FIDE World Cup 2017: Magnus Carlsen having fun in Tbilisi

by Sagar Shah
9/7/2017 – The first game of round two of the World Cup 2017 was a relatively sedate affair. We had seven decisive games out of 32. Magnus Carlsen outplayed Alexey Dreev with the black pieces. When asked whether he was happy with his decision of coming to the World Cup, he said, "For now I think it's a fun tournament!" However, the event was no longer fun for Vishy Anand who slumped to a shock defeat against Anton Kovalyov. We have analysis of many key encounters and video interviews. | Photos: Amruta Mokal

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World Cup, Round 2

The clock read 2:58 p.m. and the playing hall looked unusually empty. Where is everyone, I asked myself. Surely so many players are not going to be late for the round. At that very moment it dawned on me that 64 players had been eliminated from the World Cup 2017. The playing hall will remain the same until the semi-finals, and the emptiness will keep growing as every round passes by.

Somehow things felt a bit relaxed today. It was not just with me, or the arbiters and the organizers but also with the players. Everyone seemed to have found their groove at the tournament. Beating one opponent and qualifying to the next round surely boosts your confidence levels.

Hou Yifan

The highest rated female player in the world, Hou Yifan, in good spirits before the game

Vladimir Fedoseev

Vladimir Fedoseev is surely liking it in Tbilisi — he lost his first game in round one, but since then has registered three wins!

Magnus Carlsen was up against Alexey Dreev. What made this encounter very interesting was the battle of two generations. Dreev was one of the best players in the world in the late 1990s and, according to Mark Dvoretsky, Dreev was the most talented player he had ever worked with. We all know Mangnus' strength and his abilities, but every once in a while when he faces an opponent he hasn't played to date (or he is playing him after many years), you start to feel maybe this is the guy who would give Magnus a run for his money. And then you are proved wrong, brutally wrong!

 
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1.d4 0 d5 8 2.c4 0 e6 0 3.Nc3 57 Bb4!? 7 Dreev is well known expert of the Qc2 variation in the Nimzo Indian. With this move order Magnus avoids that opening. 4.Nf3 4:20 4.Qc2 dxc4 is good for Black. 4...Nf6 33 5.Bg5 1:45 h6 14 6.Bxf6 32 Qxf6 3 7.Qb3 54 c5 0 8.cxd5 31 exd5 10 9.a3 31 Bxc3+ 9 10.Qxc3 5 c4 3:51 This is a relatively new idea. 11.b3 3:34 Be6 47 11...b5 12.a4 12.Ne5?! 16:57 This move was condemned by Magnus. 12.e3 0-0 13.Be2 Rc8 14.0-0 Nc6 15.a4 cxb3 16.a5 Qd8 17.a6 b6 18.Qxb3 Qd6 19.Rfb1 Rc7 20.h3 Rac8 21.Bd3 Kf8 22.Qb2 Qe7 23.Kf1 Na5 24.Ke2 Nc4 25.Qb4 Qxb4 26.Rxb4 Nd6 27.g4 g5 28.Nd2 Ke7 29.f3 f6 30.Nf1 Rc1 31.Rbb1 Rxb1 32.Rxb1 Rc3 33.Ra1 Nc4 34.Nd2 Nb2 35.Bb5 Bd7 36.Bxd7 Kxd7 37.Ra2 Rc2 38.e4 b5 39.Ra3 Rxd2+ 40.Kxd2 Nc4+ 41.Kc3 Nxa3 0-1 (41) Skrondal,I (2277)-Hammer, J (2628) Sandefjord 2017 12.bxc4 dxc4 13.e4 is the critical line, but here it seems Black is holding his own. 0-0 14.Be2 Nc6∞ 12...0-0 5:27 13.e3 11:59 Nc6 16:21 14.Be2 0 14.Nxc6 bxc6 15.bxc4 Qg6! This key move gives Black the advantage. 14.bxc4 Nxe5 15.dxe5 Qg6! 14...Nxe5 2:59 15.dxe5 37 Qg6 2:20 16.0-0 3:25 d4!? 4:40 17.exd4 21 cxb3 3 The b3 pawn is very strong. 18.Bf3 8:07 Rac8 3:21 19.Qe3 0 Qg5! 2:23 With this queen exchange the b3 pawn gains in strength. 20.Rab1 12:47 20.d5 Qxe3 21.fxe3 Bd7 Black has a good position, but this might have been the best way to play. 20...Qxe3 1:20 21.fxe3 4 Rfd8 5:50 22.Bxb7 2:15 Rc3 3:49 23.d5 49 Bd7 0 24.Rf4 3:25 a5 2:59 Stopping Rb4. 25.Kf2? 3:07 25.d6 and the game goes on. 25...Rb8! 1:58 26.Bc6 51 Bxc6 19 27.dxc6 2 Rxc6 11 28.Rd4 38 Rc2+ 10 29.Kf3 39 b2 7 30.Rdd1 30 Rb5 0 31.a4 1:23 Rxe5 32 32.Rd8+ 58 Kh7 2 And Dreev, who is already a pawn down with a hopeless position, resigned the game. 0–1
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Dreev,A2648Carlsen,M28270–12017D38FIDE World Cup 20172.1

The Ragozin Defense

The Ragozin is being played by every top grandmaster in the world - it is time you also add it to your repertoire to get interesting and dynamic positions against 1. d4!
GM Alejandro Ramirez analyses every single move that White can play once the Ragozin is reached, but due to several transpositional possibilities he always emphasises strategic goals to keep in mind.

"As for now I will stick to my decision that it's a fun tournament!"

And you can see Magnus having a nice time as he strolls around in the tournament hall watching the games of other players and picking up some ideas for future rounds!

The biggest news of the day was Anand losing his game with the white pieces against Canadian grandmaster Anton Kovalyov. Anand had a pleasant position out of the opening but then went for a speculative piece sacrifice.

 
Anand played Nc5 in this position trying to get compensation for the missing piece, by keeping the pawn on b7 alive.

The sacrifice could have worked against someone who was not in his best form. As it turned out, Kovalyov played precise moves and did not buckle under pressure. He made sure that Anand got nothing out of his piece sacrifice and slowly converted his extra material. As of now, he is a favourite to qualify for round three.

Anand-Kovalyov

Not many would have given Kovalyov a chance to beat the five-time World Champion, but he did so, and that too with the black pieces. 

 
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1.e4 0 c5 8 It is always exciting to see Sicilian on the board. 2.Nf3 0 d6 9 3.d4 0 cxd4 5 4.Nxd4 0 Nf6 0 5.Nc3 0 a6 4 Of course, the Najdorf! 6.h3 2 e5 23 7.Nb3 11 Be6 0 8.Be3 18 h5 3:07 9.Be2 12:04 Nbd7 2:49 10.0-0 1:31 Short castle might not be the most exciting thing in the position, but as Anish says, in Najdorf, the most ambitious approach might not be the best one, as it is studied and analyzed extensively. Rc8 3:19 11.Qd2 2:10 We are already in a fresh position. b5 7:10 12.Rfd1 5:23 Nb6 0 13.Bxb6 9:45 Qxb6 1:11 14.a4 28 b4 4:33 15.Nd5 35 Nxd5 5:50 16.exd5 1:15 Bd7 46 17.a5 5:20 Anand has fixed the weakness on a6 and is clearly better now. Now because of the position itself, but because he has a key idea o the next move. Qb7 9:13 18.Qe3! 3:40 This is the move that Kovalyov had missed. The queen comes to b6 and the a6 pawn is lost. Be7 13:19 18...Rb8 is just too slow and is met with 19.f4± 19.Qb6! 1:47 A very strong idea by Vishy attacking the a6 pawn. Qxb6 38 20.axb6 9 Rb8 8 21.Rxa6 42 Bd8 7 There is no real good way to defend the b6 pawn, but White should be better, because of superior development and co-ordination. 22.b7!? 20:04 22.Na5 Bxb6 22...Rxb6 23.Ra8± 23.Nc4 Bd4 24.Nxd6+ Ke7 25.Nc4 25.Ne4 Should give White some advantage especially because Bxb2 is met with d6+ cutting off the co-ordination. Bxb2 25...Rhc8 26.d6+± 25...Rhc8 26.b3 Ra8 with very good compensation for the pawn. 22...Ke7 6:58 23.Nc5!? 8:44 Anand is in an inspired mood and makes a very practical sacrifice. Objectively it might not be the best, but Vishy has seen that it poses good enough problems for his opponent to try it out. 23.Rda1 Rxb7 24.Ra8 should give White a small edge, but nothing substantial. 23...dxc5 10:18 As Kovalyov said after the game, if Nc5 worked it could have been the game of the year, but fortunately it didn't! 24.d6+ 16 Kf6 48 24...Ke6 25.Bc4+ Kf5 26.Bd5 Black seems all tied up, but White is not threatening anything concretely and the position should be interesting and unbalanced. 25.Bf3 17 Kf5!? 1:26 The king is taking part actively in the battle and threatening e4. 26.Bd5 7:01 26.Ra8 Bf6 26...e4 34 27.Re1 24 Bf6 5:04 27...Re8 28.Bxe4+ 1:47 Kg5 11 Anton plays this position well and is not afraid of moving his king around the board. 29.Ra5 4:50 Bxb2 15 30.Rxc5+ 0 Kf6 1:02 31.Re3 2:22 g6 16 32.Rf3+ 1:20 Ke6 43 32...Kg7 33.Bd5 Bf6 34.Rc7 Rhd8 35.Re3 is a lot of pressure on the position. 33.Rd3 1:39 Rhd8 33 34.Ra5 18 f5 2:41 35.Bf3 0 Bc3 17 Overall Black has consolidated his extra piece and White is in trouble. 36.h4 1:25 Kf6 1:14 37.g3 1:47 f4! 3:30 This key move seals the game in Black's favour. The idea is that you activate your light squared bishop. 38.Be4 10 Bf5 41 39.Bxf5 4:25 gxf5 0 40.Rb5 0 Ke6 1:37 41.Kf1 3:27 Rd7 51 42.gxf4 1:02 Rbxb7 48 43.Re3+ 1:11 Kf6 34 Anand has absolutely no compensation for the piece and rightly resigned. 1–0
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Anand,V2794Kovalyov,A26491–02017B90FIDE World Cup 20172.1

Kovalyov explains his thought process after the game

It should be remembered that in World Cup 2015 Kovalyov had booked his return ticket after three days from the start of the event. But he beat Kasimdzhanov in round one, and then Mareco Sandro, before bowing out to Fabiano Caruana in round three.

While one former World Champion had a tough day at the office, the other one was in no mood to give any chances to his opponent. Vladimir Kramnik dominated the game right from the start and finished off his opponent Anton Demchenko with a flourish.

Vladimir Kramnik

Bg2 looks like a good move, but how about double fianchetto? 3.b3!

 
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1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.d4 Nbd7 6...c5 might be a much more interesting choice. 7.0-0 Re8 Black is playing not very actively. Re8 already doesn't seem so good. 8.a4 Rb8 9.c4 White gains more space. e5 10.dxe5 Ng4 10...dxe5 11.Nxe5± 11.a5 dxe5 12.h3 Nh6 13.e4 White's position is already preferable. f6 14.b4 Nf8 15.Nc3 Be6 16.Qe2 Qc8 17.Kh2 Nf7 18.Rfd1 c6 19.Bc1! The bishop will stand well on e3. f5 20.Be3 b6 21.axb6 axb6 22.Rac1 Defending the knight against threats like f4 and also preparing Nd5. Qc7 22...Qb7 23.b5± 23.Nd5 cxd5 24.cxd5 Qe7 25.dxe6 Nxe6 26.exf5 gxf5 27.Qb5 Kramnik is very good at such positions. He calculates the tactics accurately and does not let his initiative go. f4 28.gxf4 exf4 29.Rd7 Qf6 30.Bd2 Rbc8 31.Rxc8 Rxc8 32.Qxb6 Winning a pawn. Now this position might seem wild, but if you look carefully, there is absolutely nothing that Black can do. White pieces are perfectly posted and the exposed nature of Black's king gives Kramnik a winning advantage. Rc2 33.Qb7 Bf8 34.Qe4 Qg6 35.Qd5 Qf6 36.h4 Bg7 37.Bh3 Nf8 38.Rb7 h6 39.Bg4 Rb2 40.Bh5 Ng6 41.Bxg6 Qxg6 42.Rb8+ Bf8 42...Kh7 43.h5 Qf6 44.Qe4++- 43.Ne5 Rxd2 44.Rxf8+ 1–0
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Kramnik,V2803Demchenko,A26451–02017A05FIDE World Cup 20172.1

Hou-Aronian

Levon Aronian gambled with a line that doesn't have a good reputation, but Hou Yifan couldn't take advantage.

 
In this position it was important for Hou Yifan (White) to take up the challenge and capture the pawn on h6. Instead she took on h4 allowing Rf1+ with a perpetual.
 
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1.e4 0 e5 4 2.Nf3 0 Nc6 6 3.Bc4 0 Bc5 7 4.0-0 0 Nf6 6 5.d3 0 0-0 7 6.Re1 19 d6 52 7.c3 19 Ne7 49 8.Nbd2 3:48 Bb6 1:41 9.Bb3 24 c6 1:25 10.Nf1 5:42 Ng6 51 11.Ng3 0 h6 1:28 12.h3 1:10 d5 8 13.exd5 1:06 Nxd5 5 14.d4 6 exd4 29 15.Nxd4 6 Be6!? 4:22 A very weird move. The bishop can be taken, but f2 becomes weak as the rook file is opened up. This has been seen before in two games. 16.Nxe6 17:44 Hou Yifan is brave and picks up the challenge. fxe6 1:28 17.Rxe6 3 Rxf2 47 This is obviously very risky and hence can be assumed that Hou Yifan had prepared it. 18.Kh1 1:33 Nh4 22 19.Qg4 17:19 Qf8 4:26 19...h5 is the other serious option in the position. 20.Qxh5 Qc7 21.Re5 g6 22.Qg5 Qf7 23.Be3 It's a crazy line, but essentially White is better objectively. 20.Qxh4? 22:51 I would objectively call this a bad move, but perhaps practically not bad. White is better in this position if she takes on h6. But it also requires a lot of knowledge and something that Hou Yifan was perhaps not ready for. 20.Bxh6! Rxg2 21.Bxd5 cxd5 The idea now is to give a check on h2 and get the queen into f2. Hence, it is important to block the f-file. 22.Bf4 Qc5 22...Qf7 23.Rae1 Bf2 24.Qxh4 Bxe1 25.Rxe1 Rxb2 26.Qg5 This should be better for White. 23.Re3 Qf8 24.Ree1± 20.Qxh4 Rf1+ 21.Kh2 Bg1+ 22.Kh1 Bd4+ 23.Kh2 Bg1+= That's how the game would have ended. ½–½
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Hou,Y2670Aronian,L2802½–½2017C50FIDE World Cup 20172.1

Vachier-Lagrave

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave scored a fine win over Boris Grachev

"Boris (Grachev) is a strong blitz player, hence I took this match very seriously"

David Navara

David Navara beat Ivan Cheparinov but was not happy with the quality of the game

A short chat with David Navara

Giri and Vidit

Anish Giri played a solid draw with the black pieces against Alexander Motylev, while his second, Vidit Gujrathi was much more successful beating Le Quang Liem with black.

 
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1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 0-0 8.e3 Bf5 9.Qb3 Bxc3+ 10.Qxc3 10.bxc3 Nbd7 11.Qxb7 Rb8 12.Qxa7 Ra8 13.Qb7 Rb8 14.Qc6 Rb2 10...Nbd7 11.Be2 c6 12.Nd2 Ne4 13.Bxd8 13.Nxe4 Qxh4 14.Nd6 Be4∞ 13...Nxc3 14.bxc3 Rfxd8= 15.f3 c5 16.Kf2 Rac8 17.Rhc1 Rc7 18.e4 This might be a tad premature. dxe4 19.fxe4 Bg6 20.Bf3 Somewhere around this point Le Quang Liem offered a draw, but Vidit declined it. He felt that he was comfortable and there was absolutely no reason to not continue. Ne5 21.Ke3 Nc6 22.Nb3 cxd4+ 23.cxd4 Re7 24.g4 f6 25.Re1 Bf7 26.Rad1 Nb4 This configuration of bishop on f7 and the knight attacking the pawn on a2, puts White's position under great pressure. 27.Rd2 Rc7 28.Kf2 Nxa2 29.d5 29.Rxa2 Bxb3 30.Rxa7 Rxd4 29...Nc3 30.Nd4 Rc4 31.Re3 Be8 32.Bg2 Nb5 33.Nxb5 33.Ne6 Rdc8 33...Bxb5 34.Bf1 34.e5!? According to Vidit this would have given White good chances to hold. fxe5 35.Rxe5 Rxg4 36.d6∞ And White has strong counterplay. 34...Rc5 35.Bxb5 Rxb5 This should be clear advantage to Black. However, Vidit's conversion was not very smooth. 36.Rc3 Rd7 37.Ke3 Kf7 38.Rdc2 a5 39.Rc7 Ke7 40.Rc8 a4 41.Ra8 Rb4 42.Kd3 Rd8 43.Ra7 Kd6 44.Rc4 Rxc4 45.Kxc4 Ke5 46.Rxb7 Ra8! 47.Rb2 a3 48.Ra2 Kxe4 49.d6 Ke5 50.Kc5 50.d7 Rd8! 51.Rxa3 Rxd7 And this should be winning for Black as the white pawns are weak and the black king is cut off. 50...Rc8+ 51.Kb4 Kxd6 52.Rxa3 Rc7 53.Re3 Kd5 54.h3 g6! Creating a passed pawn. 55.Re8 f5 56.Rg8 56.Rh8 fxg4 57.hxg4 Rc4+ 58.Kb3 Rxg4 59.Rxh6 Ke4-+ 56...Rc6 57.Kb5 Rf6 57...fxg4! 58.hxg4 Rf6-+ 58.gxf5 gxf5 59.Rd8+ Ke4 60.Re8+ Kf3 61.Kc4 Rd6 62.Kc5 Rd1 63.Rh8 f4 64.Rxh6 Kg3 65.Rg6+ Kxh3 66.Rf6 Kg3 67.Rg6+ Kf2 68.Kc4 f3 69.Kc3 Kf1 70.Kc2 Rd5 A very powerful game by Vidit who beat a world class GM by making strong and consistent moves. 0–1
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Le,Q2739Vidit,S26930–12017D38FIDE World Cup 20172.1

Vidit speaks about his win over Le Quang Liem

Adhiban-Nepomniachtchi

The game between Adhiban and Nepomniachtchi was a crazy one which ended in a draw

Adhiban opened the game with 1.e4 and Nepo replied with the Sicilian Najdorf. Adhiban chose the sharpest variation of all with Bg5. When the Indian player played Bc4, Black went completely wrong with b5. The main move there was Qb6.

 
Black has just played b5, Adhiban took up the challenge and sacrificed his bishop on e6. It seemed as if the Indian would win, but Nepo is a slippery customer.
 
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1.e4 0 c5 5 2.Nf3 0 d6 0 3.d4 0 cxd4 6 4.Nxd4 0 Nf6 6 5.Nc3 0 a6 4 6.Bg5 0 Adhiban goes for the sharpest line against the Sicilian Najdorf. e6 4 7.f4 3 Nbd7 4 The last time that Adhiban and Nepo played each other the game continued 7...h6 8.Bh4 Qb6 9.a3 Nbd7 10.Bc4 e5 11.fxe5 dxe5 12.Nf5 g6 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.Qxd5 Rh7 15.0-0-0 gxf5 16.exf5 Be7 17.Bxe7 Kxe7 18.Rhf1 Qf6 19.Bb3 Rh8 20.Rf3 Re8 21.Ba4 Rd8 22.Rg3 b5 23.Qxa8 bxa4 24.Rc3 Nb6 25.Qa7+ Rd7 26.Rc7 Kd8 27.Rdxd7+ Nxd7 28.Rc3 Qd6 29.Qa8 Nc5 30.Qa7 Nd7 31.Rg3 Ke7 32.Rd3 Qc6 33.Rc3 Qxg2 34.Rxc8 Qh1+ 35.Kd2 Qxh2+ 36.Kc3 Qh3+ 37.Kb4 Qxf5 38.Qc7 e4 39.Qd8+ Kd6 40.Qc7+ Ke7 41.c4 e3 42.Qd8+ Kd6 43.Qc7+ Ke7 44.Qd8+ Kd6 45.Qc7+ 1/2-1/2 (45) Adhiban,B (2653)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2767) Wijk aan Zee 2017 8.Bc4 7:10 Adhiban played this move after some thought b5?! 4:33 This is already a mistake. 8...Qb6 9.Bxf6 Nxf6 10.Bb3 9.Bxe6! 11 This has been played 66 times before, and it seems as if Black is in deep trouble. It is surprising that Nepo played something which essentially gives him a position with just two outcomes - draw or loss. fxe6 18 10.Nxe6 1 Qb6 2:11 11.Nd5! 6 Nxd5 50 12.Qxd5 3 Nb8!? 19:24 After the game I asked Nepo if he had prepared this and he said, no, he thought of this over the board. And this is the only move to stay in the game. 12...Qe3+? is the other move that has been played here. 13.Kf1+- But after this, it seems that Black is utterly lost. 13.Nxf8 28:34 Rxf8 3:21 14.Qxa8 1:13 Bb7 0 14...Qe3+ 15.Kf1 Rxf4+ 16.Bxf4 Qxf4+ This position might look like a perpetual, but it is not because after 17.Ke2 Bg4+ 18.Kd3+- Black has no checks. 14...h6 15.0-0-0 hxg5 16.Qd5 gxf4 17.Qh5+± 15.Qxb8+ 44 Kf7 7 16.Qxf8+ 29 Kxf8 6 17.0-0-0 1:00 Bxe4 34 How do we assess this position? It seems as if White is surely better, but the bishop on e4 is very strong. White has to be accurate to break this configuration. 18.Rd2?! This move throws away all of White's advantage. 18.Rhe1 This was correct way to begin. d5 19.Rd2 The idea is to now transfer the bishop to d4 via h4-f2. White is surely better here. b4 19...Qa5 20.a3 b4 21.Bd8! Qb5 22.Bc7! bxa3 23.Bd6+± 20.f5 20.Bh4 Qa5 20...a5 21.Be3± 18...h6 19.Bh4 Qa5! Now it is not so easy to defend the a2 pawn. 20.Re1 20.a3 b4 20...Qxa2 21.Rxd6 Qa1+ 22.Kd2 Qa4 23.Rd8+ Kf7 24.b3 Qa5+ 25.Kd1 Qa1+ 26.Kd2 Qa5+ 27.Kd1 Qa1+ 28.Kd2 A very interesting fight with theoretical interest as well as some nice variations. ½–½
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Adhiban,B2670Nepomniachtchi,I2741½–½2017B96FIDE World Cup 20172.1

Adhiban speaks about this exciting game

Baadur Jobava on his game against Salgado and the opening choice against Yu Yangyi

Nakamura and Svidler

What do you think Nakamura and Svidler are discussing? Your inputs in the comments section are most welcome!

Decisive games:

There were in all seven decisive games. In five of them the higher rated players won, but there were two upsets Anton Kovalyov beat Viswanathan Anand and Vidit Gujrathi defeated Le Quang Liem.

Drawn encounters:

In all there were 25 drawn games:

Replay all the games:

 
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  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.

Links

Sagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.

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