Opera Euro Rapid 2021

[Wayne Komer]

Opera Euro Rapid 2021

February 3, 2021

From the official site:

https://championschesstour.com/next-...on-february-6/

The Opera Euro Rapid, the next stage on the $1.5 million tour, kicks off on February 6 and carries a $100,000 prize pot, Play Magnus Group revealed today.

Sixteen of the world’s top online chess players will be taking part, with the line-up topped by World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen.

The Opera Euro Rapid starts on February 6 and ends February 15

But in a first for Meltwater Champions Chess Tour events, all the participants will be offered the same fast and lightweight Opera browser.

“Online chess is now an established eSport that requires serious tech and Opera’s browser is exactly that,” Tour Director Arne Horvei said.

“The Tour now has two tournaments in the top three most watched chess events in recent history alongside the latest World Chess Championship.

“We believe the partnership with Opera – whose products are known, trusted and used worldwide by millions of people every month – represents a massive opportunity to accelerate the popularity of the Tour and chess.

“We are excited to have Opera as the title partner for the Opera Euro Rapid and the Official Browser Partner of the Tour moving forward.”

Meltwater Chess Champions Tour schedule

Preliminaries, Day 1 Feb. 6
Preliminaries, Day 2 Feb. 7
Preliminaries, Day 3 Feb. 8
Quarterfinals, Day 1 Feb. 9
Quarterfinals, Day 2 Feb. 10
Semifinals Day 1 Feb. 11
Semifinals Day 2 Feb. 12
Finals Day 1 Feb. 13
Finals Day 2 Feb. 14/15

All rounds begin at 11:00 ET, 5:00 PM CET

16 participants will play a single round robin and 8 of them will advance to a knockout event.
Time control is 15+10.
Opera is a fast and lightweight browser that provides players with data to identify and fix any potential performance problems.

All arbiters and tournament controllers involved in the event will be required to use it and Opera will be the official browser of the tour.

Chess as an eSport

Krystian Kolondra, EVP Browsers at Opera, said: “Gaming and eSports are becoming an increasingly important part of the browser experience.

“Chess streaming experienced explosive growth in 2020, and the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour on chess24.com garnered massive viewership.

“As many of our users are gamers, eSports and chess fans, we believe partnering with the Play Magnus Group and the Tour is a perfect fit for us. We can’t wait to see the games that will be played out during the Opera Euro Rapid.”

The Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, organised by the Play Magnus Group, is the first full season of online chess events.

It comprises nine Regular and Major tournaments culminating in a $300,000 Final which starts in September.

All matches are played in a rapid chess format with blitz and “armageddon” tie-breaks if needed.

Coverage is broadcast in nine languages on chess24.com’s Twitch and YouTube platforms, live on TV 2 in Norway and in 70 countries worldwide by the Eurosport TV network.

Azerbaijani Grandmaster Teimour Radjabov currently leads the tour standings ahead of the American Wesley So.

World Champion Magnus Carlsen is fourth.

There are three new names on the Tour appearing in the Opera Euro Rapid: US stars Sam Shankland and Leinier Dominguez and German number 1 Matthias Bluebaum.

Six entries were given wildcards and two were voted in by chess24.com Premium members.

# Player

1 Teimour Radjabov
2 Wesley So
3 Levon Aronian
4 Magnus Carlsen
5 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
6 Hikaru Nakamura
7 Ian Nepomniachtchi
8 Daniil Dubov
9 Ding Liren
10 Alexander Grischuk
11 Anish Giri
12 Vidit Gujrathi
13 Jan-Krzysztof Duda
14 Sam Shankland
15 Leinier Dominguez
16 Matthias Bluebaum

Prizes

Winner $30,000
Runner-up $15,000
3^rd place $8,500
4^th place $6,500
Quarterfinals $5,000
Preliminaries $2,500

See also:

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/wes...tarts-saturday

[Wayne Komer]

Opera Euro Rapid 2021

February 5, 2021

Pairings Schedule

Preliminaries Day 1 Feb. 6

Round 1

MVL-Dubov
So-Carlsen
Aronian-Ding
Bluebaum-Radjabov
Shankland-Vidit
Dominguez-Nakamura
Duda-Nepomniachtchi
Grischuk-Giri

Round 2

Dubov-Giri
Nepo-Grischuk
Nakamura-Duda
Vidit-Dominguez
Radjabov-Shankland
Ding-Bluebaum
Carlsen-Aronian
MVL-So

Round 3

So-Dubov
Aronian-MVL
Bluebaum-Carlsen
Shankland-Ding
Dominguez-Radjabov
Duda-Vidit
Grischuk-Nakamura
Giri-Nepo

Round 4

Dubov-Nepo
Nakamura-Giri
Vidit-Grischuk
Radjabov-Duda
Ding-Domingue
Carlsen-Shankland
MVL-Bluebaum
So-Aronian

Round 5

Aronian-Dubov
Bluebaum-So
Shankland-MVL
Dominguez-Carlsen
Duda-Ding
Grischuk-Radjabov
Giri-Vidit
Nepo-Nakamura

Preliminaries Day 2 Feb. 7

Round 6

Dubov-Nakamura
Vidit-Nepo
Radjabov-Giri
Ding-Grischuk
Carlsen-Duda
MVL-Dominguez
So-Shankland
Aronian-Bluebaum

Round 7

Bluebaum-Dubov
Shankland-Aronian
Dominguez-So
Duda-MVL
Grischuk-Carlsen
Giri-Ding
Nepo-Radjabov
Nakamura-Vidit

Round 8

Dubov-Vidit
Radjabov-Nakamura
Ding-Nepo
Carlsen-Giri
MVL-Grischuk
So-Duda
Aronian-Dominguez
Bluebaum-Shankland

Round 9

Shankland-Dubov
Dominguez-Bluebaum
Duda-Aronian
Grischuk-So
Giri-MVL
Nepo-Carlsen
Nakamura-Ding
Vidit-Radjabov

Round 10

Dubov-Radjabov
Ding-Vidit
Carlsen-Nakamura
MVL-Nepo
So-Giri
Aronian-Grischuk
Bluebaum-Duda
Shankland-Dominguez

Preliminaries Day 3 Feb. 8

Round 11

Dominguez-Dubov
Duda-Shankland
Grischuk-Bluebaum
Giri-Aronian
Nepo-So
Nakamura-MVL
Vidit-Carlsen
Radjabov-Ding

Round 12

Dubov-Ding
Carlsen-Radjabov
MVL-Vidit
So-Nakamura
Aronian-Nepo
Bluebaum-Giri
Shankland-Grischuk
Dominguez-Duda

Round 13

Duda-Dubov
Grischuk-Dominguez
Giri-Shankland
Nepo-Bluebaum
Nakamura-Aronian
Vidit-So
Radjabov-MVL
Ding-Carlsen

Round 14

Dubov-Carlsen
MVL-Ding
So-Radjabov
Aronian-Vidit
Bluebaum-Nakamura
Shankland-Nepo
Dominguez-Giri
Duda-Grischuk

Round 15

Grischuk-Dubov
Giri-Duda
Nepo-Dominguez
Nakamura-Shankland
Vidit-Bluebaum
Radjabov-Aronian
Ding-So
Carlsen-MVL

The top eight from this round-robin go on to the quarterfinals.

[Wayne Komer]

Opera Euro Rapid 2021

February 6, 2021

Preliminaries Day 1 Feb. 6

Round 1

MVL-Dubov 1-0
So-Carlsen 1-0
Aronian-Ding 1-0
Bluebaum-Radjabov 0.5-0.5
Shankland-Vidit 1-0
Dominguez-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
Duda-Nepomniachtchi 0-1
Grischuk-Giri 0.5-0.5

Round 1, Feb. 6
MVL – Dubov, Daniil
C55 Two Knight’s Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.O-O d6 6.a4 O-O 7.Re1 Be6 8.a5 a6 9.h3 h6 10.Nbd2 Nh7 11.Nf1 Ng5 12.Bxg5 Bxg5 13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.c3 Be7 15.N1h2 Qd7 16.b4 Kh8 17.Ra2 Rad8 18.Rae2 Rf7 19.Re3 Rdf8 20.R1e2 Rf4 21.g3 R4f7 22.Kg2 Bf6 23.Ng4 Qe7 24.h4 h5 25.Nxf6 gxf6 26.d4 Rg7 27.Rb2 Qe8 28.dxe5 Nxe5 29.Nxe5 dxe5 30.Rd2 Qg6 31.Rd8 Rgg8 32.Rxf8 Rxf8 33.Qd7 Qf7 34.Rd3 Kg7 35.f3 f5 36.Qxf7+ Rxf7 37.c4 Kf6 38.Rd8 Rg7 39.Rf8+ Rf7 40.Rh8 Kg6 41.Rd8 Kf6 42.b5 Rg7 43.Rf8+ Ke7 44.Rb8 Kd6 45.Rxb7 axb5 46.cxb5 f4 47.a6 Rxg3+ 48.Kf2 Rh3 49.b6 cxb6 50.Rxb6+ Kc5 51.Rxe6 Rh2+ 52.Kg1 Ra2 53.Rxe5+ Kd4 54.Rxh5 Ke3 55.Rh6 Kxf3 56.h5 Kxe4 57.Re6+ Kf5 58.h6 Ra1+ 59.Kf2 Ra2+ 60.Ke1 Ra1+ 61.Kd2 Ra2+ 62.Kc3 Ra1 63.h7 Rh1 64.a7 Rh3+ 65.Kc4 1-0

Round 1, Feb. 6
So, Wesley – Carlsen, Magnus
B52 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 g6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg7 9.f3 O-O 10.Be3 Rc8 11.b3 Nc6 12.O-O Qd8 13.Qd2 Qa5 14.Rfd1 Nd7 15.Nde2 a6 16.a4 e6 17.Rab1 Rd8 18.Bg5 Re8 19.Bf4 Nde5 20.h3 Rad8 21.Kh2 Qb4 22.Bg5 f6 23.Be3 Nf7 24.f4 f5 25.exf5 gxf5 26.Nd4 d5 27.cxd5 exd5 28.Bg1 Nd6 29.Qd3 Ne4 30.Nce2 Nxd4 31.Bxd4 Bxd4 32.Nxd4 Kh8 33.Rbc1 Qd6 34.Qe3 Ng5 35.Qf2 Ne4 36.Qh4 Rf8 37.Rc2 Qg6 38.Rc7 Rg8 39.Rg1 Rc8 40.Rxb7 Rc3 41.Ne6 Rc2 42.Ng5 Rg7 43.Rb8+ Rg8 44.Rxg8+ Kxg8 45.Nxe4 dxe4 46.Kh1 Kg7 47.g4 Kf7 48.gxf5 Qxf5 49.Rg5 Rc1+ 50.Kg2 Rc2+ 51.Kf1 Rc1+ 52.Ke2 Rc2+ 53.Ke1 1-0

Round 1, Feb. 6
Aronian, Levon – Ding, Liren
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf, Lipnitzky Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Be3 b5 8.Bb3 Be7 9.a3 O-O 10.h4 Bb7 11.h5 h6 12.f3 Nc6 13.Qe2 Na5 14.g4 Rc8 15.g5 hxg5 16.h6 g6 17.h7+ Kh8 18.Bxe6 fxe6 19.Nxe6 Qd7 20.Nxf8 Bxf8 21.O-O-O Rxc3 22.bxc3 Qe6 23.Bxg5 Nh5 24.Rxh5 gxh5 25.e5 Kxh7 26.Qd3+ Qg6 27.exd6 Bxd6 28.Qxd6 Qxg5+ 29.f4 Qg7 30.Qd3+ Kh6 31.Qd6+ Kh7 32.Qd8 Nc6 33.Qe8 1-0

Round 1, Feb. 6
Shankland, Sam – Vidit, Santosh Gurathi
D41 QGD, Semi-Tarrasch

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 cxd4 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.Bg5 Be7 8.e3 O-O 9.Qa4 h6 10.Bh4 Be6 11.Bd3 Nc6 12.O-O Qb6 13.Ne2 Bd7 14.Qb5 Nb4 15.Qxb6 axb6 16.Bb1 g5 17.Bg3 Ne4 18.Rd1 Ba4 19.Rc1 Rfc8 20.Nc3 Nxc3 21.bxc3 Nc6 22.Bf5 Re8 23.Rab1 Ba3 24.Re1 b5 25.h4 gxh4 26.Nxh4 Bf8 27.Bd3 b4 28.Rec1 bxc3 29.Rxb7 d4 30.Nf5 dxe3 31.fxe3 Nb4 32.Bc4 Kh8 33.Rxc3 Rac8 34.Bh4 Bc6 35.Bf6+ Kh7 36.Rxf7+ Kg6 37.Nh4+ Kh5 38.Be2+ 1-0

Round 1 of the #OperaEuroRapid was a bloodbath! Remember, after 3 days half of the 16 players will be eliminated:

Round 2

Dubov-Giri 0.5-0.5
Nepo-Grischuk 1-0
Nakamura-Duda 0.5-0.5
Vidit-Dominguez 1-0
Radjabov-Shankland 1-0
Ding-Bluebaum 0.5-0.5
Carlsen-Aronian 1-0
MVL-So 1-0

Round 2, Feb. 6
Nepomniachtchi, Ian – Grischuk, Alexander
B94 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Qe2 h6 8.Bh4 g6 9.O-O-O e5 10.Nb3 Be7 11.Kb1 b5 12.f3 Bb7 13.a3 Rc8 14.Qd2 Kf8 15.Bf2 Kg7 16.g4 Nb6 17.h4 d5 18.Bxb6 Qxb6 19.Nxd5 Nxd5 20.exd5 Rhd8 21.Bd3 Bxd5 22.Qe2 Qf6 23.Nd2 Qf4 24.h5 g5 25.Rhe1 b4 26.Qxe5+ Qxe5 27.Rxe5 Bf6 28.Rxd5 Rxd5 29.axb4 Rb8 30.Bc4 Rd6 31.c3 Rbd8 32.Kc2 Be5 33.Be2 Bf4 34.Ne4 Rxd1 35.Bxd1 Re8 36.Nc5 Rd8 37.Ne4 Re8 38.Kd3 Rd8+ 39.Ke2 Bc1 40.b3 Bf4 41.Bc2 Kf8 42.Bd3 Ra8 43.Nc5 a5 44.b5 Ke7 45.c4 Kd6 46.Na4 Ke5 47.c5 Kd4 48.Be4 Re8 49.Kf2 Re5 50.b6 Rxc5 51.Nxc5 Kxc5 52.b7 Kd4 53.Ke2 Kc3 54.Bd5 Kd4 55.Bxf7 Bb8 56.Kd2 Bf4+ 57.Kc2 Be5 58.Kb2 Bd6 59.Bg8 Kd3 60.Bf7 Kd4 61.Bg6 Bc7 62.Ka3 Kc5 63.Ka4 Kb6 64.Be4 Bd6 65.Bd5 Ka6 66.Be6 Kb6 67.Bc8 Bf4 68.Ka3 Kc5 69.Bf5 Bd6 70.Ka4 Kb6 71.Bc8 Bf4 72.b4 axb4 73.Kxb4 Kc6 74.Kc4 Be5 75.Bf5 Kxb7 76.Kd5 Bb2 77.Ke6 Kc7 78.Kf7 Kd6 79.Kg6 Ke7 80.Kxh6 Kf6 81.Bc2 Ba3 82.Kh7 Bf8 83.Bb3 Bg7 84.h6 Bf8 85.Ba2 1-0

Round 2, Feb. 6
Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi – Dominguez Perez, Leinier
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.Rc1 Bb7 9.Bd3 Re8 10.O-O Bf8 11.Ne5 c5 12.f4 Nc6 13.Ne2 Rc8 14.Be1 cxd4 15.exd4 Ne4 16.Bb5 Re6 17.h3 f6 18.Nxc6 Bxc6 19.Ba6 Rc7 20.f5 Re8 21.Nf4 Ba4 22.b3 Rxc1 23.Qxc1 Bd7 24.Nxd5 Bd6 25.Bd3 Qb8 26.Nc3 Nxc3 27.Bxc3 Bh2+ 28.Kh1 Bg3 29.Bd2 Rc8 30.Bc4+ Kh8 31.Qd1 Qd6 32.Qg4 Re8 33.Be6 Bxe6 34.fxe6 Rxe6 35.Bb4 Qxb4 36.Qxe6 h6 37.Qc8+ Kh7 38.Qf5+ Kg8 39.Qd5+ Kh7 40.Qe4+ Kg8 41.Rc1 Kf7 42.Qd3 Qd6 43.Rc3 Bf2 44.Qc4+ Kg6 45.Rf3 Bh4 46.d5 Bg5 47.h4 1-0

Round 2, Feb. 6
Radjabov, Teimour – Shankland, Sam
D23 QGA

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Qc2 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bf5 6.g3 e6 7.Bg2 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Nc3 Nbd7 10.Bf4 Qb6 11.Nh4 Bg4 12.e4 Rfe8 13.h3 Bh5 14.Rab1 Bf8 15.Be3 e5 16.d5 Qb4 17.Qxb4 Bxb4 18.dxc6 bxc6 19.Rfc1 Rec8 20.Nf5 Bg6 21.a3 Bf8 22.Na4 c5 23.Rc2 Nd5 24.Bd2 N5b6 25.Nc3 c4 26.Be3 Nc5 27.g4 Rab8 28.Bf1 Rd8 29.Nb5 Rd7 30.Bxc5 Bxc5 31.b4 Bd4 32.Bxc4 Bxf5 33.exf5 Nxc4 34.Rxc4 Bb6 35.Nc3 Rd3 36.Kg2 Bd4 37.Rc1 f6 38.Rc2 h5 39.Ne4 hxg4 40.hxg4 Rxa3 41.g5 Ra6 42.Rc8+ Rxc8 43.Rxc8+ Kf7 44.g6+ Ke7 45.Rg8 1-0

Round 2, Feb. 6
Carlsen, Magnus – Aronian, Levon
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 O-O 8.e3 Bf5 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nbd7 11.Qb5 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Nb6 13.Nd2 Qd7 14.Qxd7 Nfxd7 15.a4 a5 16.Ke2 Rfe8 17.Rhb1 Re6 18.Bg3 c5 19.Rb5 c4 20.Bc7 Rc6 21.Bxb6 Nxb6 22.g4 Kf8 23.h4 Ke8 24.e4 Rd8 25.e5 f6 26.f4 g5 27.hxg5 hxg5 28.f5 fxe5 29.dxe5 d4 30.Rh1 dxc3 31.Ne4 c2 32.e6 Rd4 33.Re5 Nd5 34.Rxd5 Rxe4+ 35.Kd2 Rxg4 36.Rh8+ Ke7 37.Rh7+ Ke8 38.f6 c1=Q+ 39.Kxc1 Rg1+ 40.Kc2 Rg2+ 41.Kd1 Rg1+ 42.Kc2 Rg2+ 43.Kc3 Rg3+ 44.Kd4 Rd3+ 45.Ke5 Re3+ 46.Kf5 Rcxe6 47.Rh8+ 1-0

Round 2, Feb. 6
MVL – So, Wesley
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nbd2 Be6 7.O-O Bd6 8.Nb3 b6 9.d4 Nd7 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Nxe5 Bxe5 12.Qh5 Bf6 13.Rd1 Qc8 14.h3 O-O 15.e5 g6 16.Qe2 Bg7 17.Bf4 c5 18.Nd2 Qb7 19.Ne4 Bd5 20.Nf6+ Bxf6 21.exf6 Bxg2 22.Qg4 Qf3 23.Bh6 Qxg4 24.hxg4 Bf3 25.Bxf8 Bxd1 26.Rxd1 Rxf8 27.Rd7 g5 28.Rxc7 h6 29.Rxa7 Rd8 30.Ra6 Rd2 31.Rxb6 Rxc2 32.Kg2 Kh7 33.Kf3 Rc4 34.Rc6 Kg6 35.b3 Rc2 36.b4 Rc3+ 37.Ke2 Rc4 38.b5 Rxg4 39.a3 Rg1 40.b6 Ra1 41.Rc8 Rb1 42.Rb8 h5 43.b7 Kh7 44.a4 h4 45.Kf3 h3 46.Kg3 g4 47.a5 Rb3+ 48.Kh2 Rb2 49.a6 Rxf2+ 50.Kg3 Rg2+ 51.Kf4 h2 52.Rh8+ Kxh8 53.b8=Q+ Kh7 54.Qf8 1-0

5 wins for White in Round 2, and Ding Liren missed a win and Dubov took a draw in a won position!

(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

Opera Euro Rapid 2021

February 6, 2021

Preliminaries Day 1 Feb. 6 (continued)

Rounds Three to Five

Round 3

So-Dubov 1-0
Aronian-MVL 1-0
Bluebaum-Carlsen 0-1
Shankland-Ding 1-0
Dominguez-Radjabov 0.5-0.5
Duda-Vidit 0.5-0.5
Grischuk-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
Giri-Nepo

Round 3, Feb. 6
So, Wesley – Dubov, Daniil
B30 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.O-O Nge7 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Ng6 7.Be3 Qc7 8.Be2 Be7 9.c4 O-O 10.Nc3 b6 11.Rc1 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 Bb7 13.g3 Bf6 14.Qd3 Bxc3 15.Rxc3 f5 16.exf5 Rxf5 17.f3 Raf8 18.Qd1 Ne5 19.Bd4 g5 20.Qd2 g4 21.f4 Qc6 22.Kf2 Ng6 23.Bxg4 e5 24.Bxf5 exd4 25.Qxd4 Rxf5 26.Re3 Rc5 27.b3 b5 28.Re8+ Kf7 29.Rd8 Nf8 30.Rb8 Ne6 31.Qd3 Rh5 32.h4 bxc4 33.bxc4 Qc7 34.Rh8 Qb6+ 35.Ke1 Nc5 36.Qe2 Qa5+ 37.Kf2 Ne4+ 38.Kg1 Qb6+ 39.Kh2 Qg6 40.Rf3 Qg4 41.Re3 Qxe2+ 42.Rxe2 Bc6 43.Kh3 Kg7 44.Re8 d5 45.Re7+ Kf8 46.Rc7 Rh6 47.cxd5 Bxd5 48.Rb2 Nd6 49.Rb8+ Ne8 50.Rxa7 Rc6 51.Rxh7 Be6+ 52.g4 Rc3+ 53.Kh2 Bg8 54.Rh8 Re3 55.a4 Kg7 56.Rh5 Nf6 57.Rg5+ Kf7 58.a5 Bh7 59.Rb7+ Kf8 60.Rb6 Kf7 61.f5 Ne4 62.a6 Re2+ 63.Kg1 Nd2 64.Rb7+ Kf6 65.Rxh7 Nf3+ 66.Kf1 Rd2 67.Rh6+ Ke5 68.f6+ Kf4 69.Rf5+ Kg3 70.Rxf3+ Kxf3 71.Ke1 1-0

Round 3, Feb. 6
Aronian, Levon – MVL
B68 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer

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.f4 Be7 10.Nf3 b5 11.Kb1 b4 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Ne2 Be7 14.f5 exf5 15.exf5 Bxf5 16.Nf4 O-O 17.Bd3 Bxd3 18.Qxd3 Re8 19.h4 Ne5 20.Qb3 Qc8 21.Nd5 Rb8 22.Rd4 a5 23.Rf4 Bf8 24.Ng5 Qb7 25.Rd1 h6 26.Nf3 a4 27.Qxb4 Nxf3 28.Qxb7 Nd2+ 29.Kc1 Rxb7 30.Rxd2 a3 31.b4 Re1+ 32.Rd1 Re2 33.g3 g6 34.Rf3 Ra7 35.Rdd3 Re5 36.c4 Re1+ 37.Kd2 Ra1 38.Rxa3 Rxa2+ 39.Rxa2 Rxa2+ 40.Kc1 Bg7 41.b5 Ra4 42.b6 Rxc4+ 43.Kb1 Ra4 44.Rb3 1-0

Round 3, Feb. 6
Bluebaum, Matthias – Carlsen, Magnus
D05 Queen’s Pawn game, Rubinstein variation

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bd3 c5 5.b3 Nc6 6.O-O b6 7.Bb2 Bb7 8.Nbd2 Rc8 9.a3 cxd4 10.exd4 g6 11.Qe2 Bg7 12.Ne5 O-O 13.Rac1 Ne7 14.a4 Nf5 15.c3 Re8 16.Ba3 Qc7 17.Rc2 Ne4 18.Bb2 f6 19.Nef3 e5 20.dxe5 Nxd2 21.Qxd2 fxe5 22.Bxf5 gxf5 23.Nh4 f4 24.Nf5 Bf6 25.c4 d4 26.Nh6+ Kh8 27.f3 Rcd8 28.Rcc1 Bc8 29.h3 Qg7 30.Ng4 Bh4 31.Rcd1 h5 32.Nxe5 Rxe5 33.Bxd4 Rxd4 34.Qxd4 Bxh3 35.Rd2 Kh7 36.Rfd1 Bf5 37.b4 Be7 38.Qb2 Re3 39.Qxg7+ Kxg7 40.c5 bxc5 41.bxc5 Bxc5 42.Rd5 Rc3+ 43.Kh2 Kf6 44.a5 Bf2 45.Kh1 Ra3 46.Rd6+ Be6 47.Ra6 Ke5 48.Rc1 h4 49.Rb1 Bc4 50.Rh6 Bg3 51.Rd1 Bd3 52.a6 Bf5 53.Rc1 Kd4 54.Rf6 Bd3 55.Re6 Bxa6 56.Rd6+ Ke3 57.Re6+ Kd2 0-1

Round 3, Feb. 6
Shankland, Sam – Ding, Liren
E12 Queen’s Indian, Petrosian System

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Bb7 5.Bf4 c5 6.Nc3 cxd4 7.Qxd4 Nc6 8.Qd3 Nh5 9.Bg5 Be7 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Nb5 O-O 12.Nd6 Nd8 13.Rd1 Bc6 14.e3 Nf6 15.Be2 Nb7 16.O-O Nxd6 17.Qxd6 Qxd6 18.Rxd6 Bxf3 19.Bxf3 Rac8 20.b3 Rfd8 21.Rfd1 Kf8 22.Bc6 Ke7 23.Bb5 Rc7 24.R6d3 g5 25.f3 h5 26.Kf2 h4 27.e4 e5 28.b4 g4 29.a4 Rg8 30.Rd6 Rg6 31.Ke2 g3 32.h3 Rg8 33.Ke3 Ra8 34.a5 bxa5 35.bxa5 a6 36.Bxa6 Rca7 37.Bb5 Rxa5 38.f4 Ra3+ 39.R6d3 d6 40.c5 exf4+ 41.Kxf4 Rxd3 42.Rxd3 dxc5 43.e5 Ne8 44.Rd7+ Kf8 45.Kg5 Ng7 46.Bc4 Ne6+ 47.Kf6 Nd8 48.Bxf7 Nxf7 49.Rxf7+ Ke8 50.Rh7 Ra2 51.Rh8+ Kd7 52.e6+ Kc6 53.e7 Rf2+ 54.Kg5 1-0

Round 3, Feb. 6
Giri, Anish – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
B90 Sicilian Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a4 e5 7.Nf3 h6 8.g3 Be7 9.Bg2 Nc6 10.O-O O-O 11.Re1 Rb8 12.b3 b5 13.axb5 axb5 14.Nd5 Bg4 15.Bb2 Nxd5 16.exd5 Nd4 17.Bxd4 exd4 18.Qd3 Bxf3 19.Bxf3 Re8 20.Ra6 Bf8 21.Rf1 Qf6 22.h4 g6 23.h5 Re5 24.hxg6 fxg6 25.Be4 h5 26.Qxd4 Qf7 27.Bxg6 Qxd5 28.Qxd5+ Rxd5 29.Ra7 Rg5 30.Bh7+ Kh8 31.Bd3 Bg7 32.Kg2 Kg8 33.f4 Rc5 34.Re1 h4 35.g4 Rf8 36.Ree7 Bd4 37.Rad7 1-0

Standings after Round Three

1-8 Carlsen, MVL, Aronian, So, Radjabov, Giri, Shankland, Nepo 2
9-10 Vidit, Nakamura 1.5
11-14 Dominguez, Grischuk, Duda, Bluebaum 1
15-16 Dubov, Ding 0.5

Round 4

Dubov-Nepo 0.5-0.5
Nakamura-Giri 1-0
Vidit-Grischuk 0.5-0.5
Radjabov-Duda 0.5-0.5
Ding-Dominguez 1-0
Carlsen-Shankland 1-0
MVL-Bluebaum 0.5-0.5
So-Aronian 0.5-0.5

Round 4, Feb. 6
Dubov, Daniil – Nepomnichtchi, Ian
B93 Siclian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Qxd8+ Bxd8 10.Bg5 Nbd7 11.a4 h6 12.Bh4 Nxe4 13.Bxd8 Nxc3 14.Bc7 Nd5 15.Bd6 Ne3 16.Bd3 Nxg2+ 17.Kd2 Nf4 18.Rag1 g6 19.a5 Nxd3 20.cxd3 b6 21.Rc1 Bb7 22.Rhe1 bxa5 23.Rc7 Bg2 24.Nc5 Nxc5 25.Bxc5 f6 26.Rc1 Bh3 27.Re7+ Kd8 28.Rg7 Rc8 29.d4 exd4 30.Bb6+ Ke8 31.Re1+ Kf8 32.Ree7 Be6 33.Ra7 g5 34.Bxd4 Rg8 35.Rge7 Bb3 36.Reb7 Be6 37.Rxa6 Bf7 38.Rxf6 Rg7 39.Rxh6 Rg6 40.Rh7 Bd5 41.Rbd7 Be6 42.Bg7+ Ke8 43.Ra7 Rd8+ 44.Ke3 Rd7 45.Ra8+ Ke7 46.Rxa5 Bf7 47.Be5 Re6 48.Rg7 Rb7 49.Kf2 Rc6 50.Bc3 Rh6 51.Kg3 Rd7 52.Re5+ Kf8 53.Rgxg5 Rd3+ 54.Kf4 Be6 55.Re2 Rh4+ 56.Ke5 Rd5+ 57.Kxe6 Rxg5 58.Bf6 Rg6 59.Rd2 Re4+ 60.Kf5 Reg4 61.Ke6 Re4+ 62.Kf5 Reg4 63.h4 Rg2 64.Rd8+ Kf7 65.Rd7+ Ke8 66.Rd8+ Kf7 67.Rd7+ Ke8 68.Rb7 Rh6 69.Bg5 Rf2+ 70.Kg4 Re6 71.Kh5 Rf7 72.Rb8+ Kd7 73.Rd8+ Kc6 74.Rd4 Kc5 75.Ra4 Rb7 76.Ra2 Kc4 77.Kg4 Kb3 78.Ra3+ Kxb2 79.Re3 Rb4+ 80.Kh5 Rxe3 81.Bxe3 Kc2 1/2-1/2

Incredible position in Dubov-Nepo, with Black 4 pawns up but probably lost!

Round 4, Feb. 6
Nakamura, Hikaru – Giri, Anish
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 O-O 9.Nc3 Ne8 10.Nd5 Bd6 11.Re1 c6 12.Ne3 Be7 13.c4 Nc7 14.d4 d5 15.cxd5 Bb4 16.Bd2 Bxd2 17.Qxd2 Nxd5 18.Nxd5 Qxd5 19.Re5 Qd6 20.Bc4 Bd7 21.Rae1 b5 22.Bb3 a5 23.a3 a4 24.Ba2 Rae8 25.Qc3 Rxe5 26.dxe5 Qe7 27.Rd1 Be6 28.Bxe6 Qxe6 29.Rd6 Qf5 30.Rxc6 Rd8 31.h3 h6 32.Qe1 Rd5 33.e6 fxe6 34.Rxe6 Rd4 35.Re2 Kh7 36.Re7 Rc4 37.Re5 Qf4 38.Qb1+ Kg8 39.Re1 Rc8 40.Qd1 Kh8 41.g3 Qf5 42.Kg2 Rc2 43.Qd4 Kh7 44.Re7 Qg6 45.h4 Qc6+ 46.Kh2 Qg6 47.Re5 Qf6 48.Qd3+ Qg6 49.Qd4 Qf6 50.Kg1 Rc1+ 51.Kg2 Qc6+ 52.Qd5 Qxd5+ 53.Rxd5 b4 54.axb4 Rc4 55.Rb5 Rd4 56.h5 Kg8 57.Rb7 Kh7 58.Rb8 Rd5 59.Ra8 Rxh5 60.Ra5 1-0

Round 4, Feb. 6
Ding, Liren – Dominguez Perez, Leinier
A36 English, ultra-symmetrical variation

1.c4 c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.a3 b6 6.b4 Bb7 7.Bb2 d6 8.b5 Na5 9.Bxb7 Nxb7 10.Nf3 e6 11.Qc2 Nf6 12.h4 h5 13.Ne4 d5 14.Neg5 O-O 15.Ne5 Nd6 16.g4 d4 17.gxh5 Nxh5 18.Nxg6 fxg6 19.Qxg6 Nf6 20.Nxe6 Qe7 21.Nxf8 Rxf8 22.d3 Re8 23.O-O-O Qf7 24.Qxf7+ Kxf7 25.Rde1 Nf5 26.Kd1 Ng4 27.Ref1 Bh6 28.h5 Bf4 29.Rh3 Bh6 30.Rf3 Ke6 31.Rh1 Rg8 32.Bc1 Bxc1 33.Kxc1 Ngh6 34.Kd2 Rg4 35.a4 Nf7 36.Rfh3 N7h6 37.R3h2 Kd6 38.a5 Kc7 39.Ra1 Kb7 40.a6+ Kc7 41.Rf1 Kd6 42.Rhh1 Rg2 43.Ke1 Rg7 44.Rfg1 Re7 45.Rg6+ Re6 46.Rhg1 Ne7 47.Rxe6+ Kxe6 48.e3 Nhf5 49.e4 Nh4 50.Ke2 Kf6 51.Rg4 1-0

(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

Opera Euro Rapid 2021

February 6, 2021

Preliminaries Day 1 Feb. 6 (continued)

Round Five

Round 5

Aronian-Dubov 0-1
Bluebaum-So 0-1
Shankland-MVL 0.5-0.5
Dominguez-Carlsen 0-1
Duda-Ding 1-0
Grischuk-Radjabov 0.5-0.5
Giri-Vidit 1-0
Nepo-Nakamura 1-0

Round 5, Feb. 6
Aronian, Levon – Dubov, Daniil
B50 Sicilian

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 Bd7 5.d3 g6 6.O-O Bg7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Nbd2 Nc6 9.h3 e5 10.a3 Rc8 11.b4 b6 12.Re1 h6 13.Rc1 Re8 14.b5 Ne7 15.a4 Be6 16.d4 cxd4 17.cxd4 d5 18.dxe5 Nxe4 19.Nxe4 dxe4 20.Nd4 Bd5 21.Bf4 Bb7 22.Bc4 Nd5 23.e6 Rxc4 24.exf7+ Kxf7 25.Nc6 Bxc6 26.Rxc4 Bb7 27.Qb3 Kg8 28.Rd1 Re7 29.Rc6 Rd7 30.Rxd5 Rxd5 31.Rd6 Qa8 32.Rxg6 Kh7 33.Rxg7+ Kxg7 34.Qc3+ Kg6 35.Be5 Qf8 36.Bd4 Qd6 0-1

Round 5, Feb. 6
Bluebaum, Matthias – 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 Ra7 12.O-O Qa8 13.Bd2 Bd6 14.Nc3 Bc7 15.Qc2 O-O 16.Rfb1 Rc8 17.Ne2 Ne4 18.Be1 Ba5 19.Bxa5 Rxa5 20.Ng3 Nef6 21.Ra2 g6 22.Rba1 Rc7 23.Nd4 e5 24.Nb3 Raa7 25.a5 c4 26.Nd2 Rc5 27.Qb1 Ne8 28.Qb4 Nd6 29.b6 Ra6 30.Ne2 Qc6 31.Nc3 Nb7 32.h3 Nf6 33.Nf3 Nd7 34.Nd2 Kg7 35.Ra3 h5 36.h4 Nf6 37.Nf3 Ng4 38.Ne2 Qf6 39.Qc3 e4 40.Nd2 Rcxa5 41.Rxa5 Rxa5 42.Rxa5 Nxa5 43.Nb1 Kf8 44.Nf4 Qxh4 45.Nh3 Nc6 46.Qh8+ Ke7 47.Nc3 d4 48.exd4 e3 49.Nd5+ Kd7 50.Nxe3 Nxe3 51.b7 Qd8 52.Qg7 Nd5 53.Qxf7+ Nce7 54.Nf4 Kc6 55.Nxg6 Nxg6 56.Qxg6+ Kxb7 57.Qxh5 c3 58.Qe2 Qb6 59.Qc4 Qc6 60.Qb3+ Ka7 61.Qa2+ Kb6 62.Qb1+ Ka5 63.Qa2+ Kb5 64.Qe2+ Kb4 65.Qc2 Nf4 66.f3 Qg6 0-1

Round 5, Feb. 6
Dominguez Perez, Leinier – Carlsen, Magnus
B75 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 a6 8.Qd2 h5 9.Bc4 Nbd7 10.O-O-O b5 11.Bb3 Nc5 12.Kb1 Bb7 13.Rhe1 Rc8 14.Bg5 O-O 15.Nd5 e6 16.Nxf6+ Bxf6 17.h4 Bxg5 18.hxg5 Kg7 19.Qe3 Qc7 20.Rd2 b4 21.Red1 Rfd8 22.Qf4 Qe7 23.Ne2 a5 24.e5 d5 25.g4 hxg4 26.Qf6+ Qxf6 27.gxf6+ Kh6 28.Rh1+ Kg5 29.f4+ Kf5 30.Rf1 g5 31.Nd4+ Kg6 32.f5+ exf5 33.Nxf5 g3 34.Rg2 Ne4 35.Nxg3 Re8 36.Nxe4 dxe4 37.e6 fxe6 38.f7 Rf8 39.Bxe6 Rc5 40.Rg3 Re5 41.Bg4 e3 42.Kc1 Rxf7 43.Rxf7 Kxf7 44.Kd1 Kf6 45.Ke1 Bd5 46.a3 bxa3 47.bxa3 Be4 48.Rxe3 Bxc2 49.Kd2 Rxe3 50.Kxe3 Ke5 51.Bf3 Bf5 52.Bc6 Kd6 53.Bf3 Kc5 54.Be2 Bg6 55.Bf1 Bh5 56.Ke4 Bd1 57.Ke3 g4 58.Ba6 Bf3 59.Bf1 Bc6 60.Kf4 Kd4 61.Kxg4 Kc3 62.Kf5 Kb2 63.Ke5 Kxa3 64.Kd6 Be8 65.Kc5 a4 66.Bc4 Kb2 67.Kb4 a3 68.Bd5 Bg6 69.Be6 Bb1 70.Bd5 Ba2 71.Be4 Bf7 72.Bb1 Bb3 0-1

Tom Rendle - Kb1 is often a key move in the Sicilian, unfortunately here White missed the strong follow-up 13.Nf5! (now ...Nxb3 isn't check) with the idea of Bxc5 & Qg5.

28.Rd4!! here and it turns out Dominguez would be beating Magnus, but after 28.Rh1+ Magnus was better

Round 5, Feb. 6
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Ding, Liren
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 O-O 8.e3 Bf5 9.Be2 Nbd7 10.Qb3 Qe7 11.a3 Bxc3+ 12.Qxc3 Qe6 13.Nd2 Rfc8 14.O-O c5 15.Rfc1 c4 16.a4 Ne4 17.Nxe4 Bxe4 18.Qd2 Rc6 19.f3 Bg6 20.e4 Rac8 21.e5 Nf8 22.Ra3 Qd7 23.Rf1 Rb6 24.f4 Be4 25.Bd1 Rg6 26.Rf2 Bd3 27.Rxd3 cxd3 28.f5 Rgc6 29.Qxd3 Rc1 30.Rf1 R8c4 31.Be1 Rxa4 32.Bxa4 Qxa4 33.e6 Qe8 34.Qe3 Rc6 35.Bb4 Nh7 36.exf7+ Qxf7 37.Be7 Nf6 38.Bxf6 Qxf6 39.Qe5 Kh7 40.h3 Rc2 41.b3 Rd2 42.Rf4 b5 43.Qxd5 a6 44.Kh2 Rb2 45.Re4 Rf2 46.Re8 Qxf5 47.Qg8+ Kg6 48.Re6+ Kg5 1-0

Round 5, Feb. 6
Giri, Anish – Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi
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.Bb5 a6 11.Ba4 Nbd7 12.O-O b5 13.Bb3 Ke7 14.Be3 h6 15.Ngxe4 Ke8 16.Bd4 Bb4 17.Rae1 Ke7 18.f4 Rhd8 19.f5 Bxb3 20.Nxf6+ Kf8 21.Nh5 Bc4 22.Bxg7+ Kg8 23.Rf4 Kh7 24.Rg4 Rg8 25.Ne4 Be7 26.Rd1 Be2 27.Rxd7 Bxg4 28.Rxe7 Bxh5 29.Be5 Rad8 30.h3 Rd1+ 31.Kh2 Rc8 32.Nf6+ Kg7 33.Nxh5+ Kf8 34.Ra7 Rd5 35.Bg7+ Kg8 36.Nf6+ 1-0

Round 5, Feb. 6
Nepomniachtchi Ian – Nakamura, Hikaru
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.Nc3 Ke8 10.h3 h5 11.Bf4 Be6 12.Ng5 Bc4 13.Rfd1 Bb4 14.Nce4 Be2 15.Rdc1 Bc4 16.b3 Bd5 17.Rd1 Be7 18.c4 Bxe4 19.Nxe4 c5 20.Rd3 Rd8 21.Rad1 b6 22.e6 fxe6 23.Bxc7 Rxd3 24.Rxd3 Kf7 25.Be5 Rd8 26.Rxd8 Bxd8 27.Kf1 g6 28.Ke2 Ke8 29.Kf3 Ne7 30.Nd6+ Kf8 31.Nb7 Nc6 32.Nxd8 Nxd8 33.Kf4 Nc6 34.Bc3 Kf7 35.f3 a6 36.a4 a5 37.h4 Ke7 38.g4 Kf7 39.Ke4 Ke7 40.Bb2 Nd8 41.Be5 Kd7 42.gxh5 gxh5 43.f4 Nf7 44.f5 Nh6 45.fxe6+ Kxe6 46.Bc7 Nf5 47.Bxb6 Nxh4 48.Bxc5 Nf5 49.Bb6 Nd6+ 50.Kf4 Nb7 51.Kg5 Ke5 52.Kxh5 Ke4 53.Kg6 Kd3 54.c5 Nxc5 55.Bxc5 Kc3 56.b4 Kc4 57.b5 Kxc5 58.Kf7 Kb6 59.Ke8 Ka7 60.Ke7 Kb7 61.Kd7 Kb6 62.Kc8 Ka7 63.Kc7 Ka8 64.Kb6 1-0

Carlsen: "Overall I'm very happy with my play - the spirit I had to always try for the maximum!"

Magnus leads So and Nepo by half a point despite losing his first game of the day to Wesley

Magnus said, "I don't think there are many unbeaten players - it's been an awesome day of chess"
In fact, only Radjabov - 1 win, 4 draws - remained unbeaten!

Standings at the end of Day One

1 Carlsen 4
2-3 So, Nepo 3.5
4-6 MVL, Giri, Radjabov 3
7-10 Nakamura, Duda, Aronian, Shankland 2.5
11-13 Vidit, Grischuk, Dubov 2
14-15 Ding, Bluebaum
16 Dominguez 1

[Wayne Komer]

Opera Euro Rapid 2021

February 7, 2021

Preliminaries Day 2 Feb. 7

Rounds Six to Ten

Round 6

Dubov-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
Vidit-Nepo 0.5-0.5
Radjabov-Giri 0.5-0.5
Ding-Grischuk 0-1
Carlsen-Duda 0.5-0.5
MVL-Dominguez 1-0
So-Shankland 1-0
Aronian-Bluebaum 0-1

Round 6, Feb. 7
Ding, Liren – Grischuk, Alexander
A36 English, ultra-symmetrical variation

1.c4 c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Rb1 e6 6.a3 Nge7 7.b4 d6 8.Nf3 O-O 9.O-O b6 10.e3 Bb7 11.Qb3 Qd7 12.Bb2 Ne5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5 14.Bxb7 Qxb7 15.d3 Nc6 16.b5 Na5 17.Qa2 Rad8 18.Ne4 f5 19.Ng5 Qe7 20.Bxe5 dxe5 21.Nf3 Qf6 22.Qc2 Rd6 23.Qc3 e4 24.Qxf6 Rxf6 25.dxe4 Rf8 26.Rfc1 h6 27.exf5 exf5 28.Kf1 Rfd8 29.Ke2 Kg7 30.Rc2 g5 31.h4 g4 32.Ne1 Kf7 33.a4 R8d7 34.Ng2 Rd3 35.Ra1 Rb3 36.Nf4 Rb4 37.Nd3 Ke6 38.Nxb4 cxb4 39.Rd1 Rc7 40.Rd4 Nb3 41.Rd5 Nc5 42.Rcd2 Ne4 43.R2d4 b3 44.Kd3 Nxf2+ 45.Kc3 Ne4+ 46.Kxb3 Nxg3 47.Rd6+ Ke5 48.Rxh6 Re7 49.h5 Nf1 50.Rd5+ Ke4 51.Rdd6 Ke5 52.Rhg6 Nxe3 53.h6 g3 54.Rd3 Kf4 55.Rg7 g2 56.Rd2 Re6 57.Rf2+ Ke4 58.Rfxg2 Nxg2 59.Rxg2 Rxh6 60.Rg7 f4 61.Rxa7 Rf6 62.Kc3 f3 63.Re7+ Kf4 64.Re1 f2 65.Rf1 Ke3 66.c5 bxc5 67.a5 Rf4 68.Ra1 Ra4 69.Rh1 Rb4 70.Ra1 Rxb5 71.a6 Rb8 72.Kc4 Ra8 73.Kb5 c4 74.Rb1 0-1

Position after Black’s 63….Kf4



More Grischuk madness in the first game of the day... here he missed a simple win in a game where he'd been dead lost - but it didn't matter, as he went on to win in the end!

Round 6, Feb. 7
So, Wesley – Shankland, Sam
D11 QGD Slav

1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.g3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 dxc4 7.Nxf5 exf5 8.e3 Nbd7 9.Bxc4 Nb6 10.Bb3 Qd7 11.Qf3 Bd6 12.Bd2 O-O 13.h3 Bb4 14.Bc2 g6 15.O-O-O Nfd5 16.Nxd5 Bxd2+ 17.Rxd2 cxd5 18.Bd3 Rac8+ 19.Kb1 Nc4 20.Rc2 Rc6 21.g4 Rfc8 22.gxf5 Qc7 23.Ka1 Ne5 24.Rxc6 Qxc6 25.dxe5 1-0

Wesley So beats Sam Shankland to catch Magnus Carlsen after Round 6

Round 6, Feb. 7
Aronian, Levon – Bluebaum, Matthias
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 a6 8.Ne2 Qb6 9.Qc1 Be7 10.c3 O-O 11.h4 f6 12.h5 h6 13.Rh3 Qa5 14.Kf2 cxd4 15.cxd4 fxe5 16.fxe5 Ndxe5 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Kg1 Ng4 19.Rg3 e5 20.Rxg4 Bxg4 21.Nxe5 Bxh5 22.Nf4 Rac8 23.Qe1 Qxe1 24.Rxe1 Bb4 25.Rb1 d4 26.Bc1 Bf7 27.Nxf7 Rxf7 28.g3 g5 29.Nd5 Bd6 30.b3 Rf3 31.Bg2 Rd3 32.Bb2 Rc2 33.Nf6+ Kf7 34.Ne4 Bxg3 35.Bxd4 Rxd4 36.Nxg3 Rxa2 37.Rf1+ Rf4 38.Bxb7 Rxf1+ 39.Kxf1 a5 40.Nf5 h5 41.Ng3 h4 42.Ne4 g4 43.Bc8 g3 44.Kg1 Kg6 45.Bh3 Rb2 46.Nc5 Kg5 47.Ne6+ Kf6 48.Nd4 Rf2 49.Nc6 Rh2 50.Bd7 Ra2 51.Bh3 Kg5 52.Ne5 Rb2 53.Nf3+ Kf4 54.Nxh4 Rxb3 55.Bd7 Rb1+ 56.Kg2 Rb2+ 57.Kg1 Ra2 58.Ng2+ Kg5 59.Ne3 a4 60.Nc4 Kf4 61.Bc6 a3 62.Nxa3 Rxa3 63.Kg2 Ra2+ 64.Kg1 Rc2 65.Bd5 Rd2 66.Bb7 Ke5 67.Bc6 Rb2 68.Bf3 Ra2 69.Bc6 Kf4 70.Bd5 Rb2 71.Bc6 g2 72.Kh2 Ke3 73.Kg1 Kf4 74.Kh2 Rf2 75.Bd5 g1=Q+ 76.Kxg1 Kg3 77.Bg8 Rf6 78.Bh7 Rf7 79.Bg8 Rg7 0-1

Matthias Bluebaum picks up a first win... against Levon Aronian!

Round 7

Bluebaum-Dubov 0.5-0.5
Shankland-Aronian 0-1
Dominguez-So 1-0
Duda-MVL 0.5-0.5
Grischuk-Carlsen 0.5-0.5
Giri-Ding 1-0
Nepo-Radjabov 0.5-0.5
Nakamura-Vidit 0.5-0.5

Round 7, Feb. 7
Shankland, Sam – Aronian, Levon
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 O-O 8.e3 Bf5 9.Qb3 Bxc3+ 10.Qxc3 g5 11.Bg3 Ne4 12.Qa3 Nd7 13.Bd3 Re8 14.Nd2 Ndf6 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.O-O Bxd3 17.Qxd3 Ne4 18.Be5 c6 19.f3 Nc5 20.Qf5 Qe7 21.f4 Ne4 22.fxg5 hxg5 23.Rf3 f6 24.Bxf6 Qxf6 25.Qxf6 Nxf6 26.Rxf6 Rxe3 27.Rg6+ Kh7 28.Rxg5 Rg8 29.Rxg8 Kxg8 30.Kf2 Rd3 31.g4 Rxd4 32.Kg3 Rd3+ 33.Kh4 Rd2 34.h3 Rxb2 35.Kg5 d4 36.Rd1 c5 37.h4 Rxa2 38.h5 b5 39.h6 b4 40.Re1 b3 41.Re8+ Kf7 42.h7 Rh2 43.h8=Q Rxh8 44.Rxh8 c4 45.Kf5 c3 46.g5 b2 47.g6+ Ke7 48.Rb8 c2 49.g7 b1=Q 50.g8=Q c1=Q+ 51.Rxb1 Qxb1+ 52.Ke5 d3 53.Qe6+ Kd8 54.Qd6+ Kc8 55.Qc6+ Kb8 56.Kd4 d2 57.Qd6+ Kb7 58.Qe7+ Kb6 59.Qd8+ Ka6 60.Qc8+ Ka5 61.Qc5+ Qb5 62.Qxa7+ Kb4 63.Qe7+ Ka4 64.Qa7+ Kb3 65.Qf7+ Kb2 0-1

Round 7, Feb. 7
Dominguez Perez, Leinier – So, Wesley
C67 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence, open variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 O-O 9.Nc3 Ne8 10.Nd5 Bd6 11.Re2 c6 12.Ne3 Be7 13.Nf5 Bf6 14.Qe1 d5 15.Ne7+ Kh8 16.Nxc8 Rxc8 17.g3 Qd7 18.d3 Nd6 19.Bf4 Bxb2 20.Rb1 Bf6 21.Bh3 Nf5 22.Bxf5 Qxf5 23.Bd6 Rfd8 24.Rxb7 Bd4 25.Be5 Bb6 26.Bc7 Bxc7 27.Rxc7 h5 28.Rxa7 Rb8 29.h4 d4 30.Re5 Qf3 31.Kh2 Kg8 32.Re4 Rf8 33.Ra5 Rb5 34.Rxb5 cxb5 35.Rxd4 Ra8 36.Rf4 Qd5 37.a3 Qc5 38.Qb4 Qxc2 39.Qxb5 Qa2 40.a4 Rd8 41.Qc4 Qxc4 42.dxc4 Rc8 43.Kg2 Kf8 44.Rf3 Ke7 45.a5 Ra8 46.Ra3 1-0

Round 7, Feb. 7
Giri, Anish – Ding, Liren
C77 Ruy Lopez, Four Knights variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.O-O O-O 7.Bxc6 dxc6 8.d3 Re8 9.Be3 Bd6 10.h3 Nd7 11.Nd2 Nf8 12.Ne2 Ng6 13.Ng3 Be6 14.Nf5 Bf8 15.Qf3 Qd7 16.h4 Ne7 17.Nxe7+ Bxe7 18.Qg3 f6 19.b3 Kh8 20.Kh1 Rad8 21.f4 exf4 22.Bxf4 Bd6 23.Rae1 h6 24.Nf3 Bxf4 25.Qxf4 c5 26.Rg1 b5 27.g4 Rf8 28.Qg3 Qd6 29.Kh2 c4 30.bxc4 bxc4 31.d4 Rb8 32.d5 Bd7 33.Qxd6 cxd6 34.Nd4 Rb2 35.a3 Ra2 36.Re3 Re8 37.Kg3 Ba4 38.Rg2 c3 39.Nf5 Rxa3 40.Nxd6 Rb8 41.g5 Bd7 42.Kf4 fxg5+ 43.hxg5 Rf8+ 44.Ke5 h5 45.g6 Kg8 46.Kd4 h4 47.Rh2 h3 48.e5 Rf4+ 49.Re4 Ra4+ 50.Ke3 Rfxe4+ 51.Nxe4 Bf5 52.Nd6 Bxg6 53.e6 Rh4 54.e7 a5 55.e8=Q+ Bxe8 56.Nxe8 Kf7 57.Nd6+ Kf6 58.Nb5 a4 59.d6 Ke6 60.Kd3 g5 61.Re2+ Kd7 62.Re7+ Kc6 63.d7 1-0

Round 7, Feb. 7
Nakamura, Hikaru – Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi
A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack, Modern variation

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bb5 e4 5.Ne2 a6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Ng3 h5 8.Nc3 Bg4 9.f3 exf3 10.gxf3 Be6 11.Qe2 Qd7 12.O-O-O O-O-O 13.Rhg1 h4 14.Nge4 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 f6 16.Kb1 Kb8 17.d4 Qf7 18.Qf2 Be7 19.Nc5 Bc8 20.e4 g5 21.Nd3 Qh7 22.Qe2 Rhe8 23.a4 Qf7 24.Rdf1 Bd6 25.Qf2 Qh7 26.Re1 Qf7 27.f4 gxf4 28.Nxf4 h3 29.d5 cxd5 30.Nxd5 f5 31.Rgf1 Rg8 32.Ne3 f4 33.Nc4 Bb4 34.Rc1 Rg2 35.Qf3 Rxh2 36.Be5 Rg2 37.Bxf4 Qh7 38.Ne3 Rgg8 39.Nd5 Rxd5 40.exd5 Ba3 41.Rce1 Bb4 42.Qe4 Qxe4 43.Rxe4 Bc5 44.d6 Bxd6 45.Bxd6 cxd6 46.Rh4 Kc7 47.Rf6 Rg7 48.Rhh6 Bd7 49.Rxd6 h2 50.Rd1 Rg1 51.Rc1 Rg2 52.Kb2 Bf5 53.Rh1 Rxc2+ 54.Ka3 Be4 55.R1xh2 Rxh2 56.Rxh2 a5 57.Kb2 b6 58.Rh4 Bd5 59.Rh7+ Kc6 60.Kc3 Kc5 61.Rh3 Be6 62.Rh6 Bd5 63.Rh8 Be6 64.Re8 Bd5 65.Re7 Kd6 66.Rg7 Kc5 67.Rg4 Be6 68.Rf4 Bd5 69.Rf6 Be4 70.Rf8 Bd5 71.Rc8+ Kd6 72.Kb2 Kd7 73.Rc3 Kd6 74.Rc1 Be6 75.Rc2 Bd5 76.Ka3 Bc6 77.Rh2 Kc5 78.Rh5+ Bd5 79.Rg5 Kd6 80.Rg1 Kc5 81.Rd1 Bc6 82.Rd8 Bd5 83.Kb2 Bc6 84.Kc2 Bd5 85.Kc3 Kc6 86.Re8 Kc5 87.Rc8+ Kd6 88.b4 axb4+ 89.Kxb4 Bc6 90.Rg8 Bd7 91.Rh8 Kc7 92.Rh7 Kd6 93.Rg7 Bc6 94.Ra7 Bd7 95.Rb7 Kc6 96.Rb8 Kc7 97.Rh8 Kd6 98.Ra8 Bc6 99.Ra7 Bd7 100.Kc4 Bc6 101.Ra6 Kc7 102.a5 bxa5 103.Kc5 Bg2 104.Ra7+ Kd8 105.Kd6 Ke8 106.Rg7 Bf1 107.Re7+ Kf8 108.Ke6 Kg8 109.Kf6 Bd3 110.Rg7+ Kh8 111.Kf7 a4 112.Rg4 a3 113.Rh4+ Bh7 114.Ra4 Bg8+ 115.Kf8 a2 116.Rh4+ Bh7 117.Rh1 a1=Q 118.Rxa1 Bg8 119.Rg1 Bh7 120.Kf7 Be4 121.Rg8+ Kh7 122.Rg4 Bd5+ 123.Kf6 Kh8 124.Rh4+ Kg8 125.Rd4 Ba2 126.Rd2 Bb1 127.Rb2 Bd3 128.Rb3 Bc2 129.Rb8+ Kh7 130.Rb2 Bd3 131.Rg2 Kh8 132.Kf7 Bh7 133.Rg7 Bd3 134.Kf8 Bh7 135.Rc7 Bg8 136.Rc8 Kh7 137.Rc3 Kh8 138.Rc2 Bh7 139.Rg2 Be4 140.Rg8+ Kh7 141.Rg4 Bf5 142.Rf4 Bc2 143.Rf2 Bd3 144.Rd2 Be4 145.Kf7 Kh8 146.Rd8+ Kh7 147.Rd4 Bg6+ 148.Kf6 Bc2 149.Rc4 Bb1 150.Rc1 Bd3 151.Rd1 Bc2 152.Rg1 Kh8 153.Ra1 Bh7 154.Re1 Bg8 155.Rh1+ Bh7 156.Kf7 1/2-1/2

Position after White’s 131.Rg2



(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

Opera Euro Rapid 2021

February 7, 2021

Preliminaries Day 2 Feb. 7

Rounds Six to Ten

Round 8

Dubov-Vidit 0-1
Radjabov-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
Ding-Nepo 0.5-0.5
Carlsen-Giri 0.5-0.5
MVL-Grischuk 0.5-0.5
So-Duda 1-0
Aronian-Dominguez 1-0
Bluebaum-Shankland 0-1

Round 8, Feb. 7
Dubov, Daniil – Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi
C28 Vienna game

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.d3 Na5 5.Bb3 Nxb3 6.axb3 d5 7.Nf3 dxe4 8.Nxe5 exd3 9.O-O Be7 10.Nxd3 Bg4 11.Qe1 O-O 12.Be3 Re8 13.f3 Bf5 14.Qf2 Nd5 15.Nxd5 Qxd5 16.Rad1 Rad8 17.Rfe1 Bb4 18.Re2 Qb5 19.Bf4 Bxd3 20.cxd3 Bc5 21.Rxe8+ Rxe8 22.d4 Qxb3 23.Rc1 Bb6 24.Bxc7 Rc8 25.Qe1 Qxb2 26.Kh1 Ba5 27.Qe3 Bxc7 28.h3 Qb4 29.d5 Qd6 30.f4 Rf8 31.Rc4 Bb6 32.Qe4 h6 33.g4 Rd8 0-1

Round 8, Feb. 7
Carlsen, Magnus – Giri, Anish
A13 Reti, Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack

1.e3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.b3 c5 5.Bb2 Nc6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Bb5 Bd6 8.O-O O-O 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.Nc3 Bg4 11.Ne2 Ne4 12.d3 Bxf3 13.gxf3 Qg5+ 14.Ng3 Nxg3 15.hxg3 Bxg3 16.fxg3 Qxg3+ 17.Kh1 Qh3+ 18.Kg1 Qg3+ 19.Kh1 Qh3+ 20.Kg1 Qg3+ 1/2-1/2

Round 8, Feb. 7
So, Wesley, Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
D35 QGD, Exchange variation

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.Rb1 cxd4 8.cxd4 Nc6 9.Nf3 Bb4+ 10.Bd2 Bxd2+ 11.Qxd2 O-O 12.Bb5 Ne7 13.O-O b6 14.h4 Bb7 15.Rfe1 Rc8 16.h5 h6 17.Ne5 Qd6 18.Rb3 f5 19.f3 a6 20.Bf1 b5 21.Qe3 Rfd8 22.Rd1 Nc6 23.Nxc6 Bxc6 24.a4 fxe4 25.fxe4 Be8 26.axb5 Bxh5 27.Rd2 axb5 28.Rxb5 Bg6 29.Rd1 Rb8 30.e5 Qe7 31.Rxb8 Rxb8 32.Bc4 Rd8 33.Qh3 Bf7 34.Qg4 Qd7 35.Qe4 Qa4 36.Be2 Kh8 37.Kh2 Bg8 38.Qg4 Qa7 39.Rd2 Qb6 40.Rd3 Qa7 41.Rd1 Qb6 42.Bf3 Qa7 43.Qf4 Qa4 44.Kg3 Qb4 45.Kh3 Rf8 46.Qe3 Rd8 47.g4 Rc8 48.Kg3 Bh7 49.g5 Rc3 50.Qf4 Qb7 51.Rc1 Rd3 52.Qf8+ Bg8 53.gxh6 Qf7 54.hxg7+ Qxg7+ 55.Qxg7+ Kxg7 56.Rc4 Bf7 57.Kf4 Rd2 58.Bg4 Kf8 59.Rc8+ Ke7 60.Rc7+ Kf8 61.Ke3 Rg2 62.Bf3 Rb2 63.Be2 Bg6 64.Bg4 Bf7 65.Kf4 Rb4 66.Rd7 Ke8 67.Rd6 Ke7 68.Bf3 Be8 69.Kg5 Ra4 70.Bg4 Bf7 71.Be2 Rb4 72.Bf3 Be8 73.Kh6 Bf7 74.Bc6 Rb2 75.Kg7 Rc2 76.Rd7+ Ke8 77.Rc7+ Kd8 78.Rd7+ Ke8 79.Rc7+ Kd8 80.Rxf7 Rxc6 81.Kf6 Rc4 82.Kxe6 Rxd4 83.Rf8+ Kc7 84.Ke7 Rh4 85.e6 Rh7+ 86.Kf6 Rh6+ 87.Kf7 Rh7+ 88.Kg6 Rh1 89.e7 Rg1+ 90.Kh5 1-0

Position after White’s 72.Bf3



Round 8, Feb. 7
Aronian, Levon – Dominguez Perez, Leinier
B40 Sicilian Defence

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.d4 cxd4 6.Bc4 d6 7.cxd4 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Qe2 Bd7 10.Bxd5 exd5 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Bf4 Nc6 13.Rfd1 Re8 14.h3 h6 15.Nb5 Bf5 16.Qf1 dxe5 17.dxe5 a6 18.Nbd4 Be4 19.e6 Bf6 20.exf7+ Kxf7 21.Rac1 Rc8 22.Be3 Qd7 23.Rd2 Kg8 24.Rcd1 Kh7 25.Ne1 Nxd4 26.Bxd4 Bg5 27.Re2 Qb5 28.f3 Bg6 29.Rxe8 Qxf1+ 30.Kxf1 Rxe8 31.Nd3 Bxd3+ 32.Rxd3 Rd8 33.Rc3 Rd7 34.Ke2 Kg6 35.Kd3 Bf4 36.Rc8 Kf7 37.h4 h5 38.g4 hxg4 39.fxg4 Rc7 40.Rd8 Ke6 41.h5 Bg5 42.Re8+ Kf7 43.Re5 Bf6 44.Rf5 Ke6 45.Bxf6 gxf6 46.h6 Rh7 47.Rh5 Kf7 48.Kd4 Kg6 49.Kxd5 Rd7+ 50.Ke6 Rh7 51.a4 b5 52.axb5 axb5 53.b4 Rh8 54.h7 Re8+ 55.Kd7 Rh8 56.Kc6 1-0

Round 8, Feb. 7
Bluebaum, Matthias – Shankland, Sam

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 c6 4.h3 Bf5 5.g4 Bg6 6.Ne5 Nfd7 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Bg2 e6 9.Nd2 f5 10.c4 Nf6 11.g5 Ne4 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.h4 c5 14.dxc5 Nc6 15.a3 Bxc5 16.b4 Bd6 17.Qb3 Kf7 18.c5 Be5 19.Ra2 Rxh4 20.Rxh4 Qxg5 21.b5 Na5 22.Qb4 Qxg2 23.Bd2 g5 24.Rh7 Kg6 25.Qxa5 Kxh7 26.Kd1 Qxf2 27.c6 b6 28.Qb4 Qf1+ 29.Be1 Bg3 30.c7 Bxc7 0-1

Round 9

Shankland-Dubov 0-1
Dominguez-Bluebaum 0.5-0.5
Duda-Aronian 0.5-0.5
Grischuk-So 0.5-0.5
Giri-MVL 1-0
Nepo-Carlsen 0.5-0.5
Nakamura-Ding 1-0
Vidit-Radjabov 0.5-0.5

Round 9, Feb. 7
Shankland, Sam – Dubov, Daniil
D08 QGD, Albin Counter-Gambit

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne7 4.Nf3 Nbc6 5.Nbd2 dxc4 6.e3 Ng6 7.Qa4 Bd7 8.e6 Bxe6 9.Bxc4 Bxc4 10.Qxc4 Be7 11.O-O O-O 12.Qb5 Rb8 13.Ne4 Qd7 14.Bd2 Nce5 15.Qxd7 Nxd7 16.Rac1 c5 17.Rfd1 Rfd8 18.Bc3 Ngf8 19.Kf1 Ne6 20.b3 f6 21.Ke2 Kf7 22.g4 Nb6 23.Ba5 Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Na8 25.h4 b6 26.Bc3 Rd8 27.Rxd8 Nxd8 28.g5 Ne6 29.gxf6 gxf6 30.Ng3 Nac7 31.Nf5 Nd5 32.Bd2 Bf8 33.a4 a6 34.Kd3 b5 35.axb5 axb5 36.Ba5 Ng7 37.Nxg7 Bxg7 38.h5 Ke6 39.Bd2 Bh6 40.Nh4 Bg5 41.Ng2 f5 42.f4 Be7 43.e4 fxe4+ 44.Kxe4 Nf6+ 45.Kf3 Nxh5 46.Ne3 Nf6 47.f5+ Kd6 48.Be1 Nd5 49.Bg3+ Kc6 50.Ng4 Bd6 51.Bh4 h5 52.Nf2 Be5 53.Ne4 Nb6 54.f6 Nd7 55.f7 Kd5 56.Bg3 Bg7 57.Nd6 Kc6 58.Ke4 h4 59.Bh2 Bf8 60.Nf5 h3 61.Bg3 b4 62.Kf3 Kd5 63.Kg4 Ne5+ 64.Kxh3 Nxf7 65.Ne3+ Kd4 66.Nc4 Kc3 67.Na5 Bd6 68.Bf2 Ne5 69.Be1+ Kc2 70.Bg3 Bc7 71.Nb7 c4 0-1

Round 9 Feb. 7
Giri, Anish – MVL
B67 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer

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.Kb1 Be7 10.Nxc6 Bxc6 11.f3 b5 12.h4 Qc7 13.Ne2 h6 14.Be3 d5 15.e5 Nd7 16.f4 Nc5 17.Nd4 Ne4 18.Qe1 Bd7 19.g4 O-O-O 20.Bd3 g5 21.f5 gxh4 22.f6 Bc5 23.Rxh4 Qxe5 24.Bxe4 Qxe4 25.Qc3 Kb7 26.Nxe6 Bxe6 27.Qxc5 d4 28.Bxd4 Qc6 29.Qa7+ Kc8 30.Rh5 Rd5 31.Rxd5 Bxd5 32.Bb6 Re8 33.Qxa6+ Kd7 34.Qa7+ Kc8 35.Qa6+ Kb8 36.a4 bxa4 37.Ba7+ Ka8 38.Qa5 Bc4 39.Bb6+ Kb7 40.Qa7+ Kc8 41.Bc7 Qb7 42.Qxa4 Bb5 43.Qa5 Be2 44.Rd4 Qh1+ 45.Ka2 Qc6 46.Bg3 Bc4+ 47.b3 Ba6 48.Kb2 1-0

Round 9, Feb. 7
Nakamura, Hikaru – Ding, Liren
A01 Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack, Modern variation

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bb5 e4 5.Ne2 a6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Ng3 h5 8.Nc3 Qe7 9.h4 Rh6 10.Qe2 Bg4 11.f3 exf3 12.gxf3 Bd7 13.O-O-O O-O-O 14.Qf2 Kb8 15.e4 Bc8 16.Kb1 c5 17.d3 Qe8 18.Rhe1 Nd7 19.Nf5 Rc6 20.Nd5 Ne5 21.Qg3 f6 22.Nfe3 b5 23.Rg1 Kb7 24.Qf2 a5 25.Qe2 Ra6 26.Rg2 a4 27.Rdg1 axb3 28.axb3 Be6 29.Rxg7 Bxg7 30.Rxg7 Bxd5 31.Nxd5 Rd7 32.Rg3 Rf7 33.Qg2 Ra8 34.Rg7 Qf8 35.Rxf7 Qxf7 36.Qf2 Nd7 37.Qg3 Rc8 38.Qf4 Qg6 39.Bc1 Qf7 40.Qf5 c6 41.Ne3 Rg8 42.f4 Kc7 43.Bd2 Ra8 44.Qh3 Kb6 45.Bc1 Nf8 46.Nf5 Ne6 47.Qe3 Qa7 48.Bb2 Rf8 49.Ng3 Qh7 50.f5 Nd4 51.b4 Kb7 52.bxc5 1-0

A big win for Nakamura puts him within a point of the leaders before facing Carlsen in today's final round!


(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

Opera Euro Rapid 2021

February 7, 2021

Preliminaries Day 2 Feb. 7 (continued)

Round Ten

Round 10

Dubov-Radjabov 0.5-0.5
Ding-Vidit 1-0
Carlsen-Nakamura 1-0
MVL-Nepo 0.5-0.5
So-Giri 0.5-0.5
Aronian-Grischuk 0.5-0.5
Bluebaum-Duda 0-1
Shankland-Dominguez 0.5-0.5

Round 10, Feb. 7
Ding, Liren – Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi
A36 English, ultra-symmetrical variation

1.c4 c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Rb1 Nf6 6.a3 O-O 7.b4 cxb4 8.axb4 a6 9.d4 d6 10.Nf3 Bf5 11.Rb2 Ne4 12.Nd5 b5 13.cxb5 axb5 14.O-O Ra1 15.Qc2 Nxd4 16.Nxd4 Bxd4 17.Bxe4 Rxc1 18.Rxc1 Bxb2 19.Qxb2 Bxe4 20.Rc8 Bxd5 21.Rxd8 Rxd8 22.Qd4 Bc4 23.Qa7 Kf8 24.Kf1 f6 25.f3 Kf7 26.Kf2 d5 27.e3 h5 28.h4 Bd3 29.Ke1 Bc4 30.Kd2 Rg8 31.Kc3 Be2 32.Qb7 Rd8 33.Kd4 Bc4 34.Kc5 Ke8 35.g4 hxg4 36.fxg4 Kf7 37.Qc7 Rh8 38.Qg3 Rc8+ 39.Kb6 Bd3 40.g5 Rc4 41.Qg2 Re4 42.Qf3 Kg7 43.Kc7 Bc4 44.Qg3 Kf7 45.Qf2 Ke6 46.Kd8 fxg5 47.hxg5 Rg4 48.Ke8 Rxg5 49.Qf7+ Ke5 50.Qf4+ Ke6 51.Qxg5 1-0

Q vs R+B

Position after White’s 46.Kd8



Round 10, Feb. 7
Carlsen, Magnus – Nakamura, Hikaru
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.a3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.b4 Be7 9.e3 a5 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.b5 Nd7 13.Be2 Nc5 14.O-O a4 15.Be5 Nb3 16.Ra2 Be6 17.Nd4 Bd6 18.Nxe6 fxe6 19.Bb2 Rc8 20.g3 Qd7 21.Bd3 Qf7 22.e4 Bc5 23.exd5 exd5 24.Be5 Rce8 25.Bf4 h6 26.Qg4 Re6 27.h4 h5 28.Qd1 Rf6 29.Kg2 g6 30.Bh6 Re8 31.Bg5 Rfe6 32.Bc2 Re1 33.Bxg6 1-0

Position after White’s 29.Kg2



Magnus Carlsen tricks Hikaru Nakamura with almost no time on his clock and ends Day 2 of the #OperaEuroRapid as the sole leader again!

Round 10, Feb. 7
Bluebaum, Matthias – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
A46 Queen’s Pawn, Yusupov-Rubinstein System

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 b6 4.Bd3 Bb7 5.O-O d5 6.b3 Nbd7 7.c4 dxc4 8.bxc4 c5 9.Nc3 cxd4 10.exd4 Be7 11.Re1 O-O 12.Bb2 Re8 13.Rc1 Qc7 14.d5 exd5 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.cxd5 Qd6 17.Bb5 Bf8 18.Rxe8 Rxe8 19.Bc6 Bxc6 20.dxc6 Nc5 21.Qxd6 Bxd6 22.Rd1 Bb8 23.Nd4 Rd8 24.Rb1 f6 25.Nb5 Ne6 26.g3 a6 27.Nc3 Rd6 28.Ba3 Rd3 29.Bb2 b5 30.Rc1 Kf7 31.Ne4 Bc7 32.Rc2 Rd5 33.Kg2 f5 34.Nd2 g5 35.h3 h5 36.Nf1 f4 37.g4 Rd3 38.f3 hxg4 39.hxg4 Ba5 40.Be5 Bc7 41.Bxc7 Nxc7 42.Nd2 Rd5 43.Ne4 Ke7 44.Kf1 Kd8 45.Rh2 Ne6 46.Rh6 Nc5 47.Nf6 Rd3 48.Ke2 Re3+ 49.Kf2 Re6 50.Rg6 Nd3+ 51.Kg2 Rxc6 52.Rxg5 Rc2+ 53.Kh3 Ne1 54.Rf5 Nxf3 55.Rxf4 Ng1+ 56.Kh4 Rh2+ 57.Kg3 Rxa2 58.Re4 Ra3+ 59.Kf4 Nh3+ 60.Ke5 Kc7 61.Kd5 Ng5 62.Re5 Rf3 63.Ne8+ Kd7 64.Rxg5 Kxe8 65.Kc5 Rc3+ 66.Kb6 Ra3 67.Rf5 b4 68.Rf1 b3 69.g5 b2 70.Rb1 Ra2 71.g6 Kf8 72.Kc5 a5 73.Kd4 a4 74.Ke5 Kg7 75.Kf5 a3 76.Rd1 Ra1 77.Rd7+ Kf8 78.g7+ Kg8 79.Kf6 Rf1+ 0-1

Standings at the end of Day Two

1 Carlsen 7
2-3 So, Giri 6.5
4 Nepo 6
5-7 Aronian, MVL, Radjabov 5.5
8-10 Nakamura, Duda, Grischuk 5
11-12 Vidit, Dubov 4.5
13 Shankland 4
14 Bluebaum 3.5
15-16 Ding, Dominguez 3

Five more rounds tomorrow with the bottom eight players no longer continuing in the tournament

[Hans Jung]

I enjoyed Aronian - Bluebaum - a sparkling game and a dominating rook on the seventh in the endgame. It was almost like Black didnt want the game to end he was enjoying himself so much. (at least from my viewpoint). Radjabov still undefeated. He fits right in. (not so easy to stay undefeated in rapid chess)

Bluebaum - Shankland - the pawn formation made for interesting piece play.

[Wayne Komer]

Opera Euro Rapid 2021

February 8, 2021

Preliminaries Day 3 Feb. 8

Yuri Averbakh, the world's oldest grandmaster, turns 99 today!

Until recently, he was still visiting the central chess club in Moscow and took an active part in the work of @ruchess_eng chess museum.

Rounds Eleven to Fifteen

Round 11

Dominguez-Dubov 0-1
Duda-Shankland 0.5-0.5
Grischuk-Bluebaum 0.5-0.5
Giri-Aronian 0.5-0.5
Nepo-So 0.5-0.5
Nakamura-MVL 0.5-0.5
Vidit-Carlsen 0-1
Radjabov-Ding 0.5-0.5

Round 11, Feb. 8
Dominguez Perez, Leinier – Dubov, Daniil
B60 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 g6 7.Bxf6 exf6 8.Bb5 Bd7 9.Qd2 Bg7 10.O-O-O O-O 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Nb3 Be6 13.Qxd6 Qb6 14.Qc5 f5 15.Qxb6 axb6 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.Nd4 Bd7 18.a3 Rfe8 19.Rd3 h5 20.Rhd1 Rac8 21.f3 c5 22.Ndb5 Bxb5 23.Nxb5 Bh6+ 24.Kb1 Re2 25.Rg1 Be3 26.Rh1 Re8 27.Nd6 Re6 28.Ne4 f5 29.Nc3 Rxg2 30.Re1 f4 31.Nd5 Kf7 32.Nxe3 fxe3 33.Rdxe3 Rxe3 34.Rxe3 Rxh2 35.b4 cxb4 36.axb4 Rf2 37.Kb2 h4 38.b5 h3 39.f4 h2 40.Rh3 Kf6 41.Rh4 g5 42.Rh6+ Kf5 43.fxg5 Kxg5 44.Rh7 Kg4 45.Rh6 Kg3 46.Rg6+ Kf3 47.Rf6+ Kg2 48.Rg6+ Kf1 49.Rh6 Kg1 0-1

The critical game of Round 11 was a win for Dubov over Dominguez that took the Russian into the 4-player tie at 50% - currently only one of Nakamura, Dubov, Duda and Grischuk will qualify for the quarterfinals!

Round 11, Feb. 8
Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi – Carlsen, Magnus
A84 Dutch stonewall Defence, main line

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c6 4.e3 f5 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.O-O Bd6 7.b3 Qe7 8.Bb2 O-O 9.Qc1 b6 10.Ba3 Bb7 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.Qa3 Qxa3 13.Nxa3 g6 14.Rfc1 Nbd7 15.cxd5 exd5 16.Nc2 a5 17.a4 Ne4 18.g3 Kg7 19.Nce1 Rfc8 20.Rc2 c5 21.Bb5 Nf8 22.Rac1 Kf6 23.Nd3 cxd4 24.Nxd4 Rxc2 25.Rxc2 Rc8 26.Rxc8 Bxc8 27.Bc6 Nc3 28.b4 Ne6 29.Nb3 Nd8 30.Ba8 Ba6 31.Nf4 axb4 32.Nxd5+ Nxd5 33.Bxd5 Ne6 34.a5 bxa5 35.Nxa5 Nc5 36.f4 Bb5 37.Kf2 Bd7 38.e4 fxe4 39.Ke3 Be6 40.Bxe6 Kxe6 41.Kd4 b3 42.Nc4 Na4 0-1

Magnus Carlsen shakes his head after winning a game he was at one stage losing vs. Vidit and increasing his lead to a full point!

Round 11, Feb. 8
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Shankland, Sam
D87 Grunfeld, Exchange, Spassky variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Ne2 c5 9.O-O Nc6 10.Be3 Bg4 11.f3 Bd7 12.Rb1 Qc7 13.Qd2 Rfd8 14.Bd5 e6 15.Bxc6 Bxc6 16.Rb3 b5 17.Bh6 Bxh6 18.Qxh6 b4 19.Rc1 Ba4 20.Rb2 cxd4 21.cxd4 Qb6 22.Qg5 a5 23.Rc5 Bd1 24.Qe5 Qd6 25.Qxd6 Rxd6 26.d5 exd5 27.e5 Rb6 28.Nf4 b3 29.Rc1 Bc2 30.Nxd5 Rb7 31.Ne3 a4 32.Nxc2 Rc8 33.axb3 axb3 34.f4 Rc3 35.Rcb1 Rxc2 36.Rxb3 Rxb3 37.Rxb3 h5 38.Re3 Kf8 39.g3 Ke7 40.Ra3 Rb2 41.Ra6 Rc2 42.Rd6 Rb2 43.Rc6 Ra2 44.Rd6 Rb2 45.h3 Ra2 46.Kf1 Rb2 47.Ke1 Rb3 48.Kf2 h4 49.g4 Rxh3 50.f5 gxf5 51.gxf5 Ra3 52.f6+ Ke8 53.Kg2 Ra5 54.e6 fxe6 55.Rxe6+ Kf7 56.Re4 Kxf6 57.Rxh4 Rg5+ 58.Kf3 Kg6 59.Rg4 Rxg4 60.Kxg4 1/2-1/2

Position after Black’s 27…Rb6



The surprise shot 28.Nc3! would have won Duda a piece here!

Round 12

Dubov-Ding 1-0
Carlsen-Radjabov 0.5-0.5
MVL-Vidit 0.5-0.5
So-Nakamura 0.5-0.5
Aronian-Nepo 1-0
Bluebaum-Giri 0-1
Shankland-Grischuk 0.5-0.5
Dominguez-Duda 1-0

Round 12, Feb. 8
Dubov, Daniil – Ding, Liren
D02 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Nbd2 dxc4 6.Bg2 a5 7.a3 Bxd2+ 8.Bxd2 O-O 9.Qc2 b5 10.a4 c6 11.h4 Nbd7 12.h5 h6 13.g4 Nxg4 14.axb5 Bb7 15.Nh2 Nxf2 16.Kxf2 Qh4+ 17.Kf1 Qf6+ 18.Bf3 1-0

Round 12, Feb. 8
Aronian, Levon – Nepo, Ian
D80 Grunfeld, Stockholm variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bf4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 Qxd5 8.e3 cxd4 9.Qxd4 Qxd4 10.cxd4 Nc6 11.Nf3 Bg7 12.Bd3 O-O 13.Be4 Bd7 14.Kd2 Rac8 15.Rhc1 b6 16.Rc3 Na5 17.Rac1 Rxc3 18.Rxc3 Rc8 19.Rxc8+ Bxc8 20.Bb8 Nc4+ 21.Kc3 Nd6 22.Bc6 a6 23.a4 Bf5 24.Nd2 Bf8 25.e4 Bc8 26.Bxd6 exd6 27.Nc4 1-0

Levon Aronian leapfrogs Ian Nep

Round 12, Feb. 8
Bluebaum, Matthias – Giri, Anish
D02 Queen’s Bishop game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Bf4 Bf5 4.c4 e6 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxb7 Be4 7.Qxc7 Bb4+ 8.Nbd2 Qxc7 9.Bxc7 Ke7 10.a3 c3 11.axb4 cxb2 12.Ra2 Rc8 13.Rxb2 Rxc7 14.Nb3 Nc6 15.b5 Nb4 16.e3 Nd7 17.Be2 Nd3+ 18.Bxd3 Bxd3 19.Na5 Bxb5 20.Rxb5 Rc1+ 21.Ke2 Rxh1 22.Rb7 f6 23.Ne1 Kd8 24.h3 Kc8 25.Rb2 Nb6 26.Rc2+ Kd7 27.Nb7 Rc8 28.Nc5+ Ke7 29.Ra2 Rc7 30.Ra6 e5 31.f3 Nd5 32.Ra3 Kf7 33.Ned3 exd4 34.exd4 Rb1 35.Kf2 g5 36.Kg3 Ne3 37.Kf2 Nd5 38.Kg3 Rd1 39.h4 h6 40.hxg5 hxg5 41.Ra2 Re7 42.Kf2 Nc3 43.Rc2 Na4 44.g4 Nxc5 45.Nxc5 Rxd4 46.Ne4 Rdxe4 47.fxe4 Rxe4 48.Kf3 Rf4+ 49.Kg3 a5 0-1

Round 12, Feb. 8
Dominguez Perez, Leinier – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bf5 7.O-O Be7 8.Re1 O-O 9.Nbd2 Nd6 10.Nf1 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 Nd7 12.Bf4 Re8 13.Qb3 Nb6 14.Ne3 c6 15.a4 a5 16.h4 Ndc4 17.Nf5 Bf8 18.h5 Qd7 19.N3h4 Re6 20.Qg3 Rae8 21.Rxe6 Qxe6 22.b3 Nb2 23.Rb1 g6 24.Rxb2 Qe1+ 25.Kh2 Qd1 26.hxg6 Re1 27.gxf7+ Kxf7 28.Qf3 1-0

Standings after Round Twelve

1 Carlsen 8.5
2 Giri 8
3 So 7.5
4 Aronian 7
5-8 Nepo, MVL, Dubov, Radjabov 6.5
9-10 Nakamura, Grischuk 6
11 Duda 5.5
12-13 Shankland, Vidit 5
14-15 Dominguez, Bluebaum 4
16 Ding 3.5

A quick draw against So has left Nakamura outside the 8 qualification spots with just 3 rounds to go!

(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

Opera Euro Rapid 2021

February 8, 2021

Preliminaries Day 3 Feb. 8 (continued)

Rounds Eleven to Fifteen

Round 13

Duda-Dubov 1-0
Grischuk-Dominguez 0-1
Giri-Shankland 0.5-0.5
Nepo-Bluebaum 0-1
Nakamura-Aronian 0.5-0.5
Vidit-So 0.5-0.5
Radjabov-MVL 0.5-0.5
Ding-Carlsen 1-0

Round 13, Feb. 8
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Dubov, Daniil
D47 QGD, Semi-Slav, Meran, Wade variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.O-O a6 10.e4 c5 11.e5 Nd5 12.Ng5 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Be7 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.Qh5+ g6 16.Bxg6+ hxg6 17.Qxg6+ Kf8 18.Bh6+ Rxh6 19.Qxh6+ Kg8 20.Qg6+ Kh8 21.Qh6+ Kg8 22.Qxe6+ Kg7 23.Rad1 Nf8 24.Qg4+ Kh8 25.d5 Nh7 26.d6 Bh4 27.e6 Qf6 28.e7 Bc6 29.g3 Rg8 30.Qh5 Qxc3 31.Rd5 Bxd5 32.Qxd5 Nf6 33.Qxg8+ Nxg8 34.e8=Q Bf6 35.Qh5+ Kg7 36.Rd1 Nh6 37.d7 Nf7 38.Qg4+ Kf8 39.Qe6 c4 40.Rd5 b4 41.Rf5 Kg7 42.Kg2 b3 43.axb3 cxb3 44.Qxa6 b2 45.Qb6 Bd8 46.Rxf7+ Kxf7 47.Qxd8 Qc6+ 48.f3 b1=Q 49.Qe8+ Kg7 50.Qe5+ Kh7 51.Qh5+ Kg7 52.Qg4+ Kh6 53.Qf4+ Kh5 54.g4+ Kg6 55.d8=Q Qcc2+ 56.Qdd2 1-0

Final Position



"That's what you get when Jan-Krzysztof Duda gets really angry!" (Leko) 33.Qxg8+! should be the killer blow

Duda eventually wins an absolutely insane game after Dubov let a gilt-edged chance to force a draw slip!

Round 13, Feb. 8
Grischuk, Alexander – Dominguez Perez, Leinier
C28 Vienna game

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d3 Bc5 5.f4 O-O 6.Nf3 exf4 7.Bxf4 d6 8.Na4 d5 9.Nxc5 dxc4 10.Qd2 Qe7 11.Na4 cxd3 12.cxd3 Nxe4 13.dxe4 Qxe4+ 14.Qe3 Re8 15.Nc3 Qxe3+ 16.Bxe3 Rxe3+ 17.Kf2 Rd3 18.Rhd1 Rxd1 19.Rxd1 Be6 20.Nb5 Rc8 21.a3 a6 22.Nc3 Rd8 23.Rc1 Bd5 24.Ne1 Kf8 25.b4 Bc4 26.Nf3 Rd3 27.Ne4 Bd5 28.Nc5 Rxa3 29.Nxb7 Bxf3 30.gxf3 Ne5 31.Rxc7 Rxf3+ 32.Ke2 Rb3 33.Nd6 Rxb4 34.Nf5 Rb8 35.Ke3 g6 36.Ke4 gxf5+ 37.Kxe5 Ra8 38.Kf6 Kg8 0-1

Round 13, Feb. 8
Nepo, Ian – Bluebaum, Matthias
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 a6 8.a3 Qb6 9.Na4 Qa5+ 10.c3 c4 11.Be2 b5 12.Nc5 Nxd4 13.Nxd7 Nxf3+ 14.Bxf3 Bxd7 15.f5 Qc7 16.Bd4 Bc5 17.fxe6 fxe6 18.Bh5+ g6 19.Bg4 Bxd4 20.Qxd4 O-O 21.Kd2 Rf7 22.Raf1 Raf8 23.Rxf7 Rxf7 24.h4 Qd8 25.Kc2 a5 26.Kb1 Qb8 27.g3 b4 28.cxb4 axb4 29.a4 h5 30.Bh3 Qa8 31.g4 Qxa4 32.gxh5 b3 33.Rg1 Rf3 34.Rxg6+ Kh7 35.Rg7+ Kxg7 36.Qg4+ Kh8 37.Qxf3 Qa2+ 38.Kc1 Qa1+ 39.Kd2 Qxb2+ 40.Ke1 Qxe5+ 41.Kf2 b2 42.Qf8+ Kh7 43.Qe7+ Qg7 44.Qb4 Qd4+ 45.Kg2 Qe4+ 46.Kh2 Qe5+ 47.Kg2 Qe2+ 48.Kg3 Qd3+ 49.Kh2 Qc2+ 50.Bg2 b1=Q 51.Qe7+ Kg8 52.Qd8+ Kf7 53.Qxd7+ Kf6 54.Qd8+ Ke5 55.h6 Qh7 56.Qf8 Qbb7 57.Kg3 Qbf7 58.Qb8+ Qc7 59.Qf8 Kd4+ 0-1

Round 13, Feb. 8
Ding, Liren – Carlsen, Magnus
E10 Dzindzikhashvili Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 a6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 b6 7.e3 Bb7 8.Bd3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 d6 10.O-O Nbd7 11.Nd2 g5 12.Bg3 h5 13.h3 h4 14.Bh2 g4 15.hxg4 h3 16.g3 Rg8 17.f3 Qe7 18.e4 O-O-O 19.Rf2 Nh7 20.a4 a5 21.Rb1 Rde8 22.Nf1 f5 23.exf5 exf5 24.Bxf5 Ng5 25.c5 Kb8 26.cxb6 Nxb6 27.d5 Ba6 28.Qd4 Ka7 29.f4 Ne4 30.Re1 Nxf2 31.Rxe7 Rxe7 32.Kxf2 Re2+ 33.Kf3 Rge8 34.Bd3 Bxd3 35.Qxd3 Rg2 36.g5 1-0

Round 14

Dubov-Carlsen 0.5-0.5
MVL-Ding 1-0
So-Radjabov 0.5-0.5
Aronian-Vidit 0.5-0.5
Bluebaum-Nakamura 0-1
Shankland-Nepo 0.5-0.5
Dominguez-Giri 0.5-0.5
Duda-Grischuk 1-0

Round 14, Feb. 8
Dubov, Daniil – Carlsen, Magnus
D43 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.g3 Nbd7 6.Bg2 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.b3 b6 9.Bb2 a5 10.e4 Ba6 11.Ne5 Rc8 12.Re1 dxc4 13.Nxc4 Bxc4 14.bxc4 e5 15.Ne2 Bb4 16.Rf1 Re8 17.Qc2 Qe7 18.c5 exd4 19.cxb6 c5 20.a3 Nxb6 21.axb4 axb4 22.Nf4 Qd6 23.Rfd1 Nbd7 24.Rac1 Qa6 25.Nd3 h5 26.h3 b3 27.Qc4 Qxc4 28.Rxc4 Nxe4 29.Bxd4 Nb6 30.Rxc5 Nxc5 31.Nxc5 b2 32.Nd3 Nc4 33.Nxb2 Red8 34.Bc3 Nxb2 35.Rxd8+ Rxd8 36.Bxb2 Rd1+ 37.Bf1 Rb1 38.Bd4 Rd1 39.Be3 Ra1 40.Kg2 Ra5 41.Kf3 Rf5+ 42.Ke4 Ra5 43.Bc4 Ra4 44.Kd5 Ra1 45.Kd6 Kf8 46.Bc5 Rd1+ 47.Kc6+ Kg8 48.Bd5 Rd3 49.Be4 Rd2 50.Bd5 Rd3 51.Be3 g6 52.Kd6 Kg7 53.Ke5 Rd1 54.g4 hxg4 55.hxg4 Rd3 56.Bg5 Rd1 57.Bf6+ Kf8 58.Kd6 Rd2 59.f3 Rd1 60.Bc3 Rd3 61.Be5 Rd1 62.f4 Rg1 63.g5 Rd1 64.Kc6 Rd2 65.Bd6+ Kg7 66.Bb3 Rd3 67.Bc4 Rd1 68.Kd7 Rd4 69.Bb5 f6 70.Ke6 Re4+ 71.Kd5 Re1 72.gxf6+ Kxf6 73.Be5+ Ke7 74.Bd3 Kf7 75.Bc4 Ke7 76.Kd4 Ra1 77.Bd3 Kf7 78.Kd5 Rd1 79.Ke4 Re1+ 80.Kd4 Rd1 81.Bc7 Ke7 82.Ke3 Rc1 83.Bb6 Rg1 84.Kf3 Rc1 85.Kg4 Rc3 86.Be4 Kf7 87.Bd5+ Ke7 88.Ba5 Rc1 89.Bb6 Rd1 90.Bf3 Rf1 91.Bg2 Rb1 92.Bc5+ Kf7 93.Be4 Re1 94.Bd5+ Kg7 95.Bf3 Rc1 96.Be3 Rb1 97.Bd4+ Kh6 98.Bc5 Kg7 99.Be2 Rc1 100.Be3 Re1 101.Bd4+ Kh6 102.Bf3 Rb1 103.Bf6 Rg1+ 104.Kh4 Rb1 105.Bg5+ Kg7 106.Kg3 Rb3 107.Kf2 Ra3 108.Ke2 Rb3 109.Be4 Ra3 110.Bd3 Rb3 111.Ke3 Rb4 112.Be4 Ra4 113.Bd5 Rb4 114.Kd3 Ra4 115.Bc4 Ra1 116.Kd4 Re1 117.Kd5 Rd1+ 118.Ke5 Re1+ 119.Kd6 Rd1+ 120.Ke7 Re1+ 121.Be6 Re4 122.Kd6 Re1 1/2-1/2

Drawn by the 50-move rule

Round 14, Feb. 8
MVL – Ding, Liren
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Rg1 b5 7.a4 b4 8.Nd5 Nxe4 9.Bc4 e6 10.Qe2 Nc5 11.c3 Be7 12.Nxe7 Qxe7 13.cxb4 Ncd7 14.Bd2 Ne5 15.Bb3 O-O 16.O-O-O Nbc6 17.Nc2 Rb8 18.Bc3 Ng6 19.g3 e5 20.Bd5 Qd7 21.f4 Bb7 22.Bb3 exf4 23.gxf4 Qf5 24.Qd2 1-0

Round 14, Feb. 8
Bluebaum, Matthias – Nakamura, Hikaru
D04 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 c5 4.Nbd2 Nc6 5.c3 cxd4 6.exd4 Bf5 7.Nh4 Bg4 8.Ndf3 e6 9.h3 Bh5 10.Bd3 Bd6 11.Qe2 Bg6 12.Nxg6 hxg6 13.Bg5 Qc7 14.g3 O-O-O 15.O-O-O Kb8 16.Kb1 Rc8 17.h4 Na5 18.Ne5 Ka8 19.Bf4 Rhd8 20.Rc1 Nc6 21.Rhe1 Bxe5 22.dxe5 Nd7 23.h5 gxh5 24.Qxh5 g6 25.Qe2 Rh8 26.c4 d4 27.c5 Nb4 28.a3 Nd5 29.Rc4 Nb8 30.Rxd4 Qxc5 31.Rc4 Qb6 32.Bd2 Nc6 33.Rec1 Rh2 34.Be1 Rd8 35.Be4 a6 36.Rd1 Nxe5 37.Rcc1 Nc6 38.Qf3 Ne5 39.Qe2 f6 40.Ka1 g5 41.Qd2 Nc6 42.Qd3 Rhh8 43.Kb1 Ne5 44.Qe2 g4 45.Bg2 Rhe8 46.Qe4 Qb3 47.Qc2 Qxc2+ 48.Kxc2 f5 49.Kb1 Nc6 50.Bd2 Rg8 51.Rh1 Nd4 52.Ba5 Rd7 53.Ka2 Ka7 54.Rh6 Re8 55.Rd1 Nc6 56.Bd2 Nb6 57.Bxc6 bxc6 58.Kb1 Red8 59.Kc1 Rd6 60.b3 R8d7 61.a4 Kb7 62.Kc2 c5 63.Rhh1 Kc6 64.Rhe1 Nd5 65.Re2 Nb4+ 66.Kc1 e5 67.Rh1 Nd3+ 68.Kc2 f4 69.gxf4 exf4 70.Bc3 Nb4+ 71.Bxb4 cxb4 72.Rg1 f3 73.Re4 Rd2+ 74.Kc1 R7d4 75.Rexg4 Rxg4 76.Rxg4 Rxf2 77.Rxb4 Ra2 78.Rf4 f2 79.Kd1 a5 80.Rf5 Kd6 81.Rf3 Kd5 82.Rf4 Ke5 83.Rf8 Kd4 84.Rf3 Ke4 85.Rf8 Ke3 86.Re8+ Kd3 0-1

Round 14, Feb. 8
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Grischuk, Alexander
E60 King’s Indian, Fianchetto variation

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.d4 d6 6.O-O Ne4 7.b3 a5 8.Qc2 f5 9.Bb2 Nc6 10.Nbd2 Nxd2 11.Qxd2 e5 12.d5 Nb4 13.a3 Na6 14.Qxa5 Bd7 15.Qc3 Nc5 16.Nd2 Qe7 17.a4 Rf7 18.Qc2 f4 19.Ne4 Bf5 20.b4 Nd7 21.a5 Kh8 22.Qb3 g5 23.c5 dxc5 24.d6 cxd6 25.Nxd6 Qxd6 26.Qxf7 Be6 27.Rad1 Qa6 28.b5 1-0

Dubov and Nepo are outside the qualification spots going into the final round of the prelims, but the players above them will be looking nervously over their shoulders! The games start in 10 mins

(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

Opera Euro Rapid 2021

February 8, 2021

Preliminaries Day 3 Feb. 8 (continued)

Round Fifteen

Round 15

Grischuk-Dubov 0.5-0.5
Giri-Duda 0.5-0.5
Nepo-Dominguez 0-1
Nakamura-Shankland 0-1
Vidit-Bluebaum 0.5-0.5
Radjabov-Aronian 0.5-0.5
Ding-So 0.5-0.5
Carlsen-MVL 0.5-0.5

Round 15, Feb. 8
Nakamura, Hikaru – Shankland, Sam
B67 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer

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 Qc7 12.Qd2 b5 13.Kb1 b4 14.Ne2 a5 15.c4 bxc3 16.Nxc3 Rb8 17.a4 h6 18.Be3 O-O 19.Nb5 Qb7 20.Bd3 Rfc8 21.Rc1 d5 22.e5 Bb4 23.Qf2 Ne8 24.Ba7 Rxc1+ 25.Rxc1 Rc8 26.Rxc8 Qxc8 27.h5 Kf8 28.g4 Qc6 29.Bb6 Bc8 30.Na7 Qxa4 31.Qe2 Qd7 32.Qc2 Bb7 33.Bb5 Qe7 34.Qh7 f6 35.Qh8+ Kf7 36.Bd3 Qf8 37.Qh7 fxe5 38.Bd8 e4 39.fxe4 Qd6 40.Bh4 dxe4 41.Bc2 Qa6 42.g5 hxg5 43.Bxg5 Qxa7 44.Qg6+ Kf8 45.h6 Qg1+ 46.Ka2 Bd5+ 47.b3 Qf2 48.Kb1 Bc3 49.Bc1 gxh6 50.Qxh6+ Kg8 51.Qg5+ Ng7 52.Qd8+ Qf8 53.Qc7 Bf6 54.Qxa5 Nf5 55.Ba3 Qc8 56.Bc5 Nd4 57.Bd1 Nxb3 58.Bxb3 0-1

Round 15, Feb. 8
Nepo, Ian – Dominguez Perez, Leinier
E48 Nimzo-Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Ne2 Re8 8.Bd2 Bd6 9.Rc1 c6 10.O-O Na6 11.f3 c5 12.Kh1 Nc7 13.g4 b6 14.Ng3 g6 15.Nce2 Bb7 16.g5 Nd7 17.h4 Nf8 18.Kg2 Ba6 19.Bxa6 Nxa6 20.dxc5 bxc5 21.e4 d4 22.Qa4 Nc7 23.b4 Nce6 24.bxc5 Bxc5 25.Rfd1 Rb8 26.Bc3 Qb6 27.Ba1 Red8 28.Rd3 Qb7 29.Rcd1 Bb6 30.Qb4 Qa6 31.Qa3 Qc4 32.f4 Qc6 33.Qc1 Qb7 34.Kh2 Rbc8 35.Qb2 Qc7 36.Rc1 Qb8 37.Rf1 Bc7 38.Qd2 Qb5 39.Rb3 Qa6 40.f5 Nc5 41.fxg6 hxg6 42.Rbf3 Nxe4 43.Qb2 Be5 44.Kg2 Nxg3 45.Nxg3 Qc6 46.Kg1 Rb8 47.Qf2 Qd5 48.h5 Ne6 49.Qd2 d3 50.Bxe5 Qxe5 51.hxg6 fxg6 52.Re3 Qxg5 53.Rfe1 Nf4 54.Kh2 Qh4+ 55.Kg1 Nh3+ 56.Kg2 Nf4+ 57.Kg1 Rf8 58.Rf1 Nh3+ 59.Kg2 Nf4+ 60.Kg1 Ne2+ 61.Nxe2 Rxf1+ 62.Kxf1 Rf8+ 63.Kg2 Rf2+ 0-1

Final Standings of Preliminaries

1-2 Carlsen, Giri 9.5
3 So 9
4-5 Aronian, MVL 8.5
6-7 Duda, Radjabov 8
8-9 Dubov, Nakamura 7.5
10-11 Shankland, Nepo 7
12-14 Vidit, Dominguez, Grischuk 6.5
15 Bluebaum 5.5
16 Ding 5

Knockout Bracket

Quarterfinals

Carlsen-Dubov
MVL-Aronian

So-Duda
Radjabov-Giri

[Hans Jung]

I enjoyed Duda - Dubov - some tactical wildness.
MVL - Ding where Ding couldnt unscramble his pieces.
Duda - Grischuk started out as a quiet positional oasis in all the tactical madness but a pawn is a pawn! - and then 27.Rad1 I found humorous. Remove the defender, remove the defender, remove the defender - so many layers - so many variations thereof.

[Wayne Komer]

Opera Euro Rapid 2021

February 9, 2021

Quarterfinals

Knockouts Day 1

Game 1, Feb. 9
Carlsen, Magnus – Dubov, Daniil
C55 Two Knights Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.O-O d6 6.c3 O-O 7.Re1 h6 8.Nbd2 Be6 9.Bxe6 fxe6 10.Nf1 a5 11.Ng3 a4 12.Bd2 d5 13.b4 axb3 14.axb3 Rxa1 15.Qxa1 d4 16.Qb1 dxc3 17.Bxc3 Bc5 18.b4 Bb6 19.b5 Nd4 20.Bxd4 Bxd4 21.Qb3 Qd7 22.Nf5 Ng4 23.N5xd4 exd4 24.e5 h5 25.Qc4 Rxf3 26.gxf3 Nh6 27.Rc1 Nf5 28.Qxc7 Qd5 29.Qc2 Nh4 30.Qe2 Nxf3+ 31.Kh1 Nxe5+ 32.f3 Qxb5 33.Re1 Nxd3 34.Rd1 1-0

Game 2, Feb. 9
Dubov, Daniil – Carlsen, Magnus
E10 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Nbd2 O-O 6.Bg2 b6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.O-O Bb7 9.Ne5 Re8 10.Qc2 c5 11.Ndf3 cxd4 12.Nd3 Nc6 13.Nxb4 Nxb4 14.Qd1 d3 15.exd3 d4 16.a3 Nc6 17.Bf4 Nd5 18.Bd2 Ne3 19.fxe3 dxe3 20.Re1 exd2 21.Rxe8+ Qxe8 22.Qxd2 Rd8 23.Re1 Qd7 24.Qf4 f6 25.h4 Qxd3 26.h5 Qd6 27.Qc4+ Kf8 28.Ng5 Qd4+ 29.Qxd4 Nxd4 30.Nxh7+ Kg8 31.Nxf6+ gxf6 32.Bxb7 Kg7 33.Kf2 Kh6 34.g4 f5 35.gxf5 Kxh5 36.Rd1 Kg5 37.Be4 Kf4 38.Bb1 Ke5 39.Rd3 Rf8 40.Re3+ Kd6 41.Rd3 Ke5 42.Re3+ Kd6 43.Rd3 Ke5 1/2-1/2

Game 3, Feb. 9
Carlsen, Magnus – Dubov, Daniil
B01 Scandinavian, Pytel-Wade variation

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Nb5 Qd8 7.Be2 a6 8.Na3 Bg4 9.Nc4 e6 10.O-O Be7 11.c3 O-O 12.a4 Nd5 13.a5 Bd6 14.Re1 Re8 15.Bg5 f6 16.Bh4 Nce7 17.Bg3 Bxg3 18.hxg3 Nf5 19.Qb3 Rb8 20.Bd3 Bh5 21.Ncd2 Bf7 22.Qc2 Bg6 23.Nb3 Qd6 24.Nc5 b6 25.axb6 cxb6 26.Ne4 Qc7 27.Rxa6 Rbc8 28.Qa4 h5 29.Ned2 Kh7 30.c4 b5 31.cxb5 h4 32.gxh4 Nf4 33.Bf1 Bh5 34.Rc6 Qf7 35.Qc2 Qg6 36.Kh2 Rcd8 37.Qe4 Nd5 38.Rxe6 Nc7 39.Rxe8 Rxe8 40.Qb1 Rxe1 41.Qxe1 Nd5 42.Qe4 1-0

Magnus clinches a 2.5:0.5 win today against Dubov, though Daniil will get a chance to hit back tomorrow and force a playoff!

Game 1, Feb. 9
MVL – Aronian, Levon
E39 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Pirc variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 O-O 6.a3 Bxc5 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.e3 b6 9.b4 Be7 10.Bb2 Bb7 11.Rd1 Rc8 12.Be2 a5 13.b5 Nb8 14.e4 Qc7 15.e5 Ne8 16.O-O Bxf3 17.Bxf3 d6 18.Na4 dxe5 19.Rfe1 Qxc4 20.Qxc4 Rxc4 21.Nxb6 Rc2 22.Re2 Rxe2 23.Bxe2 e4 24.Nc4 a4 25.Nb6 Nf6 26.Nxa4 Nbd7 27.b6 Rb8 28.Bb5 Nxb6 29.Be5 Rd8 30.Rxd8+ Bxd8 31.Nxb6 Bxb6 32.Bxf6 gxf6 33.Kf1 f5 34.f3 h5 35.Bc6 exf3 36.gxf3 Kf8 37.a4 Ke7 38.Bb5 e5 39.Bd3 Kf6 40.Bc4 e4 41.Bd5 e3 42.f4 Bc7 43.Ke2 Bxf4 44.h3 Ke5 45.Bxf7 h4 46.a5 Kd4 47.a6 Bb8 48.Be6 Ke4 49.Bc8 Ba7 50.Bb7+ Kf4 51.Bc8 Ke4 52.Bb7+ Kf4 53.Bc8 Ke4 1/2-1/2

Game 2, Feb. 9
Aronian, Levon – MVL
D96 Grunfeld, Russian variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 Be6 7.Qa4+ Bd7 8.Qb3 c5 9.d5 b5 10.Nxb5 Na6 11.Nc3 Rb8 12.Qd1 Qa5 13.Qd2 Nb4 14.e4 Ba4 15.b3 Bxb3 16.Rb1 Bc2 17.Rb3 Bxb3 18.axb3 Nd7 19.Bb2 O-O 20.Be2 Na2 21.Na4 Qxa4 22.Bxg7 Rxb3 23.Bxf8 Rb1+ 24.Bd1 Qxe4+ 25.Kf1 Nc3 26.Qxc3 Rxd1+ 27.Ne1 Nxf8 28.h4 Qxd5 29.Rh3 Ne6 30.Re3 Rd4 31.Nf3 Qc4+ 32.Qxc4 Rxc4 33.Ra3 Nd4 34.Nxd4 cxd4 35.Rxa7 d3 36.Ke1 Re4+ 37.Kd2 Re2+ 38.Kxd3 Rxf2 0-1

Game 3, Feb. 9
MVL – Aronian, Levon
C78 Ruy Lopez, Moeller Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.d4 Bb6 9.a4 Bb7 10.Be3 exd4 11.cxd4 Na5 12.Bc2 Nxe4 13.d5 Bxe3 14.Bxe4 Bb6 15.Nbd2 b4 16.Re1 O-O 17.Nf1 Qf6 18.b3 Rae8 19.Rb1 Bc8 20.Ng3 Nb7 21.Qd2 g6 22.Bc2 a5 23.Ne4 Qg7 24.Qg5 Kh8 25.Nf6 Rxe1+ 26.Rxe1 h6 27.Qh4 g5 28.Qe4 g4 29.Nd4 Nc5 30.Qe7 Nd7 31.Nxd7 Bxd7 32.Qxd7 Bxd4 33.Qf5 Qg6 34.g3 h5 35.Kg2 Kg7 36.Qf4 Qf6 37.Bf5 Rh8 38.Re2 Rh6 39.h3 gxh3+ 40.Kxh3 Rh8 41.Qf3 Bc5 42.Re4 Qg5 43.Kg2 Rh6 44.Rh4 Qd2 45.Rf4 Qc3 46.Bd3 Rf6 47.Rxf6 Qxf6 48.Qxf6+ Kxf6 49.f4 Be3 50.Kf3 Bd2 51.Bf1 Be1 52.Bd3 Ke7 53.Bb5 Kd8 54.Bc6 Ke7 55.Bb5 Kd8 56.Bc6 Ke7 57.Bb5 1/2-1/2

Game 4, Feb. 9
Aronian, Levon – MVL
D96 Grunfeld, Russian variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 Be6 7.Qa4+ Bd7 8.Qa3 Bc6 9.e3 Bxf3 10.gxf3 Nbd7 11.f4 O-O 12.Bg2 c6 13.O-O e6 14.Rd1 Qb6 15.Bd2 Rfd8 16.Be1 Bf8 17.Qa4 Nd5 18.Nxd5 exd5 19.b4 a6 20.Qc2 Nf6 21.a4 Re8 22.Rab1 Rac8 23.Qb3 Qd8 24.Bh3 Ne4 25.b5 axb5 26.axb5 c5 27.dxc5 Rxc5 28.Bg2 Qd7 29.Qd3 Qe6 30.b6 Rec8 31.Rb5 Rxb5 32.Qxb5 Nf6 33.Qa5 Rc6 34.Bc3 Rxb6 35.Bd4 Ra6 36.Qc7 Ne4 37.Qxb7 Ra2 38.Qb3 Qg4 39.h3 Qe2 40.Rf1 Nxf2 41.Qxd5 Nxh3+ 42.Kh2 Nf2 43.Qf3 Qxf3 44.Bxf3 Ne4+ 45.Kh3 Rf2 46.Rxf2 Nxf2+ 47.Kg3 Nd3 48.Be2 Nb4 49.e4 Nc6 50.Bb6 Be7 51.Bb5 Nd8 52.f5 gxf5 53.exf5 f6 54.Bc4+ Kg7 55.Bd5 Nf7 56.Be3 Bd6+ 57.Kh4 Be5 58.Kh5 h6 59.Bxf7 Kxf7 60.Bxh6 Bd6 61.Be3 Bf8 62.Bh6 Bd6 63.Be3 Bf8 64.Bh6 Bd6 1/2-1/2

Game 1, Feb. 9
So, Wesley – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bf5 7.O-O Be7 8.Re1 O-O 9.Nbd2 Nd6 10.Nf1 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 c6 12.Bf4 Na6 13.h4 Nc7 14.Ng5 g6 15.Ne3 Qd7 16.h5 Nce8 17.Nf3 Ng7 18.Ne5 Qd8 19.Bh6 Bg5 20.N3g4 gxh5 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 22.Nh2 f6 23.Nef3 Ne4 24.Re2 Kh8 25.Rae1 Bf4 26.Nf1 f5 27.c4 Rg8 28.cxd5 cxd5 29.Ne3 Qd7 30.Ne5 Qg7 31.f3 Ng3 32.Rc2 Bxe5 33.dxe5 Qxe5 34.Qxd5 Rae8 35.Qxe5+ Rxe5 36.Rc4 b5 37.Rd4 Rf8 38.Kf2 f4 39.Nc2 Rxe1 40.Nxe1 Re8 41.Rxf4 Nh1+ 42.Kf1 Ng3+ 43.Kf2 Nh1+ 44.Kf1 Ng3+ 45.Kf2 1/2-1/2

Game 2, Feb. 9
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – So, Wesley
A06 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 b6 5.b3 Bb7 6.Bb2 Nbd7 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Be2 a6 9.Qc2 Bd6 10.Qf5 Qe7 11.O-O g6 12.Qh3 h5 13.Rfe1 h4 14.e4 dxe4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.Bd3 Bxd3 17.Rxe7+ Bxe7 18.Nd4 Be4 19.Re1 Bd5 20.g4 Kd8 21.g5 Ne4 22.Qf3 Rh5 23.Rxe4 Rxg5+ 24.Kf1 Re5 25.Nc6+ Bxc6 26.Bxe5 f5 27.Bxc7+ Kxc7 28.Rc4 Ne5 29.Qe3 Bd6 30.Rxh4 Rd8 31.Rh7+ Rd7 32.Rxd7+ Bxd7 33.Qc3+ Kb7 34.a4 Bc7 35.h3 Bc6 36.Qe3 Nf3 37.Qe6 Be4 38.Qd7 g5 39.b4 g4 40.hxg4 fxg4 41.Ke2 Ne5 42.Qg7 Bf3+ 43.Ke3 Nc6 44.Qf8 b5 45.axb5 axb5 46.d4 Na7 47.Qc5 Bb6 48.Qe7+ Ka6 49.Qe6 Nc6 50.Qc8+ Ka7 51.Qd7+ Kb8 52.Qd6+ Kc8 53.Qe6+ Kc7 54.Qf7+ Kd6 55.Qf6+ Kd7 56.Qf5+ Ke7 57.Qg5+ Ke6 58.Qg6+ Kd7 59.Qf5+ Kc7 60.Qf7+ Kb8 61.Qe8+ Bd8 62.Qg8 Kb7 63.d5 Bb6+ 64.Kd2 Nxb4 65.Qf7+ Ka6 66.d6 Nc6 67.Qa2+ Ba5+ 68.Ke3 b4 69.Qg8 Bb6+ 70.Kf4 Bxf2 71.Qa2+ Na5 72.Qxf2 Bc6 73.Qe2+ Kb6 74.Qe7 b3 75.d7 Bxd7 76.Qxd7 Kc5 77.Ke4 Nc4 78.Qd4+ 1-0

Game 3, Feb. 9
So, Wesley – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
A06 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.b3 Be7 5.Bb2 O-O 6.Nc3 c5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.d4 Nc6 9.Be2 Ne4 10.dxc5 Qa5 11.Rc1 Bf6 12.Nd4 Nxc5 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.O-O Ne4 15.Qc2 Nxc3 16.Bxc3 Bxc3 17.Qxc3 Qxa2 18.Rc2 Qa3 19.Ra1 Qe7 20.Qxc6 Be6 21.Rd2 Qb4 22.Rd3 Rfc8 23.Qa6 h6 24.h3 Rc3 25.Qa3 Qxa3 26.Rxa3 Rxd3 27.Bxd3 Kf8 28.Kf1 Rb8 29.Ke2 Rb7 30.Kd2 Ke7 31.Kc3 Rc7+ 32.Kd4 Rb7 33.Kc5 Rc7+ 34.Kd4 Rb7 35.Ba6 Rc7 36.Ra2 Bf5 37.b4 Be6 38.Bd3 Rb7 39.b5 Bd7 40.Ra5 Be6 41.f4 f6 42.g4 Rc7 43.Ra6 Bc8 44.Ra5 Be6 45.Ra6 Bc8 46.Ra4 Be6 47.Be2 Kd6 48.Ra6+ Ke7 49.Ra4 Kd6 50.f5 Bf7 51.Ra6+ Ke7 52.Bd1 Rc4+ 53.Kd3 Rc7 54.Kd4 Rc4+ 55.Kd3 Rc7 56.Be2 Kd7 57.Kd4 Ke7 58.h4 Kd7 59.Bd1 Rc4+ 60.Kd3 Rc7 61.Bb3 Ke7 62.Kd4 Rb7 63.Ra5 Rd7 64.Ra6 Rb7 65.Kc5 Rd7 66.Ra5 Rc7+ 67.Kd4 Rd7 68.Ba2 Kd8 69.Kc5 Rc7+ 70.Kd4 Rd7 71.Ra6 Ke7 72.Rc6 Rb7 73.Ra6 Rd7 74.Rc6 Rb7 75.h5 Kd8 76.Rc5 Ke7 77.Bxd5 Bxd5 78.Kxd5 Kd7 79.Kc4 Rb6 80.Rd5+ Kc7 81.Kc5 Rb8 82.e4 Rb6 83.e5 fxe5 84.Rxe5 Kd7 85.Re6 Rb7 86.Rg6 Rc7+ 87.Kd5 Ke8 88.f6 gxf6 89.Rxh6 Rg7 90.Rg6 Rb7 91.Rxf6 Rxb5+ 92.Ke4 Ke7 93.Rf5 Rb4+ 94.Kf3 Rb1 95.h6 Rh1 96.g5 Ke6 97.Ra5 a6 98.Kg4 Kf7 99.Rf5+ Kg8 100.Rf6 Kh7 101.Rf7+ Kg8 102.Ra7 Rb1 103.Kh5 1-0

Game 4, Feb. 9
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – So, Wesley
A06 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.b3 O-O 6.Bb2 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.h4 f5 10.g4 Nxc3 11.dxc3 e5 12.Bc4+ Kh8 13.Ng5 e4 14.Rd1 Qe8 15.Ne6 Bxe6 16.Bxe6 Ne5 17.gxf5 Nd3+ 18.Rxd3 exd3 19.Qxd3 Rd8 20.Qe4 Qh5 21.f3 Bf6 22.Ke2 Rd6 23.Qg4 Qe8 24.h5 Qd8 25.Bc1 Bxc3 26.h6 g6 27.Qc4 Rd2+ 28.Bxd2 Qxd2+ 29.Kf1 Qxe3 30.Qe4 Qc1+ 31.Kg2 Qg5+ 32.Qg4 Qd2+ 33.Kh3 gxf5 34.Qh5 Be5 35.f4 Qxf4 0-1

Icily cool defence as Wesley So comes from behind to beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda in today's match!

(to be continued)

[Wayne Komer]

Opera Euro Rapid 2021

February 9, 2021

Quarterfinals

Knockouts Day 1 (continued)

Game 1, Feb. 9
Giri, Anish – Radjabov, Teimour
B32 Sicilian, Labourdonnais – Loewenthal variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 a6 6.Nd6+ Bxd6 7.Qxd6 Qf6 8.Qd1 d6 9.Nc3 Nge7 10.Be3 O-O 11.Qd2 Be6 12.h4 h6 13.h5 Rac8 14.O-O-O Nb4 15.Qxd6 Nec6 16.Bb6 Qf4+ 17.Qd2 Qf6 18.a3 Na2+ 19.Nxa2 Bxa2 20.Rh3 Be6 21.Rc3 Qh4 22.Qe2 Qg5+ 23.Kb1 Rfe8 24.g3 Bg4 25.f3 Bxh5 26.Bh3 Ra8 27.Bd7 Qxg3 28.Bxe8 Rxe8 29.Rg1 Qf4 30.Qe3 Qf6 31.Rd3 Bg6 32.Bc5 Qe6 33.Rd6 Qc8 34.Bb6 Kh7 35.b3 Qh3 36.Qf2 Re6 37.Rxe6 Qxe6 38.Kb2 f5 39.exf5 Qxf5 40.Rg2 Qf6 41.Kb1 Qe6 42.Qe3 Ne7 43.Bc5 Nd5 44.Rxg6 Qxg6 45.Qxe5 Nf6 46.Bd4 Qf7 1/2-1/2

Game 2, Feb. 9
Radjabov, Teimour – Giri, Anish
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.Qa4+ Nc6 8.e3 O-O 9.Rc1 Rd8 10.cxd5 exd5 11.a3 Bf8 12.Be2 Ne7 13.O-O c6 14.b4 a6 15.Qb3 Nf5 16.Na4 Rb8 17.Nc5 Bd6 18.Qc3 Nh4 19.Ne5 Bxe5 20.dxe5 Qg6 21.g3 Bh3 22.Rfd1 Bg4 23.Bxg4 Qxg4 24.h3 Nf3+ 25.Kg2 Nh4+ 26.Kg1 Qg6 27.Kf1 Nf3 28.Kg2 Nh4+ 29.Kf1 Nf3 30.Kg2 Nh4+ 31.Kf1 1/2-1/2

Game 3, Feb. 9
Giri, Anish – Radjabov, Teimour
B32 Sicilian, Labourdonnais-Loewenthal variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.N1c3 a6 7.Na3 b5 8.Nd5 Nf6 9.c4 b4 10.Nc2 a5 11.Bg5 Be7 12.Nxe7 Qxe7 13.Ne3 Be6 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.Qxd6 Nd4 16.Bd3 Rc8 17.O-O Rc6 18.Qb8+ Rc8 19.Qb6 O-O 20.Qxa5 Qf4 21.Rfe1 Bh3 22.Bf1 Rc6 23.Nf5 Bxf5 24.exf5 Nc2 25.g3 Qh6 26.Qxe5 Nxa1 27.Rxa1 Qd6 28.Re1 Ra6 29.Qxd6 Rxd6 30.Re5 Rd2 31.c5 Rxb2 32.Bc4 Rc2 33.Bb3 Rc3 34.g4 h6 35.Kg2 Kh7 36.Re7 f6 37.Rc7 h5 38.h3 hxg4 39.hxg4 Kh6 40.c6 Rd8 41.Rd7 Rxd7 42.cxd7 Rd3 43.Be6 Kg5 44.f3 Kf4 45.Kf2 Rd2+ 46.Ke1 Ke3 47.f4 Rd6 48.g5 Kxf4 49.gxf6 gxf6 50.Ke2 Rd4 51.Kf2 Rd2+ 52.Ke1 Ke3 53.Kf1 Kf3 54.Kg1 Rd4 55.Kh2 Rd1 0-1

After 15 draws in a row, #ChessChamps tour leader Teimour Radjabov picks up a win and Anish Giri must now win on demand with the black pieces in the final game of the day!

Game 4, Feb. 9
Radjabov, Teimour – Giri, Anish
E11 Bogo-Indian Defence, Grunfeld variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 O-O 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 d6 7.Bd3 e5 8.b4 a5 9.b5 Nbd7 10.O-O Re8 11.Re1 Bf8 12.Bb2 exd4 13.Bxd4 Ne5 14.Be2 a4 15.Qc2 Nfd7 16.Bb2 Be7 17.Nf1 Bf6 18.Nd4 Ng6 19.Ng3 Nc5 20.Rad1 Be5 21.Nf3 Bxb2 22.Qxb2 Nxe4 23.Nxe4 Rxe4 24.c5 Nf4 25.Bf1 Rxe1 26.Rxe1 Bf5 27.Qb4 Ne6 28.cxd6 Qxd6 29.Qxd6 cxd6 30.Rd1 Rc8 31.h3 Rc3 32.Rxd6 g5 33.Ne5 Rxa3 34.Bc4 Ra1+ 35.Kh2 a3 36.Rd7 a2 37.Bxa2 Rxa2 38.Rxf7 Be4 39.f3 Bd5 40.Rd7 Nf4 41.Kh1 Re2 42.Ng4 Re6 43.Nf2 Rb6 44.Nd1 Rxb5 45.Nc3 Rc5 46.Nxd5 Rxd5 47.Rxb7 Rd1+ 48.Kh2 Rd2 49.Rb8+ Kg7 50.Rb7+ Kg6 0-1

Carlsen, MVL & So take the lead in their quarterfinals so Dubov, Aronian & Duda will need to win on demand tomorrow to force a playoff! Giri-Radjabov is tied after a trade of blows.

Day One Results

Carlsen-Dubov 2.5-0.5

MVL-Aronian 2.5-1.5

So-Duda 2.5-1.5

Giri-Radjabov 2-2