Biel 08: Navara, Wojtaszek lead

by Alejandro Ramirez
7/28/2015 – The super tournament in Biel is coming to a close, but the fighting continues in strong fashion. Two decisive games were seen today, and the one draw could easily have been a win for Eljanov in his duel against Wojtaszek. The Pole survived and shares the lead against Navara, who simply wiped Rapport off the board. MVL put the positional pressure on Adams, who eventually cracked.
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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 Eight

Round 08 - July 28, 2015
Rapport, Richard 2671
0-1
 Navara, David 2724
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2731
1-0
 Adams, Michael 2740
Eljanov, Pavel 2723
½-½
 Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 2733

Round 8 report by Rustam Kasimdzhanov

Rapport, Richard 0-1 Navara, David
This is a hard game to explain. Rapport's decisions were all around strange, which is arguably normal for the Hungarian, but some of them were simply bad:

A big day for Navara, not only did he win, but joined Wojtaszek in the lead

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1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.0-0 0-0 A well known position in which White has basically tried everything under the sun. 10.Ne2 This move hasn't been played in a while, but it is still valid. a6 11.a4 Bb7 12.axb5?! It's not clear to me why White releases the pressure on the queenside and allows Black to take on b5 with the c-pawn, liberating the bishop on b7. cxb5 13.Ng3 White is prepared against e5. Black could first play 13...g6 to defend f5, but Navara evaluates that as unnecessary. e5 13...g6 14.Bd2 14.Bb1 14.Nf5 Bb8 14...Bc7!? 15.dxe5 Nxe5 and Black has a more comfortable position. 14...Re8 15.Ba2 White targets the soft f7 pawn. However with Black's superior development (compare the power of Black's two bishops and White's two bishops, not just the one on a2), it is clear that Black is to be prefered. h6?! This move looks natural, to stop Ng5, but it was perhaps a good time to bring some other pieces into the game. 15...exd4 16.Nxd4 Ne5 and the knight lands on e5 immediately, unlike the long route it takes in the game to achieve some activity. 16.Bd2 Bc7 17.Nh4 Nf8 18.Nhf5 Ne6 19.dxe5 19.Bc3! 19...Bxe5 20.f4? A very ambitious pawn sacrifice (?) but it is completely unclear what Rapport actually gets for his pawn. Bxb2 20...Bc7 21.Bc3± is not even an option. 21.Rb1 Ba3 22.Bc3 Qxd1 23.Rbxd1 There is plenty of pressure on the kingside, but Navara has a good way of beating back the attack. Ne4 24.Bxg7? 24.Nxe4 Bxe4 25.Nd6 Bxd6 26.Rxd6 White is just down a pawn, but at least he has some fighting chance. 24...Nxg3 25.hxg3 Be4 White isn't losing a piece, but he is losing the game. 26.Bb2 Bxb2 27.Nd6 Bc6 28.f5 Ng5 29.Nxe8 Bxe8 The smoke has basically cleared. Black has a completely won position: two pieces for a rook with two passed pawns on the queenside that are very dangerous. Navara mops up nicely. 30.Rd6 Kh7 31.f6 Be5 32.Rd5 Bxg3 33.Rfd1 Kg6 34.Rf1 Kh7 35.Rfd1 Bc7 36.Bb1+ Kg8 37.Kf2 Nh7 38.Rc5 Bb6 39.Rcd5 Nxf6 40.Rd6 Ng4+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Rapport,R2671Navara,D27240–12015D4748th Biel GM 20158

Rapport severely underestimated how much activity Black got from the pawn trades

Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 1-0 Adams, Michael
MVL put pressure from the beginning; Adams eventually cracked.

MVL played it calm and slow. His pair of bishops eventually caused his opponent to falter.

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qf3 Qh4 15.g3 Qh3 16.Be3 Bxd3 17.Nd2 Qf5 18.Bd4 Rae8 Adams has played the Marshall his entire life. This Rae8 move is a slight divergence from Rfe8, which was the game between Caruana-Aronian in Zurich last year. Caruana annotated that game in detail, you can find that in the Megabase 2015. 18...Rfe8 19.a4 19.Kg2 19.a4 would have been the "equivalent" of the other line. It probably would just transpose. 19...h6 20.a4 Qxf3+ 21.Kxf3 Re6 22.axb5 axb5 The position has a symmetrical pawn structure, but White is slightly better. He has control over the a-file, Black has some problems with the pressure generated by the b3 bishop, and he doesn't have any clear targets. 23.Kg2 Rfe8 24.Rxe6 Rxe6 25.c4!? Semewhat counterintuitive, but the point is that the activity given to the White knight with this break is worth the trade of a couple of pawns. bxc4 26.Nxc4 Be4+?! 26...Bc7! 27.Ne3!? Be5! and Black is close to equalizing. 27...Nxe3+ 28.Bxe3 is slightly annoying, with Ra7 coming next. 27.f3 Bd3 28.Nxd6 Rxd6 29.Kf2 The pair of bishops is a nice advantage to have. Material is reduced, yes, but White is clearly better here. Black's pieces cannot compete with the power of that bishop on d4. Rd7 30.Ra3 Nc7 31.Be3 Nd5 32.Bc5 f6 33.Ba4 Bb5 34.Bc2 Nc7 35.Bg6?! Na6 35...Rd2+ was a nice time to get some activity. For example: 36.Ke1 36.Ke3 Re2+ 37.Kd4 Re5 does not look right at all. 36...Re2+ 37.Kd1 Na6 but White is still a bit better. 36.Re3 Rd8 37.Be7 Rc8 37...Rd2+ 38.Ke1 Rxh2 39.Bc5 doesn't get Black mated, but it is still unpleasant. Rh1+ 40.Kf2 Rh2+ 41.Kg1 Re2 42.Rxe2 Bxe2 43.Bd6 and even though Black is up a pawn, he is completely paralyzed. He cannot even take on f3 here because Bd3 traps the knight! That being said, Black might have had no choice but to go for this line. 38.b4 c5? A blunder. 38...Nc7 39.Bd6 Nd5 40.Ra3± 39.Bf5! Rc6 39...Rc7 40.Bd6 Rc6 41.Re8+ Kf7 42.Rf8# is not an option. 40.Bd7! cxb4 41.Bxc6 Bxc6 42.Re6 Black will lose the b4 pawn next move and the resulting endgame is lost. Arguably Black could keep on playing, but MVL would definitely convert this. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vachier Lagrave,M2731Adams,M27401–02015C8948th Biel GM 20158

Adams probably knew the Caruana-Aronian game, but his improvement was not too impressive

Eljanov, Pavel ½-½ Wojtaszek, Radoslaw
Eljanov was torturing Wojtaszek the entire game. He was arguably close to winning at several moments of the game, but he was unable to finish Wojtaszek off. Eventually the game went into a rook and knight vs. rook endgame which Wojtaszek was able to hold.

Eljanov moves further away from Rapport

Standings

Round Eight Games

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1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.0-0 0-0 A well known position in which White has basically tried everything under the sun. 10.Ne2 This move hasn't been played in a while, but it is still valid. a6 11.a4 Bb7 12.axb5?! It's not clear to me why White releases the pressure on the queenside and allows Black to take on b5 with the c-pawn, liberating the bishop on b7. cxb5 13.Ng3 White is prepared against e5. Black could first play 13...g6 to defend f5, but Navara evaluates that as unnecessary. e5 13...g6 14.Bd2 14.Bb1 14.Nf5 Bb8 14...Bc7!? 15.dxe5 Nxe5 and Black has a more comfortable position. 14...Re8 15.Ba2 White targets the soft f7 pawn. However with Black's superior development (compare the power of Black's two bishops and White's two bishops, not just the one on a2), it is clear that Black is to be prefered. h6?! This move looks natural, to stop Ng5, but it was perhaps a good time to bring some other pieces into the game. 15...exd4 16.Nxd4 Ne5 and the knight lands on e5 immediately, unlike the long route it takes in the game to achieve some activity. 16.Bd2 Bc7 17.Nh4 Nf8 18.Nhf5 Ne6 19.dxe5 19.Bc3! 19...Bxe5 20.f4? A very ambitious pawn sacrifice (?) but it is completely unclear what Rapport actually gets for his pawn. Bxb2 20...Bc7 21.Bc3± is not even an option. 21.Rb1 Ba3 22.Bc3 Qxd1 23.Rbxd1 There is plenty of pressure on the kingside, but Navara has a good way of beating back the attack. Ne4 24.Bxg7? 24.Nxe4 Bxe4 25.Nd6 Bxd6 26.Rxd6 White is just down a pawn, but at least he has some fighting chance. 24...Nxg3 25.hxg3 Be4 White isn't losing a piece, but he is losing the game. 26.Bb2 Bxb2 27.Nd6 Bc6 28.f5 Ng5 29.Nxe8 Bxe8 The smoke has basically cleared. Black has a completely won position: two pieces for a rook with two passed pawns on the queenside that are very dangerous. Navara mops up nicely. 30.Rd6 Kh7 31.f6 Be5 32.Rd5 Bxg3 33.Rfd1 Kg6 34.Rf1 Kh7 35.Rfd1 Bc7 36.Bb1+ Kg8 37.Kf2 Nh7 38.Rc5 Bb6 39.Rcd5 Nxf6 40.Rd6 Ng4+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Rapport,R2671Navara,D27240–12015D4748th Biel GM 20158
Vachier Lagrave,M2731Adams,M27401–02015C8948th Biel GM 20158
Eljanov,P2723Wojtaszek,R2733½–½2015D3848th Biel GM 20158

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

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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
Round 06 - July 25, 2015
Navara, David 2724
0-1
 Adams, Michael 2740
Eljanov, Pavel 2723
½-½
 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2731
Rapport, Richard 2671
0-1
 Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 2733
Round 07 - July 27, 2015
Adams, Michael 2740
1-0
 Rapport, Richard 2671
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 2733
½-½
 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2731
Navara, David 2724
0-1
 Eljanov, Pavel 2723
Round 08 - July 28, 2015
Rapport, Richard 2671
0-1
 Navara, David 2724
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2731
1-0
 Adams, Michael 2740
Eljanov, Pavel 2723
½-½
 Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 2733

 

 

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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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