1/25/2015 – That Carlsen took first was no surprise, but the question was who would take second. It was a four-way tie for 2nd-5th, with Vachier-Lagrave pipping out his rivals, followed by Giri, So and Ding Liren. If there ever was a heralding of the new generation, this was it with all top five places taken by players under 24. The Wijk Challengers was won by 15-year-old Wei Yi. Last round analysis.
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The Tata Steel Chess Tournament has two main tournaments. They are played according to the 'round robin' system, whereby each competitor plays in turn against every other during the tournament. The Tata Steel Masters has 14 participants and the Tata Steel Challengers has 14 participants. Both groups start on January 10th 2015 and the last round is on January 25th. All rounds in Wijk aan Zee begin at 13.30 hours, except for the last round on January 25th, which begins at 12.00 hours. The time control is 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds cumulative increment for each move starting from the first move.
Admission to the playing hall in Wijk aan Zee, Rotterdam and The Hague is free of charge
Final round - Masters
Round 13 - Sunday Jan. 25
So, W. - Van Wely, L.
1-0
Wojtaszek, R. - Giri, A.
½-½
Carlsen, M. - Saric, I.
½-½
Aronian, L. - Ding, L.
0-1
Caruana, F. - Vachier-Lagrave
0-1
Hou, Y. - Ivanchuk, V.
½-½
Jobava, B. - Radjabov, T.
1-0
Daniel King shows the game Caruana vs Vachier-Lagrave
An exciting end to a fantastic tournament! Even the last games had nail biters... and with four decisive games, well, who can complain?
So, Wesley 1-0 Van Wely, Loek
Wesley So used a variation that is quite in vogue against the Benoni. Van Wely attempted to be very aggressive on the kingside, but it seemed to simply have backfired:
26...Bd7Van Wely's operations on the kingside completely backfired; if anyone is attacking the opposing king it would be White. So finds a beautiful solution to continue the pressure.27.Bb3!Be627...Qxb328.Rxg7Kxg729.Qg5+Kh830.Bxf6+Rxf631.Qxf6+Kg832.Re1Black's isolated king is helpless against the multiple threats; the queen has no time to return to his aid.Qf733.Qxf7+Kxf734.Re7++-28.Bxe6Qxe629.Re1Qf730.Nd5 There are more pins than anyone can count. Black cannot hope to hold his position together.Nh531.Bxg7+Nxg732.Re71–0
Wesley So will appear in the next rating list with a massive 2788 rating,
nine points away from the new number six in the World, Anish Giri!
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw ½-½ Giri, Anish
This Grunfeld ended up in trade after trade that left both players with pawns only on the kingside and a clear draw.
The top Dutch player obviously gets plenty of attention from the press
Radoslaw Wojtaszek started off phenomenally, but
his second half of the event was not nearly as strong
Carlsen, Magnus ½-½ Saric, Ivan
Carlsen by no means had an easy time today. His early aggression was cooly thwarted by Saric, who definitely had the better position at one point. However, a combination of imprecisions and time trouble turned the tables and it was Carlsen who found himself with a tiny, tiny advantage. Saric regained his composure and was able to neutralize it in time to force a draw.
Team Carlsen: Peter Heine Nielsen, Henrik Carlsen and the crew from Norwegian TV2
Magnus Carlsen wasn't so happy with his position at one point
Ivan Saric played hard against the World Champion,
but he was unable to convert a slight edge
Aronian, Levon 0-1 Ding Liren
If the Chinese player proved anything in this tournament, besides that he belongs in the top tournaments, is that the King's Indian Defense is far from a bad opening:
Ding Liren: 14th in the World Live ratings and KID Guru.
Levon Aronian clings on to being top-10 in the World by only two rating points.
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1.c4g62.d4Nf63.Nc3Bg74.e4d65.Nf30-06.h3e57.d5Nh58.g3f59.exf5gxf510.Ng5Qe8This continuation is actually very rare. Ding Liren had played it once before, but a draw against a 2245 player was hardly a fantastic result with it.11.c511.Bg2e412.0-0Na6∞Wang Yiye - Ding Lirne, Chinese Team Championship 2013.11...Nf612.Bb5already a new move.Qe7The KID is a hard opening to explain sometimes. Black has not started developing his queenside, White has developed all over the board but hasn't castled... it's just messy everywhere. Aronian has the choice between 0-0, which looks dangerous to an eventual f4, or...13.g4!?Black cannot afford to open the kingside since White has so many pieces aiming in that direction, but he can continue his development.Na6Ignoring White's ideas for now seems best.14.Ne6Bxe615.dxe6Nxc516.g516.gxf5d5gives Black an initiative over the center, but maybe White can compensate by creating threats on the kingside. It would be a strange position for sure.16...Ne817.Nd5Qxe6Black's two pawns up, and White really needs to prove some kind of compensation very quickly. To me, this seems impossible.18.b418.Bc4Kh819.Nb6d5!-+18...Ne419.Bxe8Qxe820.f320.Nxc7Qc6 forces White to go into a lost endgame with Qd5+ as Nxa8 fails to Qc3+.20...Ng321.Rg1f421...Qh5!Seemed even stronger as the knight cannot be taken and Black removes the threat of Nxc7.22.Nxc7Qe723.Qb3+Kh824.Ne624.Nxa8e4is simply suicidal. a1 is hanging, exf3 is almost checkmate...24...Rfe825.Nxg7Kxg726.Bb2Qxg527.Rd1Rad8Aronian keeps fighting for a while, but Black here has the better position and is up two pawns.28.Rd5Qf529.Kd2Qxh3Three pawns now...30.Kc1Qf531.Bc3h532.Kb2h433.Qd1h334.Qd2Kf735.Re1Qf636.Qc2Nf537.Rd2Rg838.Qe4b639.Rh1Rh840.Qb7+Qe741.Qa6Ng342.Rhh2Rd743.Rc2Rc744.Qd3Qe645.Ka3Nf546.Bd2Rxc247.Qxc2Nd448.Qd3Qd549.Kb2b550.Bc3Qxf351.Qb1Qg352.Rd2h253.Bxd4h1Q54.Qf5+Ke755.Qc2Qd50–1
Caruana, Fabiano 0-1 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
An absolutely fantastic effort by MVL!
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1.e4c52.Nf3d63.d4cxd44.Nxd4Nf65.Nc3a66.h3Caruana uses the same line that he used against Hou Yifan earlier in the tournament.e57.Nde2h58.g3Be6It's MVL that deviates from the aforementioned game. Hou Yifan decided to develop her other bishop instead.9.Bg2Nbd710.a4Be711.0-0Rc812.Be312.a5was Motylev-Wojtaszek from October of last year, which ended in a draw.12...Nb613.b3d5The position is rather strange. It would seem as if White has put all his resources into preventing d5, but Black played it anyways. Tactics usually willl leave White with an extra pawn, that because of his resulting dark squared weaknesses this does not always translate into an advantage.14.Bxb614.a5d415.axb615.Nxd4exd416.Bxd4Na817.e5is a piece sacrifice that might not be so bad. Black has some problems as long as his knight remains on a8.15...dxe314...Qxb615.Nxd5Nxd516.exd5Bd7Caruana has an extra pawn, that part is clear; however MVL has the pair of bishops and his dark-squared one is specially unopposed. With precise play it might be possible to be better with White, but from a practical persepective I would say playing with Black is already easier.17.c4Qd618.a5f5Perhaps 18.a5 was not the best, but I find it hard to suggest anything better. At the moment Black has the real threat of h4, shattering the kingside pawn structure.18...h419.g4f5is also interesting, but nowhere near as good.19.Qd3h420.g4a countersacrifice, mainly to obtain the e4 square.0-0!Initiative over everything!21.Nc321.gxf5Bxf522.Qe322.Be4Qg6+-+22...Qg6with Bc5 next move gives Black at least adequate compensation.21...e422.Qe3Bd8!A beautiful maneuver! With the h2-b8 diagonal weakened the bishop hurries to support an invasion on the h2 square. Such queen with be absolutely lethal, so Caruana enters panic mode.23.Bxe4!?Sacrificing a bishop for two pawns and the possibility to play f4, plugging in the diagonal.23.f4exf324.Rxf3Bc7 does not improve the situation, White can pretend to defend for a few moves but ultimately his darksquares would be his demise. For example:25.g5Rfe8!26.Qf2Qh2+27.Kf1Bd6with Bc5 next move and a huge attack.23...fxe423...Bc7first might have been a tad more accurate, for example24.f4fxe425.Nxe4Rce824.Nxe4Qf4Since f4 is no longer a possibility White has to trade queens. His three pawns do not provide enough compensation for the piece; the bishops are too powerful.25.Qxf4Rxf426.f3Be727.Kf2Rcf828.Ke3Be829.c5Bb5White's position is falling apart.30.b430.Rf2Rxe4+-+31.Kxe4Bxc5White is getting mated.30...Rxe4+!31.Kxe4Re8! The start of a precise finish. White is getting mated on the center of the board!32.Kf4g5+33.Kf5Kf734.Rfe134.Rad1Bd7+35.Ke4Bxc5+would only prolong White's suffering.36.Kd3Bb5+37.Kc3Re3+38.Kd2Bxf1-+34...Bd3+35.Re4Bf6White resigned: there is no good way of stopping Re5 checkmate on the next move! A brilliant play by MVL!0–1
Hands down one of the best games played in this tournament
Hou Yifan ½-½ Ivanchuk, Vasil
Black didn't seem to have any problems in this Italian game. The final position was so locked up it was impossible to even suggest a sensible plan.
Someone was unsatisfied with his position
Jobava, Baadur 1-0 Radjabov, Teimour
Radjabov's Benko-style gambit on the Queenside paid off wonderfully. He had the chance to win on the kingside with a very unusual and beautiful sacrifice, but he missed his opportunity. In a strange endgame he missed the main ideas of the position:
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1.d4Nf62.c4g63.Nc3Bg74.e4d65.Be20-06.h4c57.d5b58.cxb5a69.bxa6Qa510.Bd2Bxa611.h5Nbd712.hxg6hxg613.Bxa6Qxa614.Nge2Rfb815.Rb1Rb416.a3Rb717.0-0Rab818.Qc2Ne5Relative to a normal Benko, Radjabov has a beautiful position. He has everything he could possibly want!19.f3Qd320.Rfc1Qxc220...Nxf3+!21.gxf3Qxf3is simply crushing. White cannot defend his king with all his pieces being stuck on the queenside.21.Rxc2Nc422.a4Nxb223.a5Nd324.Rxb7Rxb725.Ra2Nb426.Ra4Nd727.Nd1Na628.Kf1Ne529.Nc1Rb130.Ke2Kf831.g4Nd732.g5Bd433.Kd3Ne5+34.Kc2Rb835.f4Nf336.Ne2Nxd237.Kxd2Bg738.Ne3Rb2+39.Ke1Rb1+40.Kf2Rb241.e5Rd242.Kf3Ke843.exd6exd644.Ng3Kd745.Ne4Rb246.Nc4Rb447.Rxb4cxb448.Nexd6b349.Nxf7b250.Nxb250.Nd2+-50...Bxb251.Ne5+A complex endgame. White has a lot of pawns for that piece, but You can never underestimate the power of a knight.Ke7??This, however, is completely suicidal. The d-pawn has no value compared to the a-pawn which is tying down Black's knight.51...Bxe5is, surprisingly, a draw.52.fxe5Ke7If White advances either of his pawns on the center they get blockaded, and he cannot actually bring his king to the queenside.53.Ke453.Ke3Nc5and d4 or d2 are "mined" squares as they fail to a check on b3.53.Ke2Nc554.Kd1Na655.Kd2Nb4!56.d6+Kd7!57.Kc3Na6on the next move Black puts his king on c6 and there is no way to make progress. Surprising!53...Nc5+51...Ke852.Nxg6Bc353.d6Bxa554.Ne5Nc555.g6Kf856.f5Bd8and it looks to me as if the pieces should be enough to hold the draw, but Karsten Mueller will have to come back with his expertise in these kinds of positions to give an exact evaluation.52.Nxg6+Kd653.Ne5Bxe554.fxe5+Kxd5 simple counting shows that this is an easy win for White.55.g6Ke656.Kg4Nc757.Kh5Kxe558.g758.Kh6also worked.58...Ne859.g8QNf6+60.Kg560.Kg5Nxg861.a6and no one is going to stop that a-pawn. This line that happened in the game shows why 51...Ke7 was such a bad idea; the a5-pawn had to be eliminated!1–0
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Finals standings of Masters
Final round - Challengers
Round 13 - Sunday Jan. 25
Saleh, S. - Wei, Y.
½-½
Potkin, V. - Michiels, B.
½-½
Gunina, V. - Van Kampen, R.
0-1
Sevian, S. - Timman, J.
1-0
Klein, D. - Navara, D.
0-1
l' Ami, E. - Dale, A.
1-0
Haast, A. - Shankland, S.
0-1
The Challengers group was also a pleasure to watch. Wei Yi clinched his invitation to next year's Masters Group with a draw in the last round against Saleh... and a needed draw at that as David Navara won again, finishing up only half a point below the winner.
Anne Haast "only" scored 4.0/13, but that is good enough to win over 10 rating points
Robin Van Kampen (right) only had three draws
this entire event. His excellent 8.5/13 places him fourth
Despite his very slow start Salem Saleh really pulled himself together in
the second half and finished with a very respectable 7.5/13.
Samuel Shankland also had a brilliant event. With no losses and 9.0/13 he finished clear third. Also worthy of note is that Shaknland doesn't lose much! He went unblemished through the Olympiad, Millionaire Chess Open, the Continental Championship, Qatar Masters, Al Ain Open and now the Tata Steel Challengers.
Finally worthy of note is Sam Sevian's excellent result in the Challengers. His last round victory propelled him to sixth place with 7.5/13, a great 20 point rating gain... and all of this after losing his first two rounds! We will definitely be seeing this young player in the top sections of the World at some point.
Be on the look out for a recap article along with the Closing Ceremony tomorrow!
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