Baku 3.1: Couple of Miracles, Many draws

by Alejandro Ramirez
9/17/2015 – 4/16 of the games today finished in decisive results, but a few of the games did see very tense drama unfold, especially close to time pressure. Lu Shanglei can count his lucky stars as he survived against Topalov basically down a piece. In Grischuk's topsy-turvy time trouble against Eljanov, it was complicated, then totally winning, then lost. And now he must win with black tomorrow to survive.

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World Cup

10th September – 5th October

Baku, Azerbaijan

Round Three - Game One

We are down to the round of 32, and we had some fascinating duels. Despite the high number of draws in today's round, there were many hard fights and a couple of lucky saves. First of all, Lu Shanglei is counting his lucky blessings having survived against Topalov:

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22...h5 23.Qc3 Black is down a pawn and his position looks very sketchy. His king on g8 does not feel safe and his attack on the c2 pawn isn't quite that strong yet. Qxg2?! well, at least Black recovers his material... for now 24.Ne3! Qxf3 25.Rhf1?! 25.Ref1! prevents what happened in the game. For example Qg3 25...Qe4 26.Nxf5+- 26.Qf6!+- Threatening mate with Bxf7+ and the f5 bishop. Black is positively lost. 25...Qg3 26.Rg1 26.Bxf7+! Kh7 26...Kxf7 27.Qc4+ Kf6 27...Kg7 28.Nxf5+ gxf5 29.Rg1+- 28.Nxf5 gets swiftly mated. 27.Nxf5 Qxc3 28.bxc3 gxf5 29.Rxf5+- 26...Qe5 27.Nxf5 Qxc3 28.bxc3 Kf8 29.Nh6 29.Ng3 Ne5 30.Rxe5 Rxc4 31.Ne4 is an extra piece that White should eventually convert. 29...Ne5 30.Bxf7?! 30.Bb3 Nc4 30...f6 31.Rxe5 fxe5 32.Rxg6+- 31.Bxc4 Rxc4 32.Ref1 should be winning somehow. 30...Nf3 31.Bxg6 Nxe1 32.Rxe1? 32.Bxh5!+- keeps the knight on e1 trapped! 32...Kg7 33.Bf5 Rc6! 34.Re7+ Kf8 35.Rf7+ Ke8 Strangely, now White is forced into a very awkward position with his minor pieces. 36.Rh7 Rd1+ 37.Kb2 Rb6+ 38.Ka3 Rdd6 the knight is trapped 39.Rh8+ 39.Nf7 Rd5 is a double attack on the bishop and a5... mate! 39...Ke7 40.Ng8+ Kf7 41.c4 Rdc6! 42.Bd3 Kg7 Black wins back the exchange and eventually drew the game. 43.Rxh5 Kxg8 44.Rd5 Rc7 45.h5 Kg7 46.c5 Rb1 47.c4 Rh1 48.Kb4 Rh2 49.a4 Kh6 50.Ka5 Rb2 51.Be4 Rb3 52.Re5 Rb2 53.c6 bxc6 54.Re6+ Kxh5 55.Rxc6 Re7 56.Bd5 Kg5 57.Rxa6 Kf5 58.Bc6 Ke5 59.Bb5 Rb7 60.Ra8 Kd6 61.Ka6 Rc7 62.Rd8+ Kc5 63.a5 Rh7 64.Rb8 Ra2 65.Rb6 Rg7 66.Rc6+ ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Topalov,V-Lu,S-½–½2015B76FIDE World Cup 20153.1

Nepomniachtchi's symmetrical structure approach against Nakamura's Queen's Gambit Accepted was not strong enough to pose real problems for the American.

"Hi, we are looking for a Mr. Nakamura?"

The next highest rated player from the US, Caruana, simply demolished Kovalyov in the White side of the increasingly popular f3 (English Attack) Najdorf.

Leko and Giri have fulfilled 1/9th of their prophecy:

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Everyone knew this game would end in a draw, but just how that draw was going to happen was still a mystery. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bc1 Nf6 8.f3 e6 9.Be3 b5 10.Qd2 Nbd7 11.g4 h6 12.0-0-0 b4 13.Nce2 Qc7 14.h4 d5 15.Bf4 e5 16.Bh2 dxe4 17.g5 hxg5 18.hxg5 Rxh2 19.Rxh2 exd4 20.Rh4 Ng4 20...b3 was Leko-Grischuk, 2012. That game also ended in a draw but Leko had the upper hand for some time. 21.Rxg4 Nc5 22.Rh4 d3 23.Nd4 Bb7 24.Rh8 Played after a little bit of thought 0-0-0 And after this Leko finally sank into a 20 minute think. A complicated position that Giri no doubt had deeply analyzed. 25.g6 25.Kb1 dxc2+ was Jakovenko-Artemiev, 2013. Jakovenko won that game but the computers found a way of equalizing somewhere somehow. 25...fxg6 Giri seemed to finally be on his own here, but he played this after only thinking 10 minutes. 26.fxe4 Bxe4 27.Nb3 Nxb3+ 28.axb3 Be7 29.Bxd3 29.Rxd8+ Qxd8 30.Bh3+ Kb7 31.Rg1! Qb6 should also only be equal. Black's king is exposed but White's isn't happy either. 29...Rxh8 30.Bxe4 Rd8 31.Qe3 Rxd1+ 32.Kxd1 Qc5 33.Qxc5+ Bxc5 for example. ½–½
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Leko,P-Giri,A-½–½2015B90FIDE World Cup 20153.4

So pushed for a while against Le Quang Liem but the Vietnamese defenses were always strong. Even when it seemed that White's c-pawn might do something Black had everything under control.

Big Vlad (Kramnik, above) had no problems holding a draw against Andreikin. He had aggressive ideas in the Queen's Gambit exchange variation that drove White back. Also is that a heart shape with the handle on the mug?

Grischuk cannot be happy with himself. In time trouble the position went from complicated, to +11, to -3:

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29.Rxe1 f5 30.Qe6+ 30.Rd1 f4 31.Qd6 Qc2 30...Kh7 31.Rd1 Rf6 32.Qd5 Qc2 Black's counterplay is still annoying. 33.Rd2 Qc3 34.Ra2 Qe1+ 35.Kg2 f4 36.a6!? Very brave, computer approved. 36.Rc2 is the computer recommendationg, I assume trying to mate Black with Rc8. It would never have occured to me. 36...f3+ 37.Kh3 Rg6?? with... what threat, exactly? 37...e3! 38.a7 exf2∞ 38.Kh4?? 38.a7! Qf1+ 39.Kh4 Qg2 40.h3 and White is perfectly safe! The pawn queens and Black gets mated. 38...Qb4? 38...e3! 39.Kh3 39.Qf5! 39...Rg5! Suddenly the tables turn and the attack is decisive. 40.Qf7 Qc5 Time control, but White's king is too weak now. 41.g4 Qc1 42.a7 h5 43.Qxh5+ The only hope. Rxh5+ 44.gxh5 Qc8+ 45.Kg3 Qa8 46.Ra6 Kg8 47.b4 Kf8 48.Kf4 Ke7 The endgame isn't trivial just yet, it seems impossible to remove the queen from a8 49.Ke3 49.h6! gxh6 50.Rxh6 e3! what else? 51.Rh7+ Kf6 52.Kxe3 is still not entirely clear to me. 49...Kd7 50.Kd4 Kc7 51.Ke3 Kb7 52.Ra5 Kb6 53.Ra3 Kc6 54.Ra5 Kd6 55.Kd4? 55.Kf4 still would have forced Black to work somewhat, but after Kd5 and c4 it seems like a winning position. 55...Qd5+ 56.Ke3 Ke5! White ultimately gets mated! 0–1
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Grischuk,A-Eljanov,P-0–12015A13FIDE World Cup 20153.7

Daniel King shows the game Grischuk vs Eljanov

Svidler drew Radjabov with black

Gadir Guseinov drew with white against Ding Liren

Ivanchuk chillaxing. It's a word.

Ivanchuk and Jakovenko split the point while the other Ukrainian still in the tournament, Areschenko, had an edge against Wei Yi in a crazy game, but it is hard to say if he ever really missed any chances.

Karjakin defeated Yu Yangyi in fine positional style as his king went all over the center to protects important squares and pawns.

Karjakin is 1-0 against...

Yu Yangyi.

Mamedyarov was the fourth decisive result of the day as he outplayed Sethuraman in a complicated Caro-Kann variation.

All Round 3.1 Games

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 d5 10.Qe1 e6 11.h4 Qc7 12.Ndb5 Qb8 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Nxd5 exd5 15.Qd2 a6 16.Bf4 Be5 17.Bxe5 Qxe5 18.Re1 Qg3 19.Nc3 Bf5 20.Nxd5 Rfd8 21.Bc4 Rac8 22.Kb1 h5 23.Qc3 Black is down a pawn and his position looks very sketchy. His king on g8 does not feel safe and his attack on the c2 pawn isn't quite that strong yet. Qxg2?! well, at least Black recovers his material... for now 24.Ne3! Qxf3 25.Rhf1?! 25.Ref1! prevents what happened in the game. For example Qg3 25...Qe4 26.Nxf5+- 26.Qf6!+- Threatening mate with Bxf7+ and the f5 bishop. Black is positively lost. 25...Qg3 26.Rg1 26.Bxf7+! Kh7 26...Kxf7 27.Qc4+ Kf6 27...Kg7 28.Nxf5+ gxf5 29.Rg1+- 28.Nxf5 gets swiftly mated. 27.Nxf5 Qxc3 28.bxc3 gxf5 29.Rxf5+- 26...Qe5 27.Nxf5 Qxc3 28.bxc3 Kf8 29.Nh6 29.Ng3 Ne5 30.Rxe5 Rxc4 31.Ne4 is an extra piece that White should eventually convert. 29...Ne5 30.Bxf7?! 30.Bb3 Nc4 30...f6 31.Rxe5 fxe5 32.Rxg6+- 31.Bxc4 Rxc4 32.Ref1 should be winning somehow. 30...Nf3 31.Bxg6 Nxe1 32.Rxe1? 32.Bxh5!+- keeps the knight on e1 trapped! 32...Kg7 33.Bf5 Rc6! 34.Re7+ Kf8 35.Rf7+ Ke8 Strangely, now White is forced into a very awkward position with his minor pieces. 36.Rh7 Rd1+ 37.Kb2 Rb6+ 38.Ka3 Rdd6 the knight is trapped 39.Rh8+ 39.Nf7 Rd5 is a double attack on the bishop and a5... mate! 39...Ke7 40.Ng8+ Kf7 41.c4 Rdc6! 42.Bd3 Kg7 Black wins back the exchange and eventually drew the game. 43.Rxh5 Kxg8 44.Rd5 Rc7 45.h5 Kg7 46.c5 Rb1 47.c4 Rh1 48.Kb4 Rh2 49.a4 Kh6 50.Ka5 Rb2 51.Be4 Rb3 52.Re5 Rb2 53.c6 bxc6 54.Re6+ Kxh5 55.Rxc6 Re7 56.Bd5 Kg5 57.Rxa6 Kf5 58.Bc6 Ke5 59.Bb5 Rb7 60.Ra8 Kd6 61.Ka6 Rc7 62.Rd8+ Kc5 63.a5 Rh7 64.Rb8 Ra2 65.Rb6 Rg7 66.Rc6+ ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Topalov,V-Lu,S-½–½2015B76FIDE World Cup 20153.1
Nepomniachtchi,I-Nakamura,H-½–½2015D27FIDE World Cup 20153.2
Caruana,F-Kovalyov,A-1–02015B90FIDE World Cup 20153.3
Leko,P-Giri,A-½–½2015B90FIDE World Cup 20153.4
So,W-Le,Q-½–½2015D31FIDE World Cup 20153.5
Andreikin,D-Kramnik,V-½–½2015D36FIDE World Cup 20153.6
Grischuk,A-Eljanov,P-0–12015A13FIDE World Cup 20153.7
Guseinov,G-Ding,L-½–½2015C69FIDE World Cup 20153.8
Areshchenko,A-Wei,Y-½–½2015B31FIDE World Cup 20153.9
Ivanchuk,V-Jakovenko,D-½–½2015D37FIDE World Cup 20153.10
Karjakin,S-Yu,Y-1–02015B45FIDE World Cup 20153.11
Vachier-Lagrave,M-Tomashevsky,E-½–½2015C89FIDE World Cup 20153.12
Granda Zuniga,J-Wojtaszek,R-½–½2015B23FIDE World Cup 20153.13
Mamedyarov,S-Sethuraman,S-1–02015B13FIDE World Cup 20153.14
Adams,M-Dominguez Perez,L-½–½2015C67FIDE World Cup 20153.15
Radjabov,T-Svidler,P-½–½2015C95FIDE World Cup 20153.16

Round Three Pairings

Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
V. Topalov (BUL) 2816
½
–
            
Shanglei Lu (CHN) 2599
½
–
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
Peter Svilder (RUS) 2727
½
–
            
Teimour Radjabov (AZE) 2738
½
–
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
Ding Liren (CHN) 2782
½
–
            
Gadir Guseinov (AZE) 2634
½
 –
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
Alexander Areschenko (UKR) 2661
½
–
            
Wei Yi (CHN) 2734
½
–
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
Anish Giri (NED) 2793
½
–
            
Peter Leko (HUN) 2707
½
 –
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
Julio Granda Zuniga (PER) 2667
½
–
            
Radoslaw Wojtaszek (POL) 2741
½
–
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
Wesley So (USA) 2773
½
–
            
Le Quang Liem (VIE) 2697
½
–
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS) 2758
½
–
            
Maxime Vachier Lagrave (FRA) 2744
½
 –
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 2814
½
–
            
Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS) 2705
½
 –
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
Michael Adams (ENG) 2742
½
–
            
Leiner Dominguez Perez (CUB) 2732
½
–
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
Alexander Grischuk (RUS) 2771
0
–
            
Pavel Eljanov (UKR) 2717
1
–
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS) 2748
½
–
            
Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR) 2726
½
 –
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
Fabiano Caruana (USA) 2808
1
–
            
Anton Kovalyov (CAN) 2616
0
–
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
S.P. Sethuraman (IND) 2640
0
–
            
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) 2736
1
 –
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
Vladimir Kramnik (RUS) 2777
½
–
            
Dmitry Andreikin (RUS) 2720
½
 –
            
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 Pts
Sergey Karjakin (RUS) 2762
1
–
            
Yu Yangyi (CHN) 2721
0
–
            

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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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