Some interesting things in this blog: a blunder quiz, and my part-way review of the Wijk Aan Zee tournament. (It’s called the Tata Steel now, I think, but that’s a rather boring name, so I’ll call it Wijk Aan Zee, which I am more used to.
Blunder Quiz:
Try to find the move that the grandmaster (or, in one case, computer) played to lose material or blunder checkmate. This should be fairly easy: a nice departure from the usual “mate in x” quizzes. Try it out.
To start with, a blunder from the 2016 Wijk Aan Zee: White to move.
GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov– GM Pavel Eljanov Tata Steel 2016
White to move.
GM Pal Benko– GM Fridik Olafsson Stockholm Interzonal 1962
White to move.
GM Magnus Carlsen– GM Merab Gagunashvili World Blitz Championship 2006
Black to move.
GM Peter Heine Nielsen– GM Sergey Karjakin Corus Chess Tournament B Group 2005
White to move.
Mikhail Chigorin– Wilhelm Steinitz World Championship Rematch 1892
Black to move (! Computer!)
Pablo Lafuente– Shredder(computer) Mercosur Cup 2005
White to move.
Nigel Short– Michal Krasenkow FIDE World Championship 2004
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Wijk Aan Zee review at the midpoint (Masters):
There have been several exciting games at this tournament. So far, it’s been a fairly successful tournament, or at least, I would say so. Here are my favorite games so far, with loose notes:
Navara playing a nice attacking game against Caruana:
David Navara–Fabiano Caruana Tata Steel 2016
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 O-O 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Na6 {Black quickly goes to regain the pawn.} 7.g3 Nxc5 8.Bg2 Nce4 {He then operates maneuvers to double White’s c-pawns.} 9.O-O Nxc3 10.bxc3 Be7 11.e4 {White tries to compensate for his wrecked pawns with central control.} d6 12.e5 dxe5 13.Nxe5 {White plows ahead, getting the pieces on good squares.} Qc7 14.Qe2 Nd7 15.Bf4 {White fortifies the knight while developing.} Nxe5 16.Bxe5 Bd6 17.Rfe1 Rb8 {Black relieves the pressure on his b-pawn.} 18.Rad1 Bxe5 19.Qxe5 Qxe5 20.Rxe5 b6 {Black fully casts off the bishop’s attack.} 21.c5 f6 22.cxb6 {! If fxe5, then bxa7 wins the rook back with a good game.} axb6 23.Re2 Kf7 24.f4 e5 {White continues to eliminate his bad pawns.} 25.fxe5 Bg4 26.e6+ {A Zwischenzug allows White to shake up the Black position.} Kg6 27.Be4+ f5 28.e7 Bxe2 29.Rd6+ {White wins back the rook. If Rf6, 30. Rd8.} Kg5 30.exf8=R Rxf8 31.Bd5 Rf6 32.Rd7 Kh6 33.Kf2 {While the Black king is tied up, the White king becomes suddenly active.} Bb5 34.Rc7 Rd6 35.c4 Be8 36.Rc8 Bd7 37.Rd8 {Now the Black bishop and rook are frozen, so he activates the now-free king.} Kg6 38.Ke3 Kf6 39.Kd4 Ke7 {Now, because the Black king has to go to attack the rook, the White king has time to advance.} 40.Rg8 Rg6 {Now, the Black king and bishop are free, but the Black rook is restrained.} 41.Ke5 Rg5 42.Rb8 {The check with f4 is nothing to be feared.} Rg6 43.Rh8 Rh6 44.h4 Be6 45.Ra8 {White hopes to further push back the Black king with Ra7+.} Bd7 46.Rh8 Be6 47.a4 Bd7 48.Ra8 Rg6 49.Ra7 Rxg3 {Kd8 was better, unpinning the bishop, but it’s a hard position to play. Now, with the rook diverted, White can play a brilliant combination.} 50.a5 {!} bxa5 {Now we see the idea. The c-pawn is available to advance.} 51.c5 {!} Kd8 {The bishop must be unpinned, or some other way of preventing c6.} 52.h5 f4 53.Kd6 {White now nearly threatens mate.} Bc8 54.c6 Rg5 55.Bf7 {1-0. Mate with c7 is now certain.}
Hou Yifan returning the favor:
Hou Yifan–David Navara Tata Steel 2016
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Nd7 6. O-O Bg6 {The bishop clears out to enable Nh6-Nf5.} 7. Nbd2 Nh6 8. Nb3 Nf5 9. Bd2 Be7 10. g4 {White kicks back the knight at the slight expense of a weakened kingside.} Nh4 11. Nxh4 Bxh4 12. f4 f5 {! Black stops White’s f5 push by playing it first.} 13. c4 {Undeterred, White tries to crack open Black’s center on the other side of the board.} a5 14. a4 O-O 15. g5 {White hopes to cut off and trap the Black bishop.} h6 16. gxh6 gxh6 17. Kh1 {White will get on the now-open g-file first.} Kh7 18. cxd5 cxd5 19. Rc1 b6 {Black fortifies the a-pawn agains potential further attack.} 20. Rc6 Rc8 21. Rxe6 Bf7 22. Rd6 Be7 {Black wins the exchange to compensate for the lost pawn, putting him material up, but he has left his king exposed to a quick attack.} 23. Bd3 Bxd6 24. Bxf5+ Kh8 25. Qg4 {The knight is under attack, so it can be taken instead of the bishop.} Rc7 26. Qh3 {Now, Yifan threatens mate, using her pieces effectively rather than making the simple recapture.} h5 27. exd6 {Now, White must take, or be down an entire rook.} Ra7 28. Be6 Nf6 29. f5 Qxd6 30. Bf4 {White simply goes about getting all the pieces properly configured.} Qd8 31. Be5 Bg8 32. Qxh5+ {The knight is pinned, so White takes advantage.} Rh7 33. Qg5 Qe7 34. Nc1 {The deep idea is to land the killing blow on g6 via c1-d3-f4.} Qg7 35. Qxg7+ Rxg7 36. Nd3 Rg4 37. Nf4 Kh7 38. h3 Rg3 39. Ng6 {The knight finally arrives.} Rxh3+ 40. Kg2 {1-0. If the rook moves, Rh1 mates.}
And the widely publicized marquee matchup between Wei Yi and Magnus Carlsen:
Wei Yi–Magnus Carlsen Tata Steel 2016
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 {Good! At least we know we’re not getting a Berlin.} 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d5 {Black plays the Marshall Gambit, a highly theoretical line wherein he sacrifices a pawn for active pieces.} 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 {Black begins to convert the exposed rook into the beginning of an attack.} 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qf3 Qh4 15.g3 {Taking the bishop gave Black a pleasant position in which he could fairly easily win back the piece.} Qh3 {Carlsen takes advantage of White’s now-weakened kingside, sinking in his pieces on the light squares.} 16.Be3 {Yi, however, gives back the pawn in order to untangle.} Bxd3 17.Nd2 Qf5 18.Bd4 Rae8 19.Kg2 Qxf3+ 20.Kxf3 {White, somewhat counter-intuitively, takes back with the king, moving it towards the center.} Re6 21.Rac1 h6 22.Kg2 {However, now the king can step back, and the knight is not committed to the f3 square.} Rg6 23.Ne4 Nf4+ 24.Kf3 {Once again, the king moves out.} Bxe4+ 25.Rxe4 Nd3 26.Rd1 Nxb2 {Black has won a pawn, but it is effortful to keep.} 27.Rd2 Ba3 28.Bb6 Rd6 29.Rxd6 Bxd6 30.Re2 Nd3 31.Rd2 Ne5+ 32.Kg2 Be7 33.f4 Nc4 34.Bxc4 bxc4 {The extra Black c-pawn is now fairly irrelevant.} 35.Rd7 Bf6 36.Rc7 Bxc3 37.Rxc6 Rb8 38.a4 Bb2 39.Ba5 {White drops back to cover the pawn.} c3 40.Bxc3 Bxc3 41.Rxc3 {The rook endgame was eventually drawn, but not before some interesting play.} Rb4 42.a5 Rb5 43.Ra3 Rb2+ 44.Kh3 f5 45.Rc3 Rb5 46.Ra3 g5 47.fxg5 hxg5 48.Kg2 Kg7 49.h4 g4 50.Rc3 Rxa5 51.Rc6 Ra2+ 52.Kg1 a5 53.Ra6 a4 54.Kh1 Kf7 55.Kg1 Ra1+ 56.Kg2 Ra3 57.Kh2 Ra2+ 58.Kg1 Ke7 59.Kh1 a3 60.Kg1 {½-½}
All in all, the Masters section, while being a bit dry at times, has also produced some wonderful fighting chess. A few less draws would be nice, but, while being draws, they have not been boring, for the large part. Many less Berlins than we have seen in the last few years, and the seamless integration of a few players who are sometimes overlooked (Liren, Eljanov, Navara) in comparison to their strength leads me to declare the tournament so far a success.
My predictions for the rest of the event:
Round ten: Karjakin–Adams 1-0, Giri–Carlsen 0-1, Yifan–Eljanov ½-½, So–Tomashevsky ½-½, Liren–Van Wely 1-0, Navara–Mamedyarov ½-½, and Caruana-Yi ½-½.
Round eleven: Yi–Karjakin ½-½, Mamedyarov-Caruana ½-½, Van Wely–Navara 0-1, Tomashevsky–Liren ½-½, Eljanov-So ½-½, Carlsen–Yifan 1-0, Adams–Giri ½-½.
Round twelve: Karjakin-Giri ½-½, Yifan–Adams ½-½, So–Carlsen ½-½, Liren–Eljanov 1-0, Navara–Tomashevsky ½-½, Caruana–Van Wely 1-0, Yi–Mamedyarov 1-0.
And round thirteen: Mamedyarov–Karjakin ½-½, Van Wely–Yi 1-0, Tomashevsky–Caruana ½-½, Eljanov–Navara 1-0, Carlsen–Liren ½-½, Adams–So 1-0, Giri–Yifan ½-½.
BROKEN NEWS:
A brilliant game was just played by Wei Yi against Navara.
Wei Yi–David Navara Tata Steel 2016
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 {White chooses a very simple, uncomplicated way to fight the Berlin.} O-O 7. Nc4 Nd7 {The e-pawn is now protected: 8. N(any)xe5, Nxe5 9. Nxe5 Qd4! forks the e5 knight and threatens mate.} 8. Qe2 Re8 9. Bd2 Bd6 10. h4 {White begins to attack, postponing castling.} c5 {Black advances on the queenside, anticipating White will castle there.} 11. h5 h6 {White has provoked a weakness, as 12. h6 would have been worse for Black.} 12. O-O-O Nb8 13. Rdg1 {White prepares to push the g-pawn.} Nc6 14. g4 f6 15. g5 fxg5 16. Nxg5 {Instead of retreating, White throws more fat on the fire. If hxg5, h6! is crushing.} Nd4 17. Qd1 hxg5 18. Bxg5 Be7 19. Be3 Bf6 {It looks like Black has his house in order, but he is viciously attacked still further.} 20. h6 Re7 21. hxg7 Rxg7 22. Qh5 Be6 23. Bh6 {? This wins, but Qh8+ would have prompted resignation.} Bf7 24. Bxg7 {! And now a queen sacrifice to open lines still further!} Bxh5 {White will regain the lost material and emerge up, at the least, several pawns.} 25. Bxf6+ Kf8 26. Bxd8 Ne2+ 27. Kb1 Nxg1 28. Bxc7 {1-0.}
Chess on!
–HikaruShindo
