Baku 06: Caruana 2851 live!

by Alejandro Ramirez
10/8/2014 – The Italian wrecking ball keeps accumulating victories! Today he outplayed Svidler in an immensely complicated position stemming from the Grunfeld. With this victory Caruana leads the tournament by half a point and reaches a new record in his live rating: 2851, only twelve points away from Carlsen. Kasimdzhanov and Radjabov also won, capitalizing on their opponents' mistakes.

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The first stage of the 2014-2015 FIDE Grand Prix is taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan. The tournament will run from October 1st to October 15, 2014. Some of the strongest players in the world will compete in a Round Robin event. The winner and runner-up of the Grand Prix series will earn their spot at the 2016 Candidate's Tournament.

Round Six

Round 06 – October 08 2014, 15:00h
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
1-0
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
1-0
Svidler, Peter 2732
Grischuk, Alexander 2797
0-1
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Dominguez, Leinier 2751
½-½
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
½-½
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
½-½
Gelfand, Boris 2748

Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 1-0 Andreikin, Dmitry
Andreikin's opening left him in an already nearly-lost position. His counterplay on the kingside was not close to giving him compensation. Kasimdzhanov brought back his pieces to defend and then the game was basically ever.

Andreikin has had a rough event, and his attempt to
spice up the game with a Philidor backfired badly.

Caruana, Fabiano 1-0 Svidler, Peter
A very complicated Grunfeld! The position was very tense from the get-go as Caruana quickly launched a kingside attack. A misplay by Svidler allowed the Italian player to mount an initiative and control his opponent's pieces, but he was too eager and his pawn push to e5 allowed a counter-sacrifice that gave Black good compensation.

Svidler's trusty Grunfeld led to a complicated situation. Both sides had their chances,
but it was Svidler that made the final mistake.

In time trouble and in a complex position Svidler made a mistake and Caruana punished him severely, securing his extra piece and beating back the initiative.

Fabi is now 12 points from Carlsen

Although it is 'only' the Live Rating, the number 2851 carries a bit of magic to it in the chess world, thanks to the towering record rating Garry Kasparov had established for so many years. This also marks the first time the top two players open up a gap of 50 Elo or more over the rest of the field since Kasparov and Karpov, which they last did in January 1995. However, before talk of records enters the discussion, it must be noted the two Ks once opened up a gap of 100 Elo over no.3 and beyond in January 1989, when the world number three was Nigel Short at 2650, then came Anatoly Karpov with 2750, followed by Garry Kasparov at 2775.

Grischuk, Alexander 0-1 Radjabov, Teimour
Grischuk made some strange strategical decisions, but the true mistake came with his weakening of e3. Radjabov's precise moves created more and more pressure on this pawn that simply could not be defended. After the trade of queens White's position could not be held together anymore. Radjabov cleaned up the pawns and Grischuk had to resign.

Radjabov has a great book called "How to transform a Grunfeld into
a Dutch Stonewall". His game today is to illustrate it in practice.

Dominguez, Leinier ½-½ Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
Dominguez' experiment in the Spanish did not leave him with any good results. Black had a more than acceptable position and fine counterplay. Both sides had alternatives to make the position more interesting. After some trades the position reached a drawn rook endgame, but before that Dominguez probably had some chances had he decided not to trade queens.

Dominguez miscalculated a couple of times, but always had viable alternatives

Tomashevsky, Evgeny ½-½ Nakamura, Hikaru
Another successful implementation of the Lasker Defense. Nakamura's quick c5 foiled any attempts from White to bind him on the queenside. The resulting endgame was maybe a tiny bit better for White, but the American player held without any difficulties.

Karjakin, Sergey ½-½ Gelfand, Boris
Karjakin banked on surprising Gelfand in the opening with a very unusual early f4 in the Najdorf. However the Israeli was very well prepared and his own novelty simply neutralized White's play. Black might even have been better at some point, but Gelfand was satisfied with splitting the point.

Karjakin played for the surprise...

...but it's hard to surprise Gelfand!

Photos by Maria Emelianova

Round Six Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Standings

Schedule

Round 01 – October 02 2014, 15:00h
Dominguez, Leinier 2751
½-½
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
½-½
Grischuk, Alexander 2797
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
0-1
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Gelfand, Boris 2748
1-0
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
½-½
Svidler, Peter 2732
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
½-½
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Round 02 – October 03 2014, 15:00h
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
½-½
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Svidler, Peter 2732
1-0
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
0-1
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
½-½
Gelfand, Boris 2748
Grischuk, Alexander 2797
½-½
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Dominguez, Leinier 2751
½-½
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
Round 03 – October 04 2014, 15:00h
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
½-½
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
1-0
Dominguez, Leinier 2751
Gelfand, Boris 2748
1-0
Grischuk, Alexander 2797
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
½-½
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
½-½
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
½-½
Svidler, Peter 2732
Round 04 – October 05 2014, 15:00h
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
½-½
Svidler, Peter 2732
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
½-½
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
1-0
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Grischuk, Alexander 2797
½-½
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Dominguez, Leinier 2751
½-½
Gelfand, Boris 2748
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
½-½
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Round 05 – October 07 2014, 15:00h
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
½-½
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Gelfand, Boris 2748
½-½
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
½-½
Dominguez, Leinier 2751
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
½-½
Grischuk, Alexander 2797
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
½-½
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Svidler, Peter 2732
½-½
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
Round 06 – October 08 2014, 15:00h
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
1-0
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
1-0
Svidler, Peter 2732
Grischuk, Alexander 2797
0-1
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Dominguez, Leinier 2751
½-½
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
½-½
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
½-½
Gelfand, Boris 2748
Round 07 – October 09 2014, 15:00h
Gelfand, Boris 2748   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764   Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
Radjabov, Teimour 2726   Dominguez, Leinier 2751
Svidler, Peter 2732   Grischuk, Alexander 2797
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722   Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Round 08 – October 10 2014, 15:00h
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706   Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Grischuk, Alexander 2797   Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
Dominguez, Leinier 2751   Svidler, Peter 2732
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701   Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Karjakin, Sergey 2767   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Gelfand, Boris 2748   Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Round 09 – October 12 2014, 15:00h
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764   Gelfand, Boris 2748
Radjabov, Teimour 2726   Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Svidler, Peter 2732   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722   Dominguez, Leinier 2751
Caruana, Fabiano 2844   Grischuk, Alexander 2797
Round 10 – October 13 2014, 15:00h
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706   Grischuk, Alexander 2797
Dominguez, Leinier 2751   Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701   Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
Karjakin, Sergey 2767   Svidler, Peter 2732
Gelfand, Boris 2748   Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Round 11 – October 14 2014, 13:00h
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Radjabov, Teimour 2726   Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Svidler, Peter 2732   Gelfand, Boris 2748
Andreikin, Dmitry 2722   Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Caruana, Fabiano 2844   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
Grischuk, Alexander 2797   Dominguez, Leinier 2751

Links

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 a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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NYTed NYTed 10/8/2014 11:27
In his (Fabiano Caruana) game today versus Peter Svider I saw a f3 Anti-Gruenfeld. I found it quite surprising, as I had just watched a video from Chessbase Magazine 162 by GM Lubomir Ftacnik on that variation.
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