Biel 05: Close Calls

by Alejandro Ramirez
7/24/2015 – We are on the half way mark in Biel, and it is David Navara that still leads after the fifth round saw three draws. Navara equalized without effort against MVL. Not so easy were the draws that Rapport and Wojtaszek obtained. The Polish player was against the ropes against Adams, but survived, while Rapport's resourcefulness found a miracle draw against Eljanov.
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The traditional Biel/Bienne Chess Festival is going strong in Switzerland. The festival includes a series of events, but the crown jewel is the Grandmaster Tournament, with an average rating of 2720.

Draw offers are forbidden for the first 40 moves and If two (or more) players share first place, the winner will be determined according to the results of a tiebreak played on July 31st (in the morning). 

Round Five

Round 05 - July 24, 2015
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 2733
½-½
 Adams, Michael 2740
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2731
½-½
 Navara, David 2724
Eljanov, Pavel 2723
½-½
 Rapport, Richard 2671

Round 5 report by Daniel King

Play of the day from round 5 by Daniel King

Wojtaszek, Radoslaw ½-½ Adams, Michael
The Englishman seemed to outplay his opponent, but when the key moments came to try to push the initiative through, he was unable to do so:

Wojtaszek was slowly outplayed, but he managed to survive

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29...Nb8! The position is complicated. Black's last move was great, transfering the knight to the much more useful square c6. The position should be close to equal, but easier to play for Black. 30.Be5 Nc6 31.Nd6+?! 31.Bc3!= 31...Bxd6 32.Bxd6 Ne4 33.Bxc5 Rxa5 33...Nb4 34.Bxb4 Rxc2 35.Be1 is an extra exchange for Black, but with the two passed pawns things are not so clear yet. 34.Rac1 Rb8 34...Ne5! 35.b4 35.fxe5 Raxc5 36.Rxc5 Rxc5 37.Rxc5 Nxc5 38.b4 Nd7 is probably just a winning endgame for Black. 35...Nf3+ 36.Kg2 Ra3 with very real pressure on White's king and pawns. 35.Bd6 Nxd6 36.Rxc6 Ne8 37.Rb1 Rb4 38.Ra6 Rxa6 39.Bxa6 Black is still marginally better, but converting seems very difficult. Nd6 40.Bd3 Kf6 41.Kf2 e5 42.fxe5+ Kxe5 43.Ke2 Ne4 44.Bxe4 Kxe4 45.Kf2 h6 46.Ke2 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Wojtaszek,R2733Adams,M2740½–½2015E0748th Biel GM 20155

Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime ½-½ Navara, David
MVL got very little in this advance variation of the Caro-Kann. The queenside was swiftly liquidated and with only pawns on the kingisde, it was obvious the game was heading towards a draw.

Round five under way

Eljanov, Pavel ½-½ Rapport, Richard
A big missed opportunity! Eljanov had Rapport against the ropes after outplaying him in a Stonewall set up, but he missed his opponent's resources in time pressure:

Eljanov tried to finish off Rapport, but fell for a last minute trick

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1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nc3 0-0 6.Nf3 d5 7.0-0 c6 8.Qc2 Ne4 9.Bf4 Nd7 10.Rad1 g5 11.Be3 Nd6 12.b3 Bf6 13.Bc1 Rf7 14.Ba3 Ne4 15.Nxe4 fxe4 16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Be7 18.Bd6 Bxd6 19.exd6 Bd7 20.f3 exf3 21.Bxf3 Qa5 22.c5 b6 A very unusual situation. White has a protected passed pawn on d6, but for now its support is being ripped apart. Eljanov tries to use his initiative on the f-file to keep the d-pawn active and alive. 23.Bh5 Rxf1+ 24.Rxf1 Qxc5+ 25.Qxc5 bxc5 26.Rf7 Rd8 awkward, but forced. 26...Be8 27.Rc7 Bxh5 28.d7 simply wins for White. 27.Re7 e5! Without activity Black cannot survive. He tries to at least push his pawns forward. 28.g4 28.Rxe5 Kg7 29.Re7+ Kf6= Escaping the last rank allows Black to move his bishop. 28...e4 29.Kf2 a5 30.h3 a4?! Rapport is trying to use his passed pawns to some effect, but he is too paralyzed to use them. 30...h6 31.Ke3 Kf8 32.Kd2 Kg8 White simply wants to bring his king to a4 and break through there! Still, things might not be so easy. 33.Kc3 Kf8 34.Kb2 Kg8 35.Ka3 Kf8 36.Ka4 Be8! 31.bxa4 c4 32.a5 c3 33.Ke1 c5 34.a6 e3 35.Rxe3 d4 36.Re7 Black's c-pawn is not dangerous enough. Bc6 37.a7 Rxd6! Setting a last trap. 38.Re8+? 38.Rc7! Be4 39.Bf7+ Kf8 40.Bc4 Rd8 41.Bd3+- Bxd3 42.exd3 is winning due to Rb7 and Rb8. 38...Kg7 39.a8Q? White underestimates Black's passed pawns! Bxa8 40.Rxa8 d3! Suddenly White has to give a perpetual! 41.Ra7+ Kh6 42.exd3 Rxd3 43.Ra6+ Kg7 44.Ra7+ 44.Ke2 c2 45.Ra7+ Kf6 46.Rf7+ Ke5 47.Rf1 Kd4 And White is the only one that will lose this endgame. Once the king comes to c3 it is very dangerous for Eljanov. 44...Kh6 44...Kf6 45.Rf7+ Ke6 45...Ke5 46.Rf2± 46.Ke2 Rd2+ 47.Ke3 Rxa2 48.Rf5+- ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Eljanov,P2723Rapport,R2671½–½2015A9548th Biel GM 20155

Always resourceful! The tournament's youngest player: Richard Rapport

Standings

Round Five Games

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 c6 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Bf4 Nh5 10.Bc1 Nhf6 11.Qd3 b6 12.b3 Ba6 13.Rd1 c5 14.Nb5 Bxb5 15.cxb5 a6 16.bxa6 Qc8 17.Bb2 Qxa6 18.Qxa6 Rxa6 19.a4 Rc8 20.Rdc1 Ne4 21.e3 Ra7 22.Bf1 f5 23.Rc2 g5 24.dxc5 bxc5 25.Nd4 Kf7 26.Nb5 Raa8 27.f3 Nef6 28.a5 g4 29.f4 Nb8! The position is complicated. Black's last move was great, transfering the knight to the much more useful square c6. The position should be close to equal, but easier to play for Black. 30.Be5 Nc6 31.Nd6+?! 31.Bc3!= 31...Bxd6 32.Bxd6 Ne4 33.Bxc5 Rxa5 33...Nb4 34.Bxb4 Rxc2 35.Be1 is an extra exchange for Black, but with the two passed pawns things are not so clear yet. 34.Rac1 Rb8 34...Ne5! 35.b4 35.fxe5 Raxc5 36.Rxc5 Rxc5 37.Rxc5 Nxc5 38.b4 Nd7 is probably just a winning endgame for Black. 35...Nf3+ 36.Kg2 Ra3 with very real pressure on White's king and pawns. 35.Bd6 Nxd6 36.Rxc6 Ne8 37.Rb1 Rb4 38.Ra6 Rxa6 39.Bxa6 Black is still marginally better, but converting seems very difficult. Nd6 40.Bd3 Kf6 41.Kf2 e5 42.fxe5+ Kxe5 43.Ke2 Ne4 44.Bxe4 Kxe4 45.Kf2 h6 46.Ke2 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Wojtaszek,R2733Adams,M2740½–½2015E0748th Biel GM 20155
Eljanov,P2723Rapport,R2671½–½2015A9548th Biel GM 20155
Vachier Lagrave,M2731Navara,D2724½–½2015B1248th Biel GM 20155

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Photos by: Marie Boyard, Simon Bohnenblust, Christian Ostermeier and Pascal Simon

Commentary on Playchess

Danny King live in Biel

We will be bringing you interviews, photos, reports and videos from Biel, and of course we will have live commentary on our website, www.playchess.com

Day Date Round German English
Saturday July 25 Round 6 GM Klaus Bischoff GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Sunday July 26 Free    
Monday July 27 Round 7 GM Klaus Bischoff GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Tuesday July 28 Round 8 GM Klaus Bischoff GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Wednesday July 29 Round 9 GM Klaus Bischoff GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Thursday July 30 Round 10 GM Klaus Bischoff GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Round 01 - July 20, 2015
Adams, Michael 2740
1-0
 Navara, David 2724
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 2733
½-½
 Rapport, Richard 2671
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2731
½-½
 Eljanov, Pavel 2723
Round 02 - July 21, 2015
Rapport, Richard 2671
½-½
 Adams, Michael 2740
Eljanov, Pavel 2723
0-1
 Navara, David 2724
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2731
½-½
 Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 2733
Round 03 - July 22, 2015
Navara, David 2724
1-0
 Rapport, Richard 2671
Adams, Michael 2740
0-1
 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2731
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 2733
1-0
 Eljanov, Pavel 2723
Round 04 - July 23, 2015
Navara, David 2724
1-0
 Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 2733
Rapport, Richard 2671
½-½
 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2731
Adams, Michael 2740
0-1
 Eljanov, Pavel 2723
Round 05 - July 24, 2015
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 2733
½-½
 Adams, Michael 2740
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2731
½-½
 Navara, David 2724
Eljanov, Pavel 2723
½-½
 Rapport, Richard 2671

 

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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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