Shamkir R3: Carlsen, So win

by Alejandro Ramirez
4/19/2015 – Already we have two people that are clear leaders. With an amazing start with 2.5/3, both Wesley So and Magnus Carlsen won today, against Mickey Adams and Fabiano Caruana. Both players did it in pretty different styles, but in both games the ultimate winners were always in control. Kramnik is trailing them by only half a point. Anand almost joined him, but Giri survived.

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The Vugar Gashimov Memorial, is being held in Shamkir, Azerbaijan, from the 17th to the 26th of April, in memory of the great Vugar Gashimov, who passed away on the 10th of January 2014. The tournament consists of some of the strongest players in the World: reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen, former World Champions Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik, as well as, Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, Wesley So, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Michael Adams, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Rauf Mamedov will compete in this prominent event. 

Round Three

Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg
So Wesley 2788
1-0
 Adams Michael 2746
Mamedov Rauf 2651
½-½
 Kramnik Vladimir 2783
Anand Viswanathan 2791
½-½
 Giri Anish 2790
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2754
½-½
 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2762
Caruana Fabiano 2802
0-1
 Carlsen Magnus 2863

So, Wesley 1-0 Adams, Michael

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 This move-order is a relatively rare guest at the top level, but it is still very solid. c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.f3 It's very rare to start with this move, but it cleverly avoids the Nh5 ideas. Here the bishop would simply retreat to f2. The minus side is that White has committed to playing the f3-e4 type plans. 0-0 10.Qc2 b5 11.Nge2 Nb6 12.a3 a5 13.0-0 Bd7 14.Nc1 Nc4 15.Re1 Be6 16.Nb3 Nd7 17.Bf2 Rc8 18.Rad1 Qc7 19.h3 Rfd8 20.f4 a4 21.f5!? Ignoring the threat since the bishop on e6 is trapped anyway. axb3 22.Qxb3 Bxf5 23.Bxf5 It's hard to evaluate the position. White has some obvious structural problems, but he does have the pair of bishops and good activity whereas Black's pieces are a little awkward. Rb8 24.Qc2 b4 25.axb4 Bxb4 26.Re2 Qa5? This seems to be the real start of Black's problems. Adams underestimates the weaknesses that will be left after Bh4. 26...Bd6 27.Bh4? 27.Rb1= 27...g5 27.Bh4 f6 28.Na4 28.Ne4!? 28...Nf8 29.Bd3 Nb6 30.Nc3 c5 31.dxc5 Bxc5 32.Kh1 Rbc8 33.Bf5 Rc6 34.e4! With the liquidation of the central pawns the bishops gain tremendous power. Not only that, Black doesn't have light square bishop to cover his weaknesses. Bb4 35.e5 Be7 36.Qb3 Qc5? 36...Kh8± 37.exf6 Bxf6 38.Ne4 Now Black simply loses. Qc4 39.Nxf6+ gxf6 40.Qg3+ Kf7 41.Rde1 Re7# is kind of annoying. Qb4 42.Re7+ 42.Bg4 immediately was also good enough, as were most moves. 42...Qxe7 43.Rxe7+ Kxe7 44.Qg7+ Ke8 45.Bg4 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
So,W2788Adams,M27461–02015D35superturnir3.1

Not a bad bounce back from Saint Louis: So starts with 2.5/3

Adams with a rough beginning. 0.5/3, or -2.

Mamedov, Rauf ½-½ Kramnik, Vladimir
The symmetrical treament of the anti-Berlin is a very surefooted way to not get into trouble. Neither side had a remote hope of winning this game.

Nothing to see here, really

Anand, Viswanathan ½-½ Giri, Anish
A pretty darn cool game. The Caro-Kann, Advance variation, seems to be more and more in vogue. Anand came up with a brilliant exchange sacrifice that gave him a nice initiative on the kingsid. Even though Giri's rooks gave him counterplay, the one on f3 was a target as it came very close to being trapped. Anand missed a couple of chances to increase the pressure, and let Giri barely escape after the Dutch player found excellent resources.

Anand came very close to beating Giri today

Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
Even though this wasn't exactly a Grunfeld, MVL still managed to sacrifice a pawn, get compensation for it, regain it with full equality and end the game in a draw.

Mamedyarov tried to surprise MVL, but the Frenchman was well prepared

Caruana, Fabiano 0-1 Carlsen, Magnus

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1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.c4 c6 5.Nf3 d5 Well, since the normal Dutch lines didn't work, the Stonewall is given a go. 6.0-0 Bd6 7.b3 Qe7 A small details, preventing the immediate Ba3. Here White can still exchange bishops by playing a4 but it is not as useful as Qe7. 8.Bb2 b6 9.Ne5 Bb7 10.Nd2 0-0 11.Rc1 a5 12.e3 Na6 This position had been reached many times before, with Qe2 being by far the most common move. 13.Nb1 This move surely can't be bad, but to me it is slightly baffling. I am not sure where the knight is intended to go. a4? Bxe5 14.dxe5 Ne4 15.Qe2 a4!? 16.Nc3?! 16.Ba3 c5 17.cxd5 exd5 18.f3 Ng5 19.bxa4 with a complex position. It won't be trivial to win the a4 pawn. 16...axb3 17.axb3 Qb4 18.Nxe4 dxe4 Black's obviously happy now. He has pressure against b3 and White's bishops are mediocre. White should still somehow be fine though. 19.Qc2 Nc5 20.Bc3 Qxb3 21.Qxb3 Nxb3 22.Rb1 Nc5 23.Rxb6 Na4 24.Rxb7 Nxc3 White's bishop on g2 is pretty bad, but he for now has a powerful rook on b7. 25.Re7 25.f3 was the logical choice, opening the diagonal for the bishop. After... Ra2 26.fxe4 fxe4 27.Rxf8+ Kxf8 28.Bh3 the game will probably end in a draw. 25...Rfe8 26.Rxe8+ Rxe8 27.Ra1 Rd8 28.Bf1 c5 29.Ra3?! Inviting problems. The knight is forced to relocate to a better square. Nb1 30.Ra1?! 30.Ra5 Rd1 31.Ra8+ Kf7 32.Ra7+ Kg6 33.Kg2! Nd2 34.Rd7= 30...Nd2 31.Be2 Nf3+! 32.Bxf3 exf3 Because of the persistent mating threats and the eventual weakess of the f2 pawn, this is a very unpleasant endgame for White. 33.h3 h5 34.g4 A little desperate, but suffering slowly didn't seem like fun either. 34.Ra5 Rd1+ 35.Kh2 Rf1 36.Rxc5 Rxf2+ 37.Kg1 Rg2+ 38.Kf1 Rxg3 should be winning for Black. 34...fxg4 35.hxg4 h4! Passing another pawn that will soon be defended. 36.Kh2 36.g5 Kh7-+ 36...Rd2 37.Kh3 g5 38.e4 Rd4 Clearly White is lost. His king still has to worry about checkmates and White can't attack g5, which is holding Black's position together. 39.Ra8+ Kf7 40.Ra3 Rxc4 41.Rxf3+ Ke7 42.Re3 Rd4 43.f3 c4 The pawn is too far for the king on h3. 44.Ra3 Rd3 45.Ra7+ Kd8 46.Kg2 c3 47.Ra4 c2 48.Rc4 Rd2+ 49.Kh3 Kd7 50.Rc5 Rf2 51.f4 51.Rc4 Rxf3+ 52.Kg2 Rg3+ 53.Kf2 Rxg4-+ 51...Rf3+ 52.Kh2 Rxf4 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caruana,F2802Carlsen,M28630–12015A81superturnir3.3

Carlsen won the match between the World's number one and number two

People are definitely starting to wonder where the Caruana that demolished the Sinquefield Cup is. The person that was so obviously the number two (and to some, the number one(!)) in the World is definitely not the Caruana that played today. For the first time in a while the Italian dips below 2800.

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Photos taken from the official website

Standings

Schedule

Round 1

Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg
Kramnik Vladimir 2783
1-0
 Adams Michael 2746
So Wesley 2788
1-0
 Giri Anish 2790
Mamedov Rauf 2651
½-½
 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2762
Anand Viswanathan 2791
½-½
 Carlsen Magnus 2863
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2754
½-½
 Caruana Fabiano 2802

Round 2

Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg
Adams Michael 2746
½-½
 Caruana Fabiano 2802
Carlsen Magnus 2863
1-0
 Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2754
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2762
½-½
 Anand Viswanathan 2791
Giri Anish 2790
½-½
 Mamedov Rauf 2651
Kramnik Vladimir 2783
½-½
 So Wesley 2788

Round 3

Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg
So Wesley 2788
1-0
 Adams Michael 2746
Mamedov Rauf 2651
½-½
 Kramnik Vladimir 2783
Anand Viswanathan 2791
½-½
 Giri Anish 2790
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2754
½-½
 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2762
Caruana Fabiano 2802
0-1
 Carlsen Magnus 2863

Round 4

Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg
Adams Michael 2746 - Carlsen Magnus 2863
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2762 - Caruana Fabiano 2802
Giri Anish 2790 - Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2754
Kramnik Vladimir 2783 - Anand Viswanathan 2791
So Wesley 2788 - Mamedov Rauf 2651

Round 5

Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg
Mamedov Rauf 2651 - Adams Michael 2746
Anand Viswanathan 2791 - So Wesley 2788
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2754 - Kramnik Vladimir 2783
Caruana Fabiano 2802 - Giri Anish 2790
Carlsen Magnus 2863 - Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2762

Round 6

Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg
Adams Michael 2746 - Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2762
Giri Anish 2790 - Carlsen Magnus 2863
Kramnik Vladimir 2783 - Caruana Fabiano 2802
So Wesley 2788 - Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2754
Mamedov Rauf 2651 - Anand Viswanathan 2791

Round 7

Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg
Anand Viswanathan 2791 - Adams Michael 2746
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2754 - Mamedov Rauf 2651
Caruana Fabiano 2802 - So Wesley 2788
Carlsen Magnus 2863 - Kramnik Vladimir 2783
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2762 - Giri Anish 2790

Round 8

Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg
Adams Michael 2746 - Giri Anish 2790
Kramnik Vladimir 2783 - Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2762
So Wesley 2788 - Carlsen Magnus 2863
Mamedov Rauf 2651 - Caruana Fabiano 2802
Anand Viswanathan 2791 - Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2754

Round 9

Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2754 - Adams Michael 2746
Caruana Fabiano 2802 - Anand Viswanathan 2791
Carlsen Magnus 2863 - Mamedov Rauf 2651
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2762 - So Wesley 2788
Giri Anish 2790 - Kramnik Vladimir 2783

Commentary on Playchess

One of the major tournaments of the year, you can count on www.playchess.com to deliver quality commentary every round!

Day Date Round English German
Friday April 17 Round 1 GM Daniel King GMs Oliver Reeh/Dorian Rogozenco
Saturday April 18 Round 2 GM Simon Williams GM Klaus Bischoff
Sunday April 19 Round 3 GM Simon Williams GM Klaus Bischoff
Monday April 20 Round 4 GM Daniel King GM Klaus Bischoff
Tuesday April 21 Round 5 GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov GM Klaus Bischoff
Wednesday April 22 Free    
Thursday April 23 Round 6 GM Daniel King GM Klaus Bischoff
Friday April 24 Round 7 GM Simon Williams GM Klaus Bischoff
Saturday April 25 Round 8 GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov GMs Oliver Reeh/Karsten Müller
Sunday April 26 Round 9 GM Daniel King GM Klaus Bischoff

English Commentators

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The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

 

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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