Grenke Classic 2017: Surprise, surprise!

by Elshan Moradiabadi
4/15/2017 – After what seemed likely to be another hiatus of super tournaments, the Grenke Chess Classic is back after skipping 2016. This year’s edition has a great blend with massive opens, and an elite round-robin with the Magnus Carlsen no less! The first round saw many surprises such as Hou Yifan beating Fabiano Caruana! Enjoy this report flush grandmaster analysis and exciting chess.
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All photos by Georgios Souleidis

Round 1 (15.04.2017 / 15:00)
Player
Res.
Player
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
0 - 1
 Naiditsch, Arkadij
Bluebaum, Matthias
½ - ½
 Carlsen, Magnus
Aronian, Levon
½ - ½
 Meier, Georg
Hou, Yifan
1 - 0
 Caruana, Fabiano

World champion and No.1, Magnus Carlsen is back to the table, seeking to gain his first title in 2017 after losing the race to current world No.2 and US champion Wesley So at the Tata Steel event in Wijk aan Zee earlier this year. Along with him, World No.3, Fabiano Caruana is up for the challenge after two mediocre results at the Gibraltar Masters and the US championship. Given his busy schedule this year, much like the other top GMs (Grand Chess tour, FIDE Grand Prix, World Cup, etc.), Fabiano is seeking a nice ‘prologue’ for his forthcoming back-to-back events schedule.

 

Peter Leko give a quick recap of round one

The tournament also sees other super GMs, Levon Aronian, Maxime “MVL” Vachier-Lagrave, as well as German and Baden-Baden team top GMs Arkadij Naiditsch, George Meier, and Matthias Bluebaum. Finally, we have the world women No.1 Hou Yifan from China who just played a ‘warm-up’ match against legendary Vassily Ivanchuk in Shenzhen, China. The eight player round-robin kicked off today with three somewhat unexpected results.

 

Video impressions of the Opening Ceremony and the first round of the Open

Magnus Carlsen seems to be determined to win this tournament as he has equipped himself with better visual aid, showing up at the game with glasses at the board, which reminded one of Matt Damon when he played “Tom Ripley” in “The Talented Mr.Ripley”. It also made him the sixth indisputable world champion to show up at the board with glasses, after Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Kramnik, and Anand!

The Talented Mr. Carlsen

Video highlights of the first round of the Grenke Classic 

It seemed that the equipment is working perfectly as the world champion managed to turn his King’s Indian into a fine form of Hedgehog where his young opponent, Matthias Bluebaum had a hard time to handle. At some point Bluebaum simply started to stall by just maintaining his Maroczy bind.

Magnus found the right moment to breakthrough with d5 and it appeared as if he were going to pull out a huge advantage out of it. However, instead of keeping things more complicated he followed d5 with e5?! and decided to go for a “Magnusian” endgame where he hoped to torture his opponent for a long time. Unexpectedly, Carlsen had more problems maintaining his advantage than Bluebaum in holding the position. Toward the end of the game the German played accurately and delivered a nice technical draw against world champion. A great start for Mathias indeed!

Aronian and Meier played a well-known line in the Reti, where Meier’s expertise is beyond any doubt and the latter managed to comfortably hold against Aronian without any trouble

Fabiano Caruana played overly ambitious chess against Hou Yifan, and for his troubles got completely outplayed.  Once in the driving seat, the Chinese superstar had no problem converting her advantage into a full-point.

Hou Yifan made her mark by beating Fabiano Caruana in round one

Hou Yifan - Fabiano Caruana (annotated by Elshan Moradiabadi)

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1.e4 0 In this game, Fabiano kept his decisive-result streak by losing to Hou Yifan. This is the second time a lady beats a 2800, if my recollection of chess history is still working! e5 5 2.Nf3 0 Nc6 4 3.Bb5 0 Nf6 0 Fabiano opts for a solid Berlin. His Spanish adventure in the Breyer went sour against Zherebukh in the US championship. 4.0-0 38 Nxe4 6 5.Re1 28 Hou Yifan goes for an ultra solid line. This is the problem with Berlin these days. If White decides, she can kill all of Black's counterplay and reduce his winning chances to zero! Nd6 0 6.Nxe5 6 Be7 3 7.Bf1 7 0-0 2:22 8.d4 1:35 Nf5 39 9.Nf3 7 9.c3 Nxe5 10.Rxe5 10.dxe5 d6 easily equalizes. 10...d6 11.Re1 d5 12.Bf4 Bd6 12...c6 13.Bd3 Bd6 14.Qf3 Bxf4 15.Qxf4 Qd6 16.Qf3 g6 17.Nd2 Bd7 18.Re2 Ng7 19.Rae1 Rae8 20.Rxe8 Rxe8 21.Rxe8+ Nxe8 22.Qe3 f6 23.Nf3 Ng7 24.Kf1 g5 25.h3 h6 26.Ng1 Kf7 27.Ne2 h5 28.Kg1 h4 29.Bc2 Bf5 30.Bxf5 Nxf5 31.Qd3 Qe6 32.Kf1 Qe4 33.Nc1 Nd6 34.f3 Qxd3+ 35.Nxd3 Ke6 36.Ke2 Kf5 37.b3 a5 38.Nc5 Kf4 39.Kf2 b6 40.Nd3+ Kf5 41.a4 b5 42.Nc5 bxa4 43.Nxa4 Kf4 44.Nc5 Nb5 45.Na4 f5 46.Nc5 g4 47.Ne6# 1-0 (47) So,W (2770)-Kramnik,V (2812) Paris 2016 13.Bxd6 Nxd6 14.Bd3 c6 15.Nd2 Bf5 16.Bxf5 Nxf5 17.Qg4 Nd6 18.Re2 Qc7 19.Rae1 Rae8 20.Qf4 Qd8 21.h4 h6 22.Re5 Qd7 23.Rxe8 Nxe8 24.Nb3 b6 25.Nc1 Nf6 26.Nd3 Re8 27.Re5 Rxe5 28.Qxe5 Qg4 29.f3 Qxh4 30.a4 c5 31.dxc5 Qxa4 32.b4 bxc5 33.Nxc5 Qb5 34.Qc7 Qb6 35.Qc8+ Kh7 36.Qf5+ g6 37.Qe5 g5 38.Kh1 Kg6 39.Nd3 Qe6 40.Qc7 a6 41.Qa7 h5 42.Qd4 h4 43.Kh2 Kf5 44.Kg1 Qe2 45.c4 h3 46.gxh3 Qxf3 47.Nf2 Qg3+ 48.Kf1 Qb3 49.cxd5 Qxd5 50.Qe3 Qc4+ 51.Nd3 Nd5 52.Qe5+ Kg6 53.Qe2 Kg7 54.Kg1 Qd4+ 55.Kh1 Kh6 56.Qf3 Kg6 57.Qe2 Ne3 58.Ne1 Qb6 59.Nf3 f6 60.Qd3+ Nf5 61.h4 Qe6 62.hxg5 fxg5 63.Kg2 Kh5 64.Qd2 Qf6 65.Qe2 g4 66.Qe8+ Kh6 67.Ne5 Kg5 68.Qg8+ Kf4 69.Nxg4 Qc6+ 70.Kg1 Qc1+ 71.Kg2 Nh4+ 72.Kh2 Nf3+ 73.Kh3 Qf1# 0-1 (73) Mista,A (2585)-Kovalenko,I (2682) Warsaw 2015 9...d5 22 10.c3 43 Bd6 2:58 11.Nbd2 0 A rare line after some thought. Black hopes to achieve a setup with Qf6- h6 and Nc6-e7 but White is planning to play Bd3 and Nd2-f1-Ng3 to kill all Black's activity on the kingside. The tricky thing about this move is that it is hard to understand if White wants to concede a draw or still has some ambition to play on in this position. 11.Bd3 Re8 12.Rxe8+ Qxe8 13.Qc2 Nce7 14.Nbd2 f6 15.Nf1 g6 16.Bd2 Be6 17.Re1 Qd7 18.Ng3 Ng7 19.Nh4 c6 20.Bh6 Re8 21.Re3 Kf7 22.Kf1 Bxg3 23.hxg3 Ngf5 24.Nxf5 Nxf5 25.Bxf5 Bxf5 26.Qe2 Rg8 27.f3 g5 28.g4 Bb1 29.Qd1 Bxa2 30.Kf2 Rg6 31.Qh1 Qd6 32.g3 Qd7 33.Bxg5 Rxg5 34.Qxh7+ Rg7 35.Qh5+ Rg6 36.Qh7+ Rg7 37.Qh5+ 1/2-1/2 (37) Shankland,S (2666)-So,W (2822) Saint Louis 2017 11...Nce7 7:34 11...Qf6
12.Bd3 h6 13.Nf1 Be6 14.Bd2 14.Ng3 Nxg3 15.fxg3 Bf5 16.Qc2 Ne7 17.Nh4 Bxd3 18.Qxd3 g5 19.Rf1 Qe6 20.Nf5 Nxf5 21.Rxf5 Rfe8 22.Bd2 Qe2 23.Qc2 Qe4 24.Qxe4 dxe4 25.Be3 Be7 26.Raf1 f6 27.d5 Rad8 28.Bd4 Rd7 29.g4 Bd8 30.Bxf6 Bxf6 31.Rxf6 Kg7 32.R6f5 e3 33.Re1 Re4 34.h3 c6 35.Rf3 Rxd5 36.Rfxe3 Rxe3 37.Rxe3 Kf6 38.Kf2 Rd2+ 39.Re2 Rd3 40.Ke1 Rd5 41.Re4 Re5 42.Re2 b5 43.Kd2 Rxe2+ 44.Kxe2 Ke5 45.Ke3 c5 46.b3 c4 47.b4 a6 1/2-1/2 (47) Melia,S (2459)-Zhao, X (2527) Sochi 2015 14...Rae8 15.Qc2 Nfe7 16.b4 Ng6 17.Ng3 Bg4 18.Rxe8 Rxe8 19.Re1 Rf8 20.Be2 Nf4 21.Bxf4 Qxf4 22.h3 Bd7 23.Qd1 g6 24.Bd3 Re8 25.Rxe8+ Bxe8 26.Nf1 Ne7 27.Ne3 Bd7 28.g3 Qf6 29.Ng4 Bxg4 30.hxg4 Qe6 31.Nh2 Kg7 32.Nf1 Ng8 33.Qe2 Qd7 34.Bb5 Qd8 35.Kg2 Nf6 36.Ne3 a5 37.a3 Qa8 38.Bd3 axb4 39.axb4 Qa1 40.Qd2 c6 41.g5 Ng8 42.gxh6+ Nxh6 1/2-1/2 (42) Nijboer,F (2562)-Meier,G (2663) Rijeka 2010 12.Qc2N 7:09 c6 5:30 13.Bd3 4:07 Transposes to Topalov-Nakamura. g6 2:12 14.Nf1 2:19 f6?! 8:40 I am not sure if I can be a fan of this move. It surely covers e5 but it damages Black's king for the rest of the game and almost kills the idea of any breakthrough or active plan for Black. Now White has a simple play: occupy the e-file and wait! 14...Ng7 15.Ng3 f6 16.Bh6 Re8 17.Nh4 Bxg3 18.hxg3 Nef5 19.Qd2 g5 20.Rxe8+ Qxe8 21.Re1 Qd8 22.Nxf5 Nxf5 23.Bxf5 Bxf5 24.Qe2 Kf7 25.g4 Bd7 26.f4 Kg6 27.fxg5 fxg5 28.Qe5 Qf6 29.Qh2 Bxg4 30.Re5 Bf5 31.g4 Bxg4 32.Rxg5+ Qxg5 33.Bxg5 Kxg5 34.Qxh7 b6 35.Qb7 Rc8 36.Qxa7 b5 37.b3 Kf4 38.Kf2 Bf5 39.a4 bxa4 40.bxa4 Ke4 41.a5 Rh8 42.Qc7 Kd3 43.a6 1-0 (43) Topalov,V (2760)-Nakamura,H (2779) Saint Louis 2016 15.h3 1:59 Rf7 16:03 16.Bd2 7:09 Bd7 14:10 17.Re2 0 c5? 5:11 A strange decision by Fabiano, which was made too quickly. Black is already in a difficult situation and misses what turns out to be a decisive moment. Caruana's choice does not really pose White any trouble and only exacebrates his own tenuous situation. Black needed to prepare his ...c5 idea with 17...b6! If White lashes out with 18.c4 then Black plays dxc4 19.Bxc4 Nd5 20.Rae1 Rc8 and Black should be ok. 18.dxc5 9:31 Bxc5 4 Now Black is also saddled with an isolated pawn with no obvious compensation. 19.Bf4 21 19.Ne3 is also annoying. 19...Rc8 7:46 20.Rae1 6:20 g5?! 14:37 20...b5 followed by ...a5 would have been my choice in this position. Nevetheless, the position remains really bad for Black. Caruana, however decides to go for a 'make or break' direction in my opinion. 21.Ng3! 23:24 A very strong move after a long think. Hou Yifan eliminates Black's only active piece and takes away all of Black's possible play, leaving him with numerous weaknesses. Nxg3 1:11 22.Bxg3 4 a5?! 6:04 Although I could say this move is weakening, the truth is that it is hard to suggest anything for Black. These pawn moves are more aimed at stopping White than expanding for Black. 23.Qd2 3:04 a4 8:01 24.b4 2:12 axb3 6 25.axb3 3 White's advantage is near decicive. h4, b4, or even c4 may lead to opening the game into an uncomfortable situation for Black. Ng6 0 26.h4 7:03 26.b4 Bf8 27.Bc2 Bc6 27...Bb5 28.Re3 f5 29.Re6 f4 30.Bxg6 hxg6 31.Bh2 and White is almost attacking every single pawn in Black's camp 28.Nd4+- 26...gxh4 39 27.Nxh4 22 Nxh4 57 28.Bxh4 2 Qf8 0 29.Qf4 5:33 Bd6 46 30.Qd4 17 It is really hard to suggest a good move for Black! Rd8 18 31.Re3 8:17 Bc8 2:23 32.b4! 3:24 World women No. 1 player takes her time. Kg7 1:29 She sees that after 32...Be5 33.Rxe5 fxe5 34.Rxe5 Re8 35.Rxd5 Her attack over Black's king is decisive. 33.Bb5 1:17 Now Re8 is a threat that cannot be prevented. Bc7 39 34.Re8 2:07 34.Be8 is simpler and it also looks cute! 34...Qd6 10 35.Bg3 3:54 Qb6 8 36.Qd3 11 Bd7 1:10 37.Bxd7 4:03 Rdxd7 4 38.Qf5! 11 The Chinese star had seen through these lines when she played Qd3. Bxg3 47 39.Qg4+ 5 Kh6 3 40.Qh3+ 0 A great victory for Hou Yifan. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Hou,Y2649Caruana,F28171–02017C674th GRENKE Chess Classic 20171

If my recollection of chess history is not failing me, this was the second time a woman beats a 2800-rated in classical chess. In fact, the only other instance dates back to 2006 when Judit Polgar (of course!) won against Topalov. Bear in mind that although Judit has won against both Carlsen and Kasparov in rapid games, she only beat one GM with more than 2800 Elo in classical chess.

 

Hou Yifan explains how her name is pronounced and shares comments on her win

Finally, Naiditsch proved that things work out well for him in Baden-Baden. In 2015 he tied foir first with Magnus Carlsen, only losing in the Armageddon tiebreaker, and now, in the opening round in 2017 Naiditsch starts off with a win with black against MVL from the black side of the French. In a messy position MVL overpressed and ended up a pawn down and could not prevent Black’s knight from occupying the key e4 square after which Naiditsch converted his advantage with ease.

Arkadij Naiditsch (right) played a rich and powerful game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Thorough analyses of this game are available by GM Lenderman which pinpoints where exactly MVL went wrong.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave - Arkadij Naidistch (annotated by Aleksandr Lenderman)

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Welcome everyone! This is GM Aleksandr Lenderman presenting to you round one game of the day. I chose this game between Vachier-Lagrave and Naiditsch as I found it to be a very rich game in no small part thanks to the material imbalance. Games like this always interest me quite a bit, since I'm always fascinated with the fight of material against initiative and other positional factors. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 a6!? The first mini-surprise. The most common move here as far as I know is 6... Nc6, although 6... Be7 or 6...b6 are also quite common. 6.Be7 and 6.Nc6 I've played myself more than once in tournament practice. 6...Nc6 6...Be7 6...b6 7.Ne2 Of course 7.Be3 is also a serious alternative, in which case Black has a choice of either transposing into the main line with 7...Nc6 or trying to play without committing the knight to c6, by playing 7....b5!? or 7. ..Qb6!? 7.Be3 7...Nc6 By far the most common move here. 8.c3 A very logical way of following up the move Ne2, by solidifying the center. b5!? This move is already quite rare. Much more frequent in practice has been 8... Qb6 or 8...Be7. Radjabov has also once tried 8...f6. Also it's important to note that based on the clocks, it's clear that Naiditsch is still in his home preparation, while Vachier-Lagrave already had around a 10-minute think on move 7.Ne2, meaning that he was probably surprised by Naditsch's choice of lines, in particular 6...a6. After 8...b5, Vachier-Lagrave thought for about 7 more minutes before choosing... 9.a3 The idea of this move is prophylaxy against the move b4. However it's also has a drawback, since after Black plays ...c4, he can get quicker play with a5 and b4, since the a3 pawn serves as a hook for quick queenside play. However, it seems that if Black does get b4 in, he might be already doing quite well, so most likely the move b5!? was the just very good preparation on Naiditsch's part. 9.Be3 b4! I think this was Black's plan in case of 9.Be3. At first the computer doesn't like the move 9...b4 but then it starts to realize it's quite a good move. 10.cxb4 10.dxc5 bxc3 11.Nxc3 Bxc5 12.Bxc5 Nxc5 13.Rc1 0-0! 14.Nxd5 exd5 15.Rxc5 Qb6 16.Qc1 Bd7 17.Rxd5 Rac8 Also offers quite good counterplay for Black thanks to the significant initiative for two pawns. 10.g3 bxc3 11.Nxc3 Rb8= 10...cxd4 11.Nexd4 Bxb4+ 12.Kf2 12.Bd2 Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 Nxd4! 13...Bb7 14.Nxc6 Bxc6 15.Nd4 14.Qxd4 14.Nxd4 Nc5 15.Bd3 a5= 14...a5!= And it seems that this plan of trying to trade off the light squared bishops should equalize for Black. 12...Nxd4 13.Bxd4 13.Nxd4 Bc5!= 13...0-0 Black gets decent counterplay here with ideas like f6 and/or Nc5. 9...c4 This move is already almost a novelty, it has been played only in one game according to my database in a game between two 2000 rated players. 10.g4 This move is officially a novelty according to my database, and a very logical one. Since the structure is fixed, it becomes clear. Black's space is on the queenside, so he should play on the queenside, while White's only play is on the kingside, therefore g4 is the only move that makes sense. In the other game, 10.f5 was played right away. 10.f5?! exf5 is probably a bit too optimistic for White and should just be good for Black. 10...h5! This is again the only logical move, since otherwise White's plan becomes too strong. It disturbs White's plans and makes it harder for White to get in his f5. 10...a5?! would be too slow since... 11.f5! Bb7 12.Nf4 Qe7 13.Bh3± And White is way ahead in the race here. 11.gxh5 Rxh5 12.f5!? A very interesting pawn sacrifice. 12.Ng3 Doesn't help White get the f5 break right away because... Rh8 13.f5 This move is still a pawn sacrifice. exf5 14.Nxf5? 14.Qc2!? g6 15.h4 Maybe deserves attention. 14...Ndxe5! 12...exf5 12...Rxf5? Of course not Rxf5 because of 13.Ng3± 13.Nf4 Rh8 14.Qe2!? Played after a very long think and probably a good move. 14.Nxd5 was of course possible, and would lead to interesting play as well. One sample line might be... Nb6 14...Nf6!? 14...Ndb8!? 15.Nxb6 Qxb6 16.Qe2 16.d5?! Na5 16...Bb7 17.Be3 Na5 18.Bg2 Be7 19.Nd2 0-0-0 With very complex play. 14.Qc2 was also possible but I doubt this move is best. Na5 And it's not clear what White should do here. 14...Nb6?! As tempting as this move is, solidifying the position, it might not be the most accurate. 14...Be7‼ Seems stronger since it seems to help Black more in building harmony, while preventing White from achieving his ideal. First of all, the obvious... 15.Nxd5 fails because of 15.Qg2 The move that would've been excellent after Nb6 would now fail to g5! g5 16.Nxd5 g4 17.Nxe7 Qxe7 18.Nd2 Bb7 15.Rg1 g5!? 16.Nxd5 g4 17.Bg2! gxf3 18.Bxf3 Bb7 19.e6 would lead to a crazy mess. 15.h4 Nf8 16.Qg2 Ne6 17.Nxe6 17.h5 Kd7 18.Nxd5 Bb7 17...Bxe6 18.Qxg7 Kd7 19.Qg3 Qa5 would lead to a more stable but also very complex position. 15...Nc5! 16.Nxe7 Nd3+ 17.Kd1 17.Qxd3? cxd3 18.Nxc6 Qd5-+ 17...Nxe7 15.Rg1?! This move was probably the best in case of 14)...Be7 but in this case it seems not quite the best. 15.Qg2‼ This would've been a very strong move, but it's probably very difficult to find. The purpose of this move is both to disturb the opponent's harmony (not allowing Black easy development with ideas like Be7, and potentially g5, and also, helps White build up his own harmony in the best way. Qe7 15...Ra7 16.Be2 15...Na5 16.Be3 Rg8 17.h4 16.Be2 Nd8 17.h4 Ne6 18.h5 and White has very strong initiative here with ideas like Bd1-c2 and Nh4, and has no bad pieces. Black in the meantime is struggling. 15...Ra7!? Played after a 30-minute think by Naiditsch and it certainly deserves a lot of attention since it seems to build up harmony in a very unconventional way. There doesn't seem to be any way for White to crash through Black's position. 15...Qe7 with idea of Nd8-e6 was also possible here. 16.h4 Nd8 17.h5 Ne6 with complex play. 16.h4 16.Rg3! was probably the best way to take advantage of Black's slightly slow plan. Now Black can't follow up with Na8 right away anymore. Qe7 And now Black probably has to revert to the plan which was possible in the previous move. 16...Na8?! 17.Qg2! Nc7 18.Rxg7! Bxg7?! 19.Qxg7± 17.Ng5 Nd8 And Black seems to be solid enough even though White has obvious compensation. 16...Na8! 17.e6 Otherwise Black will blockade the e6 square. Maybe this idea wasn't objectively the most sound, but it was probably worth a try at least in a practical game. 17.Bh3 Nc7 18.Qc2 Ne6 19.Bxf5 Nxf4 20.Bxf4 Bxf5 21.Qxf5 Qd7 would lead to a more balanced position. 17...Bxe6! The only move in the position but Naiditsch spent around half his remaining time here, probably trying to make sure he's not losing by force. However, Black seems to be doing very well. 18.Nxe6 fxe6 Seems like White doesn't quite have enough compensation, since the key squares for Black are well defended. 19.Rg6 Nc7 20.Bf4 Bd6 21.Qh2 Bxf4 22.Qxf4 Kd7 22...Kf8 It was also possible to try to hold on to both pawns. Understandably though Black decides to sacrifice his weak pawn on g7 in order to get his king to safety. 23.Rxg7+ Kc8 24.0-0-0 24.Be2 Perhaps it was better to put the king on f2 since in the endgame it will be better served closer to the passed pawn. Qf6 25.Qg5 Qxg5 26.hxg5 24...Qf6 25.Qg5! Otherwise Black will be the one to start the attack with a5 and b4. White is now banking his hopes on the passed pawn. 25.Qg3 a5 25...Qxg5+ 26.hxg5 Ne8! A nice defensive move stabilizing everything. 27.Rg6 Re7 28.Re1 Kd7 29.Rh6 Rg8 30.Bh3?! The last inaccuracy. Now White is lost. White should've tried to prevent the idea Nd6-e4. 30.Nh4! Nd6?! 30...Nd8 31.Ng6 Reg7 32.Nf4 Rxg5 33.Nxe6 Nxe6 34.Rhxe6 with some saving chances. 31.Ng6 And here White gets some activity. Ree8 32.Rh7+ Kc8 33.Nf4 Rxg5 34.Rxe6 Rxe6 35.Nxe6 Rg1 36.Rc7+ Kb8 37.Rxc6 Rxf1+ 38.Kc2 30...Nd6-+ The rest is a matter of technique for Black, especially after he makes the time control. 31.Rg1 Ne4 32.Kd1 Reg7 33.Rh5 Nd8 34.Ke2 Nf7 White is about to lose his only hope of the position and will be down two pawns for no compensation. 35.g6 Rxg6 36.Rxf5 The last chance to muddy the waters. Rxg1 37.Rxf7+ Ke8 38.Ra7 Rb1 39.Bxe6 Rxb2+ 40.Ke3 Rg3 41.Bxd5 Nxc3 42.Bc6+ Kf8 43.d5?! 43.Kf4 would prolong the game a little bit but probably not for long. 43...Rg4 White is losing more material here. A very nice battle where Arkadij Naiditsch used some excellent preparation to get a very good 3-result battle against a top player such as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave who is always well-prepared. Then he boldly took the challenge, accepted the material and found some very nice defensive resources to neutralize White's initiative. Great game! 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vachier-Lagrave,M-Naiditsch,A-0–12017C11Grenke Chess Classic 20171

Pairings and schedule

Round 1 (15.04.2017 / 15:00)
Player
Res.
Player
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
0 - 1
 Naiditsch, Arkadij
Bluebaum, Matthias
½ - ½
 Carlsen, Magnus
Aronian, Levon
½ - ½
 Meier, Georg
Hou, Yifan
1 - 0
 Caruana, Fabiano
 
Round 2 (16.04.2017 / 15:00)
Player
Res.
Player
Naiditsch, Arkadij   Caruana, Fabiano
Meier, Georg   Hou, Yifan
Carlsen, Magnus   Aronian, Levon
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime   Bluebaum, Matthias
 
Round 3 (17.04.2017 / 15:00)
Player
Res.
Player
Bluebaum, Matthias   Naiditsch, Arkadij
Aronian, Levon   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
Hou, Yifan   Carlsen, Magnus
Caruana, Fabiano   Meier, Georg
 
Round 4 (19.04.2017 / 15:00)
Player
Res.
Player
Naiditsch, Arkadij   Meier, Georg
Carlsen, Magnus   Caruana, Fabiano
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime   Hou, Yifan
Bluebaum, Matthias   Aronian, Levon
 
Round 5 (20.04.2017 / 15:00)
Player
Res.
Player
Aronian, Levon   Naiditsch, Arkadij
Hou, Yifan   Bluebaum, Matthias
Caruana, Fabiano   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
Meier, Georg   Carlsen, Magnus
 
Round 6 (21.04.2017 / 15:00)
Player
Res.
Player
Naiditsch, Arkadij   Carlsen, Magnus
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime   Meier, Georg
Bluebaum, Matthias   Caruana, Fabiano
Aronian, Levon   Hou, Yifan
 
Round 7 (22.04.2017 / 15:00)
Player
Res.
Player
Hou, Yifan   Naiditsch, Arkadij
Caruana, Fabiano   Aronian, Levon
Meier, Georg   Bluebaum, Matthias
Carlsen, Magnus   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime

Links

You can use ChessBase 14 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs to replay the games in PGN. You can also download our free Playchess client, which will in addition give you immediate access to the chess server Playchess.com.

Elshan Moradiabadi is a GM born and raised in Tehran, Iran. He moved to the US in 2012. Ever since, he has been active in US college chess scenes and in US chess. is a veteran instructor and teaches chess to every level, with students ranging from beginners to IM. He can be contacted for projects or teaching.

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