Tata Steel: Nakamura wins first Super GM event

This event is taking place from January 14th to 30th, 2011 in the traditional De Moriaan Center in Wijk aan Zee. There are three Grandmaster Groups, with 14 players each and each competitor playing against every other. The rate of play is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves and finally 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30 seconds/move increment starting with the first move of the game. Games begin at 13:30h local time (CET), except for the last round on January 30th, which begins at 12:00h. There are three rest days, on January 19th, 24th, and 27th.

Results of round thirteen

The final round, while somewhat anti-climatic inasmuch as all games in A were drawn, did confirm Nakamura’s fantastic tournament, with one loss and six wins and a huge 2879 performance. The result marks the inclusion of the American GM into the world elite, adding 23 Elo in the process as well, and will bring him to seventh place with 2774 just one point behind Topalov, and two behind Karjakin. Hikaru’s euphoric reaction via Twitter said it all, “YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!” (that is a direct quote by the way). In the press conference he was asked about his next goals, and he said that he sought to reach the exclusive 2800 club by the end of the year.

Hikaru Nakamura, 2011 champion of Tata Steel, being interviewed after his victory

Anand entered the last round a half-point behind, and did not let the game simply pass as he tried his hardest to win it. Adventuresome play by Nepomniachtchi with an exchange sacrifice nearly allowed the World Champion to achieve his goal, but the path to winning chances was extremely narrow, and in the end, the Russian champion created a remarkable fortress that defies even the engines’ judgment.

Nepomniachtchi,I (2733) - Anand,V (2810) [B90]
73rd Tata Steel GMA Wijk aan Zee NED (13), 30.01.2011 [Elshan Moradiabadi]

1.e4 c5 Indeed! Anand showed his eagerness to catch 'Nak' in the previous round. It is no big surprise that he tries to complicate things against an opponent who fancies it! 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3

An English Attack? 6...e5 7.Nf3 No, Actually Nepomniatchi was not really expected to play it. Instead he chooses the line in which he suffered a lot in his two games against Karjakin. 7...Be7 8.Bc4 0-0 9.0-0 Qc7

Anand does not deviate from his game against Ivanchuk. 9...Nc6 10.Re1 b5 (10...Be6 11.Nd5 b5 12.Bb3 Bxd5 13.Bxd5 Qc7 14.c3 Nxd5 15.Qxd5 Bf6 16.Red1 Rfd8 17.a4 Ne7 18.Qd3 Qc6 19.axb5 axb5 20.Rxa8 Rxa8 21.h4 h6 22.Bg5 hxg5 23.hxg5 Rd8 24.gxf6 gxf6 25.Nh2 1-0 Karjakin,S (2760)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2720)/Moscow 2010/CB00_2011 (49)) 11.Bb3 Na5 12.Bg5 Nxb3 13.axb3 Bb7 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Nd5 Rc8 16.c3 g6 17.Qd3 Bg7 18.b4 f5 19.Nd2 Bh6 20.Rad1 Rf7 21.f3 Kg7 22.Nf1 fxe4 23.Rxe4 Bc6 24.Ree1 Qd7 25.Ng3 Qa7+ 26.Kh1 Kh8 27.Ne4 1/2-1/2 Karjakin,S (2760)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2720)/Moscow 2010/CB00_2011 (52) 10.Nd5. But 'Nepom' does! The deviation is not a big burden for the World Champion, on the other hand, it decreases the chance of an exciting battle and turns the table in favor of... Nakamura! 10.Bb3 Be6 11.Qd2 Rc8 12.Ng5 Bc4 13.f4 Nbd7 14.fxe5 dxe5 15.Rf5 Bb4 16.Rd1 Rd8 17.Qe1 h6 18.Nf3 Be6 19.Qg3 Bxf5 20.exf5 Bc5 21.Bxc5 Nxc5 22.Re1 Nxb3 23.axb3 b5 24.h3 Rac8 25.Nxe5 Re8 26.b4 Qd6 0-1 Ivanchuk,V (2740)-Anand,V (2803)/Leon 2008/CBM 124 Extra 10...Nxd5 11.Bxd5 Nd7 12.c4 Nf6 13.Qb3. A novelty. Just that! 13...Nxd5 14.cxd5 b5! One should not just consider the static outcome of this move. c6 is 'weakened' and that is true, however, the piece which has to be placed there, the knight on f3, is too far from that dream! 15.Rfc1 Qb8 16.Qc3 f5 17.Qc7 Rf7 18.Nd2 Qxc7 19.Rxc7 Bd8 20.Rc6 This move is not a miscalculation but a misjudgement! The exchange sacrifice is in Black's favor. 20...Bd7 21.Rxd6 Forced since the retreat would lose the bishop. 21.Rc2? f4 21...Bc7 22.Rxd7 Rxd7 23.f3 f4! 24.Bc5

24...Bd6?! Anand could "annoy" Nepomniachtchi more by keeping the bishops on the board longer.

24...Rc8! 25.Nb3 Bb8 26.Rd1 (26.Kf1 Rdc7 27.Bd6 Rc2 28.Bxb8 Rxb8 29.Na5 Rxb2 30.Nc6 Re8 31.a4 And in spite of technical problems, Black is a 'healthy' exchange up.) 26...Kf7 27.Kf1 a5 28.Bf2 Ba7 29.Nxa5 Bxf2 30.Kxf2 Rc2+ 31.Ke1 Rxg2 32.Nc6 Kf6 33.Rd2 Rxd2 34.Kxd2 g5 35.h3

Here Black has the very remarkable maneuver 35...Rg7! It might seem as if the idea is h5-g4 supported by the rook, but it is not. 36.b3

36...Rg6!! This is the fantastic point! The actual threat is Rh6 and taking on h3 and even taking on f3 if allowed. 37.a4 (The tactical trap 37.d6? fails to 37...Kg7! (37...Ke6? 38.d7 Kxd7 39.Nxe5+) 38.d7 Rd6+ 39.Ke2 Rxd7 40.Nxe5 Ra7) 37...bxa4 38.bxa4 Rh6 39.Nb8 with the idea Nd7+ and Nxe5. (39.a5 Rxh3 40.a6 Rh2+) 39...Ke7 40.Nc6+ Kd6 and White is lost. 25.Bxd6 Rxd6 26.Nb3 Rc8 27.Rf1 Kf7 28.Na5 Rc2 29.Rf2 Rc1+ 30.Rf1 Rxf1+ 31.Kxf1 g5 32.Nc6 It is all over now. Black's rook cannot invade White's territory anymore. 32...Kf6 33.b4 Rd7 34.h3 h5 35.Kf2 Rg7 36.Kf1 g4 37.hxg4 hxg4 38.Kf2 g3+

Why draw when the engines say Black has a big edge? Hold on guys. It is a fortress and our engines cannot understand it yet! One of the few moments in which the human is still superior to computers! 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]

Despite the disappointing second place, Anand cannot be entirely unhappy with his performance as he outperformed his rating and further increased his Elo.

Second place....

Carlsen's last-minute scoring was just enough to preserve his Elo from any unfortunate damage, and Aronian also added a couple of points to his tally. Vachier-Lagrave's near 2800 performance has to also be seen as a very successful result, and one must also note 16-year-old Anish Giri who gave a very creditable showing, by knocking heads with the world's best, and living to tell the tale with 50% and a 2744 performance. It is worth recalling that when Carlsen first played in the A tournament, also with a hefty 2690 rating, he was given a through drubbing. Of course he then returned the favor the next year by sharing first place!

The “B” group saw the leaders Navara and McShane both with 8.0/12 playing for first place. The draw favored McShane whose tiebreak was better, and despite his best effort, Navara was unable to overcome his opponent and they drew after the English GM turned up with a remarkable saving resource.

The leaders of the "B" group, McShane and Navara, played a hard game. Though
McShane edged out Navara on tiebreak, both have been invited to next year's A" group.

Navara,D (2708) - McShane,L (2664) [E62]
73rd Tata Steel GMB Wijk aan Zee NED (13), 30.01.2011 [Elshan Moradiabadi]

Before the start of the round it was clear that this game would decide the "B" group. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 Everybody knows that McShane is addicted to the King's Indian. His addiction is not much differ from Uhlmann's craving for the French Defence back in the 1960s and 70s! 3.g3 The solidest. Not very much in Navara's style though. 3...Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nf3 d6 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.0-0 Rb8 8.e3

This position is not new to either party, especially McShane who has an excellent score against this system! Does Navara have something up his sleeve? 8...e5? in accordance with White's play. 8...a6 9.Qe2 e6 (9...e5 10.d5 Ne7 11.e4 b5 12.cxb5 axb5 13.b4 Bd7 14.Rd1 Ne8 15.a4 bxa4 16.b5 f5 17.Ng5 Nf6 18.Rxa4 fxe4 19.Ngxe4 Nxe4 20.Bxe4 Nf5 21.Bxf5 Bxf5 0-1 Navara,D (2719)-Gelfand,B (2729)/Prague 2006/EXT 2009 (37)) 10.b3 Nd7 11.Bb2 Ne7 12.Rfd1 h6 13.e4 b6 14.Rac1 Bb7 15.d5 e5 16.b4 f5 17.Ba3 Nf6 18.exf5 gxf5 19.Nh4 Bc8 20.Bb2 Qe8 21.a4 Ng6 22.Nxg6 Qxg6 23.c5 bxc5 24.bxc5 f4 25.cxd6 cxd6 26.Ba3 Rd8 27.Rb1 Rxb1 28.Rxb1 Bf5 29.Rb4 Bd3 30.Qb2 Qf5 31.h3 e4 0-1 Rustemov,A (2607)-McShane,L (2511)/Esbjerg 2001/CBM 085 (88); 8...Bd7 9.Qe2 a6 10.d5 Na7 11.e4 b5 12.e5 Ne8 13.Re1 c5 14.a4 bxc4 15.Qxc4 a5 16.h3 Nc8 17.Qe2 Qb6 18.Nd2 Nc7 19.Ra3 Qa6 20.Rb3 Qxe2 21.Rxe2 Rb4 22.e6 fxe6 23.dxe6 Be8 24.Ra3 Nb6 0-1 Pert,N (2503)-McShane,L (2614)/Liverpool 2006/CBM 114 ext (85) 9.d5 Ne7 10.e4 Nd7 11.b4 h6 12.Be3 a6 Due to Black's self-inflicted hindrance, White is better now. 13.Nd2 f5 14.f3 f4 15.Ba7 Ra8 16.Bf2 h5 17.c5 g5 18.Nc4 Nf6 19.cxd6 cxd6 20.Bb6 Qd7 21.Qa4?! White is ahead in his attack, and after the exchange of queens, Navara can play without any risk of loss. The position remains better for White. 21...Qxa4 22.Nxa4 Bd7 23.Nab2 Nc8 24.Rac1 Rf7 25.Bd8 Rf8 26.Bc7 Ne8 27.Nb6 Nxb6 28.Bxb6 Bf6 29.Nc4 h4 30.g4 Bb5 31.Rf2 Bxc4 32.Rxc4 Bd8 33.Bxd8 Rxd8 34.Bf1

Almost equal. 34...Rf7 35.Rfc2 Kf8 36.a4 Rdd7?! Giving an extra possibility to White, which Navara takes advantage of. 37.Rc8?! 37.b5 axb5 38.axb5 b6 39.Rc8 Rc7 40.R2xc7 Rxc7 41.Rb8 would have given White better chances. Though Black's activity should be enough to hold. 37...Rc7 38.R2xc7 Rxc7 39.Rb8 Ke7 40.b5 axb5 41.axb5 Nf6 42.b6

It might seem as if White will pick up the b-pawn and win, but Black has found an ingenious resource. 42...Rc1 in spite of the pawn , Black's active rook and white's passive king are enough compensation 43.Rxb7+ Nd7 44.Rc7 Rb1 45.b7 Kd8 46.Rc8+ Ke7 47.Rg8

47...Kf7! 48.b8R Black's point is that if 48.Rxg5 Nf6! 49.Rf5 Kg6 and now 50.g5? Nh7! and White will lose both his extra pawns, while his rook is trapped on the seemingly active f5 square. 48...Rxb8 49.Rxb8 Nxb8 50.Bb5 Ke7 51.Kf2 Kd8 52.Ke2 Kc7 53.Kd3 Kb6 54.Kc4 Ka5 55.h3 Na6 56.Bxa6 Kxa6 57.Kb4 Kb6

Opposition! 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]

To Navara’s relief, the organizers announced they would be inviting both players to the A group next year.
The “C” group was also witness to a bloodbath as Nyzhnyk desperately needed the win since his opponent led by half a point. He nearly got his wish after Vocaturo went for a wild sacrificial attack to draw. One that led to a lost position on the way!

Ilya Nyzhnyk was unable to beat Daniele Vocaturo who won the "C" group. However
the young man showed great class by not only congratulating his opponent, but offering
to analyze the game just after signing the scoresheets.

Vocaturo,Daniele (2570) - Nyzhnyk,Illya (2530) [B90]
73rd Tata Steel GMC Wijk aan Zee NED (13), 30.01.2011 [Elshan Moradiabadi]

The most exciting battle of the day was not in the "A" nor "B" groups, it was here. This game was made even more interesting because of its dramatic finale. Both young players were seeking a place in next year's "B" group. Being young and ambitous, it is easy to imagine how tense it was. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nf3 Qc7 The youngest GM in the world is reluctant to see his opponent's bishop on c4 8.a4 Be7 9.a5 This pawn advance is what has put a question mark in front of this early queen sortie. 9...Nbd7 10.Be2 0-0 11.0-0

11...b5?! Black is saying, "I am a magnificent tactician, so why should I care about trivial positional stuff?" However, this is a dubious continuation. One can deduce this by comparing it to normal Najdorf positions where it is commonly seen. 12.axb6 Nxb6 13.Nd2 Bb7 14.Bxb6 Qxb6 15.Nc4 Solid enough. White is slightly better, though Nyzhnyk is lucky that White is not the 12h world champion, Anatoly Karpov! 15...Qc5 16.Ra5 Qc7 17.Qd3 Rad8. 17...Rfd8 18.Bf3 Rac8 19.b3 Nd7 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.Qxd5 Nb6 22.Nxb6 Qxb6 23.Be2 Rc5 24.Rxc5 dxc5 25.Qxe5 Bf6 26.Qf4 a5 27.Bc4 Qb8 28.Qe3 Qe5 29.Bd5 Qc3 30.Qxc3 Bxc3 1/2-1/2 Landa,K (2610)-Aronian,L (2522)/Cappelle la Grande 2001/CBM 080 ext (84)] 18.Bf3! A strong prophylactic move, which put an end to all Black's hope for counterplay. 18...Rc8 19.b3 Rfd8 20.h3 g6 21.Rd1 h5? Black wants to play for win at all cost, however, it is White who is in control of the game! 22.Qe2 Bf8 23.Rd3 Re8 24.Ra4 Nd7 25.Nd5 Qd8?! 26.Rb4?! White traps his own rook. It is the moment at which the young Italian GM and tournament leader lost control over the game. 26...Bc6!

27.Bxh5 This sacrifice is still ok...but what follows is one of those most dramatic scenes I have ever seen. (Considering the importance of the result). 27...a5 28.Rg3?? Hallucination! 28.Ra4! Bxa4 and just now 29.Rg3 Bc6 30.Bxg6 fxg6 31.Rxg6+ Bg7 32.Qg4 and you can check with your engines that White is safe. 28...Bxd5 29.exd5 axb4 30.Bxg6 fxg6 31.Rxg6+ Kf7

32.Nxd6+ Bxd6?? Returns the favor. Caissa chose Vocaturo this time! 32...Kxg6 was winning for Black. 33.Qh5! It is a perpetual now! 33...Nf6 34.Rxf6+ Kxf6 35.Qh6+ Kf5 36.Qh7+ Kf6 37.Qh6+ Kf5 38.Qh7+ Kf6 39.Qh6+ Bravo Daniele! 1/2-1/2. [Click to replay]

After the game, the Italian GM admitted he had seen he was lost, but by then there was no turning back, and just went with it.

All photos © Frits Agterdenbos of ChessVista

 
Final round report by Europe Echecs with interviews of Nakamura, Anand, and Vocaturo

Final standings

Grandmaster "A" tournament

Grandmaster "B" tournament

Grandmaster "C" tournament

Watching the games

It goes without saying that the options to watch the games live are wide and varied. You can watch them at no cost on Playchess, enjoying the software's new options to display multiple boards at the same time, and if you are a Premium member, live grandmaster commentary will be provided on Playchess for every round by GM Daniel King, author of the best-selling Power Play series, and GM Lubomir Ftacnik.

If you miss the live games, you can always watch the commentary after the fact, or get an abridged tale via the Daily Roundup show also hosted on Playchess. Again, if you miss the show, it remains available on the server at your disposal.

Schedule of Grandmaster Group A

Schedule of Grandmaster Group B

Schedule of Grandmaster Group C

Links Official tournament site "A" tournament games in PGN "B" tournament games in PGN "C" tournament games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!