Baku 5.1: Eljanov!

by Alejandro Ramirez
9/23/2015 – The man seems to be unstoppable. After winning his first six classical games and cruising through the first three rounds, he managed to eliminate Jakovenko in in the tie-breaks. And now Eljanov is going for even further glory: he was involved in the only decisive game of the day as he took down World #2 Nakamura. Eljanov is half a point away from the semi-finals.
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World Cup

10th September – 5th October

Baku, Azerbaijan

Round Five - Game One

Only eight players left, but enough to create some unexpected games:

In Svidler vs. Wei Yi they traded pieces quickly. The symmetrical structure didn't help either side to create real chances, and an early repetition sealed the draw. Wei Yi will have the chance to push with white against one of Svidler's ultra-solid defenses.

Xu Jun, who helps the Chinese squad, now helps only Wei Yi

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was held to a draw rather easily by Anish Giri's Petroff. After a series of trades a very equal endgame was reached and the game was swiftly drawn.

Tukmakov (Giri's second) relaxing while watching the game

Karjakin suffered, but held

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov played with white against Sergey Karjakin and sacrificed an exchange relatively early in the game. He had very good compensation, but the resilient Karjakin defended tenaciously. He sacrificed a piece for the passed d-pawn of the Azerbaijani, playing with rook against two pieces, thus creating a situation that was certainly dangerous for Black. But it is hard to say if White was winning at any point: the computers give Mamedyarov a big advantage in the endgame, but there was never any clear win for White – at least, I saw none. Endgame experts might find a winning plan but in a practical game with the seconds ticking down it was very hard to find.

Nakamura was surprised!

The game of the day, was, without a doubt:

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1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bg5 Bd5 11.Qc2 Be4 12.Qc1 h6 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.Rd1 a5 15.Nbd2 Bh7 A novelty. Before this Bxf3 was played universally. 15...Bxf3 16.Bxf3 c6 17.Nc4 Nd7 is a typical Catalan position for this variation. White has a bit more space and a bit more pleasant position, but Black is ultra solid. This was, among others, Sasikirian-Svetushkin from earlier this year. 16.Nb3 c6 17.Qc3 Be7 18.Nc5 Qc7 19.Ne5 Na6 20.Nxb7!? In my opinion the only real try for an advantage, but it's hard to look at this and say White will emerge with a better position. Black's two pieces are very active. Qxb7 21.Bxc6 Qc7? 21...Qa7! 22.Bxa8 Bb4 23.Qc6 Qxa8 Black's knight on a6 is awkward, but Black shouldn't have real problems. 22.Bxa8 Qxc3 23.bxc3 Rxa8 24.Nc6 Now White definitely has some chances to push. He has a passed pawn, the a6 knight is bad and the h7 bishop will soon be bullied out of the game by White's pawns. Bd8 24...Kf8!? going for active play. 25.Nxa5 Rc8 25.Nxd8 Rxd8 26.f3 Rc8 27.Ra3 Bg6 28.Kf2 Rb8 29.Rd2 f6 30.Raa2!± Gaining control of the open file. The a5 pawn will be hard to defend. Nakamura takes the c3 pawn in return, but Black's pieces simply don't coordinate well. Rb3 31.Rab2 Rxc3 32.Rb5 Bc2 33.Rxa5 Nc7 34.Ra7 f5 35.a5 Look how difficult it is to play with Black. White simply has to push his pawn, Nakamura has to try to get his pieces to play together. That is easier said than done. Kh7 That being said, it is strange to go to h7 instead of towards the queenside. 36.Rb7 Rc4 37.Rb6 Ba4 38.a6 Bc6 39.a7 Bd5 40.Ra2! A timely move. The threat is Ra5-c5. Rxd4 41.Rc2 Na8 42.Ra6 Rd1 42...g5 43.Rb2 Kg6 44.Rb8 Kf6 45.Ra5 Kg7+- 43.h4 h5 44.Ke3+- The king marches in since Black can't do anything. Rg1 45.Kf4 Rg2 46.Rd6 Rg1 47.Rc8 Ra1 48.Kg5! Rxa7 49.Rdd8 g6 50.Rh8+ The only blemish in Eljanov's otherwise perfect play. 50.Kf6 Kh6 51.Rh8+ Rh7 52.Rcg8 would have finished the game off in fewer moves. 50...Kg7 51.Rcg8+ Kf7 52.Rxg6 Ra6 53.Rh7+ Kf8 54.Kxh5 Nb6 55.Kg5 White is simply and obviously winning. Black's pieces aren't playing and the h-pawn is unstoppable. Nc4 56.h5 Nd6 57.Rf6+ Kg8 58.Rd7 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Eljanov,P-Nakamura,H-1–02015E06FIDE World Cup 20155.4

Eljanov is half a point away from knocking out Nakamura. So far, he has won 33 rating points in the World Cup and now is number 15 on Live Chess Ratings – all this while having the two chess weeks of his life. We remind our readers that Pavel has recorded a very interesting DVD on the Breyer:

Pavel Eljanov:
The Ruy Lopez Breyer Variation

The Spanish or Ruy Lopez is often called the "Queen of Openings". If you master it you understand a lot about chess.

One of the most popular systems in the Ruy Lopez is the Breyer Variation in which Black retreats his already developed knight from c6 to b8 to relocate it via d7 to better squares. The Hungarian chess master Gyula Breyer recommended this move in 1911, but was far ahead of his time with this idea. It took decades before the power of this move was understood, but now the Breyer variation, which begins with 9...Nb8, is part of the repertoire of many top players, among them the last four World Champions Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand, and Carlsen.

On this DVD, Pavel Eljanov, one of the greatest experts of the Breyer Variation, shows all important lines of this system. In 14 video lectures he gives an overview of the current state of theory. Eljanov shows the moves and explains the ideas behind them while evaluating the arising positions from a black perspective and with a view to the coming middlegame.

  • Video running time: 5 hours 13 min (English)
  • With interactive training including video feedback
  • Training database with 50 essential games and analyses
  • ISBN 978-3-86681-493-6
  • Delivery: download, post
  • Price: €29.90; €25.13 without VAT (for customers outside the EU); $28.41

All Round 5.1 Games

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1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.e3 e6 5.d4 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Bd3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qe2 cxd4 10.exd4 Bd7 11.Qe4 g6 12.Bh6 Re8 13.Rac1 Bf6 14.Nxd5 exd5 15.Qf4 Bh8 16.Rfe1 Rxe1+ 17.Rxe1 Qf6 18.Qc7 Qd8 19.Qf4 Qf6 20.Qc7 Qd8 21.Qf4 Qf6 ½–½
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Svidler,P-Wei,Y-½–½2015D42FIDE World Cup 20155.4
Eljanov,P-Nakamura,H-1–02015E06FIDE World Cup 20155.4
Vachier-Lagrave,M-Giri,A-½–½2015C42FIDE World Cup 20155.4
Mamedyarov,S-Karjakin,S-½–½2015E21FIDE World Cup 20155.1

Round five pairings

Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 Pts
Peter Svidler (RUS) 2727
½
-
                
Wei Yi (CHN) 2734
½
-
                
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 Pts
Anish Giri (NED) 2793
½
-
                
M. Vachier-Lagrave 2744
½
-
                
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 Pts
Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 2814
0
-
                
Pavel Eljanov (UKR) 2717
1
-
                
Player Rtg
G1
G2
 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 Pts
S. Mamedyarov (AZE) 2736
½
-
                
Sergey Karjakin (RUS) 2762
½
-
                

Photos and information from the official website and their Facebook page

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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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