B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

                        1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nb3 e6 7.g4 b5 8.Bg2 Bb7 9.g5 Nfd7 10.h4 b4 11.Ne2 Nc6 12.f4 h6 13.Be3 hxg5 14.hxg5 Rxh1+ 15.Bxh1 a5 16.Ned4 Nxd4 17.Nxd4 Nc5 18.Qg4 g6 19.O-O-O Qd7 20.e5 Bxh1 21.Rxh1 dxe5 22.fxe5 Qd5 23.Qf3 Rd8 24.Qxd5 Rxd5 25.Nf3 Nd7 26.Bf4 Bc5 27.Rd1 Nb6 28.c3 bxc3 29.bxc3 Kd7 30.Nd2 Kc6 31.Kc2 Rd7 32.Rf1 Nd5 33.Nc4 Kb5 34.Nd6+ Bxd6 35.exd6 Kc6 36.Bd2 Kxd6 37.c4 Rc7 38.Bxa5 Rxc4+ 39.Kb3 Rg4 40.Rxf7 Rxg5 41.a4 Rg3+ 42.Kc4 Kc6 43.Be1 Ra3 44.Bd2 Rxa4+ 45.Kd3 Kd6 46.Ke2 Ke5 47.Rg7 Kf5 48.Rf7+ Ke4 49.Rg7 Ra2 50.Ke1 Kf5 51.Rf7+ Nf6 52.Bc3 e5 53.Re7 Ng4 54.Re8 g5 55.Bd2 Nh2 56.Rf8+ Ke4 0-1

                        (to be continued)

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Skilling Open 2020

                          November 24, 2020

                          Day Three (continued)

                          Round Fifteen

                          Results of Round Fifteen

                          113 Nepo-MVL 0.5-0.5
                          114 Carlsen-Svidler 0.5-0.5
                          115 Radjabov-So 0.5-0.5
                          116 Anton-Vidit 0-1
                          117 Firouzja-Le 0-1
                          118 Aronian-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
                          119 Duda-Karjakin 0-1
                          120 Ding-Giri 0.5-0.5

                          Game 116, Nov. 24
                          Anton Guijarro, David – Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi
                          E46 Nimzo-Indian

                          1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd2 d5 6.Nf3 b6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bd3 Re8 9.O-O Bd6 10.Rc1 a6 11.Ne5 Bxe5 12.dxe5 Rxe5 13.e4 Bg4 14.Qc2 d4 15.Nd5 c5 16.Bf4 Rh5 17.f3 Be6 18.Nc7 Ra7 19.Nxe6 fxe6 20.g4 e5 21.Bg3 Rg5 22.h4 Rg6 23.Bxe5 Nc6 24.Bh2 Nb4 25.Bc4+ Kh8 26.Qd2 Qe7 27.Qf4 Ra8 28.a3 Nc6 29.Kh1 Rf8 30.Qc7 Qxc7 31.Bxc7 Nd7 32.Bxa6 Nce5 33.Bb5 Rc8 34.Bxd7 Rxc7 35.Bf5 Rh6 36.Kh2 g6 37.g5 Rxh4+ 38.Bh3 Rf7 39.Kg3 Rhf4 40.Bg2 c4 41.a4 Kg7 42.Rfd1 d3 43.b3 cxb3 44.Rb1 Nxf3 45.Rxd3 Nxg5 46.Re3 h5 47.e5 Rg4+ 48.Kh2 Rf2 49.Rg3 Rxg3 50.Kxg3 Rd2 51.Rxb3 h4+ 52.Kxh4 Rxg2 53.Rxb6 Nf3+ 54.Kh3 Re2 55.a5 Nxe5 56.a6 Ra2 57.Kg3 Kh6 58.Rd6 Ra3+ 59.Kh4 Nd3 60.a7 Nf2 61.Rxg6+ Kxg6 62.a8=Q Rh3# 0-1

                          Firouzja’s game was the one to watch. Le outplayed him but Firouzja went down fighting. It turned out that if Le won, neither player made the final cut. Le gives Alireza credit for not playing safe but for going in to a game with chances.

                          Game 117, Nov. 24
                          Firouzja, Alireza – Le, Quang Liem
                          A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

                          1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Bf5 4.O-O c6 5.d3 h6 6.c4 e6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Qb3 Qb6 9.Qc2 Be7 10.Nc3 O-O 11.e4 Bh7 12.Be3 Qa6 13.Rfd1 Nbd7 14.exd5 cxd5 15.Qb3 Rfd8 16.Qb5 Qxb5 17.Nxb5 a6 18.Nc3 Rac8 19.Bh3 g5 20.Nd4 g4 21.Bf1 Kg7 22.Bf4 Bc5 23.Nb3 d4 24.Ne2 Bb6 25.Bg2 Nc5 26.Nxc5 Rxc5 27.Rac1 Rxc1 28.Bxc1 Nd5 29.Nf4 Nxf4 30.Bxf4 Rd7 31.f3 h5 32.fxg4 hxg4 33.h3 gxh3 34.Bxh3 Re7 35.Kf2 Bc7 36.Bxc7 Rxc7 37.Rd2 Kf6 38.Bg2 b6 39.Kf3 Kg5 40.Kf2 Re7 41.Bf1 Re6 42.Be2 Rc6 43.Bf3 Rf6 44.Kg2 Re6 45.Kf2 Re3 46.Be2 Bf5 47.Kg2 Bg4 48.Bf1 Re1 49.Kf2 Rb1 50.a3 a5 51.Bg2 Be6 52.Bc6 Rc1 53.Bf3 Bf5 54.Bd5 f6 55.Be4 Bh3 56.Bf3 f5 57.Be2 Rh1 58.Bf3 Rf1+ 59.Ke2 f4 60.gxf4+ Kxf4 61.Be4 Kg3 62.b4 Ra1 63.Rb2 a4 64.b5 Rxa3 65.Rb4 Ra2+ 66.Kd1 a3 67.Bd5 Bg4+ 68.Kc1 Ra1+ 69.Kc2 a2 70.Ra4 Bd1+ 71.Kb2 Bxa4 72.Kxa1 Bxb5 73.Kxa2 Bxd3 74.Kb3 Kf2 75.Kb4 Ke3 76.Bb3 Be2 77.Ba4 b5 78.Bb3 Bc4 79.Bd1 Kd2 80.Bf3 d3 0-1

                          Position after White’s 61.Be4

                          

                          Game 119, Nov. 24
                          Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Karjakin, Sergey
                          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 Qxd1 11.Rfxd1 b6 12.Ne5 Bb7 13.f3 Nh5 14.b4 Na6 15.a3 Nb8 16.Nb5 g5 17.Bg3 Nxg3 18.hxg3 Nc6 19.Nxf7 Kxf7 20.Nc7 Kf6 21.Nxa8 Bxa8 22.Rac1 a5 23.Bb5 Ne5 24.Rc7 axb4 25.axb4 Bxb4 26.Rxh7 Bc5 27.Rh6+ Ke7 28.Rh7+ Rf7 29.Rxf7+ Nxf7 30.Kf2 Nd6 31.Bd3 Nf5 32.Bxf5 exf5 33.Ke2 Bc6 34.Rh1 Be8 35.Rh7+ Bf7 36.Kd3 b5 37.e4 fxe4+ 38.Kxe4 b4 39.Kd3 b3 40.Kc3 Bf2 41.f4 g4 42.Rh4 Kf6 43.Rh6+ Kf5 44.Rh7 Kg6 45.Rh4 Be1+ 46.Kb2 Be6 47.Rxg4+ Bxg4 48.f5+ Kxf5 49.Kxb3 Bxg3 50.Kc4 Ke4 51.Kc5 Be2 52.Kc6 Bf1 53.Kc5 Bxg2 54.Kc4 Be5 55.Kc5 Kd3 56.Kb5 Bd4 57.Kb4 Bc6 58.Ka5 Kc4 59.Ka6 Bc3 60.Kb6 Kd5 61.Kc7 Kc5 62.Kc8 Kb6 63.Kd8 Bf6+ 64.Kc8 Bb5 65.Kb8 Bd7 66.Ka8 Bg7 0-1

                          Game 120, Nov. 24
                          Ding, Liren – Giri, Anish
                          A11 English, Caro-Kann Defensive System

                          1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c6 3.Bg2 d5 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.O-O Nbd7 6.Na3 Nb6 7.Qc2 Be6 8.Ne5 h5 9.Naxc4 Nxc4 10.Nxc4 h4 11.Ne5 hxg3 12.hxg3 Qd4 13.Qc3 Qd6 14.d4 Rd8 15.Qa5 Bh3 16.Qxa7 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 Qxd4 18.Qxd4 Rxd4 19.Be3 Rd5 20.f4 g5 21.a4 gxf4 22.gxf4 Nd7 23.Nc4 Bg7 24.Rad1 b5 25.axb5 Rxb5 26.Rd2 Nf6 27.Ra1 Nd5 28.Ra8+ Kd7 29.Rxh8 Bxh8 30.Kf3 Rb4 31.Nb6+ Ke6 32.Nxd5 cxd5 33.Bc5 Rb3+ 34.e3 Bxb2 35.f5+ Kxf5 36.Rxd5+ e5 37.Ba7 Ke6 38.Ra5 Bd4 39.Bxd4 exd4 40.Ke4 Rxe3+ 41.Kxd4 Re1 42.Ra2 f6 43.Rb2 Kf7 44.Rf2 Kg6 45.Rg2+ Kh5 46.Rf2 Kg5 47.Rg2+ Kf5 48.Rf2+ Ke6 49.Ra2 Ke7 50.Ra7+ Ke6 51.Ra2 f5 52.Ra6+ Kf7 53.Kd3 Kg7 54.Kd2 Re5 55.Kd3 Kf7 56.Rb6 Re7 57.Ra6 Kg7 58.Rb6 f4 59.Rb4 f3 60.Rf4 Rf7 61.Rxf7+ Kxf7 62.Ke3 f2 63.Kxf2 1/2-1/2

                          The eight finalists:

                          1-2 Carlsen, Nakamura 9
                          3-5 So, Nepo, Aronian 8.5
                          6-8 Radjabov, MVL, Giri 8

                          The rest of the field:

                          9-10 Firouzja, Le 8
                          11 Ding 7.5
                          12-13 Vidit, Anton
                          14 Svidler
                          15 Karjakin 5.5
                          16 Duda 4.5

                          The pairings for the quarterfinal knockout round

                          Carlsen vs. Giri
                          Nakamura vs. MVL
                          So vs. Radjabov
                          Nepo vs. Aronian

                          Quarterfinals Nov. 25-26
                          Semifinals Nov. 27-28
                          Finals Nov. 29-30

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            After playing like Tal against Ding and Rubinstein against Giri and Karjakhin, one missed step by Firoujza against Nakamura and he's out. Groan!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Peter Svidler's not that bad. These guys are heavy hitters.

                              Comment

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