Dortmund 02: Nisipeanu early leader

by Alejandro Ramirez
6/29/2015 – Some scintillating chess by the black pieces today in Dortmund. The match between two of America's finest, Caruana vs. So, was not a very precise game but it was full of emotion. So took it in a long endgame. Kramnik demolished Hou Yifan brilliantly, while Meier held Nepo to a nice fought draw. However the story of the day is that Nisipeanu already has a one point lead!

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The 2015 Sparkassen Chess Meeting is taking place in Dortmund from the 27th of June to the 5th of July, 2015.

Round Two

Round 02 – June 28 2015, 15:00h
Caruana, Fabiano 2805
0-1
 So, Wesley 2778
Naiditsch, Arkadij 2722
0-1
 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 2654
Hou, Yifan 2676
0-1
 Kramnik, Vladimir 2783
Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2720
½-½
 Meier, Georg 2654

Caruana, Fabiano 0-1 So, Wesley
It's a hard game to explain, as despite the massive ratings from both players, the game was certainly not of the highest quality. Caruana surprised his opponent in the h3 Najdorf with an early a3 break on the queenside. Caruana had a good position from the opening, but he had to play actively to try to pressure his opponent. He was even winning at some point with a quick c5 break that he missed.

Not exactly the level of play expected from two top-10 players

Instead of that Caruana fell into a passive and weak position. The only reason he came back into the game were So's mistakes, eventually reaching an endgame that seemed very hard to win. Caruana helped out a little, and eventually So did take the full point in a rook + 2p vs knight and bishop endgame.

Naiditsch, Arkadij 0-1 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
A massively complicated game. Naiditsch near time trouble started to underestimate his opponent's initiative, and Nisipeanu finished off things in style:

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39.Nf3 Bxf3! 40.Rxf3 e4! 41.Rh3 d3 42.cxd3 exd3 43.Qd1 d2 44.Nc3 Re6 45.Qb1 Qxc3! 46.Qxf5+ Kh8 47.Rxc3 Re1+ 48.Bg1 Rxg1+ 49.Kxg1 d1Q+ The rook falls no matter what 49...d1Q+ 50.Kf2 50.Qf1 Qd4+ 50...Qd2+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Naiditsch,A2722Nisipeanu,L26540–12015B1243rd GM 20152.1

"Nisi" crashes through to take an early lead

Hou Yifan 0-1 Kramnik, Vladimir
A fabulous combination by Kramnik, simply punishing Hou Yifan's dubious opening choice.

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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Qe2 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.d3 h6 7.Nbd2 d6 8.0-0 Ne7 9.d4 a6 10.dxc5 axb5 11.cxd6 Qxd6 12.Qxb5 Ng6 13.Re1 b6 Yifan's opening was a little suspicious. She is up a pawn right now, but her develoment is lacking. Black has at least enough compensation for the pawn, but probably it is even sufficient for a small advantage. 14.Nc4 Qe6 15.Ne3 Nxe4! A very strong move! 16.Qd5 16.Nd5 Nd6 17.Qd3 e4 16...Nc5! This is the beautiful point, otherwise White is even better. 16...Qxd5 17.Nxd5 17.b4 17.Qxa8 Bb7 18.Qa3 Bxf3! The lines are complicated still, but Black's attack is too strong. Taking the bishop loses to: 18...Ra8 19.Qb4 Ra4 20.Qb5 Ba6 21.Qxa4 Nxa4 is also quite strong. 19.gxf3 Nh4 20.Kh1 Nd3 and White cannot hope to keep her position together. 17...Bb7 18.Qxe6 Nxe6 19.Nf5 Rfd8 20.a4 Rd3 21.Be3 Rxc3 Black is up a pawn with the better position. The rest is easy. 22.a5 Rb3 23.axb6 cxb6 24.Rxa8+ Bxa8 25.Bxb6 Bxf3 26.gxf3 Ng5 27.Kh1 Nxf3 28.Re4 Nf4 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Hou,Y2676Kramnik,V27830–12015C6543rd GM 20152.2

Big Vlad showed no mercy today. Opening the game is legendary GM Vlastimil Hort.

Nepomniachtchi, Ian ½-½ Meier, Georg
Meier's French held on very strong today. Despite White's very aggressive intentions, it was Black's attack on the queenside that seemed more threatening. Meier forced a repetition in a position where playing on would not have been entirely crazy.

Two draws to start for both players

Standings

Replay Round Two Games

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1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Ne7 6.0-0 h6 7.Nbd2 Nd7 8.Nb3 g5 9.Ne1 Qc7 10.Nd3 b6 11.Be3 Bg7 12.Rc1 Rd8 13.Kh1 c5 14.dxc5 0-0 15.cxb6 axb6 16.f4 gxf4 17.Nxf4 Nxe5 18.Nh5 Nc4 19.Bg1 Bxb2 20.Nd4 Bg6 21.Nf6+ Kg7 22.Rb1 e5 23.Nb5 Qc6 24.a4 Nf5 25.Nh5+ Kh7 26.Qe1 Nce3 27.Rxb2 Nxf1 28.Qxf1 d4 29.Bf3 Qc5 30.Nf6+ Kg7 31.Ne4 Qe7 32.Rb3 Nh4 33.Qe1 f5 34.Nd2 Nxf3 35.Nxf3 Rfe8 36.Nh4 Kh7 37.Rh3 Qf6 38.Bf2 Bh5 39.Nf3 Bxf3 40.Rxf3 e4 41.Rh3 d3 42.cxd3 exd3 43.Qd1 d2 44.Nc3 Re6 45.Qb1 Qxc3! 46.Qxf5+ Kh8 47.Rxc3 Re1+ 48.Bg1 Rxg1+ 49.Kxg1 d1Q+ The rook falls no matter what 49...d1Q+ 50.Kf2 50.Qf1 Qd4+ 50...Qd2+ 0–1
  • Start an analysis engine:
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Naiditsch,A2722Nisipeanu,L26540–12015B1243rd GM 20152.1
Hou,Y2676Kramnik,V27830–12015C6543rd GM 20152.2
Caruana,F2805So,W27780–12015B9043rd GM 20152.3
Nepomniachtchi,I2720Meier,G2654½–½2015C1143rd GM 20152.4

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Schedule

Round 01 – June 27 2015, 15:00h
Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2720
½-½
 Caruana, Fabiano 2805
Meier, Georg 2654
½-½
 Hou, Yifan 2676
Kramnik, Vladimir 2783
0-1
 Naiditsch, Arkadij 2722
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 2654
1-0
 So, Wesley 2778
Round 02 – June 28 2015, 15:00h
Caruana, Fabiano 2805
0-1
 So, Wesley 2778
Naiditsch, Arkadij 2722
0-1
 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 2654
Hou, Yifan 2676
0-1
 Kramnik, Vladimir 2783
Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2720
½-½
 Meier, Georg 2654
Round 03 – June 30 2015, 15:00h
Meier, Georg 2654 - Caruana, Fabiano 2805
Kramnik, Vladimir 2783 - Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2720
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 2654 - Hou, Yifan 2676
So, Wesley 2778 - Naiditsch, Arkadij 2722
Round 04 – July 01 2015, 15:00h
Caruana, Fabiano 2805 - Naiditsch, Arkadij 2722
Hou, Yifan 2676 - So, Wesley 2778
Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2720 - Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 2654
Meier, Georg 2654 - Kramnik, Vladimir 2783
Round 05 – July 02 2015, 15:00h
Kramnik, Vladimir 2783 - Caruana, Fabiano 2805
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 2654 - Meier, Georg 2654
So, Wesley 2778 - Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2720
Naiditsch, Arkadij 2722 - Hou, Yifan 2676
Round 06 – July 03 2015, 15:00h
Caruana, Fabiano 2805 - Hou, Yifan 2676
Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2720 - Naiditsch, Arkadij 2722
Meier, Georg 2654 - So, Wesley 2778
Kramnik, Vladimir 2783 - Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 2654
Round 07 – July 04 2015, 15:00h
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 2654 - Caruana, Fabiano 2805
So, Wesley 2778 - Kramnik, Vladimir 2783
Naiditsch, Arkadij 2722 - Meier, Georg 2654
Hou, Yifan 2676 - Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2720

Pictures: Dagobert Kohlmeyer

Links

The games will be 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 13 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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