Bilbao Masters 02: Time Pressure Reigns

by Alejandro Ramirez
9/16/2014 – Today's games might have gone differently in the main stage at Bilbao had the players managed their time differently. Especially unlucky was Vallejo Pons who blundered the game against Anand "basically in one move". Aronian kept the pressure up against Ponomariov, who had a respite of only one move. He missed his chance, again in time pressure, and it looks like a two horse race.
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2014 Bilbao Masters Final

This super-GM double round robin tournament is being played September 14th until September 20th, 2014.

The players – Levon Aronian (Armenia), Viswanathan Anand (India), Rulsan Ponomariov (Ukraine) and Francisco "Paco" Vallejo Pons (Spain).

The tournament is being held alongisde the European Club Cup, which we will have reports for separately. The average rating of this event is 2754, making it a category 21.

The event is being scored in the "soccer" format: three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss.

Round Two

Round 02 –September 15, 2014
Aronian, Levon 2804
1-0
 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717
Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712
0-1
 Anand, Vishy 2785

Two hard fought games finished in a strange way as time trouble got to the players. Anand seemed to outplay Vallejo and had the better position, but White's fortress seemed difficult to crack while his passed pawn on c7 was a real nuisance. In a few moves, however, the Spaniard destroyed his own position and it was all over quicker than anyone could have predicted.

The Spaniard resigns after blundering before move 40

And off to analysis with Spanish commentator Leontxo Garcia

Aronian always held a strong advantage against Ponomariov, and although the game was unclear both players made mistakes in time pressure. First Aronian gave away his advantage to a perpetual, but Ponomariov misse it and it was the Ukrainian's turn to err. Aronian did not forgive and wins his first game of the event.

Aronian tries to keeps pace, and is only 2 points behind Anand

Ponomariov is, unfortunately, 0-2 with the
King's Indian Defense and 0-2 in the tournament

Photos by Manu de Alba from Bilbao's Facebook site

Round Two Games

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 c5 The ever-popular Ragozin system has had players flock to it as a way of finishing off a solid Nimzo-Indian based repertoire against 1.d4. 8.dxc5 Nbd7 9.e3 Qa5 10.Rc1 10.Nd2 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Qxc5 12.Rc1 0-0 13.Be2 Qa3 led to a draw in the recent Topalov-Carlsen from the Norway Supertournament, 2014. 10...Ne4 11.Be2 I assume this is a new idea from the Spaniard, but it isn't exactly clear what he was planning to do... 11.Qxd5 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Bxc3+ 13.Kd1 0-0 14.Bc4 has been seen before, with mixed results. 11...0-0 11...Nxc3 12.bxc3 Bxc3+ 13.Kf1 Nxc5 14.Qxd5 Be6 15.Qd6 g5 now is the critical moment. White has several choices, all of which seem to be very complicated. Nxg5 and Nd4 are possibilities, time and hopefully practice will tell. 12.0-0 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Nxc3 14.Qd2 14.Rxc3 Qxc3 15.Qxd5 Qxc5 16.Qxc5 Nxc5 17.Be7 b6= 14...Nxe2+ 15.Qxe2 b6 16.c6 If White wants to fight for anything he must sacrifice the exchange. 16.Rfd1 Ba6 17.Qd2 Qxd2 18.Rxd2 Nxc5 19.Rxd5 Rfc8 is an equality that only benefits black. 16...Ba6 17.Qd1 Nc5 18.Qxd5 Bxf1 19.Kxf1 Black has the exchange while White has a passed pawn on c6, which is also extra. The battle will rage on to determine whether this pawn is weak or strong. I have the feeling White has enough to hold the balance, but it is easier to play with Black. Rac8 20.Nd4 Qd2 21.Qc4 Rfe8 22.Qc2 Qxc2 23.Rxc2 Re5 23...g5 24.Bg3 Ne4 24.Bg3 Rd5 25.c7 Rd7 26.Nb5? Just leaving the position in status quo while protecting the bishop on g3 was sufficient to equalize, at least. 26.f3 Rcxc7 27.Bxc7 Rxc7= 26...a6 27.Nd4 Ne4 now that c7 drops, White has to suffer. 28.Rc6 Nxg3+ 29.hxg3 Rdxc7 30.Rxb6 Rc1+ 31.Ke2 Ra8! if the a-pawns are swapped it is difficult to make progress. The endgame would be holdable for White, though after a long amount of suffering. Anand chooses to retain the a-pawns for practical chances. 32.Rb4 a5 33.Ra4 Rb1 34.Nb3?? 34.Kf3 Rb4 35.Ra3 a4 is not pretty, but held on still. 34...Rb2+ 35.Kf3 Ra6 Amazingly White cannot stop Rf6+. He cannot survive without the a pawn or the f pawn, so he resigned. Vallejo collapsed too quickly in time pressure. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vallejo Pons,F2712Anand,V27850–12014D387th Grand Slam Masters2.1
Aronian,L2804Ponomariov,R27171–02014E627th Grand Slam Masters2.2

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Standings

Schedule

Round 01 – September 14, 2014
Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712
½-½
 Aronian, Levon 2804
Anand, Vishy 2785
1-0
 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717
Round 02 –September 15, 2014
Aronian, Levon 2804
1-0
 Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717
Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712
0-1
 Anand, Vishy 2785
Round 03 –September 16, 2014
Anand, Vishy 2785   Aronian, Levon 2804
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717   Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712
Round 04 –September 18, 2014
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717   Aronian, Levon 2804
Anand, Vishy 2785   Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712
Round 05 –September 19, 2014
Aronian, Levon 2804   Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717   Anand, Vishy 2785
Round 06 –September 20, 2014
Aronian, Levon 2804   Anand, Vishy 2785
Vallejo Pons, Francisco 2712   Ponomariov, Ruslan 2717

Links

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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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