Moscow Grand Prix R06: Two is company, eight is a crowd

by Alex Yermolinsky
5/18/2017 – Since the leaders failed to reassert their authority, even the new ones, this opened the way for more to close in and try to stake their claims. It was not for lack of trying as Ding Liren failed to convert a winning advantage against MVL. In the meantime, veteran Gelfand beat Harikrishna in his vintage style, while Nakamura played a fine piece of preparation changing Nepomniachtchi's Najdorf into a Classical Sicilian. Some fantastic analysis by GM Alex Yermolinsky.
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The start of the final stretch saw a bit of everything. While the “old friends meet again” Grischuk-Svidler and Radjabov-Mamedyarov ended as predictable quick draws, some of the older participants felt rejuvenated after the rest day and went on to open their respective scorelines.

Boris Gelfand seems to have mastered his power over Father Time. Decades roll by, and Boris still wins in his trademark style: an ambitious, yet classical handling of the opening, followed by a quick tactical explosion, to be converted into a win in the endgame. This time the victim was the unfortunate Pentala Harikrishna.

Frankly, it's not hard to see Boris continuing in this way to qualify for the Candidates once again!

Mickey Adams no longer has such ambitions, but it was nice to finally win a game and escape the bottom of the standings

Two of the pre-tournament (and pre-cycle) favorites, Hikaru Nakamura and Ian Nepomniaschi (my own phonetic spelling of his name), locked horns in a desperate battle to stay relevant in the race.

Hikaru Nakamura needed to make a move if he had any hope of staying relevant, and he timed it to perfection with this win over Ian Nepomniachtchi. He stays in contention, but more is needed.

Hikaru Nakamura vs Ian Nepomniachtchi (annotated by Alex Yermolinsky)

 

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 With only four rounds left both players needed to make a push. The Najdorf Sicilian answers the call. 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.a3!? I like this decision. Hikaru refuses to get involved in a theoretical dispute in the Poisoned Pawn Variation. Nc6 From a Najdorf player's point of view 8...Nbd7 looks attractive, but, in turn, it allows White to place his other bishop to an active position, 9.Bc4 Obviously, 8...Qxb2?? loses the queen to 9.Na4 9.Nb3 Be7 Naturally, Ian had no interest in defending a slightly worse position after 9...Qe3+ 10.Qe2 10.Qd2!? An important moment. Seeing the black knight on c6, Nakamura recognized a Classical Sicilian pattern, and placed his queen accordingly. Routine is 10.Qf3 which Black often answers with Qc7 11.0-0-0 h6 12.Bh4 g5!? inviting a firestorm: 13.e5!
13.fxg5 Ne5 this tempo is the key to the whole idea. 14.Qe2 Nfg4 Black will regain a pawn and keep the e5-square for his knight. 13...dxe5 Perhaps safer is 13...gxh4 14.exf6 Bxf6 15.Ne4 Be7 16.Qc3 Rg8 but since Nf6+ is always there for him, White can simply play 17.Be2! with some advantage in all lines. 14.fxg5 Nd5! I find 14...hxg5 unsatisfactory, as after 15.Bxg5 Nd5 16.Bd2 Bd7 17.Nxd5 exd5 18.Qxd5 Be6 19.Qd3 Black's compensation is insufficient, mainly because he cannot castle long. 15.Rxd5! The most principled answer. 15.Nxd5 exd5 16.Rxd5 hxg5 17.Bg3 Be6 18.Rd1 f5 is rather good for Black. 15...hxg5 16.Bf2 exd5 17.Nxd5 Qd6 18.Bc5 g4! 18...Qh6 19.Kb1 Bd8 20.Nd2 offers White excellent attacking prospects. 19.Qd1 Qh6+ 20.Kb1 Bxc5 21.Nxc5 Rb8 22.Bc4 b5 23.Rf1! Fun position to play, mainly from the white side. 10...0-0 I don't think Ian was very much familiar with the intricacies of this type of position. What we have here is a typical Richter-Rauser Attack setup, where Black deals with two major threats. One is Bxf6, and you either lose the d6-pawn or agree to damage your pawns structure. Two, and it's much worse, is e4-e5! One way to deal with both is 10...Ng4 although the position after 11.Bxe7 Kxe7 12.Nd1! Rd8 13.Be2 Nf6 14.Nc3 appears simply better for White. I'd put 10...h6!
on top of the list. 11.Bxf6 11.Bh4? Nxe4 Every Russian Schoolboy Knows.... 11...Bxf6 12.0-0-0 Here I'd even think of 0-0!? 12...Be7 saves the pawn, but loses time: 13.h4 Qc7 14.g4 b5 15.Be2 13.Kb1 Bd7 too early for 13...Na5 on account of 14.Na4! Nxb3 15.Nxb6 Nxd2+ 16.Rxd2± 14.Qxd6 14.g4 Na5! Another typical idea from the R-R Attack 15.Nxa5 Qxa5 and 16.Nd5 Bd8 is harmless. 14...Bxc3 15.bxc3 Rfd8 Back in the day when everybody played the Classical Sicilian Black used to welcome such developments. 11.0-0-0 Rd8 Seemingly Black has successfully addresses both White's threats - see above - but his counterplay is slow in coming, and White will continue to press on. 12.Bd3 12.Qe2!? h6 13.h4 Bd7 14.g4 Rac8 15.Rh3 was another promising idea. 12...h6 13.h4!? Bd7 Nepo continues to play quickly, but his moves lack imagination. Here he neglected a chance to establish some kind of connection between his queen and knight: 13...Ng4!? 14.Bxe7 Nxe7 15.Rdf1 e5 16.Be2 a5! with reasonable chances for both sides. 14.Qe2 Kf8? And this one is a real error. The only way to stop White was 14...h5! 15.e5 15.f5 Ng4 16.Rdf1 Bf6 17.fxe6 Bxe6 18.Nd5 Bxd5 19.exd5 Nce5 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Qxh5 Qe3+ 17.Kb1 Qxf4 15...dxe5 16.fxe5 Ng4∞ 15.e5! The floodgates are open. dxe5 16.fxe5 hxg5 17.exf6 Bxf6 18.hxg5 Bxg5+ No salvation was offered by 18...Bxc3 19.bxc3 Rac8 20.Rh7+- 19.Kb1
A dreadful sight for the second player. Black has no counterplay and no means to defend his king. 19...Qe3 20.Qh5 Bh6 21.Rhf1 Be8 22.Rde1 Qg5 23.Qh3 Hikaru anticipated Ian's reply. Some would choose 23.Qh2 to stop the black knight from coming to help. 23...Ne5 24.Nc5! The e6-pawn is collapsing, and as in many Sicilian positions, it's the beginning of the end. Kg8
25.Nxe6! fxe6 25...Rxd3 26.cxd3 fxe6 27.Qxe6+ Nf7 28.Nd5+- 26.Qxe6+ Nf7 27.Bg6 even more thematic would be 27.Ne4 Qe5 28.Qg6 Rxd3 29.cxd3 and there's no stopping to Nf6+ 27...Kh8 27...Rd7 28.Qxe8+ 28.Bxf7 Bxf7 29.Qxf7 Qxg2 Understandably, Nepo didn't cherish Black's prospects after 29...b5 30.Rh1 Rf8 31.Qd7 White is up a pawn, and Black's Bh6 plays no other part but being an unmovable stick in its King's rickety shelter. One sample line is Rad8 32.Qc6 Rf6 33.Re8+ 30.Rg1 Qd2 31.Rd1 Qf4 32.Qxb7 Rdb8 33.Qe4 Qf8? Ian simply quits. At least 33...Qxe4 34.Nxe4 Re8 would prolong the game. 34.Rg6 Ra7 35.Qd4 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Nakamura,H2786Nepomniachtchi,I27511–02017B97FIDE Moscow Grand Prix 20176

Preparation was a big factor today, but of the computer-generated kind. Nakamura based his decisions on a careful study of Nepo's opening preferences, and it must be said that getting him out of the Najdorf into the Classical Sicilian was a stroke of genius.

Ian Nepomniachtchi's fighting spirit is not in doubt after only one draw in six games, the fewest of any player, but fewer losses would be helpful

The main ticket was the battle between two players from the leading group.

Ding Liren vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (annotated by Alex Yermolinsky)

 

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1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.0-0 Nb6 7.Nc3 Be7 8.a3 0-0 9.b4 Re8 This quiet move is getting more popular these days. The reason might be that the old line 9...Be6 10.d3 a5 Very much a double-edged move. Black wants to get a hold of the b3-square, but leaves his b7-pawn vulnerable. 11.b5 Nd4 is currently getting challenged by 12.Bb2! The thematic exchange sac 12.Nxe5 Bf6 13.f4 Nb3 14.Be3 brought White success in Howell-Naroditsky, 2015, but things aren't that clear. 12...Nb3 13.Rb1 f6 the move Black isn't too happy to make, but what else to do? 14.Nd2 Nxd2 15.Qxd2 Nc4 16.Qc1 Nxb2 17.Qxb2 Rb8 Vachier Lagrave-Swiercz, 2017 10.e3!? This is a breath of fresh air, albeit the idea was invented by Moscow GM Sergey Makarichev back in 1991! Standard procedure is 10.d3 Bf8 the point of the rook move - now the e5-pawn is safe. MVL is very much familiar with this position. 11.Bb2 11.Be3 Bg4 Dubov-Vachier Lagrave, 2016 11...a5 12.b5 Nd4 13.Nd2 Van Wely-Vachier Lagrave, 2017 10...a6 11.Qc2 Bg4 12.Ne4!? A novelty that only looks like a blunder. Previously known was 12.h3 Bh5 13.d3 12...f5 Maxime is not a kind of guy to back down from challenge. 13.Nc5 e4 14.Ne1 Be2
So the white rook is trapped, but the real game is only about to begin. 15.d3 Bxf1 16.Kxf1 Bxc5 17.bxc5 Nd7 18.dxe4 fxe4 19.Bxe4 Qe7? This is very risky. Black had a good alternative in 19...Nf6 20.Bg2 Qd7 21.Rb1 Rab8 22.Bb2 Red8 23.Bf3 Qe6 24.Kg2 Rd7 20.Bxh7+ Kh8 21.Bg6 The black king is dangerously open. Rf8 22.Rb1 Nxc5 23.Ng2 Rad8 24.Nf4 Ne6 No choice but to abandon the b7-pawn. 25.Rxb7 Ne5 25...Nxf4 would beat off the attack, but White doesn't mind the endgame either: 26.exf4 Qe6 27.Kg2 Nd4 28.Qe4 26.Bb2? Ding begins to slip up a bit. 26.Be4! was a great idea underlining the power of centralization. White doesn't even mind to lsoe his remaining rook, as Nc5 27.Bb2 Nxb7 28.Bxe5 Rxf4 29.exf4 Nd6 30.Bf3 is the picture worth admiring: the bishops are totally ruling the roost. 26...Nf3? Returning the favor. While 26...Nxf4 27.exf4 Nxg6 28.Qxg6 Qd7 29.Rb4 Kg8 wasn't entirely hopeless for Black. 27.Bh5 Nxf4 28.gxf4 Rd2 When I saw this position I had no doubt White would win. 29.Qc3?! 29.Qc6 Rxb2 30.Rxb2 Qxa3 31.Qc1 seemed good enough, as the desperate try Nd4 is turned away by the cool 32.Kg2! 29...Nxh2+ 30.Kg1? Wrong way with the king! Instead, 30.Ke1 Rd7 31.Qc6 Kg8 32.Be2 Rfd8 33.Qxa6± was a better choice, although White cannot be assured of complete domination. Black has chances after Qh4 34.Qe6+ Kh8 35.Bd4 Re7 30...Rxf4! 31.Qxg7+ Qxg7+ 32.Bxg7+ Kxg7 33.exf4 Kh6
34.Kxh2?! It's not the fist time in this tournament a transition into a good rook endgame nets no more than a disappointing draw. See Grischuk-MVL and Hammer-Giri for details. 34.Be8 just had to be played, although the win is still in doubt after both Ng4 and 34...Nf3+ 35.Kf1 Ra2 36.a4 Nd2+ 37.Ke2 Ne4+ 38.Ke3 Nf6 35.Ra7 Rxf2 36.Rxa6+ Kh7 37.f5 Ra2 34...Kxh5 35.Rxc7 Kg4 36.Kg2 Rd3 37.f3+ Kh5!? Maxime chooses active defense. The natural 37...Kf5 38.Rc5+ Kxf4 39.Rc4+ Kf5 40.Ra4 Rd6 should be enough to hold 38.a4 Ding could have tried 38.Rc5+ Kh4 39.f5 but Rd2+! would have saved the day for MVL. Not 39...Rxa3 as 40.f6! Rb3 41.Rf5 Rb8 42.f7 Rf8 leaves Black hopeless in the face of the white king's march after the a-pawn, and then to e7. 43.Kf2 etc. 40.Kf1 Kg3 Perhaps unnecessary, but 40...Kg5 41.Ra5 Ra2 42.Rxa6 Kxf5 is a fancy two pawns down draw. 41.Rc3 Rd5 42.f6 Rf5= 38...Rd4 39.Rc5+ Kh4 40.Kf2 Nothing can be gained by 40.Rc6 Rd2+ 41.Kf1 Kg3 42.f5 Kxf3 43.Ke1 Ra2 44.Rxa6 Ke3 45.Kd1 Kd3 46.Kc1 Kc3 47.Kb1 47.Rc6+ Kd3 47...Rb2+ 48.Ka1 Rf2 49.f6 Kb3= 40...Rxa4 41.Ke3 a5= 42.Rg5 Ra3+ 43.Ke4 Ra4+ 44.Ke5 Rb4 45.Rg4+ Kh5 46.f5 Rb5+ 47.Ke6 Rb6+ 48.Ke7 Rb7+ 49.Ke6 Rb6+ 50.Kf7 Rb7+ 51.Kg8 Rb8+ 52.Kg7 Rb7+ Games like this can make a difference between playing in the Candidates and staying home for the upcoming World Championship cycle. The second miraculous save in rook endings (along with the Grischuk game) make Vachier-Lagrave seem destined to qualify. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Ding,L2773Vachier Lagrave,M2795½–½2017A29FIDE Moscow Grand Prix 20176

A disappointing miss for Ding. Had he won this game he would have been a sole leader with just three more games to go. The second miss after his brush with victory against Svidler.

No less important than winning games in a tournament is not losing games, perfectly demonstrated by MVL's defensive skils, and the combination of the two is the perfect recipe for success

Perhaps, it would be appropriate to talk about the entire Grand Prix cycle to figure out where we stand.

2017 FIDE Grand Prix standings

 
Player
Feb 2017 Elo
Sharjah
Moscow
Geneva
Palma
Total
1
 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA)
2796
140
 
 
 
140
1
 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE)
2766
140
 
 
 
140
1
 Alexander Grischuk (RUS)
2742
140
 
 
 
140
4
 Hikaru Nakamura (USA)
2785
70
 
 
 
70
4
 Ding Liren (CHN)
2760
70
 
 
 
70
4
 Michael Adams (ENG)
2751
70
 
 
 
70
4
 Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS)
2749
70
 
 
 
70
4
 Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS)
2709
70
 
 
 
70
9
 Pavel Eljanov (UKR)
2759
25
 
 
 
25
9
 Li Chao (CHN)
2720
25
 
 
 
25
9
 Francisco Vallejo Pons (ESP)
2709
25
 
 
 
25
9
 Richard Rapport (HUN)
2692
25
 
 
 
25
13
 Levon Aronian (ARM)
2785
7
 
 
 
7
13
 Hou Yifan (CHN)
2651
7
 
 
 
7
15
 Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS)
2711
3
 
 
 
3
15
 Salem Saleh (UAE)
2656
3
 
 
 
3
15
 Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR)
2628
3
 
 
 
3
18
 Alexander Riazantsev (RUS)
2671
1
 
 
 
1
19
 Anish Giri (NED)
2769
 
 
 
 
0
20
 Pentala Harikrishna (IND)
2758
 
 
 
 
0
21
 Peter Svidler (RUS)
2748
 
 
 
 
0
22
 Ernesto Inarkiev (RUS)
2723
 
 
 
 
0
23
 Boris Gelfand (ISR)
2720
 
 
 
 
0
24
 Teimour Radjabov (AZE)
2710
 
 
 
 
0

As seen from the table above, every player will have three chances, and all of those will count for the final tally. There will be no “throw away” worst result, so, for example, Aronian's position after his disastrous showing in Sharjah looks very precarious. Levon needs to finish in the top three in both of his remaining events, and even so that would not guarantee him a top two finish. See for yourself.

Place
Single GP event
GP points
1
€20,000
170
2
€15,000
140
3
€12,000
110
4
€11,000
90
5
€10,000
80
6
€9,000
70
7
€8,000
60
8
€7,000
50
9
€6,000
40
10
€5,000
30
11
€4,250
20
12
€4,000
10
13
€3,750
8
14
€3,500
6
15
€3,250
4
16
€3,000
3
17
€2,750
2
18
€2,500
1

Forget about the money, we're only interested in the points awarded. Since about half of the 24 players involved in this year's cycle are either not good enough or don't seem to be interested in trying, we have about 12 left to compete for the top two spots in the overall standings. I'd say any player who came from Sharjah with less than 70 points is at best a long shot to make it, even if his name is Levon Aronian.

In this tough field, it'll probably take around 300 points total. This is why Nakamura and Ding need to finish at least in a first place tie in Moscow, while Mamedyarov, Vachier-Lagrave and Grischuk, might be OK with finishing around fourth through sixth places. Players like Giri, Radjabov, Gelfand and Svidler absolutely have to stay on a plus score in order to build up points.

In Sharjah, Alexander Grischuk was the surprise winner at the end, after a thoroughly lackadaisical event by all. Can lightning strike twice?

We'll see how it plays out. I can't wait for the next round to begin!

Standings after six rounds

Rk SNo Ti. Name FED Rtg Pts rtg+/-
1 4 GM Ding Liren CHN 2773 4,0 6,9
  5 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 2772 4,0 5,3
3 1 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2795 3,5 -1,6
  2 GM Nakamura Hikaru USA 2786 3,5 -0,3
  6 GM Svidler Peter RUS 2755 3,5 2,0
  8 GM Grischuk Alexander RUS 2750 3,5 1,4
  12 GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2724 3,5 7,9
  13 GM Radjabov Teimour AZE 2710 3,5 9,0
9 3 GM Giri Anish NED 2785 3,0 -5,7
  15 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny RUS 2696 3,0 3,4
  18 GM Hammer Jon Ludvig NOR 2621 3,0 9,3
12 7 GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2751 2,5 -9,8
  9 GM Harikrishna P. IND 2750 2,5 -7,9
  14 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2710 2,5 -3,5
  16 GM Hou Yifan CHN 2652 2,5 2,7
  17 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2633 2,5 4,2
17 10 GM Adams Michael ENG 2747 2,0 -8,7
18 11 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2727 1,5 -14,6

Pairings for round seven

Bo. No.   Name FED Rtg Pts. Result Pts.   Name FED Rtg No.
1 2 GM Nakamura Hikaru USA 2786 3½   4 GM Ding Liren CHN 2773 4
2 5 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 2772 4   3½ GM Grischuk Alexander RUS 2750 8
3 1 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA 2795 3½   3½ GM Radjabov Teimour AZE 2710 13
4 6 GM Svidler Peter RUS 2755 3½   3½ GM Gelfand Boris ISR 2724 12
5 3 GM Giri Anish NED 2785 3   2½ GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2633 17
6 9 GM Harikrishna P. IND 2750 2½   3 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny RUS 2696 15
7 16 GM Hou Yifan CHN 2652 2½   3 GM Hammer Jon Ludvig NOR 2621 18
8 14 GM Vallejo Pons Francisco ESP 2710 2½   2 GM Adams Michael ENG 2747 10
9 11 GM Inarkiev Ernesto RUS 2727 1½   2½ GM Nepomniachtchi Ian RUS 2751 7

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Yermo is enjoying his fifties. Lives in South Dakota, 600 miles way from the nearest grandmaster. Between his chess work online he plays snooker and spends time outdoors - happy as a clam.

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