London, Rd. 3: Wesley So remains in the lead

by Marco Baldauf
12/11/2016 – It could have become the day of Levon Aronian who was close to winning against the tournament's leader Wesley So. However the American defended skillfully and kept his lead in the tournament as well as in the overall standing of the Grand Chess Tour - GM Michail Krasenkow annotates the game - his closest rival Hikura Nakamura scored against Vishy Anand though, the race is still open.
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London Chess Classic 2016, Rd. 3

Photos: Lennart Ootes

Aronian vs So, annotated by Michal Krasenkow

 
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Notes by Mihal Krasenkow - The most important game of the 3rd round: the first sole leader of the tournament meets one of his chasers. 1.c4 This move was not a surprise for Wesley: Levon plays the English Opening quite often. Therefore the American had an opportunity to prepare something his opponent didn't expect. c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 So had never played this system before; Aronian replied to it in various ways but his most recent choice (against Topalov in the same tournament exactly one year ago, on December, 11!) was probably well-considered and prepared since he repeats it in the present game. 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb4 6.Bc4 6.Bb5+ is a deeply-explored alternative. 6...Nd3+ In old times (mostly in the 70s) 6...Be6 was extremely popular. After 7.Bxe6 Nd3+ 8.Kf1 fxe6 9.Ng5 Tal's novelty Qb6!? , which helped him to beat Polugaevsky in their famous game played in the Riga Interzonal (1979), became a frequent topic of small talks in chess salons :-). However, it turned out that 10.Qf3 c4 11.b3! put Black's concept under doubt. Therefore most of Black players came back to the knight check, which was first seen in practice in the 20s and 30s of the last century. 7.Ke2 Nf4+ The move made by Wesley is more solid, of course. 7...Nxc1+ 8.Rxc1 a6 8...Nc6 9.Bb5 9.d4 b5!? 10.Bd5 Ra7 looks bizarre due to White's huge development advantage but in fact, it is not easy to exploit it since Black's position is quite solid. 11.Ne5 e6 12.Bc6+ Ke7 13.Qd2! f6! 14.Nd5+! exd5 15.Rxc5 dxe4 led to tremendous complications in the game Jakovenko-Sutovsky (Poikovsky 2016) , which Black finally won but White could have attacked more successfully. 8.Kf1 Nd3 The text move is quite a recent attempt to avoid the main theory. Black offers a repetition of moves (which was an occasion for some players to make a quick draw in recent years), and in case of 8...Ne6 is the line with which Korchnoi won the decisive game of his Candidates match against Polugaevsky in 1980. It was also played in the above-mentioned game Aronian-Topalov: 9.b4 cxb4 10.Nd5 g6 11.d4 Bg7 12.Be3 Nc6 13.Rc1 Bd7 14.Qd2 Qa5 15.h4! White is a pawn down but the initiative belongs to him. The Armenian GM finally won that game. 9.Qe2 Nxc1 10.Rxc1 e6 White can't easily play d2-d4. Still, White's big development advantage causes some doubts about the correctness of Black's idea. 11.h4 A logical way to develop the h1 rook. Short castling will now be dangerous for Black so he usually prepares long castling. a6 Black wants to develop his bishop to b7 (after ...b7-b5). The drawback of this plan is that it weakens his queenside too much. Particularly, White will be able to undermine Black's pawns by means of a2-a4! The other way of development is 11...Nc6 with idea ...Bc8-d7, e.g. 12.e5 Bd7 13.Rh3 Qb6 followed by ... 0-0-0 (Jakovenko-Vidit,Gibraltar 2016). It looks quite passive to me but the young Indian GM held his ground. 12.e5 Nc6 13.Rh3 In the game Sutovsky-Nepomniachtchi (Poikovsky 2016) White managed to weaken Black's position and obtain an edge after 13.h5 h6 14.Rh3 b5 15.Bd3 Bb7 16.Be4 Qb6 17.a4! b4 18.Nb1 0-0-0 19.d3 Perhaps Levon was not sure about something like 13.h5 Nd4!? ; otherwise, the insertion of h4-h5 h7-h6 looks quite pleasant for White. 13...b5 14.Bd3 Bb7 15.Be4 Qd7 Both players put their pieces to the most appropriate positions (as you see, Wesley, unlike Ian, prefers the d7 square for his queen). White must find an active plan. 16.Rg3 g6 Ups! It turns out that it is not easy for Black to castle now: if 16...0-0-0 then 17.d4! (threatening an unpleasant break d4-d5), and to cxd4? 18.Nxb5!+- (the drawback of the position of Black's queen on d7, and not on b6). Therefore, his king must remain in the centre at the moment. 17.Kg1 In case of 17.h5 0-0-0 is possible already: 18.d4 Bh6! , and 19.Rc2 cxd4 20.Nxb5 doesn't work due to d3! 17.Qe3!? Be7 17...0-0-0 18.a4 18.h5!? looks more aggressive than the text move. In any case long castling can be met with a2-a4! 17...Be7 17...Bh6 was possible here, too. So develops his bishop to a less active position, and White keeps initiative. 18.Qe3 0-0-0 19.Rg4 Before playing a2-a4, Aronian activates his rook. Kb8 20.Rf4 Rhf8 21.a4 b4 Of course, this move, weakening the c4 square and the c5 pawn, is a big concession but it is not easy to suggest a good alternative. Perhaps 21...Nb4 but Black's position is quite unpleasant after 22.axb5 axb5 23.Bxb7 Qxb7 24.d4! , and if c4 then 25.Rb1! threatening b2-b3. 21...Nd4 is much worse: 22.Bxb7 Kxb7 23.axb5 axb5 24.Nxd4 cxd4 25.Qf3+ Kb8 26.Ne4 threatening 27.Rxf7 while the defenses of Black's king are in ruins. 22.Bxc6! Bxc6 23.Ne4 Bxe4 The only move, alas, further weakening light squares. 24.Rxe4 a5 If 24...Qxa4 then 25.Rxc5! , and Black can't accept the exchange sacrifice as White's attack after Bxc5 26.Qxc5 will be killing. 25.Rec4 25.d4 Qxa4 26.b3 Qc6 27.dxc5 Rd5 leads to a position more or less similar to what happened in the game. 25...Qxa4 25...Qd3 (to prevent d2-d4) could be met with the same exchange sacrifice as we have seen above: 26.Rxc5! 26.Qh6 Rh8 is rather harmless 26...Bxc5 27.Qxc5 Qa6 28.Qc7+ Ka8 29.Rc5 but not 29.Rc6? Qa7 29...Rc8 30.Qxa5 Qxa5 31.Rxa5+ Kb7 32.Rb5+ Ka6 33.Rxb4 . With three pawns for an exchange White keeps decent winning chances. 26.d4 Rd5! not 26...cxd4?? 27.Nxd4 , of course. 27.dxc5 Qc6 Black's king is still unsafe, and White's passed c5 pawn should not be underestimated but it is still difficult for White to break Black's defenses. 28.Nd4 This leads to forced play, in which, however, Black manages to hold on. 28.b3 was a calm alternative; then, according to the principle of two weaknesses, White can try to attack Black's kingside. Black would be doomed to long defense. 28...Qc7 29.Qf3 Black successfully defends after 29.f4 Bxc5! (threatening 30... Bxd4) 30.Nc6+ Qxc6 31.Rxc5 Rxc5 32.Rxc5 Qa6 33.Qd4 Rc8 White could have "taken his last move back": 29.Nf3 but then Black had a good reply Qa7! (threatening 30...Rc8). A possible line: 30.Nd2 Qc7! 30...Rc8 is not so good now due to 31.Ne4! Rxe5 32.Qf4 f6 32...Qc7? 33.Nd6 33.Nxf6 Bxf6 34.Qxf6 Qc7 35.c6± 31.f4 f6! 32.exf6 Bxf6 33.Nf3 Rfd8 with good counterplay. 29...Rfd8! 30.Nb5 Qxe5 31.c6 Rc8! 32.Qxf7 32.c7+! Kb7 33.Nd4! (recommended by GM A.Korotylev) allowed White to keep a dangerous attack, e.g. Bd6 34.Nc6! Qh2+ 35.Kf1 Rxc7 36.g3! Kb6 better than 36...Qh3+ 37.Kg1 Qf5 38.Qe3 37.Qe3+ Ka6 38.Ke2! etc. However, it is very difficult to find and correctly evaluate something like this over the board. 32...Qf6! Black defends very accurately, liquidating into a rook endgame. 33.Rf4 Qxf7 33...Qxb2!? was a crazy alternative, which surprisingly worked: 34.Rcc4 Rxb5 35.Qxe7 Qa1+! (to pin White's f4 rook, thus preventing Rf4-f7 or Rf4-f8) 36.Kh2 Qe5 37.g3 Qc7! 38.Qxe6 b3 39.Rf7 Re5! 40.Rxc7 40.Qf6 Rf5! 40...Rxe6 41.Rb7+ Ka8 42.Rxb3 Rcxc6 , and everything ends peacefully. Of course, such adventures are completely unnecessary, and Black prefers a simple course. 34.Rxf7 Rxb5 35.Rxe7 Rc7! 36.Rxe6 Ka7 37.Kf1 DRAW. Even if White's extra c6 pawn doesn't fall very soon, its weakness paralyses White's play. Black's queenside pawns should not be underestimated, too. Therefore the endgame is dynamically equal. Although it was still possible to fight on (a draw being the most probable outcome, of course), Levon offered to share the point at once. Wesley had nothing against it, thus keeping a leading position in the tournament (no one managed to catch him at the end of the round). A well-played game for both sides! A possible continuation: 37.Kf1 Kb6 38.Ke2 a4 39.Rc4 39.Kd3 Rd5+ , and the king must step back 39...a3 40.bxa3 bxa3 41.Rc2 41.Ra4 Rb2+ 42.Ke3 a2 is hardly better 41...Rb2 42.Kd2 Rxc2+ 43.Kxc2 Rxc6+ 44.Rxc6+ Kxc6 45.Kb3 Kc5 46.Kxa3 Kc4 , and it is White who must take care of the draw in this pawn ending (although he can reach it in various ways). ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L-So,W-½–½2016A34London Chess Classic3

Michal Krasenkow's commentary will be delivered with the next ChessBase Magazine #176, together with most of the games of the London Chess Classic annotated - and many more. You can find the fresh ChessBase Magazine #175 with annotations by Vladimir Kramnik, Wesley So, David Navara, Pavel Eljanov, Simon Williams, Daniel King and many other exclusive authors in our shop → here.

 

 

 

Anand v Nakamura by Daniel King

Wesley So was in the sole lead before round three, but today he had a tough time defending a very dangerous position against Levon Aronian. Aronian had a smooth edge in the middlegame and decided to crash through instead of slowly trying to grind it down.

Position after 24...a5. White can choose between the slower 25.b3 - trying to press in a long game - or 25.Rce4 followed by d4 and going for the attack against black's weakened king.

Aronian chose the more direct option and soon got an overwhelming attack (Position after 28...Qc7).  However, So defended stubbornly and found some deep defense ressources.

Position after 31...Rc8. With the rook so well placed on d5, the black king is surprisingly save. Aronian saw himself forced to take on f7 whereafter ...Qf6 forced the exchange of queens.

Fantastic defense skills ensured the draw for tournament leader Wesley So.

 

After two losses at the start of the tournament, Topalov showed what he is capable of and put MVL under great pressure - but failing to convert.

 "Just missing very simple moves" was Topalov's critical assessment after the game.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave came to the game in a fighting mode, but it soon turned out, that he will have to fight for a draw. Topalov showed ambition on the kingside, attacking his opponent with the aggressive g5 and f5 and got a good, maybe winning position, as MVL's king was under heavy fire. After the game, Topalov was rightly convinced, that there must have been a win, but he started to find defenses for his opponent - where there weren't any.

Vachier-Lagrave had a great year 2016, but somehow can't find his game so far.

 

Back on track and 50% is Hikaru Nakamura, who beat Vishy Anand today. After loosing on his own birthday in round one, Nakamura spoiled Anand's birthday party, the former World Champion from India turned 47 today.

Many congratulators before the game - Vishy turned 47 today.

However, Nakamura was not handing any gifts and improves his score against Anand on the incredible result of 8-1 .

After the game, Nakamura had no real explanation of this curiosum: "There are certain people you are doing well against and certain people you don't do well against. I do well against Vishy, but don't do well against Magnus or Levon."

And indeed, regarding only classical games, his score against Aronian is 5-11 - we all remember the j'adoube controversy in a tragical rook ending at the Candidates Tournament in Moscow this year. Against Carlsen, Nakamura's score is even worse: 1-11...

 

Fabiano Caruana had some pull against Vladimir Kramnik, but the advantage was never even close to decisive. Both players have +1, sharing 2nd place.

Fabiano Caruana: "Pressing comfortably with no risk" - after yesterday's game which got completely out of control, his supporters had a quieter afternoon.

After two losses in a row Michael Adams tried to keep the pace down in his game against Anish Giri. The latter repeated the Najdorf Variation from round one, but Adams declined a sharp battle and went for the solid 3.Bb5+. A lot of pieces came off and the game seemed to end in a quiet draw, but shortly before the time control was reached Giri succeeded in posing some challenges. They got into a 3 vs 3 plus a-pawn rook ending and Giri could press for a long time but Adams saved the draw after six hours of play.

Michael Adams showed his experience and didn't let the draw slip trough his fingers.

 

Results of round 3:

Levon Aronian

 ½-½

Wesley So

  

Michael Adams

 ½-½

Anish Giri

  

Hikaru Nakamura

 1-0

Viswanathan Anand

  

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

 ½-½

Veselin Topalov

  

Fabiano Caruana

 ½-½

Vladimir Kramnik

Standings:

Tomorrow big matches are awaiting us: Caruana vs Aronian and Giri vs So will be the most importants ones (regarding the standings), but also Topalov vs Nakamura promises some action.

Games of rounds 3:

 
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1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb4 6.Bc4 Nd3+ 7.Ke2 Nf4+ 8.Kf1 Nd3 9.Qe2 Nxc1 10.Rxc1 e6 11.h4 a6 12.e5 Nc6 13.Rh3 b5 14.Bd3 Bb7 15.Be4 Qd7 16.Rg3 g6 17.Kg1 Be7 18.Qe3 0-0-0 19.Rg4 Kb8 20.Rf4 Rhf8 21.a4 b4 22.Bxc6 Bxc6 23.Ne4 Bxe4 24.Rxe4 a5 25.Rec4 Qxa4 26.d4 Rd5 27.dxc5 Qc6 28.Nd4 Qc7 29.Qf3 Rfd8 30.Nb5 Qxe5 31.c6 Rc8 32.Qxf7 Qf6 33.Rf4 Qxf7 34.Rxf7 Rxb5 35.Rxe7 Rc7 36.Rxe6 Ka7 37.Kf1 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2785So,W2794½–½2016A348th London Classic 20163
Caruana,F2823Kramnik,V2809½–½2016C538th London Classic 20163
Nakamura,H2779Anand,V27791–02016D378th London Classic 20163
Vachier Lagrave,M2804Topalov,V2760½–½2016C678th London Classic 20163
Adams,M2748Giri,A2771½–½2016B518th London Classic 20163

Games of all rounds:

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be3 c5 8.Rc1 0-0 9.Qd2 e5 10.d5 Nd7 11.c4 f5 12.Bg5 Nf6 13.Ne2 Nxe4 14.Bxd8 Nxd2 15.Be7 Rf7 16.Bxc5 Nxf1 17.Rxf1 b6 18.Bb4 Ba6 19.f4 Rc8 20.fxe5 Bxe5 21.Rf3 Bxc4 22.Re3 Bg7 23.Nf4 Rd7 24.a4 Bh6 25.g3 Bxf4 26.gxf4 Rxd5 27.Re7 Rd4 28.Bd2 Kf8 29.Bb4 Re8 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H2779So,W27940–12016D858th London Classic 20161
Caruana,F2823Anand,V2779½–½2016A218th London Classic 20161
Kramnik,V2809Topalov,V27601–02016D778th London Classic 20161
Vachier Lagrave,M2804Giri,A2771½–½2016B908th London Classic 20161
Aronian,L2785Adams,M27481–02016C508th London Classic 20161
Kramnik,V2809Aronian,L2785½–½2016A148th London Classic 20162
Anand,V2779Vachier Lagrave,M28041–02016B908th London Classic 20162
So,W2794Adams,M27481–02016E068th London Classic 20162
Topalov,V2760Caruana,F28230–12016C028th London Classic 20162
Giri,A2771Nakamura,H2779½–½2016A498th London Classic 20162
Aronian,L2785So,W2794½–½2016A348th London Classic 20163
Caruana,F2823Kramnik,V2809½–½2016C538th London Classic 20163
Nakamura,H2779Anand,V27791–02016D378th London Classic 20163
Vachier Lagrave,M2804Topalov,V2760½–½2016C678th London Classic 20163
Adams,M2748Giri,A2771½–½2016B518th London Classic 20163

Apart from the London Chess Classic, the British KO Championship is taking place in London. The final between Nigel Short and David Howell started today, six games will be played in total. If there is no winner after these six classical games, two playoff games (10 mins + 2 secs) are scheduled. If there is still no winner after that, an Armageddon blitz will decide the championship.

The 1st game is still running.

Games of the British KO-ch:

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 c4 7.Bc2 Qc7 8.0-0 Nxe5 9.Nxe5 Qxe5 10.Re1 Qc7 11.a4 d5 12.Na3 a6 13.a5 Nd7 14.d3 e6 15.dxc4 dxc4 16.Qd4 Qxa5 17.Be3 Qc7 18.Nb5 Qc6 19.Ra5 Nf6 20.Qe5 axb5 21.Rxa8 Be7 22.Ra5 Bd7 23.Qb8+ Bc8 24.Qe5 Bd7 25.Ra8+ Bc8 26.Bd1 0-0 27.Bf3 Nd5 28.Bd4 Bf6 29.Bxd5 exd5 30.Qf4 Bxd4 31.Qxd4 Be6 32.Rea1 f6 33.Rxf8+ Kxf8 34.Qh4 Bf5 35.Qf4 Be6 36.h4 h5 37.Ra8+ Kf7 38.Rh8 Qb6 39.Qf3 g6 40.Qf4 Bf5 41.Qb8 Ke6 42.Qe8+ Kd6 43.Rf8 Kc5 44.Qe3+ 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Jones,G2667Rowson,J25651–02016B22British KO-ch 20161.1
Short,N2679Fernandez,D2468½–½2016C42British KO-ch 20161.1
Howell,D2644Pert,N25681–02016A20British KO-ch 20161.2
McShane,L2652Hawkins,J25901–02016C01British KO-ch 20161.3
Hawkins,J2590McShane,L2652½–½2016D15British KO-ch 20161.1
Pert,N2568Howell,D2644½–½2016D85British KO-ch 20161.1
Fernandez,D2468Short,N2679½–½2016D02British KO-ch 20161.2
Rowson,J2565Jones,G2667½–½2016A72British KO-ch 20161.2
McShane,L2652Hawkins,J2590½–½2016C02British KO-ch 20161.2
Short,N2679Fernandez,D24681–02016B11British KO-ch 20161.3
Fernandez,D2468Short,N26790–12016E05British KO-ch 20161.4
Hawkins,J2590McShane,L26520–12016D15British KO-ch 20161.4
Jones,G2667Howell,D2644½–½2016C45British KO-ch 20162.1
McShane,L2652Short,N2679½–½2016C81British KO-ch 20162.1
Howell,D2644Jones,G26671–02016B76British KO-ch 20162.2
Short,N2679McShane,L2652½–½2016C50British KO-ch 20162.2
McShane,L2652Short,N26790–12016C72British KO-ch 20162.3
Short,N2679McShane,L26521–02016B00British KO-ch 20162.4

 

Tournament page London Chess Classic...

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Round three report by Sagar Shah on ChessBase India

Marco Baldauf, born 1990, has been playing since he was eight. In 2000 and 2002 he became German Junior Champion, in 2014 he became International Master. He plays for SF Berlin in the Bundesliga.

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