GRENKE Rd3: Naiditsch beats Carlsen, again!

by Alejandro Ramirez
2/4/2015 – A big day in Baden-Baden as the standings changed dramatically. Magnus Carlsen went a little haywire against Arkadij Naiditsch, sacrificing a piece and then losing an endgame where he usually would have tried to push for a win. This is the German's second victory against Carlsen in a row. Aronian and Baramidze collapsed against Caruana and Adams. Round three report.

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

Daniel King shows the game Naiditsch vs Carlsen

An exciting round in Baden-Baden, though one that was strange to say the least. The highlight is clearly Carlsen's loss against Naiditsch, which came with a number of surprises. First was the fact that the World Champion sacrificed a piece for no compensation, and that despite the fact that he outplayed Naiditsch after that he misplayed the endgame horribly. Only half a year after the Tromso Olympiad Arkadij Naiditsch is able to defeat the number one player in the World... again!

Meanwhile Aronian handled his position very strangely, allowing Caruana a win without the Italian doing anything special. Baramidze simply imploded by missing a cute trick.

Bacrot, Etienne ½-½ Anand, Viswanathan
This long, long theoretical Berlin followed a game that Bacrot himself played with black against Motylev. The game had about ten original moves before every pawn was decimated.

Anand repeated a long Berlin to obtain a draw

Aronian, Levon 0-1 Caruana, Fabiano
Aronian tried to push in this hedgehog kind of position against Caruana, but he misplayed the position very badly at certain points:

Levon Aronian, for the first time in forever,
is not in the top 10 in the live rating list

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1.d4 0 Nf6 0 2.c4 0 e6 0 3.Nc3 0 Bb4 0 4.Qc2 4 0-0 23 5.Bg5 52 c5 30 6.dxc5 30 Qa5 30 7.Bd2 30 Qxc5 30 8.e3 30 Qc7 30 9.Nf3 30 Be7 30 10.Bd3 30 Nc6 30 11.a3 30 b6 30 12.Nb5 30 Qb8 30 13.Bc3 30 h6 30 The position will soon resemble a hedgehog. Black will without a doubt kick out the knight on b5 with a6 and follow up with d6. White has two main plans, try to restrain Black by castling kingside and putting his rooks on the c and d files, or pushing for an aggressive g4. Both are viable. 14.Rd1 30 14.g4!? Is not as bad as a computer will tell you it is. 14...a6 30 15.Nbd4 30 Nxd4 30 16.Bxd4 30 d6 30 17.0-0 30 Bd7 30 18.e4 30 e5! 30 A great strategical decision. Without a knight on c3 to jump to d5 this advance is quite safe and allows Black much needed space for his pieces. 19.Bc3 30 Rc8 30 20.Qe2 30 Be6 30 21.Nh4 30 g6 30 22.g3 30 Qc7 30 23.Ng2!? 30 Sacrificing the pawn Aronian hopes to get his knight into a good square. 23.Bd2 Bxc4 24.Bxh6 keeps material equality and is playable. 23...Bxc4 30 24.Ne3 30 Bxd3 30 25.Rxd3 30 Nxe4 30 25...b5!? 26.Bxe5 30 dxe5 30 27.Nd5 30 Qd6 30 27...Nxg3 was riskier 28.fxg3 Qa7 29.Rdf3 and White has some real threats down the f and e files, it's unclear which continuation was stronger. 28.Qxe4 30 White has compensation for the lost pawn as his powerful knight on d5 and his control over the d-file are strong. Also Black has no clear way of improving his awkard bishop. Bf8 30 29.Rfd1 30 b5 30 30.Qf3 30 Kg7?! 30 A tactical slip! 31.Nc3 30 31.Nc7‼ Would have turned the game around. Qxc7 31...e4 32.Rxd6 exf3 33.Rd7 Rab8 34.R1d3± 32.Rd7 Qc4 33.R1d5! Be7 there is no other way of defending against the threats on the seventh rank. 34.Rxe7 Rf8 35.Rd6! With strong pressure. 31...Qe6 30 32.Rd7 30 Bc5! 30 Now Black starts consolidating his extra pawn. A blockading bishop on d4 would stop White dead on his tracks. 33.Qe4 30 Ra7 30 34.Rd8? 30 A blunder in a position that was already very difficult. Rxd8 30 35.Rxd8 30 Bxf2+ 30 The bishop is taboo due to the fork on b6. 36.Kg2 30 Bb6 30 37.Rd2 30 Rc7 30 38.Qa8 30 Bd4 30 39.Ne2 30 Rd7 30 40.b4 30 h5 30 With time control reached its clear that White is simply down two pawns. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2797Caruana,F28200–12015E39GRENKE Chess Classic 20153

Adams, Michael 1-0 Baramidze, David
A pretty tactical detail ruined Baramidze's pawn structure and his chance in this game:

Every chess game can abruptly end with a blunder. Today was a clear example.

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1.e4 0 e5 0 2.Nf3 0 Nc6 0 3.Bb5 0 a6 4 4.Ba4 0 Nf6 9 5.0-0 0 Be7 6 6.d3 2 d6 417 7.c3 9 0-0 14 8.Re1 28 b5 72 9.Bc2 8 d5 23 10.Nbd2 92 dxe4 47 11.dxe4 89 Be6 64 12.a4 270 Bc5 60 13.Qe2 229 Ba7 831 14.h3 353 Nh5 178 15.Nf1 461 Qf6 1665 16.Bd3 857 Ne7? 811 Oblivious to the following sequence. 16...b4 keeps the game interesting. Black will lose a6 but he has some compensation for it in the form of pressure on the kingside and counterattack against a4. 17.axb5 688 axb5 302 18.Rxa7! 195 Rxa7 12 19.Bg5 11 Qg6 230 20.Qe3 15 A nasty double attack. White threatens the rook on g5, but with the protection of the g5 bishop he also threatens Nh4, trapping the queen! f6 71 21.Qxa7 105 fxg5 17 22.Nxe5 1549 22.Qxc7 was perhaps even easier. 22...Qf6 29 23.Ng4 96 Bxg4 100 24.hxg4 6 Nf4 73 25.Bxb5 188 Black is down two pawns. His pressure on the kingside does not come close to compensating for that. Nxg2 398 26.Kxg2 170 Ng6 99 27.Nh2 288 Nf4+ 340 28.Kh1 39 Nh3 19 29.Qe3 310 Nxf2+ 62 30.Kg2 98 Qe5 16 31.Bc4+ 22 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Adams,M2738Baramidze,D25941–02015C84GRENKE Chess Classic 20153

Naiditsch, Arkadij 1-0 Carlsen, Magnus
This is a very difficult game to describe. Carlsen decided to sacrifice a piece in the opening for no apparent reason, and it simply did not pay off. He got compensation by outplaying his opponent, but when he finally had a good grasp on the resulting endgame he wasted too much time and the German player was able to promote his passed pawn:

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1.e4 25 g6 0 2.d4 27 Bg7 0 3.Nc3 9 d6 0 4.Be3 21 a6 9 Even though the Modern defense is not practiced by most top level grandmasters, it is not a bad opening; White needs to navigate it well to obtain some sort of opening advantage, and even with it the positions remain double edged. 5.a4 154 Nf6 693 6.h3 97 0-0 361 7.g4!? 418 A typical idea, White is simply trying to restrain Black all over the board, preventing him from executing his breaks, f5 or b5. e5 580 8.d5 329 c6 463 9.Nge2 243 cxd5 75 10.exd5 23 Bxg4?! 251 Maybe an extra exclamation mark for how spectacular it is for the World Champion to do this, but another question mark for how dubious this idea is. Black sacrifice a piece for two pawns, but that's basically all there is to it. 11.hxg4 67 Nxg4 2 12.Qd2 1356 Nd7 71 13.Ne4 1009 f5 906 Black also is able to kick out the e4 knight, but White can live without this square. 14.Bg5 84 Qb6 81 15.Bh3 15 Naiditsch's positoin is holding together and now Carlsen is forced to trade some pieces. Ndf6 831 15...Qxb2 16.0-0 looks suicidal. White has the threats of Bxg4 and Rfb1, trapping the queen. 16.Nxf6+ 175 Nxf6 7 17.Nc3?! 156 When you are up material, there rarely is a good reason to give your opponent counterplay. In this case giving up a pawn was not necessary. 17.b3± 17...Qxb2 99 18.Rb1 90 Qa3 2 19.Rxb7 412 Rf7?! 854 19...Rab8! 20.Rxg7+ Kxg7 21.Bxf5 gxf5 22.Bxf6+ Kxf6! Is just a draw, according to the heartless monsters. 20.Rb3 179 Qc5 43 21.Qe3 314 Qc7 172 22.Qb6! 102 e4 102 23.Qc6 376 A little fancy, just trading was better. Rc8 178 24.0-0 263 Qxc6 161 25.dxc6 5 Rxc6 8 26.Rfb1 33 Carlsen again has three pawns for the piece, but now the pair of bishops and the weak a6 pawn give Naiditsch an obvious target. Not only that, but with the queens off there is little counterplay for Black. h6 152 27.Bxf6 286 Bxf6 15 28.Nxe4! 52 A trade of advantages. The endgame after fxe4 is practically very difficult so Carlsen decides to give up the pawn again. Be5 52 28...fxe4 29.Be6 Kf8 30.Bxf7 Kxf7 31.Rb6 Rxc2 32.Rxd6 and the rooks simply destroy all of Black's pawns. 29.Nd2 159 29.Rb6! just a touch more exact. 29...Rxc2 27 30.Nf3 7 Ra2 161 31.Bg2?! 344 31.Nxe5! dxe5 32.Rb6 Rxa4 33.Rxg6+ White only has one pawn left, but it should be sufficient to win. Kh7 34.Rbb6+- 31...Bf6 74 32.Nh2 41 Kg7 71 33.Bd5 47 Re7 32 34.Rb4 33 Rd2! 38 35.Bc4 2 a5! 203 36.Rb7 8 Rd4 82 37.Rxe7+ 22 Bxe7 1 38.Bb5 22 h5 69 With the amount of Black pawns he has enough to compensate for the missing piece. However the most important aspect is that White has no real targets: a5 can now be easily defended by the bishop. 39.Nf3 28 Rf4 9 40.Kg2 97 h4 67 41.Rd1 586 Rg4+ 102 42.Kf1 59 h3 68 43.Rd3 551 Bf6 817 44.Nh2 505 Rh4 186 45.Kg1 6 45.Rxd6 Be5 46.Rd7+ Kf6 47.Kg1 Rb4 48.Rh7! 45...Bd4 148 46.Rf3 469 Kf6 182 47.Nf1 38 with Black's pieces so active and his threatening pawn on h3, it would seem as if only Carlsen is playing for a win. Be5 101 47...d5! 48.Ne3 118 Kg5? 165 This move is already strange. The king will have to go back to f6 so it does nothing but waste important time. 49.Kh1 213 Kf6?! 802 50.Nc4 64 Suddenly Black has done nothing, meanwhile White slowly brought his knight to take the key pawn on a5! g5 32 51.Nxa5 343 g4 272 52.Rd3 6 f4 218 53.Nc4 9 Black's pawns look threatening, but they are not queening right away. Rh7 140 53...g3 54.fxg3 fxg3 55.Nxe5 g2+ 56.Kh2 Kxe5 57.Bd7 and the pawns start falling (Rxh3 cannot be prevented). Notice that the a-pawn is the correct color to win with. 54.Nxe5 156 dxe5 14 55.a5 46 Rc7 182 56.Ra3 184 Rc1+ 105 57.Kh2 8 Rc2 29 58.a6! 79 Well calculated, those four connected passed pawns are not as relevant as the one passed pawn on the a-file! Rxf2+ 61 59.Kh1 61 g3 89 60.a7 33 Rd2 43 One last trick, if White promotes there is backrank mate. 61.Ra1 946 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Naiditsch,A2694Carlsen,M28621–02015B06GRENKE Chess Classic 20153

Arkadij Naidtisch shares first place with Fabiano Caruana

The World Champion will have time to reflect on
what he was thinking as tomorrow is a free day

Standings

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1.d4 0 Nf6 0 2.c4 0 e6 0 3.Nc3 0 Bb4 0 4.Qc2 4 0-0 23 5.Bg5 52 c5 30 6.dxc5 30 Qa5 30 7.Bd2 30 Qxc5 0 8.e3 30 Qc7 30 9.Nf3 30 Be7 30 10.Bd3 30 Nc6 30 11.a3 0 b6 30 12.Nb5 30 Qb8 30 13.Bc3 30 h6 30 The position will soon resemble a hedgehog. Black will without a doubt kick out the knight on b5 with a6 and follow up with d6. White has two main plans, try to restrain Black bby castling kingside and putting his rooks on the c and d files, or pushing for an aggressive g4. Both are viable. 14.Rd1 30 14.g4!? Is not as bad as a computer will tell you it is. 14...a6 30 15.Nbd4 30 Nxd4 30 16.Bxd4 30 d6 30 17.0-0 30 Bd7 30 18.e4 0 e5! 30 A great strategical decision. Without a knight on c3 to jump to d5 this advance is quite safe and allows Black much needed space for his pieces. 19.Bc3 30 Rc8 30 20.Qe2 30 Be6 30 21.Nh4 30 g6 0 22.g3 30 Qc7 30 23.Ng2!? 30 Sacrificing the pawn Aronian hopes to get his knight into a good square. 23.Bd2 Bxc4 24.Bxh6 keeps material equality and is playable. 23...Bxc4 30 24.Ne3 30 Bxd3 30 25.Rxd3 30 Nxe4 30 25...b5!? 26.Bxe5 30 dxe5 30 27.Nd5 30 Qd6 30 27...Nxg3 was riskier 28.fxg3 Qa7 29.Rdf3 and White has some real threats down the f and e files, it's unclear which continuation was stronger. 28.Qxe4 0 White has compensation for the lost pawn as his powerful knight on d5 and his control over the d-file are strong. Also Black has no clear way of improving his awkard bishop. Bf8 30 29.Rfd1 30 b5 30 30.Qf3 30 Kg7?! 30 A tactical slip! 31.Nc3 30 31.Nc7‼ Would have turned the game around. Qxc7 31...e4 32.Rxd6 exf3 33.Rd7 Rab8 34.R1d3± 32.Rd7 Qc4 33.R1d5! Be7 there is no other way of defending against the threats on the seventh rank. 34.Rxe7 Rf8 35.Rd6! With strong pressure. 31...Qe6 0 32.Rd7 30 Bc5! 30 Now Black starts consolidating his extra pawn. A blockading bishop on d4 would stop White dead on his tracks. 33.Qe4 30 Ra7 30 34.Rd8? 30 A blunder in a position that was already very difficult. Rxd8 30 35.Rxd8 30 Bxf2+ 30 The bishop is taboo due to the fork on b6. 36.Kg2 30 Bb6 30 37.Rd2 30 Rc7 30 38.Qa8 30 Bd4 30 39.Ne2 30 Rd7 30 40.b4 30 h5 30 With time control reached its clear that White is simply down two pawns. 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2797Caruana,F28200–12015E39GRENKE Chess Classic 20153
Adams,M2738Baramidze,D25941–02015C84GRENKE Chess Classic 20153
Bacrot,E2711Anand,V2797½–½2015C67GRENKE Chess Classic 20153
Naiditsch,A2694Carlsen,M28621–02015B06GRENKE Chess Classic 20153

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

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
½-½
 Anand Viswanathan 2797
Aronian Levon 2777
0-1
 Caruana Fabiano 2811
Adams Michael 2738
1-0
 Baramidze David 2594
Naiditsch Arkadij 2706
1-0
 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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