GRENKE Rd2: Carlsen early leader

by Alejandro Ramirez
2/3/2015 – The second round of this tournament was certainly more exciting than the first one, despite the three draws. Caruana-Bacrot was certainly a bizarre game, as White won the queenside battle but his bishop got trapped on g5 (?!). Carlsen put his typical World Champion pressure on Adams, slowly poking at his opponent's pawns, until the Englishman simply collapsed.
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Round 02 - February 03, 2015, 15:00
Anand Viswanathan 2797 ½-½ Naiditsch Arkadij 2706
Carlsen Magnus 2865 1-0 Adams Michael 2738
Baramidze David 2594 ½-½ Aronian Levon 2777
Caruana Fabiano 2811 ½-½ Bacrot Etienne 2711

Daniel King shows the game Carlsen vs Adams

The second round of this tournament was certainly more exciting than the first one, despite the three draws.

Carlsen always has his squad with him. Father, Henrik Carlsen,
and a crew from TV2, this time with reporter Erle Marki Hansen.

Anand, Viswanathan ½-½ Naiditsch, Arkadij
Anand tried to squeeze the German player in an unpleasant rook endgame, but Naiditsch was up to the task:

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1.e41,170,31954%2421---
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1.d4 0 Nf6 0 2.c4 0 e6 0 3.Nf3 0 d5 0 4.Nc3 0 c5 2 5.cxd5 14 Nxd5 10 6.e4 6 Nxc3 7 7.bxc3 6 cxd4 7 8.cxd4 6 Bb4+ 6 9.Bd2 5 Bxd2+ 8 10.Qxd2 5 0-0 9 11.Rc1 44 Nc6 38 12.Bc4 189 Qa5 50 13.d5 118 exd5 650 14.Qxa5 Nxa5 8 15.Bxd5 648 Be6 156 16.Bxe6 33 fxe6 7 17.Ne5 13 Rfd8 1139 18.Ke2 274 Rd4 122 19.Ke3 1089 Ra4 842 20.Rhd1 669 Nc6 371 21.Nxc6 43 bxc6 6 22.Rd2 372 Rc8 497 23.Rc5 12 Kf8 222 24.h4 464 h6 382 25.Kf4 203 Ke7 15 26.Ke5 256 Anand is squeezing his advantage against his opponent. The rook endgame is very unpleasant as White is both better placed and has the better structure. It is not far from trivial though. Rb8! 291 An impotant endgame lesson: activity is usually worth more than material. 27.Rxc6 125 Rb5+ 39 28.Kf4 11 Rba5 347 29.f3 674 g5+ 334 30.hxg5 53 hxg5+ 5 31.Kg3 145 Protecting the g2 pawn in certain variations. Rxa2 20 32.Rc7+?! 97 Perhaps not the most testing. 32.Rdd6! This was more testing. Black cannot afford to lose this pawn for free, so he must defend it. Re5! 33.Ra6 Rxa6 34.Rxa6 Kf6! 35.Rxa7 This edngame should be drawn somehow. The 3v2 on the kingside should not have enough pawns to force a win. 32...Kf6 68 33.Rdd7 28 Ke5 424 34.Rg7 44 Kd6 344 35.Rcd7+ 238 Kc6 6 36.Rd1 31 a6 151 37.Rgd7 247 Re5 40 38.Rd8 25 a5 187 Black kept his extra pawn and White is running out of resources to try to win. 39.Rc1+ 169 Kb7 171 40.Rdc8 103 Rb2 120 41.R1c6 3601 a4 712 42.R6c7+ 0 Kb6 97 43.Rc4 0 Kb5 588 44.Rd4 0 a3 429 45.Ra8 0 Rc5 10 46.Rxa3 0 Rcc2 7 47.Kg4 0 Rxg2+ 30 48.Kh5 0 Rg3 81 49.Rdd3 0 Rh2+ 207 50.Kg6 0 Rhh3 55 51.Rab3+ 0 Kc4 72 52.Rbc3+ 0 Kb4 91 53.Rb3+ 0 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Anand,V2797Naiditsch,A2706½–½2015D41GRENKE Chess Classic 20152

Arkadij Naiditsch solidly drew his two starting blacks

Carlsen, Magnus 1-0 Adams, Michael
In typical fashion for the reigning World Champion, Carlsen accumulated pressure, and pressure, and more pressure against Adams until Black cracked.

Carlsen has been on a roll after his loss against Radoslaw Wojtaszek in Wijk aan Zee

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1.c4 0 e5 0 2.Nc3 0 Nf6 0 3.Nf3 0 Nc6 0 4.g3 1 Bb4 45 5.Nd5 18 Bc5 46 6.Bg2 50 d6 55 7.0-0 118 0-0 62 8.d3 478 Nxd5 252 9.cxd5 5 Nd4 6 10.Nxd4 203 exd4 64 Taking with the bishop is more common, there is an old rapid between Karpov and Anand in this line. 11.Bd2 159 a5 177 12.e4 615 dxe3 495 13.fxe3 41 Qg5 613 14.Rf4 360 Bd7 23 15.a4 699 Rae8 1701 The position is not easy to evaluate. White's pawn structure is strange but it controls a lot of central squares and it will lock out the dark-squared bishop once d4 is achieved. Also, b4 is coming opening up some important lines in the queenside. For this reason maybe 15...Rfe8 was better as White doesn't have real pressure on the kingside. 16.d4 65 Bb6 138 17.Qb3 903 Qd8 292 18.Qc4 27 Re7 364 19.b4 109 axb4 98 20.a5 10 Ba7 14 21.Qxb4 164 Black's queenside is very vulnerable. c5 138 21...Qc8 is just a sad move to make. 22.dxc6 281 Bxc6 94 23.Qb3 199 23.Bxc6 bxc6 24.Qc4 was also possible. 23...Bxg2 373 24.Kxg2 2 Qd7 37 25.Raf1 269 White is without a doubt a little better. His pressure on f7 is slightly annoying, as is his pressure on b7. Black doesn't have a particularly useful plan, his only plus is his pressure on the e3 weakness. Rc8 180 26.Rf5 119 h6 236 27.R1f2 134 Bb8 312 28.Bb4 442 Qc6+ 355 29.R2f3 134 Rcc7 92 30.Be1 389 30.Qd5! 30...Qe8 250 30...g6! 31.Rf6 Qc2+ 32.Qxc2 Rxc2+= 31.g4 80 Re4 148 32.h3 55 Rce7 72 33.Bf2 9 Black's tripling on the e-file seems counterintuitive. The pressure on e3 will always be sustained by a bishop either on f2 or d2, so it begs the question of what these major pieces are doing exactly. R4e6 61 34.Rb5 120 Bc7 18 35.Rxb7 160 Qa8? 19 This simply lets Carlsen stay up a pawn. Even though it isn't pretty, Adams had to take on a5. 35...Bxa5 36.Rb8 Bd8 37.Bh4 Rd7 Black's pinned in every direction, but nothing is hanging and nothing can be attacked. Black might just be holding this. 36.Rb5 36 Re8 81 37.Qd5 31 Qxd5 73 38.Rxd5± 1 It's very uncomfortable to play almost equal endgames against Carlsen. It's almost impossible to play pawn down endgames against Carlsen. Rb8 14 39.Bg3 500 g6 36 40.h4 122 Ra8 117 41.Be1 98 Re4 848 42.g5 159 h5 121 43.Rb5 65 Ra7 10 44.Kf1 119 Re8 261 45.Ke2 343 Rea8 79 46.Rf6 192 Ra6 53 47.Bb4 199 Bxa5 58 48.Rxa5 32 Rxa5 5 49.Bxa5 4 Rxa5 5 50.Rxd6 6 Kf8 38 51.Rf6 13 This position is already lost. White's plan is very simple; push the pawns with the support of the king. Black can't do anything about it. Ra3 74 52.Kf3 15 Ke7 36 53.Ke4 22 Ra5 9 54.Rf4 25 Rb5 202 55.d5 12 Rb3 104 56.Kd4 12 Ra3 4 57.e4 10 Rb3 52 58.Ke5 12 Rd3 6 59.Rf1 33 Rh3 8 Black's counterplay is too weak, too slow. 60.Ra1 84 Rxh4 17 61.d6+ 917 Kd7 918 62.Ra7+ 7 Ke8 6 63.Ra8+ 23 Kd7 5 64.Rf8 6 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2865Adams,M27381–02015A29GRENKE Chess Classic 20152

Adams succumbed after a long defense

Baramidze, David ½-½ Aronian, Levon
This game could not have been more dull. Aronian played a solid line with Black that Baramidze didn't really try to bring down. A bunch of trades later the draw was agreed.

Well, what can you do when you are black?

Caruana, Fabiano ½-½ Bacrot, Etienne
An incredibly strange game in which Black's dark-squared control was just barely sufficient to hold the position together.

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1.d4 0 Nf6 0 2.c4 0 g6 0 3.f3 0 d6 351 4.e4 0 Bg7 5 5.Ne2 5 0-0 10 6.Be3 10 c5 714 7.Qd2 8 Nc6 386 8.d5 25 Ne5 23 9.Nec3 87 Nh5 601 10.Be2 614 f5 113 11.Na3 124 f4 180 12.Bf2 8 Bd7 143 13.Nc2 527 a6 268 14.a4 725 g5 375 15.a5 468 Qe8 80 16.Rb1 271 b5 486 17.axb6 279 a5 6 18.Na3 347 Qb8 177 19.Nab5 400 Qxb6 146 20.Ra1 14 Rfb8 1236 21.Ra3 89 Qd8 70 22.Kd1 545 h6 606 23.Kc2 77 Nf6 10 24.h4 393 Be8 223 25.hxg5 257 hxg5 2 26.g3 145 Nh5 42 27.Rg1 142 Rb7 206 28.gxf4 145 gxf4 2 29.Bh4 558 a4 153 30.Bg5 115 Ng6 64 31.Rga1 131 Qc8 154 The only way to describe this position is as strange. Everything is going well for White: the queenside is locked and a4 is about to fall. He has evacuated the kingside and his king will not die on that side of the board... but, unfortunately, his bishop on g5 is trapped! 32.Bf1 283 32.Rxa4 Rxa4 33.Rxa4 Bxb5 34.Nxb5 Qh3 actually gives Black too much counterplay. The bishop ends up trapped on g5. 32...Ng3 13 33.Bd3 125 Bxb5 102 34.Nxb5 39 Qh3 15 35.Bxf4 57 Nxf4 6 36.Qxf4 2 Rf8 16 The bishop was rescued, but now the rook comes in to attack. 37.Qd2 32 Rxf3 27 38.Rxa4 55 Bh6 13 38...Qh4! taking control of f2 and preparing Qf6, would have put White in some problems. 39.Ra8+ 21 Kf7 5 40.Rh8 30 Bxd2 133 41.Rxh3 3014 Bf4 94 42.Rh7+ 0 Kg6 1270 43.Rh2 0 Be5 34 The dust has cleared. White is up a pawn, but it is useless in this opposite colored bishop situation. 44.Ra8 0 Kg5 398 45.Be2 0 Rf7 467 46.Rg8+ 0 Rg7 46 47.Rf8 0 Rg6 327 48.Bd3 0 Rf6 66 49.Rf2 0 Rxf2+ 275 50.Rxf2 0 Rb8 4 51.Kb3 0 Bd4 185 52.Rf3 0 Kg4 62 53.Rf7 0 Bf6 8 54.Kc2 200 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2811Bacrot,E2711½–½2015E60GRENKE Chess Classic 20152

A very strange game, it is not common to have a trapped bishop on g5!

Standings

Replay Round Two Games

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1.c4 0 e5 0 2.Nc3 0 Nf6 0 3.Nf3 0 Nc6 0 4.g3 1 Bb4 45 5.Nd5 18 Bc5 46 6.Bg2 50 d6 55 7.0-0 1:58 0-0 1:02 8.d3 7:58 Nxd5 4:12 9.cxd5 5 Nd4 6 10.Nxd4 3:23 exd4 1:04 Taking with the bishop is more common, there is an old rapid between Karpov and Anand in this line. 11.Bd2 2:39 a5 2:57 12.e4 10:15 dxe3 8:15 13.fxe3 41 Qg5 10:13 14.Rf4 6:00 Bd7 23 15.a4 11:39 Rae8 0 The position is not easy to evaluate. White's pawn structure is strange but it controls a lot of central squares and it will lock out the dark-squared bishop once d4 is achieved. Also, b4 is coming opening up some important lines in the queenside. For this reason maybe 15...Rfe8 was better as White doesn't have real pressure on the kingside. 16.d4 1:05 Bb6 0 17.Qb3 15:03 Qd8 4:52 18.Qc4 27 Re7 6:04 19.b4 1:49 axb4 1:38 20.a5 0 Ba7 14 21.Qxb4 2:44 Black's queenside is very vulnerable. c5 2:18 21...Qc8 is just a sad move to make. 22.dxc6 4:41 Bxc6 1:34 23.Qb3 3:19 23.Bxc6 bxc6 24.Qc4 was also possible. 23...Bxg2 6:13 24.Kxg2 2 Qd7 37 25.Raf1 4:29 White is without a doubt a little better. His pressure on f7 is slightly annoying, as is his pressure on b7. Black doesn't have a particularly useful plan, his only plus is his pressure on the e3 weakness. Rc8 3:00 26.Rf5 1:59 h6 3:56 27.R1f2 2:14 Bb8 0 28.Bb4 7:22 Qc6+ 5:55 29.R2f3 2:14 Rcc7 1:32 30.Be1 6:29 30.Qd5! 30...Qe8 4:10 30...g6! 31.Rf6 Qc2+ 32.Qxc2 Rxc2+= 31.g4 0 Re4 2:28 32.h3 55 Rce7 1:12 33.Bf2 9 Black's tripling on the e-file seems counterintuitive. The pressure on e3 will always be sustained by a bishop either on f2 or d2, so it begs the question of what these major pieces are doing exactly. R4e6 0 34.Rb5 2:00 Bc7 18 35.Rxb7 2:40 Qa8? 19 This simply lets Carlsen stay up a pawn. Even though it isn't pretty, Adams had to take on a5. 35...Bxa5 36.Rb8 Bd8 37.Bh4 Rd7 Black's pinned in every direction, but nothing is hanging and nothing can be attacked. Black might just be holding this. 36.Rb5 36 Re8 1:21 37.Qd5 31 Qxd5 1:13 38.Rxd5± 1 It's very uncomfortable to play almost equal endgames against Carlsen. It's almost impossible to play pawn down endgames against Carlsen. Rb8 14 39.Bg3 8:20 g6 36 40.h4 2:02 Ra8 1:57 41.Be1 1:38 Re4 0 42.g5 2:39 h5 2:01 43.Rb5 1:05 Ra7 10 44.Kf1 1:59 Re8 4:21 45.Ke2 0 Rea8 1:19 46.Rf6 3:12 Ra6 53 47.Bb4 3:19 Bxa5 58 48.Rxa5 32 Rxa5 5 49.Bxa5 4 Rxa5 5 50.Rxd6 6 Kf8 38 51.Rf6 13 This position is already lost. White's plan is very simple; push the pawns with the support of the king. Black can't do anything about it. Ra3 1:14 52.Kf3 15 Ke7 36 53.Ke4 22 Ra5 0 54.Rf4 25 Rb5 3:22 55.d5 12 Rb3 1:44 56.Kd4 12 Ra3 4 57.e4 0 Rb3 52 58.Ke5 12 Rd3 6 59.Rf1 33 Rh3 8 Black's counterplay is too weak, too slow. 60.Ra1 1:24 Rxh4 17 61.d6+ 15:17 Kd7 15:18 62.Ra7+ 7 Ke8 6 63.Ra8+ 23 Kd7 5 64.Rf8 6 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2865Adams,M27381–02015A29GRENKE Chess Classic 20152
Anand,V2797Naiditsch,A2706½–½2015D41GRENKE Chess Classic 20152
Baramidze,D2594Aronian,L2777½–½2015C65GRENKE Chess Classic 20152
Caruana,F2811Bacrot,E2711½–½2015E60GRENKE Chess Classic 20152

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Schedule

Round 01 - February 02, 2015, 15:00
Caruana Fabiano 2811 ½-½ Anand Viswanathan 2797
Bacrot Etienne 2711 ½-½ Baramidze David 2594
Aronian Levon 2777 ½-½ Carlsen Magnus 2865
Adams Michael 2738 ½-½ Naiditsch Arkadij 2706
Round 02 - February 03, 2015, 15:00
Anand Viswanathan 2797 ½-½ Naiditsch Arkadij 2706
Carlsen Magnus 2865 1-0 Adams Michael 2738
Baramidze David 2594 ½-½ Aronian Levon 2777
Caruana Fabiano 2811 ½-½ Bacrot Etienne 2711
Round 03 - February 04, 2015, 15:00
Bacrot Etienne 2711 - Anand Viswanathan 2797
Aronian Levon 2777 - Caruana Fabiano 2811
Adams Michael 2738 - Baramidze David 2594
Naiditsch Arkadij 2706 - Carlsen Magnus 2865
Round 04 - February 06, 2015, 15:00
Anand Viswanathan 2797 - Carlsen Magnus 2865
Baramidze David 2594 - Naiditsch Arkadij 2706
Caruana Fabiano 2811 - Adams Michael 2738
Bacrot Etienne 2711 - Aronian Levon 2777
Round 05 - February 07, 2015, 15:00
Aronian Levon 2777 - Anand Viswanathan 2797
Adams Michael 2738 - Bacrot Etienne 2711
Naiditsch Arkadij 2706 - Caruana Fabiano 2811
Carlsen Magnus 2865 - Baramidze David 2594
Round 06 - February 08, 2015, 15:00
Anand Viswanathan 2797 - Baramidze David 2594
Caruana Fabiano 2811 - Carlsen Magnus 2865
Bacrot Etienne 2711 - Naiditsch Arkadij 2706
Aronian Levon 2777 - Adams Michael 2738
Round 07 - February 09, 2015, 15:00
Adams Michael 2738 - Anand Viswanathan 2797
Naiditsch Arkadij 2706 - Aronian Levon 2777
Carlsen Magnus 2865 - Bacrot Etienne 2711
Baramidze David 2594 - Caruana Fabiano 2811

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04.02.2014 Round 3 Daniel King
05.02.2014 Free Day  
06.02.2014 Round 4 Daniel King
07.02.2014 Round 5 Oliver Reeh/Dorian Rogozenco
08.02.2014 Round 6 Simon Williams
09.02.2014 Round 7 Mihail Marin

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All photos: Georgios Souleidis

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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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